Bob the cat

[Kerry Perkins]

Well, my first day out for the new year yielded more than I was expecting. As we were walking around Lake Los Carneros (Santa Barbara County, California) looking for birds, my wife spotted this lovely bobcat lounging around under some bushes. I carefully worked around it to find a better vantage spot and it let me get close enough to capture some pretty good portraits. Such a beautiful animal...

50D, EF400mm f/5.6L
Manual mode, f/5.6@1/500 ISO 400 WB 5100K
AI Servo autofocus, hand-held no flash

Thanks for your comments!

[Anita Rakestraw]

Beautiful animal and excellent image, Kerry, IMO. Only thing I can see that might make it better is if the near front paw were more in focus. Looks like maybe something was in front of it. Not a biggie, though; this is very very nice!

[Richard Waas]

Beautiful cat. I wish there was a wee bit more at the top, but definitely a great image...

[Katie Rupp]

Gorgeous, Kerry and I really like the direct stare and sharp details. Congrats on a great find!

[Gus Cobos]

Hey Kerry,
A very nice catch, I like that relaxed confident pose...well done...:cool:

[Lance Peters]

hi Kerry - this is a wild bobcat?? COOL - do they usually let you get so close?? Dangerous??
Like it a lot - love the eye contact and sharp as a tack.
A little tight at the top.
Good show :)

[Kerry Perkins]

Thanks everyone! I had a real challenge with this, as I could not back up any further without having major foliage in the way. I do have some other shots where I went for a head shot instead of trying to get more of the cat in the frame. I like having the paws in the shot, but it made for a very tight frame.

Lance, these are definitely wild but only dangerous if cornered or threatened. They mostly feed on rabbits and small mammals but are also known to take down adult deer! They seem to be unafraid of quiet, non-threatening humans like wildlife photographers. :) This one started to leave the area when it saw us, but I kept very still and talked to it and it decided to stay. Happy day!

[David Thomasson]

Love all the details in the face, which you captured in perfect focus. Perhaps mask around the subject and brighten those details a bit ... and darken the
background a little to pop the cat out more. Very nice image.

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2884/bobcat.jpg

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the relaxed pose, sharpness and tight crop, David's repost makes it even stronger.

[Kerry Perkins]

Thank you David!

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Great capture Kerry. Great eye contact and tight crop.
Congrats

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Love the sharpness, the fur details which helps bring out beautiful pattern, and the expression on the cat face. David repose with lighter cat makes the image even better.

[david cramer]

Great image with good detail. Awesome that you got so close!

[Doug Brown]

What a great encounter! I like what David did with the repost.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Nice image, creative thinking to darken BG and make image POP - like em both.