Waiting for mum.

[Marc Mol]

8.02pm

I spent two hours with these 3 month old leopard cub pair (the other higher up) whilst an electrical storm raged close by in the hope that mum may show, not to be unfortunately.
But captured some nice images using just a vehicle spot light, high iso and minus EV settings.

D700 70-200VRII 1/640s f/7 ISO 1600@ 200mm -2.3EV Chipela Chayumba region, Northern Mfuwe. Sth Luangwa NP- Zambia. Nov 2011

C & C most welcome

Cheers
Marc

[Ken Watkins]

Marc,

A truly wonderful capture given the circumstances. The use of a spotlight is just right for this and so much better than flash. I might be tempted by a different crop basically a little from the top.

What is around the edges?

[Marc Mol]

Thanks Ken.




What is around the edges?

Can only be the tree trunk/bark above and below.

[Ken Watkins]

Marc,

It could be my monitor or my eyes but there appears to be what I can only describe as a border of noise all around the edges of the image.

Can anyone else see it?

[Rachel Hollander]

Marc - very effective use of spot. Looks like the cub is hanging on for dear life. I like the darkened edges. I could be wrong but think Ken may be seeing a slight variation in the darkness of the bg which might be more apparent depending on the brightness and contrast of a person's monitor. (I had a similar issue with a spotlit owl image depending on what monitor I was viewing it on). Maybe go a bit darker with the bg to eliminate the issue.

TFS,
Rachel

[Jess Lee]

Great job under the conditions.

[Tom Graham]

Love the composition and use of one soft light. I would also crop some from top.
I do not see the "noise" issue around the edge. But my room light on -my monitor- right now is soft inside shaded daylight and not as much dimmer night time. Tonight I will see "blacker blacks". Your monitor will do the same unless you have very controlled room viewing conditions.
Tom

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Marc, would suggest you go to Levels and bring in the RH slider say to 225 as an adjustment layer, add some brightness and apply this to the cub only, pops nicely, however the noise then begins to show. I might also darken the area above the cubs head to where the stands of 'creeper' (?) curve down.

The image also appears to have a horizontal line running right through the image, about an inch down from the top?

TFS
Steve

[Marc Mol]

Appreciate the comments everyone.

Steve
Your like/dislike on the image itself?:bg3:


Hi Marc, would suggest you go to Levels and bring in the RH slider say to 225 as an adjustment layer, add some brightness and apply this to the cub only, pops nicely, however the noise then begins to show. I might also darken the area above the cubs head to where the stands of 'creeper' (?) curve down.
TFS
Steve

Have actually done something very similar to your suggestions already, plus increased the exp 1/2 stop selectively on the cub.:w3
I had also added a small amount of canvas above to balance the image, hence the very slight horizontal line which has now been remedied, my apologies as I should have mentioned originally.:e3

[Steve Kaluski]

Your like/dislike on the image itself?

Like. :cheers:

Having just looked at it again and just opening the face up a bit more and then cropping 3 x2 down from where you added more canvas it think brings it all together nice. Can RP if you want me too. :w3

[Marc Mol]

Like. :cheers:

Having just looked at it again and just opening the face up a bit more and then cropping 3 x2 down from where you added more canvas it think brings it all together nice. Can RP if you want me too. :w3

Have to agree with you, my original F/F would have been fine, no need to add any more canvas.
I seem to spend to much time worrying about what others may like in an image and not going with my original gut instincts.:e3

[Steve Kaluski]

I seem to spend to much time worrying about what others may like in an image and not going with my original gut instincts.

Marc, trust your instinct and gut reaction and never worry about trying to please others. Your 'style, image and photography' will be better for it and will then develop more and likewise your confidence in your own thoughts & processes of your imagery and how you wish to portray/convey your images.:S3: Conveying in the intro what you want to achieve in the image may help along the way, as it helps steer the viewer to your wishes and aspirations for the image.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Lighting very well handled here Marc. The cub's vulnerable pose tells a whole tale.
My initial thought was to shave some from the top, it seems you have come to the same conclusion. :5
If anything I would want more "black space" bottom RHC for the scared cub to stare into than on top - hence not going for a "centred" leopard but rather tucking it into the top LHC?

[Steve Canuel]

Usually not a fan of spotlit images but this one works very well. The insecure look of the cub matches perfectly the level of surrounding darkness for me.

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Marc,
A wonderful image and the use of the spotlight has worked well. I feel the OP is fine as is and the effect obtained is very subtle.
Well done and thanks for sharing,
Mark.

[Brendon Cremer]

Super stunning image!!!

[Harshad Barve]

Liked it lot , specially expressions of cub
TFS