Leopards by Two

[Grant Atkinson]

Canon 40D, EF70-200f2.8is, handheld at 200mm. S/Speed 1/250s at f5.6. Iso400. Location Savuti, Botswana. Jan 2008, 09h39am. Overcast morning, grey clouds helped a bit with the contrast. Processed in ACR5.7, bright sky darkened in PS. Cropped from 10mp to 9mp. An adult female leopard with her almost fully-grown son making himself comfortable by lying on her. The youngster was already bigger than his mother, as you can see by his larger head. He is on the lhs of the frame. They had just finished eating an impala.
All C and C welcome.
cheers
Grant

www.grantatkinson.com (http://www.grantatkinson.com)

[Ken Watkins]

Grant,

Well this certainly something you do not see everyday:D

Could probably do with a little more space on LHS and a touch more contrast, but I would take it any day.

Must have been a big Impalla!

[Harshad Barve]

Mighty fine image Grant , I may crop tight if IQ sustains TFS

[Hilary Hann]

Grant, I'm not sure how I feel about this image. As an interesting view of an oversized leopard cub taking advantage of its' mother it is excellent, and I would love to have seen it. But, I really find the chopped off tail a bit off putting and the IQ doesn't seem up to the same standard as most of your other images. Harshad's idea of a tighter crop looks promising, but unless there is more in your file as regards IQ it may not take the crop. Don't mean to sound negative, would love to have seen this, just something isn't quite there. :confused:

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks for the comments...Hilary I don't take it as negative at all. Critique is good. I have not done anything with this image for two years. I should really have taken the pic with the 300mm lens, and shot for the faces, front paws and tree trunk. Leopard tails make things tricky, if you chop them they can look awkward, and if you include the whole tail, the cat gets pretty small in the frame. Also, I do remember that pulling back focal length here brought about more bright sky, and messed with the exposure. Next time :) Harshad, I shall try a tighter crop...
Thanks for commenting, and looking
cheers
Grant

[Grant Atkinson]

Attached is the repost, cropped from 10mp to 4mp.
Cheers
Grant

[Hilary Hann]

Grant, does it for me. Really adds power to the imagery.

I had prepared a leopard photo to post but then you and Morkel put up 2 really good ones so I've decided to put something else up. Something not often seen but it will have to wait until tomorrow. :D

[Harshad Barve]

I liked the repost

[Grant Atkinson]

Glad you liked the repost Harshad and Hilary. I will be heading outdoors from tomorrow, so may only be on BPN here and there over next three weeks. Looking forward to your next posts, whatever it is Hilary
cheers
Grant

[Marc Mol]

Very unusual pose of this two Grant, not often seen. I like it.
To crop the tail or not, always a tricky decision to make with Leopards, a slightly wider perspective (on OP) may have been preferable here.
TFS

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Grant the re post is strong and sure works !!! PS wise I would have left the high key look rather than darkening the sky, gives a strange appearance !! Would just expose for the cats and forget all else !! Would increase contrast a bit more even on the re post !! Check the right side and compare to the head area ( contrast wise ) Excellent image and great behavior captured !!!

[Hendri Venter]

What a fantastic sighting and image thereof. Both are great but I like the repost more.

[Andy Biggs]

What a great image, Grant. Well done! I do prefer the tighter crop, as it better shows what is most important about the scene!

[Morkel Erasmus]

the cropped version improves the shot immensely, and it must've been a cool sighting! I do feel there is a greenish cast overall, maybe try adjusting using "Color Balance" (adjust away from green about 2 points for highlights, midtones and shadows, and maybe towards yellow and red 1 point for all those)

[DanWalters]

Nice image! Really like the cropped version. Brings more attention to leopards.

[Steve Canuel]

Interesting pic. A big pile of leopard! Repost really makes you want to know what they're looking at.