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Morkel Erasmus
08-28-2011, 02:15 PM
Hi folks...we are back from a lovely 8-day trip to the Kruger National Park. We spent the majority of our time in the North, but came down into the Central region for 2 nights and I was happy to be rewarded with this image. Thought I would share it here quickly - I will try and catch up on critiquing as the week progresses :e3.

We heard about this impala ram tucked into a tree by the roadside halfway between the Olifants and Satara camps. We were staying in Olifants for that night and were due to sleep in Satara the next evening (the camps are about 50km apart by road). I drove out there from Olifants at first light to see if the leopard would be there. It wasn't. I stuck around for about 30 minutes but then heard from another visitor about some lions I could go check out further south, so decided to hedge my bets on that. I came back twice later in the day to see if the leopard was back, but found the kill in exactly the same position every time with no sign of the leopard. We headed down to Satara and checked in for the night...and the time was approaching where I would need to decide on where to head for the afternoon game drive. Satara is a great spot and has wide open plains, alluvial riverine forests and plenty of great routes to take with an almost guaranteed "cat" sighting of some kind. I made the call to stock up on refreshments and spend the entire afternoon waiting for the leopard to return to its kill. It hadn't eaten all day, and there was still plenty of meat left on the impala. I had picked a spot earlier where I would be set up for the "ascent" should the cat return. So I got the family in the car (along with Aimee's toys) and headed out there. By this time no-one else was parked here so I could claim my position. By this time what had started out as a sunny day had turned densely overcast as well, so the perfect afternoon light falling on the tree I had hoped for was a no-show...:2eyes2:

The tree was ideally placed in a dip in the land, putting me almost at eye-level with the kill. After a 4-hour wait there was a big throng of cars piled up around us as people hoped to see this elusive leopard. Someone at the back flashed their headlights and indicated the cat was back there. I looked back and sure enough it was lying under a bush behind me but far from the road...outstretched and apparently sleeping...now would it get up before we had to head back to camp? The light was shoddy by now as it was around sunset and still overcast with the threat of rain. I stayed in my spot as I was only interested in one shot...the leopard climing up that friggin tree!! Eventually the leopard got up...but proceeded to tease me by walking up to the tree and around it and lying down on the left-hand side. Yawning. Looking around. Chilling. Teasing. :Whoa!:


Eventually as it neared the time that we HAD to turn around and drive the 23km back to camp in order to make the gate time...it got up and surveyed its kill. So many variable come into play...would it scale the tree from behind, thereby rendering any attempted photo void? Would it even try to climb or lie back down on the ground? Blood pumping...nerves itching...I watched...:eek3:

Then...as if in a dream and as I had watched it unfold in my mind all day...he walked round the front and positioned to the right of the tree...looking up...

I changed my camera position to vertical and checked my exposure as the light had faded a lot since I last checked my settings/exposure on the tree. By this time I had also taken off my 1.4x converter to get all the light I can onto the sensor. I wanted to test my new equipment thoroughly on this trip, and this would be it! I realised that I would have to halve my shutter speed from 1/400 to 1/200 to gain an ISO improvement from ISO-8000 to ISO-4000 at my chosen aperture of f4 (which shows you how utterly shoddy the light was...I wouldn't even have attempted this shot with my 7D combo :c3:). I decided to take the gamble and hope for the head to come out sharp as I knew how fast these guys can climb.


And then it launched! I followed it up the tree, my D3s clicking away ferociously. It got to the top and started feeding. We had to turn around and head to camp.

I quickly reviewed some of the frames I had captured...and was elated! How fulfilling it is to spend so much time envisioning the shot, preparing for the shot, and then sitting there as the percentage of luck that is needed to tie it all together falls in your lap and you can walk away with one or a couple of images to tell the tale. This one immediately grabbed my attention (though I have a few frames with good sharpness and might share them later), as it shows the movement in the paw but the head is sharp...it shows the position of the kill and the tense muscles of the leopard and its focus on its target. The IQ is amazing at these settings and the noise at full resolution is very little and very manageable (I would even dare say the noise levels at ISO-4000 are comparable to the noise I was getting with my 7D at ISO-400 to ISO-800 :2eyes2:, even when cropped).

