Male Bob Cat

[Loi Nguyen]

This is a male bob cat we spent over an hour with. First we spotted him half a mile away out in the field. He hopped off on a log, and then went on patrolling his patch. Eventually he came closer to the road, lifted his leg to mark a bush, and then hopped on this log to clean himself. Unfortunately, his head was barely visible above the log the whole time. Just before he hooped off the log, he raised his head and looked at us for this shot, then he went on back out to the field

1DX
500f4 II + 2X III @ 1000mm
1/800
f8
ISO-2000
Bean bag over car window

cropped to ~ 60% of FF
Some of you may think this is a bit crunchy. I didn't use Clarity, no contrast added, and very very little sharpening. The RAw file looks fine, sharp.
I used LR CC for the conversion this time. Couldn't get the colors I like in DPP

Thank you for commenting on my previous image.

Loi

[Steve Kaluski]

Loi can you Dropbox the RAW file to me, I think Andreas would also like to see it if we may, as you say the RAW is sharp, but the detail/clarity here looks off to me. Have you changed anything within your set up and Workflow. If it's DPP then refer that to Andreas.

Cheers
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi yes i do think it does look crunchy in the fur , the log does look crunchy too , colors do look a bit off too in terms of blues creeping in in parts ( grass stems , log and cats fur ) .
So why do you jump between two images with the raw converter ??? I might try to stick to one and try to master it , i actually do not understand why you were not able to get the colors right in DPP ??? But your call .

I am surprised to see the fur that coarse when the image is pinsharp ??? I am also wondering about this as the fine fur on the edges is nicely defined for a web sized image , as i can see fine single hairs on top of the head ??? In this areas there is not such crunchiness , how does this come ???

Well a lot of questions , in the end i have to agree with Steve overall .If you like i can have a look at it , but in first place you might try to be more conservative with your contrast . Next time i would try to post a rather flat image and then build up some contrast / LCE with a very soft hand and more important work locally !!!! Just my 2cents

BTW regarding the image , always great to get such close encounter with the Bobcat .

Cheers Andreas

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hmm I wonder if USM is active in addition to Sharpness and did you use DLO? I look forward to a repost, I know there is nothing much you can do about it but for me the log is a little large/intrusive.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey Jon , if you read the intro you can see Loi used LR for this posting , so nothing was used you mentioned

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Loi - You definitely got a great look from the bobcat and I like the log as a base of the frame. I too feel it looks a bit too contrasty and slightly crunchy. Perhaps post the straight ooc image. I also immediately noticed the blues, particularly on the shaded side of the cat. I think this definitely one worth having another go at the processing.

TFS,
Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Steve and Andreas, I looked at the RAW file on the home monitor just now. The RAW file looks a bit noisy, so I guess the cat was a bit under exposed. It's sharp enough I think, but not pin sharp. Forget to mention this was shot at just before noon with the sun high and slightly behind the cat at an angle. Thus the BG is bright, but the cat is a bit dark. Not the kind of lighting I would prefer. Will send the RAW file. as I said, no contrast or Clarity was added.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice pose here, a rare sighting from what I understand.
It looks a bit too magenta and purple and blue to me on the cat?
How did you find the 500 + 2x?

[Steve Kaluski]

Loi I would have exposed for the cat and worried about the BKG in PP, file just came through, will take a peak.

Steve

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, all done, but I think if you have sent to Andreas we should post at an agreed time.

To me the RAW is not sharp and the shooting distance was around 25-29m. I have kept the RP simple, with correcting stuff through the various Modules within LR which you can & know how to do, as the sliders are common across all converters. The first was to get a better WB then work from there. I'll email the RP, then we can await Andreas to respond. How cold/warm the overall look will be is a personal taste as neither Andreas or I were there.

There is a big shift from the OP.

Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi / Steve ... the raw has two major issues for me : at first it is not sharp at all , it is ok but not sharp, no wonder at 1/800 sec with this combo . second the image is way too underexposed from my POV resulting in very strong blacks to begin with , not ideal though.

If you open up the image , and you have to , to make detail visible you will end up with noise .

See the histogram screenshot of your image and of one of my latest high iso shot ( 10.000) , with my image there is nothing i have to open up i just need to drop the exposure and therefor less noise visible !!!!
So keep the histogram to the righthand side !!

Will try later to develop quickly and send you my version create with DPP .

