Little Leopard Hunting

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Friends,

Hope you like this a bit:tinysmile_shy_t:

A busy frame but such is the environment of the leopard. We have been very lucky to capture this little chap and his mom against a clean BG earlier that day! Here he is again, chasing a small antelope up a nearby dune.

Nikon D5
Nikon 500 F4
ISO 1250
F 6.3
1/2500s

Processed in LR and PSCC. Cropped mainly from the top and bottom of the frame, removed a few twigs and branches by cloning, exposure adj., curves, levels. Processed some time ago - I had no chance to revisit, should you find any sharpening or other issues please let me know, I will be happy to RP. This was such a special sighting, I am very fond of this image. And of course, the little leopard in it:bg3:

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gaby, well timed to have captured this before he disappeared behind the bush, so you have a lovely clean image of him. I like the raised right front leg showing off his paw, and the head is nice and sharp. I do like the sloping landscape, and your comp is well balanced. Well captured.

Happy Easter my dear friend.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Beautiful leopard in a nice walking pose. Love the environs and the raised paw as mentioned by Stu. Nice one Gabriela.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot, I agree the front paw really adds to the image. The only slight negative I have is the tail being chopped.
I have had a look in PS and I think the colour balance is good, (I got similar results)I would possibly lower the highlights just the tiniest bit.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, cool timing on the raised paw and red/orange sand imprinted on the sole of the pad. The soil colour really provides good standout. I'm not a fan of the slope, personally I would rotate the frame if there is sufficient image content without cropping the tail? Going a little warmer on the Temp and a little shift to the green in the Tint, may help?? Highlights do need a little tweak, dropping them.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - What a great image of this little guy. Love the typical Kalahari colors and the raised paw. Slope doesn't bother me but it would be interesting to see it rotated as Steve suggests. Jon, the tail is all there so i am confused by the comment that it is chopped.

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello everyone, and thank you so much for your kind comments as well as suggestions. And Happy Easter to you all!

Jon, the tail does appear chopped, but only after three glasses of wine:t3 Agree on your suggestion re. HL, will drop them:)

Steve, I see your point about the slope and I can straighten it, just worried about that bush behind the leopard, let me look again at the original and I will see what I can do:w3

Rachel, I will do an RP and share early next week. I might actually have to chop the tail when I straighten, LOL.

Glad you all noticed the red paw - I have a number of images from the sighting but this one little detail made me process this particular one.

Have a wonderful week-end, friends!

Kind regards,

[keith mitchell]

Gabriela it's not often you see the actual pad on the raised foot ,lovely clarity and colours,agree about the tail but it is a minor point.

Keith.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you dear Keith!

Where have you been? We miss you here!

The tail is there buddy, just make your screen smaller and you will see it:bg3:

Glad to hear from you, and a Happy Easter to you and family,

[Steve Kaluski]

Steve, I see your point about the slope and I can straighten it, just worried about that bush behind the leopard, let me look again at the original and I will see what I can do

I think you can do it, a crude and quick rendition, with the RAW or layered Tiff you have much more scope. :w3

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Great capture, Gabriela. Like the intensity and of course the raised paw showing the pad. Nice detail and like the either suspended or attached bits/clumps of sand on his left front leg. Don't mind the slope either.

Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)

[Giovanni Frescura]

I like a lot the repost. Perfect details, nice colour and bk

[keith mitchell]

Gabriela found the tail and thanks a lot for the welcome back:S3::cheers:

[Gabriela Plesea]

Many thanks everyone!

I like your RP, Steve:5, very grateful for your input. Thought I was going to really lose the tail, LOL. But Keith found it:bg3:

Apologies for being a bit scarce for the past few days, every now and then things get a bit hectic at work. One day when I retire I'll be here full time:w3

Really appreciate your time and feedback,

Kind regards,