Missing those forests !

[haseeb badar]

Hello everyone.

By far the toughest times in life that I have seen. There seems no respite from Covid and I was second time infected by the deadly virus. This time, the symptoms were far worst and my health really took some beating. Though on recovery path but it feels like something is not right in me when it comes to full fitness and normal life.

I have never been away from wildlife photography for so long , inspite of a short trip in feb this year, there seems no opportunity turning my way for using the camera on animals and birds , missing them like anything.

Posting an image from my trip which we used to called them the good old days , so many opportunities and fun with friends but those days seems a thing of past now.

DPP 4.12, PSCC 2020, WB, levels, curves, selective colour, removed tyre tracks, Sharpened the subject, NR.

Canon 1DX MK II, canon 200-400 f4 IS II, HH.

ss 1/1000, f/5.6, iso 10,000.

Looking forward for all your comments and suggestions , be it of any nature.

Haseeb.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Dear Haseeb,
Very sorry that you got infected again, but am so glad that you are on path to recovery. Hope your family members are also recovering and I wish your family a speedy recovery. Times are indeed crazy, wonder where this virus sprang up from and it seems to be unrelenting. Hope this new wave in India passes soon.
As for the image, I like it a lot. Wonderful vertical composition with nice placement of the curious tiger in the frame. The path and the tree canopy is nice. Natural colours and soft light.

[Bretoteanu Dan]

Hy Haseeb, hope you are recovering well. A very moody composition, I like it a lot, especially the way you placed the tiger in the picture, with the road leading into the BG. He has a nice body posture, with the head slightly to one side and a curious/surprised look on its face.Colorwise to me it looks ok, but I feel the BG is a bit too smooth compared with the tiger, maybe a bit too much NR?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Haseeb sorry to hear about your corona issue .

Fully understand your frustration which is somehow mirrored in the image title .

Regarding the image ... I somehow like it , but not 100 % .
What I like is the natural depth created by the road and the tree line on both sides . Personally not a fan of the relatively high shooting angle , might have been no choice to shoot from a lower angle .

From the processing POV I think you have created " better images " .... I see some very soft areas , but do not understand why they are looking soft ??? On the other hand there is some grain /noise visible where I think it should be less obvious or more removed , just my 2 cents .
Color and Tones are looking good , apart from those oranges under the tigers belly .
The tiger does look somehow sweet .... with an almost innocent facial expression .

Stay safe and I hope you recover quickly .

TFS Andreas

[haseeb badar]

Thank you Doc , Dan and Andreas , your comments and suggestions are much appreciated.

I have almost fully recovered now, thanks for your concern and wishes.

@ Dan - there was a lot of noise in the BKG hence the smoothness due to NR.

@ Andreas -- Removing those tyre tracks was a bit tedious job and hence those soft patches as mentioned by you.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Haseeb, a lower POV in an ideal world, leave the tracks IN! They are a given here, Tigers as you know use these highways to and trying too remove them is just wasting time.

Stay safe, seems a little crazy over there currently, all the best.

TFS
Steve

[haseeb badar]

Thank you Steve , Pretty sensible advice, will keep in mind.

Hope all well with you !

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Haseeb,

So sorry to hear you had to face the virus again. Tapping into those 'good old days' and processing some lovely images certainly helped:w3

How are you doing, my friend? I managed to avoid the virus so far but encountered a great number of challenges, work wise as well as on a personal level...those kept me away from my cameras as well as my computer...Really missed you guys...and PP work too:tinysmile_shy_t:

Love your image with the little tiger in the 'big picture'. Yes, Steve is right, leave the tracks in, too much work to remove them and it shows. Love the framing and pose from the subject. For me the BG is just too soft and fades away too much, I think you should try to create more depth.

Hope to see more from you as well as hear good news of your full recovery. Thank you so much for sharing:5

Warmest regards,