Anyway...wanted to share the story behind the image as it really is part of what wildlife/avian photography is about, right? That moment when it all comes together to cancel out the hundreds of times that it should've and it didn't...:t3

Techs:
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0 @ 1/200 SS @ ISO-4000
Lens rested on beanbag over car window
Cropped from 12mp to about 6mp
One round NR to the BG, none to the leopard and tree
Levels, saturation, WB adjustments made
Ran luminosity layer on the BG to make it darker

Robert Amoruso
08-28-2011, 03:35 PM
Killer image Morkel. You better enter this somewhere! :5

Hilary Hann
08-28-2011, 06:11 PM
Love the story, almost didn't need to see the image as the words described it so well. But I love the image, the strong composition and I love the movement in the foot. Worth the wait, well done on Aimee for coping, I'm sure she'll get used to it!! :w3

Stan Cunningham
08-28-2011, 06:15 PM
Thanks for sharing Morkel, what a killer shot. The pic itself is a story but your background was great.

Tom Graham
08-28-2011, 07:30 PM
Love it. Perfect crop and PP. There is big advantage to framing shot wide and cropping later for composition. Not that you had any other choice :S3:
Been to Satara, Olifants. Letaba, love that area of Kruger.
Tom

Marc Mol
08-28-2011, 10:25 PM
Superb interactive image here Morkel and one well worth putting in the hard yards for.:cheers:
Love the BG that the 500VR supplies.:w3


I realised that I would have to halve my shutter speed from 1/400 to 1/200 to gain an ISO improvement from ISO-8000 to ISO-4000 at my chosen aperture of f4

Just wondered why you chose ISO over SS?? As you would know by now the D3s could have easily handled this @ ISO8000 giving you a safer 1/400s.
I've had many perfectly usable D3s images posted here up to ISO12800.
Was your plan all along to go for body blur and sharp head perhaps?:w3
BIG congrats yet again, I love this type of predator cat image.
I'd have this as my new Avatar!:bg3:
TFS

Harshad Barve
08-28-2011, 10:46 PM
Great moment froze with great gear :w3 , top class
TFS

Paul Taylor
08-29-2011, 12:33 AM
It's perfect for me! Even the tree conspired to be the right shape (with the right framing of course). Congratulations for a special moment. Certainly shows off the capabilities of your camera too.

RakeshDhareshwar
08-29-2011, 02:04 AM
Absolutely nothing to add !!! +1 with Robert .

Steve Kaluski
08-29-2011, 05:02 AM
Hi Morkel certainly a fine image, looks like you are getting to grips with your new toy.

Can I ask, is it the hi ISO, sharpening or a bit of both, but the tree stands out a little especially at the top, but that might be the detail in the bark. Just a learning curve shooting at hi ISO, be good to know. Would have been very interesting to have seen the image at 8000 as I think Marc has a point, but there is always next time. Congrats on the image.

TFS
Steve

Dumay de Boulle
08-29-2011, 05:14 AM
I think this is great bud...A winner on all accounts!

peter delaney
08-29-2011, 09:33 AM
Wow... long intro :bg3:.. cant believe you sat for 4 hours and did not see the leopard! :S3:

lovely image , killer composition....

Have to agree with Marc and Steve about the iso ... from this size image..... the tree ,the kill, or leopard do not appear sharp... I hope this is not the case ... or you will always be kicking yourself for not pushing the iso ... I certainly have learnt that from previous experiences.

With situations like this I either prefocus the lens or manually focus on tree and step the aperture down ..but I also know with the adrenaline pumping its difficult to think straight sometimes...

well done again...

Morkel Erasmus
08-29-2011, 11:16 AM
Thanks very much for the kind and constructive feedback folks.

Having never shot this camera at these settings before I had to make a call. The slow SS also was in the back of my mind in that it might create a more dynamic image as opposed to a 'frozen' leopard...

Peter - I actually did prefocus on the tree and followed the leopard from there. According to the Online DOF calculator (http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html) at the given subject distance (66.8m) I would have had an in-focus field of 4.26m which would have been enough for the leopard in terms of DOF.

Here is a 100% crop out-of-camera. It probably did suffer a bit from the slow SS but I think given the techs this is quite acceptable especially given the focus distance...at least I won't be kicking myself :w3 but I will probably not hesitate to go even higher on ISO next time. This will also show everyone the noise levels without any PP being done (thus as it appears in-camera). Bear in mind that this is now cropped from 12mp to 0.5mp.

