Leopard

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Nikon D3 70-200VRII 200mm, 1/60s at F8. ISO 200.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Vivaldo, I like this a lot, love the vertical streaking of the panning movement and the swish of the tail as a counter balance. :S3:

Just me, but not a lover of the darker bushes on the RHS in the 'sky' area. :w3

TFS
Steve, VWD :cheers:

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Thanks Steve. I removed R/S leaves as you suggested.:S3:

[Steve Kaluski]

Interesting Vivaldo, the comment was more a 'gut' reaction and perhaps on reflection, the OP works, as I think it works with the tail & the space, WDYT?

Would suggest waiting and see what the thoughts & feelings are from others, either way I still think it's an excellent capture.

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Steve I would choose the repost but it will be interesting to here other opinions.

[Marc Mol]

Love the shoulder and tail blur shimmy, with the head nicely sharp, like the RP a little better as well.
The flying bits of bark are also a nice touch. VWD Viv.:cheers:
TFS

[Hilary Hann]

Excellent use of blur on this image and unusual to see the vertical effect. Love the fact that you have the eyes sharp, really adds to the look. Like Marc, I like the flying bits of bark. I really don't have an opinion on the bush, either image works for me. Not much help, sorry.

[Rachel Hollander]

Vivaldo - nicely done blur. I think I prefer the repost.

TFS,
Rachel

[Paul Taylor]

Super execution and a really strong shot. My first thought was either you must see quite a few leopards descending trees or you are very brave (and confident/able) to stake the shot on a pan. I admire that!


I think it's really interesting that you have a shot with so much movement but a composition that is so central and vertical. I prefer the OP just slightly (maybe 'balance' - not sure why) but the edit adds more symmetry. Great work both ways in my eyes. Maybe a little more room at the bottom to get the sharp area up a bit would make it even better.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Oh my Vivaldo - I love this one! This is one of those blurs where the head had to be tack sharp and it is (at least at this size - would be interesting to see a crop of the head from the high res version? :w3).

You know my stance on cloning so I don't mind the bush in the top right of the OP. I might just tone down its sharpness and contrast so it doesn't draw the eye much. Might also tone down overall saturation just a smidge.

Overall - high 5 :5!!

[Ken Watkins]

Vivaldo,

I have to confess that I am not a fan of blurred shots, was it a deliberate decision to shoot this slow or was there just not enough light?

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Ken I went for the blur. I have always wanted to try shooting blured shot of animals, it for me is a art and of course not an easy shot to pull off. In the end I got a bit lucky:S3:

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks Vivaldo

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Hi Morkel, here is a very big crop of the head. let me know WDYT :w3

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Paul unfortunately I don't see leopard running down treesevery day :eek3::bg3: <v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"> </v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas> <v:path o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"> <o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype><v:shape style="width: 18pt; height: 15pt; visibility: visible; mso-wrap-style: square;" id="Picture_x0020_1" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/images/smilies/eek3.gif" o:spid="_x0000_i1025"> <v:imagedata o:title="eek3" src="file:///C:\Users\Vivaldo\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\0 1\clip_image001.png"></v:imagedata></v:shape>I did however try using a slow shutter speed and to be honest didn't expect much. Thanks for commenting.

[Russell Johnson]

Great capture...I like the cloned out branch, though you could probably selectively make it less eye catching withou fully removing it.

[Harshad Barve]

Gotta love this , awesome capture
TFS