Cheetah

[Hilary Hann]

We found this cheetah female on the vast, open plains at the southernmost edge of the the Serengeti eco-system. The main herds of the migration were moving through and we found her finishing off a Grant's gazelle fawn.
I cropped off a small amount of the left and top, processed with 2 luminosity masks (one for contrast and one for sharpening), and used another luminosity mask for the light areas set on multiply at 38% opacity.
7D; 70-200 f2.8L @ 200mm: ISO200: f6.3: 1/400s

[Robert Amoruso]

I like that the BG is the cheetah's spots. Nicely composed.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Hilary, like the angle, overall colour/detail & POV, although I/some may feel with the head set against the body some of the nice detail in the head is lost a fraction, but then that's just my POV. :bg3:

I might be tempted to take some of the slight cast out of the whites ie chin & neck, easily corrected if you so wish. The look, blood stained nose and mouth slight open certainly conveys the sense of heightened awareness, especially after a kill, the fly on the bridge of the nose is a nice touch, even having the slight movement in the ear adds to the image. Also just enough of that amber eye showing too. I think with a crop like this I might want to see a little more above, or as presented, going to the more formal 3x2 format, again just my thoughts.

TFS
Steve :w3

[Rachel Hollander]

Hilary - I like this a lot. The cheetah fur as the bg works well and the detail and sharpness is there where it is important. The open mouth, blood and fly all add to the image. My only nit is that I somehat wish the other ear was visible but realize that probably would have ruined the concept and not allowed you to have the fur as the bg of the whole image.

TFS,
Rachel

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Hilary, love the concept of this image with the fur BG. The detail and IQ of the head is great and I also like the small touches , bloodied nose and whiskers and the fly on the nose.

[Morkel Erasmus]

I like your thinking here Hilary and the overall detail captured. With images like this I always prefer to get a good glimpse of the eye as it really then provides such a great focal point to "break the cycle of spots" as it were. Still, nicely done with good exposure throughout. I wish the ear was a bit sharper (seems to be a combination of DOF and motion blur?).

[Steve Canuel]

A touch too tight up top for me but I do like the profile and spotted BG.

[Harshad Barve]

works for me , lovely image
TFS