Curious Kitten

[Loi Nguyen]

I have been absent for quite awhile. Been busy with work and travel, as well as lack of wildlife subject.

a few weeks ago, I was fortunate to spot a mother bobcat and her kittens, so every chance I got, I'd go looking for them. I have taken plenty of pictures, but usually the background was messy with branches everywhere or lack of light until this day.

This is a wild bobcat kitten approximately 12 weeks old. At this age, the kittens still depend on their mother for food, but begin to venture out by themselves. I had been looking for them for an entire morning without success and was ready to give up when I saw a streak of dark ball flying past me and up on the tree. It turned out to be one of the kittens! I approached it cautiously taking a few safe shots. The kitten was relaxed, so I moved in a little closer. The kitten was totally cool, feeling safe because it was on the tree. The sun was high and behind the kitten and there was a nasty little branch crossing in front. Luckily, the kitten was sitting still and eyeing me with full curiosity and interest. I was able to move around a bit to avoid the branch and highlights in the background. One of the best encounters I have ever had with this elusive species. Location is not disclosed due to the welfare of the kittens and their mother.

1DX II
500f4 II
1/500
f5.6
ISO-1600
HH

Processed in DPP4, color temp 4800K
Added a little contrast, a little hue/sat

The kitten was in the shade, sun was high and behind the kitten.

Hope you like it.

Thank you

Loi

[haseeb badar]

Hi Loi -- great to see you back and posting ! I loved the pose and the the way you have framed after putting all that effort , well done on that . I might have stopped down more for the DOF and increased that iso for a bit more ss . I am not familiar with the subject but the finer details looks a bit lost .
Lets see what other have to say .

and TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, hope we are going to see more of you and your images.

A cool pose and I like the diagonal of the branch, adds interest, also the expression of the kitten is very cute, especially looking directly to the viewer.

Is this a crop or FF, I'm also questioning was the RAW sharp and is the camera/lens calibrated, as I think it looks slightly off???? The face just seems to lack the detail I would expect, hence is the kit working as it should? Personally I might have gone to f/9 and more SS, you can push this body Loi, don't be 'conservative'. The blacks look solid, creating a more 'contrasty' look & feel to me. I might also back off on the NR, with the MKII it's really good on noise and so you can be more gentle IMHO. I might either remove or tone down the highlight on the rear RH paw.

There is a lot going for this image Loi and so if you have the time, I would revisit it, I would also just check the calibration unless you say the RAW is sharp.

Look forward to seeing more.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi , good to see you posting and i love that opener .... as i think a bobcat kitten is a special thing .
Very cute subject and the pose is looking very cool with the diagonal stump as contrast .Very cool head on shot and the BG is stunning giving a superb separation to the subject .
Do not know how the MK II performs , but i would trust Steve ... regarding the fine detail . I agree with the suggestions regarding the blacks and the SS .

Nice job in getting this shot .

TFS Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Welcome back Loi,

Wonderful pose from your subject and I love the open mouth and lively eyes. Framing is great and so is POV, killer BG. I would have gone up both on ISO and DOF in this instance.

I shall try not repeat what has been said, would just like to say the blacks look slightly choked and tongue a bit too red, IMO. Do take care with contrast/saturation:)

Agree with Steve on revisiting this image, this is one awesome sighting and well done in getting close without disturbing this little chap, he is adorable!

I took great pleasure viewing - many thanks for sharing, hope to see more from you :w3

Kind regards,

[Loi Nguyen]

Dear friends, appreciate your comments. My biggest regret as you pointed out was that I didn't shoot at F8. I was experimenting with Auto ISO since it was difficult to know where the cats would show up and they always showed up in the shade. So when the kitten showed up, my first shots had ISO6400, so I switched to Manual and cut it down to 3200 and eventually 1600, but I only adjusted the SS, not aperture. There was also a nasty branch in front and I spent a good chick of time trying to avoid it. PP was not the best since the cat was in the shade and the image out of the camera was a bit cold and flat. Away from home now, will look into it and give it another try. It doesn't look that crunchy whe I printed as an 13x19, but in the lower resolution, it doesn't look good. Cropped about 50% of FF. Loi

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, thanks for the info.

I think you should have bolted on the 1.4 to avoid the crop factor. ISO6400 not a problem and I assume your EV was +++ due to the shade which would have also dropped your SS???


PP was not the best since the cat was in the shade and the image out of the camera was a bit cold and flat.

Are you saying you 'lifted' the image due to being a bit over/under exposed, cold & flat, best place to be as a starting point for PP, you don't want it looking bright & saturated as I personally feel it leads you down the wrong path, just my take. :S3:

You can't compare print to screen, too many variables and I bet your printer has a much higher resolution?

