"Where is Mom?"

[Jay Shah]

I am amazed how human-like and clear expression of anxiety is found on these youngsters. Mom had taken off for breakfast and these youngsters fooled around for awhile but then they fixed their gaze in the direction mom had gone.

As it is evident, the image was made early in the morning when sun was just out. So I intentionally decided to give the lightest touch in PP to retain image quality. C&C welcome and appreciated, as always.

Nikon D500, Tamron 70-200 f2.8 @ 110 mm
1/800 f4 ISO2500

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Jay, a nice shot with the young ones anxiously waiting. Light was nice and the pose and comp works, except wish a bit more space to right and less on left to include that tail fully in.

[Jay Shah]

Thanks Sanjeev. Yes more space on RS would have been better, but I am glad I did not clip their long tail and got even some breathing space. On your screen, is tail cut-off? Steve pointed out there was some color cast which I did not notice before. Below is corrected version. Somehow, in this image tail if cut-off when I insert the image here.. 177310

[haseeb badar]

Hi Jay -- Nice pose and liked the soft muted colours. I can see some blue/cyan in the whites of its belly and tail. The tail of the Cheetah ( third one) is clipped. I might go for a more pano version by coming down from the top and also cropping from the bottom of the frame.

Took the liberty to do a RP , something like this ? WDYT ?

TFS !

[John Mack]

Like the almost identical pose on the three cheetahs. The composition is nice. The warmer version is the one i prefer.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Jay - Nice that they cooperated and all looked in the same direction. I like the pano crop that Haseeb suggested. I think the colors and tones are most realistic in your rp in pane 3 for that early morning feel before the sun is fully up. I do agree though that there is still a little bit of blues in the whites of the underbellies in that version.

TFS,
Rachel

[Jay Shah]

Many thanks to all of you -- Rachel, John, Haseeb,Sanjeev and Steve (he has been educating me via email). Believe me, I am learning a lot from your comments, suggestions and RP (Haseeb and Steve).

I took one more shot at this. By adjusting temp and tint in Camera raw, I did get equal values for a selected spot where this values were close but not identical at the start. To my eyes, this version looks better than my previous attempts. Is there still color cast?Not to my eyes, but would like to hear from you all.177342

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Jay - Yes, there is still a cyan/blue color cast to the whites of the bellies. It is readily apparent on my calibrated laptop. I'm away from home so not looking on my big monitor. Also the sunlit whites of the most recent rp look brighter/hotter particularly on the neck of the cheetah on the right.

Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Jay - you're a new name for me here (I've been pretty absent), so a belated welcome from me.
Nice pose and open setting - presume it was taken in the Mara or Serengeti?
Some good points already covered - there was a clear cyan tinge for me in the cheetahs in the OP, and it's been exacerbated in your reposts. Some selective desaturation of the whites will help.
Looking forward to more of your images!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jay, I'm hoping now you have a better platform/iunderstanding for the rest of your postings and where you can apply elements you have hopefully honed to your PP for your next postings. I'm not going to regurgitate what has already been said, but I do hope this is the starting point you needed and where you can build on your skill set. Rest assured this 'journey' is a constant learning, developing and adapting, but the basic 'cornerstones' to any PP will invariably stay the same. Adapting and moving with the changes in Software will, in part, help, but not all updates are great, LR was pants a few months ago, however the latest update is probably one of the better ones in the last four years and just because something is not on your radar should never mean you shouldn't use it, it's all about being able to discern what is required to an image and NO TWO images are the same.

Let me know if there is anything else you need help on, as I'm not always around, albeit I'm currently away.

I think the image has some very nice light and makes the image. If you had a longer lens then I feel the shooting angle would have been better, you don't always need to be on top of the subject. personally I'm not a lover of shooting wide open and I think say f/6.3 would have been better and still offered a lovely diffused backdrop. I also like the way the three cheetahs line up and good you did not, in haste, cut the tails off.

Keep the hard work up and just keep exploring.

TFS
Steve

[Jay Shah]

Rachel, Haseeb and Sanjeev many thanks for your comments. Helpful. Steve, I can't thank you enough. I am going to keep sharp on WB. I think it will be awhile before I get to where I want to be. For some images finding a neutral point has been a real challenge. I think I also need a bigger monitor as on Macbook Pro I am unable to see entire image at 100% and then you miss nuances and color cast..Best is yet to be is my motto. Thank you all for your patience. Cheers. Got to get some sleep.

[Steve Kaluski]

Steve, I can't thank you enough.

You are most welcome Jay.


I think I also need a bigger monitor as on Macbook Pro I am unable to see entire image at 100% and then you miss nuances and color cast.

Jay, unless you want to do video then personally I would stay clear of an iMac, perhaps a monitor that you can hook up to your MBP, but you need to check connectors etc? You want to be able to calibrate your monitor properly with one of the X-rite products and keep it so every month, or if heavily used, when it tells you, a laptop could require twice a month as it does drift off more. A monitor also needs to be at eye level too. A 24 or 27 inch would be ideal, some monitors like Jon & I have also have hoods to ensure any 'external' light is kept off the screen.

Good luck.

[Jay Shah]

Jay, unless you want to do video then personally I would stay clear of an iMac,

Steve, I thought iMac was THE thing to have for photographers. Will now look for monitor.
I have started using X-rite color monki for canlibrating MBP. Will look into hood as well. Thanks again for valuable insights. When I win the Wildlife photographer of the year award, I will remember to thank you !!:bg3:

[Steve Kaluski]

Color Munki, excellent!


When I win the Wildlife photographer of the year award, I will remember to thank you !!

Been twice, sadly did not get mentioned in despatches, so that would be nice, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. :S3: