Okavango Lioness

[Russell Johnson]

I am not sure whether I have been looking at this for too long and my eyes are playing tricks, or it does need some re-editing.

To me the image needs to have a little something extra? And not too sure on the colour balance/saturation.

Taken in the Okavango

5D
500mm
1/640 @f5
ISO100

Feel free to tweak and play.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Nice soft colors and light. Nice intense look on the lionesses face.

[Rachel Hollander]

Russell - looks like nice light and eye contact but I don't think your eyes are playing tricks on you. Something looks slightly off, particularly in the chin and lion's left eye area. Maybe post a straight ooc jpeg conversion to see if people can help. Would be interesting to see and maybe it can be one of the monthly exercise images.

TFS,
Rachel

[Stan Cunningham]

I don't know what you are looking for as I like the lighting and color. If I understand Rachel's comment, the unsymmetrical face is due to the lioness has one ear facing behind her instead of in front, looks normal to me.
maybe some added vibrance would bring out some color.

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Russell,
I like your image. My opinion is similar to Stan in that I think there are certain points within the image that affect the overall symmetry of the image. I agree about the ear, but for me the shadow over the right eye of the lioness and the right side of the face affects the facial appearance. I would open them up in shadows and highlights using a smart object layer and one may need to do a bit of non destructive dodging and burning. I am not on my computer at the moment so cannot give it a try.
Thanks for sharing and best wishes,
Mark.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Russell, I like the stance, angle and direct look to camera, however I do find the overall image a tad flat. Also I feel there are some very OOF objects in the FG (subtle) that do play a part in visual clarity in places, albeit small.

Perhaps a slight bump in 'oomph' and some enhancements in the blacks and little more in sharpening, so...

TFS
Steve

[Gregor Bergquist]

I really like this portrait. I have no problems with the ears. I think something looks a little weird with the lioness left eye. For my taste I like saturation and light to be between your and Steves versions.

[Morkel Erasmus]

I don't mind the pose, and strangely (for me) the crop, or even the 'asymmetry' in the face here, Russel.
It just lacked a bit of punch, which Steve's RP added for me. You might prefer it halfway between the OP and RP, though?

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Russell,
Just my two cents worth, WDYT of the repost.
Best wishes,
Mark.
PS: There are some different colour contrast issues in the face and that is possibly what your eye is picking up.

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[Russell Johnson]

Thanks for all the feedback, I went back to the RAW and reworked from scratch.

I did a little gardening under the chin, though the marks on the left of the face are natural, so can't do much with those I am afraid :)

114706

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Russell, a good improvement and thanks for clarifying the marks, I thought they might have been FG vegetation, certainly over the left hand 'Y' of the nose.

Obviously personal taste, but a slight -20 Magenta in the Red & upping the black in the Red channels to +20 just gives it that edge IMHO. :w3

All the best
Steve

[Ken Watkins]

Russell,

Looks pretty good to me in OP, I am unsure what you consider to be a problem