[Loi Nguyen]

Steve, I dropped exposure by 0.5EV. Warmed up the image by setting color temp to 4800 from the default. Added contrast with curves. Added 5 points of Hue/Sat. Will rework it later. No time to put the 1.4X on. I had 4 min with the kitten mostly sitting. This shot was taken when she got up and climbed to a higher branch for a nap.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Loi - Great to see you posting again and such a cute subject! I hope you'll be able to find these kittens, continue to photograph them and share the images with us. Great pose, pov and eye contact. I agree about the blacks, contrast and other suggestions made above.

TFS,
Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Here is a repost that had minimum PP.

in DPP:

reduced exposure by 0.5 EV (same as the original post)
Color temp = 4800K
No hue/sat
No contrast added
sharpening only around the eyes and nose/mouth

I think the RAW file is sharp.

Thank you

Loi

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi cannot comment to your RP as i am looking at work on a ..... screen :w3
Just a thought regarding the DPP stuff , just my view of it.
Depending on your use of DPP , you already start with a contrasty look ( picture style ) and the sharpening that comes with the picture style .
I bet..... ( might be wrong ) you have used standard , i would go neutral or fine detail .And zero out the sharpening .I personally never touch the contrast ( no control of it ) , ending mostly in clogged up blacks .
Normally i send two copies to PS , one sharp (sharpness 2 , no USM ) other one unsharpened . then blend the two together and select where the sharpness should take place .
I hardly use the shadow slider ( no control what becomes lightened ) and vice versa the highlight slider .
If i have to darken the image with the exposure and the blacks start to choke , i go to the curves tab and set the output black point to 2 - 5 to keep the blacks " open".
Then deal with this later in PS in a more controlled environment .
One of the big shortcomings of DPP that there is no way to avoid the global adjustments .... sadly .But i can live with it , as i like the base output of it.
Just take this as a personal note
Cheers andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Loi - I prefer the rp. Definitely moving in the right direction.

Cheers,
Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Andreas, I followed Arash workflow for DPP, so sharpening at 3, picture style standard. In the rP, no other PP was done except NR on the BG.

As for sharpness, the f5.6 is just not enough. If the focus falls on the nose of the cat, the eye is not critically sharp. I selected one with the focus point closer to the cat's left eye. To my eye at 100%, it is reasonably sharp. Hard to shoot HH while standing to get eye level with the cat.

Here is an approximately 100% crop, no PP.

I wish the light were better, but the cat preferred the shade and I had no option.

Thank you

Loi

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi thanks for the 100 % view , to be honest on a downsized image you cannot say if it is critical sharp , we have to trust the person who has the raw .
So if you say it is sharp then it is ok , i think .
The blacks and the overall contrast does look quite good in this one . you have nice detail and definition already , good starting point for my eyes . Any more global contrast would ruin this , one has to work selectively with this .
Regarding the use of picture style and sharpness .... well i go another route as Arash does , but it is up to the editor what he uses .
That is why i said in my reply , just my personal experience , not to be taken as a rule .
But if would get comments like to contrasty or blacks choked , i would change something in the workflow . And the first thing is to change stuff in the raw conversion .
I hope you understand my point .
Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, firstly thanks for the RAW, but my 'get out clause' is I'm away and using the MB pro laptop so it's not ideal, but...

The two things that are letting the image down is both the DoF and the cropping, as it is killing the IQ and the nice fine detail IMHO. I am making assumptions here, but if you were waiting for the kitten then I think you could have, to a degree, planned the shot, knowing 'she' may head to the tree, so a couple of frames to check histogram and frame. If things look too big, or too small adjust i.e. take/remove the 1.4. In doing so it might have offered a better use of time and ultimately a better capture, but this is with hindsight and as I said, making assumptions.

Thinking about the end product I would have used the centre point for accuracy (perhaps expanded AF) and cropped, likewise being in the shade, I would have disabled HTP which is something we discussed a while back re the Bob cat? I might have also reduced the frame rate, I have a feeling this poor kitten may have been machine gunned, just give the camera time to take stock. I would also suggest you tryout the various Case settings and get to know them, as I feel it perhaps was not quite right with a static subject, plus I feel Canon have progressed since the MKI. If this is HH you need to be comfortable, but also take a break, you cannot keep the position for long and the occasional break helps, just think how you would cope with the new 600????

Loi, not much done to the RAW, I started off around 4950 WB, adjusted the colour to best I thought on the laptop, dropped the Exp a fraction, then a few Channel adjustments, cropped, save for web. I could easily be well off here???? :Whoa!:

Thanks again.