Cheers Andreas

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi thanks for the raw , as steve mentioned colors might be off or not as you see them , just my view .
The issues already mentioned in my post above .
Done with DPP and no NR applied at all

Here you go

[Steve Kaluski]

OK, just finished dinner and the web wasn't excepting the file size DOH, Loi this is my thought.

I think it might be time to distill things and reassess certainly your workflow, but stick to the one that suits you, but also look at your shooting too.

Cheers
Steve

[Steve Kaluski]

Loi, just notice that the above is from the RAW, not the RAW amended PS file, easily denoted by the file name, here is the correct file, very little in it, if any. Edit prefix will tally with the one I sent through to you earlier.

[Loi Nguyen]

Thank you Andreas and Steve. Of the two, I prefer Andreas' treatment. I think the colors look more what I remember. Steve's post is more flat in tone and looks a bit green.

I have to say I'm heart broken that I blew my closest encounter with this cat. I don't usually shoot at high noon with the sun at an angle to the cat, so I just blew it. I should learn how to take a spot meter reading on the cat to get the right exposure of the log when the cat wasn't visible. The lack of sharpness I wonder whether it could be due to the heat at high noon or may be I'm just rusty. On the same trip with the same combo, I had much better image with birds when the sun was in more favorable position.

Thank you for your honest feedback. I can see now in the OP, the magenta cast was strong.

Loi

[haseeb badar]

Hi Loi -- First of all i must Thank you for posting this as it has led to a great discussion and RP's . I prefer both the RP's as i am not familiar with the colour of the Cat . Hope to see more from your trip . TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

I think Loi you need to look at the Info of the image and your camera set-up.

I could be wrong, but based on what we have being saying about the image through the thread, forgetting that it isn't sharp, I have a sneaking suspicion that the answer lies within the set-up. By looking and going through things it's a good way I think to learn because then you understand, if you get stuck yes no problem, I'll say what I think it could be, then you can test it to see if I'm right or wrong.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Morning Steve ..... what do you mean by the set up might be "wrong" ?

[Steve Kaluski]

Morning Steve ..... what do you mean by the set up might be "wrong" ?

How he has configured his camera, but if you spot it, just hold fire.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Loi,

the Bobcats are great animals. I read the full thread. It was an interesting read.

Have a great evening

Ciao Anette

[Loi Nguyen]

How he has configured his camera, but if you spot it, just hold fire.

Steve, other than operator's errors, I can't see anything wrong with the camera set up :)

Loi

[Gabriela Plesea]

One of the most beautiful cats on Earth and what a wonderful experience, Loi!

Please do not be heart broken my friend, these things happen to us all and we learn from them. This has been an interesting read for me too, and so I thank you so much for sharing. I think your OP isn't that bad, while both RP's deal with some of the issues discussed beautifully.

I think when Steve mentioned "camera set-up" he was probably referring to the way in which you (the operator) take control of your camera settings in order to achieve sharper images. Meaning, you have to learn how to make the most of what your camera can do for you, and one important thing is choosing the best AF points for the situation. Apart from focusing, this also helps you achieve more accurate light metering. Controlling DOF is also important, I personally feel F8 was a bit much here and the result is unfortunately not enough SS.

Loi, you have learnt so much and still learning. So am I. Do not be discouraged, keep experimenting and keep delighting us with your wonderful sightings - I so look forward to more from you! And I really mean it when I say this:w3

Warmest regards,

[Loi Nguyen]

Gabriela, I used a 2X, so F8 was the widest aperture. I should have shot at higher ISO. But when I look at a series of images during that shooting including a second camera 5D3, 400f4DO II, 1.4x, 1/1600, f6.3, ISO 1600, none of the images were sharp. Next day when the light was I more favorable conditions I got sharp bird images with both kits. So I don't think under exposure or low SS or camera setting explained the lack of sharpness in this case.

loi

[Loi Nguyen]

Nice pose here, a rare sighting from what I understand.
It looks a bit too magenta and purple and blue to me on the cat?
How did you find the 500 + 2x?

Morkel, the 500 + 2X works well for me in many instances. Here is a link for a Red-Winged Blackbird the day after the bobcat encounter. It looks sharp at 1/1000 SS under more favorable lighting conditions (golden hours, sun behind me).

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/133198

I have to say I have not had much success with thr 500 + 2X combo for wildlife.

Loi

[Gabriela Plesea]

Morning Loi and thank you so much,

Just a question: where is your FP here?

Have a wonderful week-end,