Young Male Leopard

[Ken Watkins]

I have been inspired by the recent Leopard posts.

Taken at Kwando 29th July 2007

EOS 1D MkII

500mm F4 IS hand-held

F5.6, 1/500, ISO400

[Morkel Erasmus]

oh wow just look at those eyes!! did you boost colour on them or is this how the photo came out of the camera?

great comp, detail and DOF Ken...

[Danny J Brown]

Hi Ken: That is a smoking hot, in your face leopard shot. Those eyes......Nice handheld work by the way with that 500F4 and very well exposed. I would like to see the photo with a tiny bit of CCW rotation, probably one degree, because it seems a hair off-kilter to me. Either way -- awesome.

[philperry]

Lovely shot Ken - and a super leopard.

I might darken it a touch. But then I tend to favour darker (more saturated colours) rather than lighter photos - just a personal preference.

[DanWalters]

Great eye contact and very nice light. It adds some depth to the image.

[Betsie Storm]

Really like this one Ken, especially the eyes & whiskers! Handholding the 500mm f/4? Never tried that with my 500 f/4.5:)- would have been too shaky seeing that leopard anyway....well done.

[Marc Mol]

Love the intense stare of this young Leopard Ken, well done. With an almost 3D effect.

[Harshad Barve]

what a eye contact , Super shot ken
TFS

[Jared Gricoskie]

The emotion is just so powerful with the eye contact, and thats the essence of photography in my opinion.

I know the highlights aren't blown, but I may tone down the top right corner on the cat's back just a bit. Mind you I think it would only improve the image from a 9.9 to a 10 ;).

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Ken love that image but do go tighter... tighter Would love seeing more of the face close up !!! ... btw give the exp comp if possible, makes a different to evaluate !!!

[Stu Bowie]

Great close up Ken, and well done with the DOF at such close range. Great overall detail, and of course, the close eye contact puts this over the top. Well done.

[Steve Canuel]

Love the intensity of the eyes.

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks to everybody for your comments.

Morkel,
Looking again I think that the processing has lead the eyes to be a bit too saturated.

Betsie
I cannot pretend that hand-holding a 500mm is fun, but it has IS and options in most safari vehicles are limited, other than bean bags.

Alfred

There was no EV adjustment on this, I normally try to post but sometimes forget!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Killer eyes and intense look make this one for me. Just gorgeous Ken. Like the crop suggestion too.

[John Ippolito]

Ken, the eyes on this cat just glow. Agree that a tighter crop might make this dramatic image even more appealing. Excellent!

[peter delaney]

lovely portrait... inquisitive eyes really make this image...

peter

[Ajit K Huilgol]

Just love it the way it is, Ken! Great job!