Failed Attempt

[supreet.sahoo]

http:// (http://<a href=&quot;http://s1154.photobucket.com/albums/p532/supreetsahoo/?action=view&current=Filedattemp.jpg&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;><img src=&quot;http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/p532/supreetsahoo/Filedattemp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Failed attemt&quot;></a>)http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/p532/supreetsahoo/Filedattemp.jpg (http://s1154.photobucket.com/albums/p532/supreetsahoo/?action=view&current=Filedattemp.jpg)

Ive been visiting these jungles for the past few years and this was my first sighting of this beautifully striped big cat trying to hunt. We saw 5 tigers in 1 safari and one of the young ones failed to bring down a Sambar Deer(Rusa Unicolor) visible in the background watching the cat move away from him with a pounding heart. These cubs are 15-16 months old and are still with their mother and learning to hunt all by themselves. In the coming few months they will all leave their mother and move away to gain new territories and mark their own kingdoms.

Exif:
EOS 7D, 1/320 , Av6.3, EV 0, ISO 400
Lens EF300mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Supreet. I'm sure this was a stunning experience. For me the crop isn't working and I would crop this heavily from the bottom and LHS.
This would place the emphasis more on the deer and tiger without losing the sense of environment. I do also wish there was less "clutter" in front of the deer, but what can you do about that except place the vehicle differently in the field, which is also not always possible (especially if one sees the crowded nature of some of these tiger sightings).

Here is the crop I had in mind - more or less. You can also adjust the shadows a bit to give you more detail.
Obviously it's best to do this with the higher resolution file...

[supreet.sahoo]

Hi Supreet. I'm sure this was a stunning experience. For me the crop isn't working and I would crop this heavily from the bottom and LHS.
This would place the emphasis more on the deer and tiger without losing the sense of environment. I do also wish there was less "clutter" in front of the deer, but what can you do about that except place the vehicle differently in the field, which is also not always possible (especially if one sees the crowded nature of some of these tiger sightings).

Here is the crop I had in mind - more or less. You can also adjust the shadows a bit to give you more detail.
Obviously it's best to do this with the higher resolution file...


Appreciate the effort Morkel. I also wanted to avoid the clutter around but as you said there's nothing one can do in a situation like this with many jeeps trying to get closer to get shots. I also wanted to avoid a big crop at the same time to restore the image quality but clearly my crop is a little distracting with all the foreground etc. Thanks again for the effort. Will work on my compos in future.

Regards
Supreet

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Supreet, Morkel's given a good account of the image, however with a tighter crop as per above and the Sambar deer visible, I think you would have done very well. I think also in the future, unless the Tiger comes close as you cannot stray off the paths, you might have similar issues with the kit you have, but shooting wide and with uncluttered subjects, the Environment/habitat could be a good route to go for. I would also looking at warming up the image too.

If you wish for your images to be portrayed in their best way, you need to convert your files to sRGB, not RGB for web postings.

Links that might help, note resizing is now 250kb.

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ng-for-posting (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/839-Sizing-for-posting)

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...-for-Web-in-PS (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/62351-Saving-for-Web-in-PS)

TFS
Steve

[supreet.sahoo]

Thanks a lot Steve. My 300mm+tc is definitely a limitation especially when the subject is a little far but I ll definitely try to make the most of it. Im pretty new to this forum and have already started finding it useful. Is there any discussion on this forum somewhere where I can take some additional tips on Wildlife Photo Editing on CS5. I do not have lightroom so my last resort is photoshop. I usually use canon's dpp for cropping and then transfer the image to photoshop for further editing. I firmly believe that one can do only so much on the field to click something that he wants to, but working on colors and levels are still very important. Currently I only crop, resize, hue, saturation, noise, levels etc. It would be great if I can get a more detailed report on editing if it is shared somewhere in the forum.

Thanks in advance
Supreet

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Supreet, you are most welcome and we don't bite either. :bg3: In some ways it might be good to shoot wider as I mentioned so don't worry.

You could check this part out:
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/forumdisplay.php/11-Digital-Photography-Workflow

and this too:
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/forumdisplay.php/186-Monthly-Raw-Processing-Exercises

PS is a good way to learn, as it basically has everything you need using ACR to convert your RAW files from. Later, once you have mastered the basic steps & workflow then you might want to look at other bits of software, but at present I would look at mastering the basic steps as really that is all you need to know. If you can, try to have a calibrated monitor as this will help, especially with colours, but you will need to calibrate at least once a month to ensure correct alignment. DPP is good and I used to use it, however it can be rather limiting, plus you may notice a colour shift from exporting from DDP into PS.

Sharpening then cropping are always your last action, then Save. In that way if you need to go back to adjust your file you have all the components there, otherwise you may need to start from the beginning again.

Simply you create/build your images with WB, hue, saturation, levels, curves and sharpening and any noise reduction, then SAVE. Once you have saved, flatten, crop, SAVE AS, you will then have two files, your Master file with all your layers and workings and your final OUTPUT file to the size you want ie for BPN. Always crop from your Master file, that way you will have the best results you can.

You may want to look at this too, but note, image size is now 250kb
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/62351-Saving-for-Web-in-PS

Enjoy and any questions, just ask.

Steve

[Steve Canuel]

A different look to the tiger shots most often posted here, I like how you've captured how well these animals (both predator and prey) blend into their surroundings. Lots to be learned on this site, don't be afraid to ask questions.