Steve,

[Marc Mol]

Regardless of image techs & PP, (Steve's RP has almost nailed it IMO) one can imagine it's a rare treat to see a bobcat at the best of times let alone such a young one in a fantastic pose with great eye contact Loi :5

A huge credit to you and look forward to catching up with you in Ndutu come January :w3

TFS

[Loi Nguyen]

Steve, I like it! How much exposure that you dropped? So, I guessed I dropped too much exposure to keep the highlights around 235. I first did a version with 0nly -17eV drop, but thought that it looked too flat, so I tried to hard to add more contrast back to the image and resulted in a crunchy look. Reducing the rame rate is a good idea as this is not BIF. I don't know what "disable HTP" is. I also haven't learned how to work with Channels.

Regarding the cats, the kittens are very difficult to photograph. I had only seen them at a distance, in the shade, low light, lousy BG, so I had often had to shoot at f4.0. That's why the 1.4X wasn't on. Their movements are totally unpredictable and the opportunity for sighting is very low. I was very lucky this day. I regretted for not shooting at F8. I think the crop of 50% would have been OK.

I had other frames at closer distance while the kitten was sitting , but there was a distracting branch, so didn't post. I backed off to give her some space. Didn't have the 1.4X with me, unfortunately.

Marc, thank you for your comments, Looking forward to seeing you albeit briefly in Ndutu.

Loi

[Loi Nguyen]

Another point is the crop. I wonder whether people like my rotated version to keep the kitten up right or the real version of Steve's which showed the kitten leaning towards the left. Due to the steep slope of the branch, the kitten is actually leaning towards the left as we view it. I can't decide.

[Steve Kaluski]

Regardless of image techs & PP, (Steve's RP has almost nailed it IMO)

Thank you Marc, very much appreciated. :5

Hi Loi, like one of Haseeb's postings, I do think this is a winner, because hopefully from all of the various discussions & feedback you can build on your skill set for the future. We are ALL constantly reassessing, learning from others and expanding our knowledge, but making mistakes is the only way we really learn.

HTP is High Tone Priority, it does work better than within the MKI, but I personally feel you have to be 'picky' on when to enable it and look at the conditions, but if you were in the shade and where light was of a premium, then it's not something you want to enable I think. I also think how we process an image (when applied) can also have a baring on the final output too, but just my own take on that. Shooting wide open is nice, but you do need to think about DoF and how rapidly it can tail off and if the subject comes closer, the more DoF you need and the camera works harder if it's on the move. I don't think the kittens erratic movements is something new, as I know you have photographed other species far more unpredictable, with greater results, however, again it comes back to the 'Cases' set up and a good SS. I dropped the exposure by a third of a stop, minimal, but it's always better to drop (if required) rather than increase the exposure, for obvious reasons. I had not realised you had rotated the subject, that adjustment perhaps is just a personal thought???

Loi, the MKII is a better camera compared to the awesome MKI, however some of the settings have been greatly improved, also there are some new ones too, refining the camera even more, so it's not a case of just importing previous settings. I'm still honing/refining mine and I feel it's a constant assessment each time you go out and shoot, learning more about it's works and how it can 'aid' you in capturing that 'moment' - YOU ultimately, have to drive it! :S3:


one can imagine it's a rare treat to see a bobcat at the best of times let alone such a young one in a fantastic pose with great eye contact Loi

To conclude Loi and taking on board what Marc has said above, photography is an all encompassing medium and where an expression or behaviour can outweigh all the techs, likewise the experience and privilege of just being there.

[Marc Mol]

To conclude Loi and taking on board what Marc has said above, photography is an all encompassing medium and where an expression or behaviour can outweigh all the techs, likewise the experience and privilege of just being there.

Very true Steve, this would be a dream sighting for the both of us no question, and likely all here @ BPN who appreciate the beauty of nature. :cheers:

[Steve Kaluski]

Long may it continue Marc, however it just depends I guess on how long it will take for man to eradicate all animals for 'Sport' or a 'Trophy' depriving future children of wonderful sightings and encounters, it appears we are a very privileged few! :wave:

[Morkel Erasmus]

Late to this one and can't add much more. Steve did a good repost, might back down on the highlights on the face just a tad but all personal taste.
DOF could have been more but the face is where it's at for me...

[Stuart Philpott]

Loi,I'm deeply pushed for time but have a little while to marvel at the images posted here. Umm, I actually came here via your 2nd image,and backtracked to read from the start,ahh Loi your fieldcraft and the graft to find this from a chance sighting awesome !!

We both couldn't ID this cat although we are aware of the bobcat. Ahh mate thank you so much for sharing this,it's not just the photographic side i'm still reading and learning as always here. But just to see this must be incredibly special, and the craft to get that is inspiring for me .
Loi for a simply guy,what a subject to photograph as a kit what a joy to learn from and simply all credit for the craftsmanship to get these incredibly special images.wow



Thank you

(forgive me for smiling while reading through this Loi I just keep saying wow:5)

take care
Stu