Steve, I think the tree appears sharper on the web version due to some sloppy sharpening on my part. :e3

I will do a rework on the sharpening side and see how it comes out?

Steve Kaluski
08-29-2011, 11:28 AM
Steve, I think the tree appears sharper on the web version due to some sloppy sharpening on my part. :e3

If you are right Morkel, we have ALL been there :bg3:, no worries. Might include the head of the Impala (?) too, but it might be old eyes. :bg3:

Meant to say, the colours are cracking.

Morkel Erasmus
08-29-2011, 11:29 AM
Wow... long intro .. cant believe you sat for 4 hours and did not see the leopard!

I have to make you guys read a bit once in a while...:w3

Well, the leopard wasn't there at 2pm when I picked my spot and parked. Said spot was a point where you looked through a gap in a line of trees by the roadside so visibility to the RHS beyond what you see in the image was limited :Whoa!:...it probably snuck up there between 4 and 4h30 and was noticed by others only around 4h45pm. :w3

Morkel Erasmus
08-29-2011, 02:19 PM
If you are right Morkel, we have ALL been there :bg3:, no worries. Might include the head of the Impala (?) too, but it might be old eyes. :bg3:

Meant to say, the colours are cracking.

Thanks Steve.

Here's a repost with less sharpening applied to the tree and impala, and more on the leopard to make it stand out more. I think it works better, thanks! WDYT? :tinysmile_shy_t:

Tom Graham
08-29-2011, 05:05 PM
Yes, better with less sharp tree. The course tree bark light/dark pattern adds its own "natural" sharpening. I noticed this also on the lion cub image I posted about two weeks ago.
Tom

Marc Mol
08-29-2011, 05:26 PM
This repost is looking good here Morkel.:w3

Andy Biggs
08-29-2011, 09:37 PM
Morkel, this is one cracker of an image. Absolutely superb. Thanks for sharing both the image as well as the story behind the capture. Green with envy over here.

Steve Canuel
08-29-2011, 10:03 PM
Late for the party but I just finished reading your intro from last night :t3. Isn't it great to envision and then get the shot you wanted? Congrats on that. Great scene and colors. I like the repost with the reduced sharpening. I also like the blurred front paw, it gives it a sense of motion and prevents it from being a leopard stuck on a tree shot.

Tommy Rodgers
08-30-2011, 07:23 AM
The re-sharpening really works well. This is a grew thread for a rookie to read. I love the story leading up to the capture. Sometimes, when you're new at something, you wonder how others would do it. From an expert, this recounting of the drama leading up to the picture is invigorating and inspirational. There is so darn much to learn in digital photograph that sometimes I get overwhelmed and forget to enjoy the moment. Thanks for the sharing the image and the experience.

Rachel Hollander
08-30-2011, 08:38 AM
Morkel - Congrats on a great image and on your patience to see it unfold the way you envisioned. Thanks for the lengthy description of the scene and set up as well. Repost is better IMHO.

Congrats again,
Rachel

Morkel Erasmus
08-30-2011, 04:33 PM
Thanks for all the very kind comments/feedback, folks...
I am glad that some of you found my 'essay' a good read :w3

Roman Kurywczak
08-30-2011, 04:53 PM
Great job with the repost Morkel and the kill and moment captured worked very well! You should be thrilled with this one!

DanWalters
08-30-2011, 08:53 PM
Repost looks very nice. Love the angle with the leopard going up the tree. The prey really adds to the image as well.

Vivaldo Damilano
08-31-2011, 02:07 PM
Brilliant Morkel, would be very happy with this shot, love the story and I think you must be very happy with the D3s at high ISO. Congrates on a fine image well done :S3:

RakeshDhareshwar
09-01-2011, 01:54 AM
I have been coming back to this image almost 10 times a day !!! Mesmerising !!! Thanx for the treat !!

Morkel Erasmus
09-01-2011, 03:46 AM
Thanks so much for your kind words Rakesh, Roman, Vivaldo and Dan! :bg3:

Stu Bowie
09-01-2011, 10:06 AM
Hey Mork, knowing how agile and quich leopards can climb trees, this is simply stunning and well timed. Being in the open and in Kruger, makes it even more special as a sighting and capture. Of course the inclusion of the kill adds so much more. Very well timed and captured.

Morkel Erasmus
09-03-2011, 11:25 AM
Thanks for your kind words Stu!