Lioness at rest

[gail bisson]

Another shot from Botswana. I can't decide if I should clone out the 3 little blades of grass. Is the fact that the left side of her face in shadow an "image killer?
Canon Rebel XS
100-400mm at 370mm
Almost full frame
F 9.0
SS 1/800 EV 0
I cloned a branch sticking out from behind right ear.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and keep me learning:S3:
Gail

[Steve Canuel]

She does look relaxed. I like the texture of the tree trunk. Nice job on the branch removal. I'd personally remove the grass. It almost looks like springs, it doesn't add anything to the image, and it doesn't look like it would be too difficult for you to accomplish. I do like the OOF tree in the BG though and wouldn't touch that.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Interesting perspective here, Gail. I like the stare. I do find the image overall a tad too bright, toning down the highlights would reveal a lot more fine detail IMHO. :t3

Don't mind the blades of grass much...

[Marc Mol]

Agrre with Morkel that the image is too bright.
Tweaked the image here Gail, hope you don't mind with a lumo mask, opened up the shadows also and removed the grass (personally could live with them), let me know what you think.

Cheers
Marc

[Steve Kaluski]

Ahha Marc, great minds think alike.

I really like the relaxed pose & stare Gail, just enough head over the tree and the dappled bushed adds a nice element to the image.

Certainly the removal of the 'sprigs' makes the image cleaner, but personally I don't think it's a deal breaker. I feel though Marc that the luminosity mask has introduced a hint more red into the image, plus I am still not 100% that in some way the image loses a little sharpness & clarity when this is applied, any thoughts guys?

What I might suggest Gail is:
- Apply a little Highlight/Shadow to the head
- Some brightness to it, sorry Marc/Morkel :w3
- A hint of Saturation hopefully just giving it a nice colour
- A hint in Levels

I trust Gail, having the two may give a steer to the way to go on this.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Gail - Nice pose and diagonal lines. The 3 blades don't bother me but it is cleaner without them. Some good points above and Marc's repost handles them well.

TFS,
Rachel

[gail bisson]

Thank you everyone for all your help.I really like the reposts of both Marc and Steve. What is a lumo mask? How do I apply it. I am still a newbie when it comes to CS5.
I find Steve's repost a bit sharper so Steve what do you mean by a hint of in levels?
Gail

[Rachel Hollander]

I was posting while Steve was. I think Steve is right about the hint of red.

Rachel

[gail bisson]

Here is a repost. I decided to leave the textured blade of grass and I played with the levels and curves and photo filter. What do you think?
Steve's repost still looks sharper. Why?

[gail bisson]

Ok. One last try to replicate Steve and Marc's posts! >>>bear with me please!!:t3

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gail, yes the last repost is certainly much closer, if indeed my version is anything to go by? :bg3:

I think your repost is better/closer/reflective of the lioness & the cleaner crisper skies you do get in Botswana.


I find Steve's repost a bit sharper so Steve what do you mean by a hint of in levels?

For convenience I just used an 'action' which also contains a hint of USM in a colour setting, hence it looks slightly sharper, perhaps again, a little too much on reflection, but time is short. :w3

I can't remember which sliders I 'tweaked', but even if I have the adjustment figures it is very much personal preference, the best way is just to move them and see what effect it has on the image.

Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

Good job on the last repost Gail! :5
As Steve said...pretty much a taste thing in the end...:t3

[Dumay de Boulle]

I like the look she is giving you and the IQ looks good. I like Steve's repost best. Your 2 reposts look better on color but distorted and stretched (the lions head I mean) not sure why.