Cheetah Female

[Dumay de Boulle]

This is a great mother on the Greater Makalali Game Reserve and she had 2 cubs that she raised successfully. This was a day when we found her injured. At the time we feared for her cubs but a week later she was fine and hunting again.

Canon 7D
Canon 100-400 L IS @400mm
AV f5.6
TV 1/500
ISO 1000
Exp +0.67
AWB
Evaluative Metering
RAW file processed in CS5 iMac

I seem to be waiting and waiting for the perfect shot. I always look at my wildlife images and say, oh there is grass in front of the paw or face, or the BG s too busy or the light is wrong, or the sun is setting and the conditions are tough...or...or...you get the idea...If I keep waiting I will wait for a long time so I decided to go through a lot of my old files that were never good enough for me and post them and see what I can learn from them and start learning to work with the conditions im given....Crits appreciated.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Dumay, like a lot of people here, it can be quite rewarding to back track through old images as you never know quite what you may find and this is a good find. Colour and detail looks good, shot in true habitat, you cannot do much about the BG and the grasses here. :bg3:

Question, have you lighten the nose as I am comparing to other markings like around the eye? I like the comp/framing, but can you recollect what was happening, as the ears are back, giving me an uneasy feel to the image, as if she almost feels threatened, probably totally wrong. :w3

TFS
Steve

[Rudi van den Heever]

Stunning crisp detail and awesome colour Dumay!:S3: I suppose if she looked directly at you we would have seen your beautiful smile in her eyes!:bg3::bg3:

[Steve Kaluski]

Sorry Dumay, I guess she felt threatened due to her injury perhaps? Re read the intro again. :eek:

[Rachel Hollander]

Dumay - glad she recovered. Well done portrait, sharpness, color and comp all look good to me.:cheers:

TFS,
Rachel

[Brendan Dozier]

I know you have pretty high standards, Dumay, but this is a beautiful portrait you captured. Amazing eyes, color, details, sharpness. Yes, it's always great if you can get a more prefect BG, but you did a great job with what nature presented you.

[Hilary Hann]

I think this is a very beautiful portrait and it shows well the tension she was feeling by the expression you have caught. I'm not sure why you rejected it the first time as I don't find the background distracting at all as the cheetah's eyes are mesmerising.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Thanks for all the feedback folks...Steve, the feeling you are getting is definitely due to the injury. Also had her 2 cubs with her so probably even more nervous than usual. Glad to see you noticed the stressed look. I did lighten the nose ,my thinking was while processing that 'Steve K: will ask me if I could get more detail in the nose':t3:bg3:...Now I look I think I overdid it.

[Steve Kaluski]

Dumay, what can I say, three hour drive at fairly hi-speed and your reply comes through, laugh, I was in stitches and possibly driving without due care and attention when Alison read out your reply, just brilliant and it's taken me this long to stop laughing, am I that predictable? :bg3::bg3::bg3::bg3:

On a serious note, yes I am always on the watch for images that perhaps illustrate bad practice, not that your was, and I know, like me, you would always put the animal first and appreciate the explanation re the swept back ears.

Re the nose, well it is always a gut feeling, does it look right and I am no expert, but I just base it on how I might wish to see it, but it is just a subtle tweak IMHO. Just watch the balance with the eyes, the black marking along the side of the nose and then the nose as it all links together. Again, this is just my personal thinking, others may have better thoughts & ideas.

Once again thanks. :5:5:5:5
Steve

[Dumay de Boulle]

No Steve, not predictable.....Just meticulous:w3:S3:

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey bud, late on this one...I like how you got the colour and details in her eyes...I hope she recovered well! You can definitely dig out some more 'oldies' if this is the kind of material that will surface :t3

[Dumay de Boulle]

Hey bud, late on this one...I like how you got the colour and details in her eyes...I hope she recovered well! You can definitely dig out some more 'oldies' if this is the kind of material that will surface :t3

Thanks bud...Like I said, I must learn to do with the conditions I get or I will very rarely get the perfect op and never post anything and learn to improve.