Curious Cat

[Harshad Barve]

Dear all

Taken at Bandhavgarh National Park , Madhya Pradesh , India
With D300, 600mm, ISO 200 at F7.1, 1/100 secs
C & C most welcome

Harshad

[Todd Frost]

Nice image, I love the stare of the cat. Could use a little more sharpening on the cat. Don't mind the oof leaves in llc, the one on the tigers side is slightly distracting. Overall well done.

Todd

[Stu Bowie]

Harshad, another super tiger image from you. I like the direct eye contact, and you have exposed the colours very well. We know its not always possible to get any animal in the open, so to get away from the OOF foliage on his hind leg, I would suggest a vertical crop. Here is my thought, and did some selective sharpening over him. I also removed the branch above his head. Hope you dont mind. Stuart.

[Harshad Barve]

Hi Stuart

Beautiful crop & nice SS , but I will keep that branch for 2 reasons
1) Its part of habitat
2) It is worldfamous place to shoot tigers ( with Camera of course ), so most of the tiger lovers knows about it.

But I am loving your crop

Thank you
Harshad

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Harshad,
I agree with the sharpening suggestion. From Stuart's suggestion, we can see that if you would have used a TC with your 600mm then you could have got a tight crop like that. I think in a tight crop by the use of a TC the major part of the branch would have been easily removed and it would have been better.

However, it is easier said than done because immediately after that you had to remove your TC for other poses. :D

Stuart,
This is one of the places in Bandhavgarh, where on one side there is a grassland and on the other this hill and you get a lot of open space as there is a water hole infront. You will feel like your backyard. :D

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Steve Mandel]

Harshad:

I LOVE your tiger shots, they are clearly the best I have seen on this forum. You go for the good eye contact and interesting composition.

I think its easy for folks to give suggestions about using this piece of equipment or another piece of equipment. However, to me it is useless commentary since when the tiger is moving all you can do is snap pictures with what you have on your camera! How could you have changed equipment? Sorry, that just seems very silly to me knowing how hard it is to get good tiger shots and how quickly they move. I have photographed them in Bandipur and it is no easy task!

So, I say good job and well done to you. Very much looking forward to seeing more of your tiger images.

Steve

[Kirk Adams]

Well Said, Steve !!! Getting bogged down by thoughts about equipment when you have an unwilling/rare subject to photograph is asking for disaster. Best to ignore such advice and take pictures instead.

Best Tiger Images I have ever seen on BPN, lovely stuff, Hashad, keep it coming. Your tigers are world class, great compositions and colors.

[Octavio Campos Salles]

I like Stuart's version as far as sharpening, but I also like the OOF leaves in front of the tiger, it frames it and gives a more natural feel. Excellent photo.