His Majesty for Gab

Hi Gabriela ..... and for sure all others :wave:
Just a Lion in golden early morning light from the KTP , which Gabriela and Andre did not see as they already left the magical place ..... sadly :e3.Oh so many cars cramped up at Leeuwdril WH :eek3:.
So as a reminder ......

Canon EOS 1Dx
EF 200-400 with TC engaged at 448 mm
HH

F 7,1 ; Iso 1600; 1/1000 sec

Processed with Iridient Developer and PS CC 2015 , sadly had to go with this raw converter as i have completely messed up the HL and all other raw converters i work with struggled to get decent detail into the whites . Cropped for comp to 80 of FF from LHS , top and bottom . The FG was not that nice ..... would have liked a bit more at the foot of the image .....however i cropped it to avoid the FG .

Thanks for watching and commenting to my previous posting

Cheers Andreas

Hi Andreas, great light on this awesome lion. Well exposed and very sharp. I like the pose and shooting angle.

Dear Andreas,

I thank you from the heart for this image, not only it brings fond memories of our trip in the Kalahari but it portrays one of my favourite characters inhabiting this amazing place:)

I took some time to reply, been busy searching for some frames of Charlie-Ash of Rooiputs taken in 2012. Judging by a scar below his right nostril and a nick at the top of his right ear, as well as other smaller details, I have come to conclusion that this male is indeed Charlie-Ash, the same lion who fathered those youngsters portrayed in my last post (B/W).

Really sorry for missing this sighting but extremely happy to see your post here in Wildlife, would be very grateful if you could email me some more images of him for ID purposes. Morkel might be able to help and I look forward to his opinion.

Andreas, you have done a great job of dealing with the HL and extracted detail in places I would struggle with. I like your portrayal of this beautiful male and the porcupine quills add a lot of drama to the scene, although on a more personal level I am concerned about his well being... I am thinking he would not have had to hunt porcupines if he were still with his pride? The quill below his right eye is barely hanging there but the one below could cause a nasty infection with dire consequences. Will have to wait and see, when I get there again I shall look for him:)

Lovely detail overall, those people who do research on the species in the KTP would be delighted to have this image. Indeed sharp and if I hadn't seen that golden light before I would think it is too saturated. A tad more red than I would expect but I like it nevertheless, comp works for me and I am just so happy to view your post, thank you so much Andreas - you made my evening:5

Warmest regards,

Hi Andreas - Beautiful warm light. Those porcupine quills look painful. I hope he recovered quickly. I like the pose and the placement in frame, just wish for a bit more below as you said. Techs look good.

TFS,
Rachel

Hi Andreas -- What a beautiful light ! excellent IQ and sharpness and a Handsome looking Lion . TFS !
BTW is it a man made water hole ?

Hi Andreas, based on your intro I personally would have gone for a much tighter crop, more head with those painful quills. Break out the 500 (or longer if you had it) with a 1.4 :S3:.

I like the warmth you have captured within the overall image & generated through PP, but with the man made waterhole it sadly lacks the impact for me.

I know I've been negative now on two postings, but we both feel we can be honest with each other :w3.

Have a good weekend.
Steve

Hi folks thanks so much for feedback .... positive or negative :bg3: well worth at times :wave:.

Haseeb - all waterholes are man made in the KTP , as this is an arid area there are no permanent natural waterholes . There will be some very short standing waterholes after the very seldom rainfall .

Steve - you should know what i think of your thoughts ( what did you say regarding great minds , i forgot LOL .) You can go on a third or fourth time with a negative comment , will not think differently about you :w3, all is subjective at times .
Regarding the crop , well i like it as is , just the waterhole is a bit unfortunate from my POV . Shooting conditions , well will not really want to complain ........ has been a mess . I had to fight for space for my car at the waterhole , we followed the lion for about 2 km ( walking parallel to the dirt track i was on ) , which meant i had to drive my car going ahead to wait for the lion , then shoot a couple of frames , reverse or turn the car and fight again with others who also wanted to shoot from a decent angle . Watching out that i do not bump into another car or into the bushes ....... and then you ask me to change lenses or kit ..... sorry i have to laugh out loud !!!!!!
I think i am able to multi task at times , but this situation is way to much for me . In the end of this story i got stuck between so many cars and had to shoot through the passenger window and over the bonnet of another SUV , so you can believe me it was all but not a relaxed shooting .

So i am not defending myself , just try to explain the circumstances , and i am happy with the out come ( except of the man made elements in the FG , but as you say about your Leopard BG ..... it was there and i cannot change it :wave:.
But all my excuses will not interest the viewer in most cases , so just tell you guys who want to know how things sometimes are as they are .

Cheerio Andreas

Hi Andreas, without being there it's often very hard to appreciate how hard we work to achieve the results we get, especially shooting angles. It can also be very frustrating too with vehicles and drivers who do not understand the importance of where they park, albeit not as bad as in some of India's reserves, or the Mara in parts. However, based on your description of the events I still feel a tighter option would have also been worth exploring, but again, we may think alike, but see things also differently, which is nice. It's all so subjective.

Quote:

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But all my excuses will not interest the viewer in most cases

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They are not 'excuses', you are just telling it as it was and so the 'viewer' has a better grasp of the situation. :S3:

Sorry Steve , just overlooked your tighter crop suggestion , was thinking you meant just why i have not cropped in the field .
Yes a tighter version can also work for sure :cheers:, i just decided to look for a looser crop for the Lion to look into ........ forgot about what he was looking for , maybe for one of those fools who are leaning out of the car window for abetter view .

Great light on an iconic lion, Andreas!
I love the quills, research has shown that porcupines form a major part of the diet of Kalahari lions...