mama and cub (3)

[Tom Graham]

This taken in May of 2007 in Sabi Sand Reserve South Africa. Discovered lioness and her two small cubs very late in afternoon. They were in a dry river bed on some large warm rocks.
White balanced to "taste", sharpening. Cropped to about 70% of original frame. f8, 1/400, ISO 400, 280mm.
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http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/11727fe07bc383002ae081314077b7466g.jpg
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All C&C and re-works welcome.
Tom

[Hilary Hann]

Tom, you have captured a really lovely pose here but I find the lioness a little soft. I would also add a little black to the image as it appears a bit washed out to me. I love the fact that you can see the left leg of the cub. I would also be tempted to try a different crop, giving the lions a bit more room on the left for the lioness to look into, and taken off just a little bit on the right hand side, if you have this available.

[Tom Graham]

Thanks Hilary. You would "add black", "washed out"? You mean needs more contrast? More "pop"? I went back added a little contrast and lightened gamma, here is now -
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http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/c860fbf872b3d200879882b7244a43446g.jpg
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Sharpened a bit also. I like re-post better. Needs more of all of above??
But did not re-crop, too lazy, but do agree with about crop, a little off right and bit add on left. Noticed that after my original posting.
Tom

[Hilary Hann]

Tom, I've done a rough re-work, but it would be good to have a little extra on the LHS. Don't be lazy, I think this image is well worth the effort.

BTW, don't you think 'washed out' is a very photographically correct term? :D

[David Thomasson]

Oh, my, big-time cute alert on this one! :p Love the mellow expressions, especially the baby face. Nice work!

This image seems perfectly realistic and illustrates why I'm often not a strict realist: The color and saturation
of the background blend in a bit too well with the subjects. Obvious remedy: fade the background a bit, luminosity
and saturation (need a mask, of course). I would also crop from the right and bottom. And some selective sharpening
of the subjects.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/9441/mamaandcub.gif

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/184/mamaandcub.jpg

[Hilary Hann]

David, I'm not a realist either and I like the half of what you've done that I can see, sadly the bottom half won't load. :( But I like what you said you'd do, sounds good to me.

[Tom Graham]

Hilary, thanks for your re-work. But the big shadow on mama looks too dark to me. (monitor issues?)
David, thanks, I agree BG blends with subject and like you re-work of it a lot.
Many thanks both for you efforts - Tom
ps - attention Hallmark Cards, this image available for next years "Mother's Day" cards. Rights negotiable :)

[David Thomasson]

David, I'm not a realist either and I like the half of what you've done that I can see, sadly the bottom half won't load. :( But I like what you said you'd do, sounds good to me.

Thanks, Hilary. I like your rework. I think we must have been reworking at the same time, because I didn't see yours until after I had posted. Our crops are almost identical (great minds ....).

Not sure why you can't view both of my images. Probably a temporary glitch in Imageshack, or somewhere along the line between here and Australia. Will probably come back soon.

[Hilary Hann]

I'll try a re-load later and see if it comes up.

[Harshad Barve]

How I wish this was in my files , Mighty fine image
TFS

[Danny Laredo]

Fantastic moment with excellent light.
Hilarys' crop is spot on.