My Dark Maned Boys of the Kalahari

[Gabriela Plesea]

The Kalahari is well known for its majestic dark maned lions. I encountered this particular individual during a morning drive ( it was about 8:30 am) and was quite fascinated with his powerful appearance and confident looks. At the time he was heading lazily towards the water. I was so busy trying to move the vehicle without disturbing him, I almost did not notice he had a mate who was lying in the grass only few meters away. The two must have had a feast the previous night, their bellies were so full. I managed a few frames, here is one of them, techs to follow. I anticipate some enquiries about the soft BG, my answer to you is no tricks were employed: it was a little windy at the time, just a slight breeze, movement from the vegetation/tall grasses created this pleasant blur. I did do a bit of gardening at the bottom of the frame, removing the tips of a few grass blades.

Nikon D4
Nikon 300mm F2.8
ISO 1000
F7.1
1/1600s

Thank you so much for viewing and comments on my previous posts, I truly appreciate it.

Kind regards,

[keith mitchell]

Gabriela natural movement of the grasses and vegetation have been a great help to you with that lovely bg,everything about the fine looking Lion with the leftover scars from I suspect previous encounters looks really good, I particularly like the texture of the fur that looks so natural .

Keith.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela a very nice profile portrait of that guy .I like the wind swept mane and the mission he was on .
I would not think that this was taken in the Kalahari due to the BG and its color , nice detail in the fur . Crop works well with the right amount of dead space in front of him.
Opposite to the last posting ... i would go for more tonal depth in the 3/4 tones , the blacks do look right to me . As this was taken in sunlight i would expect the darker tones a bit deeper . Specially the gums do look a bit thin from my POV.
You have a nicely separated BG that isolates the subject pretty much perfect with the right amount of DOF and color contrast .

Actually i do not understand that you said the wind created the blur .... i think at 1/1600 sec the grass in the BG should be not blurred that much unless the wind was blowing heavily . For me i think it just the shadow DOF that created the pleasing blur and the distance between subject and background , but i might be well wrong with my thoughts .

Enjoyed watching your Lion , Gabriela , TFS Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, I like the side profile and thanks for clarifying the BKG and feel Andreas is on the right track about the DoF, distance and SS. I would also look at his suggestion about the Blacks and deeper tones. I do like the 'windswept' look and the open mouth, just wished the grass stem wasn't in view. Framing works with just the right amount of space.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - Fantastic detail here. I too find the comp to be just right with the room in front. I agree with Andreas that the bg is probably more a function of dof and distance between the lion and the bg. Looks like the light was already a bit strong but you handled it well. Good suggestions by Andreas.

TFS,
Rachel

[Mike Poole]

A great look at this handsome male Gabriela, I really like the way the light face stands out against that dark mane. Ideally I would have liked just a little more room below him, but the details in the fur are great and the green background adds a nice extra element.

Mike

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you all so much for viewing and comments,

I must admit I was quite surprised - and pleased at the same time - with the soft BG. The vegetation was really not that far from the lion, from what I remember. In the previous two frames those bushes are a bit overpowering - this is why why I blamed this effect on the wind, rather than DOF. But I could be wrong.

This is almost FF, I did have a tad more space below but some grass tips interfered with the clean look I was seeking. I can improve tonal depth though, thank you Andreas and Steve for your suggestions.

Really happy to be back on BPN and your feedback truly fuels my enthusiasm for photography, been doing PP work the whole night and ready to share some more, looking forward to your critique:w3

Kind regards,