Stalking Leopard

[Rachel Hollander]

Taken in the Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa. This is the Marula Female and she was stalking a herd of impala.

Canon 7D
70-200 II @ 100mm
1/1250
f4.5
ISO 800
HH from safari vehicle, cropped from horizontal to vertical to eliminate distracting bush on left, levels, curves, selective burning, color adjustments and sharpening in CCPS.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Rachel,

A very interesting image and I love the behavioural aspect. Correct me if I am wrong, it seems this lovely Marula has been "leopard crawling" under some spider webs? Her fur looks wet:)

Love the stalking pose, this is well composed and I like the space at the bottom of the frame. Colours/tonality look great and sharpness spot-on.

Well processed and presented Rachel, if I were to change anything I would try lightening face of the subject a wee bit - do you think it would look unnatural, given the shade?

Warmest regards,

[Rachel Hollander]

Thank you Gabriela. Not sure about spider webs but her fur could be wet, She was up in a tree, through tall grass, under bushes all in an effort to sneak up on the impala herd. She was unsuccessful though. Yes, I think lightening the face would look unnatural given the shadow and also could introduce noise.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

A very nice stalking pose here and the crouch adds to interest. Glad you got the tail in. Was this shot vertical? A horizontal with bit more space for the leopard to look in to would also be a possibility?

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Sanjeev. As I said in the intro I shot it horizontally but cropped to eliminate a distracting and ugly bush.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Thanks Rachel. Got it. No deal breaker at all.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Rachel for your reply, makes sense.

Sanjeev, here's something to think about: by doing a vertical crop - IMO - Rachel not only allows the subject some space to walk into, but also positively "alters" the POV. It is an illusion, but it works. Try crop this from the bottom and it will look like it was taken from high up. As it is, it feels as if we are on the same level with the leopard:)

Kind regards,

[keith mitchell]

Rachel will leave the technical bits to others,the pose tells it's own story ,bet it was great to witness .


Keith.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Rachel -- This is a really good image considering the stalking pose and the vertical crop works for me . the only issue here is the light and shade , i wished some light was hitting on its face . But the pose makes this image for me .

TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, my first thought was exactly as per Sanjeev's, to have gone landscape, but the right choice to exclude the bush. I like the soft light and overall colour with good detail. Personally I do think there is perhaps a little too much below, but...

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Keith, Haseeb and Steve, much appreciated.

[Stuart Philpott]

Rachel it's an utterly stunning take,for me, dream stuff!!! Can you explain for me why you didn't got with a slightly greater dof please? Curiosity mate, more than critique : .....trying to get into why you astounding photographers do what you do and how you, collectively, make your choices has great meaning for me

take care

Stu

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Stu - I shoot in full manual and was trying to keep the ss sufficient since she was moving. Also with the original 7D I preferred to keep the ISO 800 or below if possible.

Thanks,
Rachel