Two Characters

[Subharghya]

http://www.junglemoments.com/BPN/tiger_01.jpg

Ranthambhore National Park - India's One of the Best Tiger Reserves to photograph wild tigers .. These two are sub-adult sisters .. now they have grown up and established their own territories but when I met them they were still playful girls :) .. Although they are born in the same litter still they are quite different characters .. the dominant one on the left is cool and confident and the second one is shy and nervous with people around .. the most beautiful thing is if you look at their faces you actually can see the difference :)

EXIF : Canon 40D, 300 f2.8 + 2x TC, f5.6, 1/125, ISO400, Exp Comp -0.3 (Spot metering)

[Rohan Kamath]

this is one of the best tiger images i've ever seen...I remember seeing it on the cover of Sanctuary Asia... I really can't critique this...its perfect...
:D

[Harshad Barve]

Hi Subharghya
great image..lovely eye contact. Lovely muted colors and tones.

however,

it seems that you have brightened the face/head...a bit ...thereby causing a halo around their head..faces appear brighter than BG , not matching the overall mood of the image, the tiger on the right
seems to have his back work with a white brush

lovely image....... in stride

TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Subharghya, These two girls pop so well from the darker BG. I like the light and colours, and you can clearly see the difference between the two. If this was mine, I would spend some time to eliminate the grass, if it is in your ethics.

[Dave Mills]

Beautiful image! I might only get rid of some of the white on the left otherwise I would leave as is...

[Subharghya]

Yes Harshad, you are right .. actually my original processing on INW was very natural conveying the actual mood of the scene but many people liked this version too, even Sanctuary magazine too brightened it like this so I thought of putting this version .. as you have raised this issue I am posting the other version too .. have a look ...

The noise in the BG is not the sensor noise but because of some compression in dynamic range

http://www.indianaturewatch.net/images/album/photo/197633193247dfee490d014.jpg

[Harshad Barve]

Repost is so natural
trust me u have GEM , :)
TFS

[Subharghya]

Stuart in my personal view the central grass blade adds to the composition rather than distracting .. it's shape is beautiful and very aesthetic .. Also I try to avoid extensive cloning unless it is absolutely necessary .. But I really appreciate your words and critique .. Thanks for stopping by !

[Harshad Barve]

that grass blade adds Tons for me IMHO , seperates TWO Characters:D

[Subharghya]

Hi Peter Thanks for your efforts and repost .. I like the overall levelsof it .. The brightness looks Gr8 to me .. but now a red cast has appeared in it .. actually this image is very tricky to process as this red cast pops up every now and then .. and the change in brightness also changes the overall mood of the scene ... originally it was shot in absence of sun and it was getting dark so the mood of the scene was dark and gloomy, you can say a bit mysterious ... and I liked this mysterious lighting .. but many people have said that it is too dark so I had tried to brighten the tigers selectively ... unfortunately I was not careful enough and didn't blend it properly with the bg so the halo is appearing ... Frankly speaking I am still not satisfied myself with both versions of mine and still trying find the right balance in this image .. I hope others too will contribute their versions like you did and make this discussion even more interesting :)

[David Fletcher]

Don't normally do this, but this image is outstanding and of immense interest. so.....

1. Agree with Harshad on original as posted. The processing looks too much like "processing and detracts.
2. Repost. Awesome mood. Deep and sombre and threatening.
3. Repost 2. As you say, has added some reds, and brightness so feel ideal lies between repost and repost 2. Repost 2 tack sharp!

What I like though, as you mention, is the intensity of looks and the difference. All you could ask you Bhai.

[Subharghya]

Harshad here is a version where I have taken care of the halo

http://www.junglemoments.com/BPN/tiger_01a.jpg

[Fabs Forns]

Very nice moement captured, I like the dark mood and the fact that you got the two together :)

[Harshad Barve]

Agreed on RED cast, IMHO colors of subadult tigers are really tricky. Peter's version look tad oversharp to me
Last version looks great , I wonder how good it will be if you can reomove some blues cast seen in whites of tiger , specially front legs
this last revision can take some sharpness, may be between this repost & Peter's post
Looks stunner

[Ken Watkins]

Two of the images are not appearing for me so it makes this difficult to comment on. What I can see is very good, the second is a little dark, Peters version is a bit too orange. I think it is very difficult to judge the true colours of a Tiger as they change depending on age and of course light. I think the darker version has more power.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Subharghya,
Welcome to BPN! Some tough scrutiny of your images with respect to post processing. Please don't get disheartened.

A very nice moment. It is always difficult to get two animals in the same frame and create a pleasing composition. Full marks to you for achieving that. I don't mind the grass as it acts as a frame.

Since the light was low, it would have been good if you could have increased the ISO. Your second version, is a bit dark for me. I would brighten it without changing the colour temperature. Thanks for sharing.

Ken,
With the advent of digital, we see lot of different tiger colours. :-)

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Kiran Poonacha]

I like the your second repost best .. great one Das Bhai.. the grass add for sure.. congrats..

[Danny Laredo]

Fantastic Tiger shot. I like all the images you submitted as it really is a superb Tiger image.
You guys with all your Tiger images really make me want to book a trip to Ranthambhore National Park :)

[John Ippolito]

This is a wonderful capture with outstanding impact and appeal! The dark BG makes this well positioned pair jump off the screen.

[Morkel Erasmus]

I also like the first repost (darker one) more and think just brightening that one slightly as Sabyasachi suggested will create the ideal version IMO. Great facial expressions and depth in this image - stunning!