Another from my 2009 trip to the Sabi Sands. Taken on the morning game drive just as the cheetah surveyed his territory from a termite mound.
Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/640
f9
ISO 400
HH from safari vehicle. Cropped to remove foliage and part of leg from bottom. Levels and sharpened (final sharpening for web with action posted by Morkel) in CS5.
C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,
Rachel
11-28-2011, 10:24 AM
Dumay de Boulle
Great light and smooth BG. Some of the best IQ I have seen from you...A bit too much open space on the right hand side for my taste.
11-28-2011, 10:34 AM
Ken Watkins
Rachel,
IMHO you have perfectly illustrated the major problem with capturing Cheetah images, it is very difficult to capture a full eye or in this case two eyes, due to their skull structure.
On my monitor (recently calibrated) it looks a bit bright I would just drop it down a bit in curves.
11-28-2011, 10:51 AM
Tom Graham
Techs and such all fine. But for me a (another) portrait that lacks interest to bring it above the average animal head shot.
Tom
11-28-2011, 01:17 PM
James Shadle
Agreed on the techs.
Interest is in the eyes of the beholder. As someone fairly new to the Wildlife Forum:w3 found the image interesting.
What I found particularly interesting was the healed scratches on the cats face. Not always an easy life.
The fine details are visible because the subject(cat's head) is fairly large in the frame and the image is both sharp and well exposed.
I do agree with Ken, perhaps a slight curves adjustment.
11-28-2011, 02:36 PM
Gregor Bergquist
Very nice portrait. I think the stone or mudd just behind the back of the cheetah is a little disturbing. Otherwise I like the composition.
/Gregor
11-28-2011, 02:37 PM
gail bisson
Hi Rachel,
I would crop this image in tight-maybe even a square crop- to really show off this beautiful guy or gal. The IQ is good and nice BG, just too much of it on the right.
Gail
11-28-2011, 03:05 PM
Marc Mol
I like the BG and lighting here Rachel, all crits mentioned.
TFS
11-28-2011, 03:46 PM
Steve Kaluski
Hi Rachel, nice light in the eyes and colour looks good, difficult sometimes to get right. Would agree on cropping some off the RHS. perhaps a third?
TFS
Steve
11-28-2011, 04:12 PM
Morkel Erasmus
1 Attachment(s)
Some good suggestions given above, Rachel.
IQ does look very good, as does colour. I like the portrait as presented, and it's tricky to get good mug shots of these guys in good light at the best of times, so for me the image has interest :t3.
Here's a repost in which I applied some highlights toning with a luminosity mask, and also tried a different crop which removed the mound...WDYT?
11-28-2011, 07:01 PM
Rachel Hollander
Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone, much appreciated. Morkel - I like the crop and repost. Thanks.
Rachel
11-28-2011, 08:53 PM
Robert Amoruso
Rachel,
Morkel captured my feelings on the image well.
11-28-2011, 11:18 PM
Harshad Barve
terrific image Rachel , loved re-post by Morkel
TFS
11-28-2011, 11:50 PM
Stan Cunningham
You nailed it Morkel.
11-28-2011, 11:55 PM
Jamie Douglas
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stan Cunningham
You nailed it Morkel.
I have to agree. For me the intial nit was the distracting rock in the BG. But apart from the nit this is awesome and I love the moody stare.
11-29-2011, 08:06 AM
Rachel Hollander
Thanks Robert, Harshad, Stan and Jamie.
11-29-2011, 02:34 PM
Stu Bowie
Hi Rachel, I really like the head turn, and the light has brought out the 'honey eyes' nicely. Colours look spot on, and a lovely clean BG. Comp wise, I do prefer more space than less space, but I also like Mork's repost. Believe it or not, I have still to date, never seen a cheetah in the wild. :e3
11-29-2011, 03:26 PM
Rachel Hollander
Stuart - thanks. Sorry, but you'll just have to spend more time in the bush so that you see them in the wild :bg3:. I have been fortunate to see cheetahs in the wild on each of my 3 trips to Africa. I did not expect to see any in the Sabi Sands but was pleasantly surprised with 2 sightings. I understand that one of the better places to see cheetah in S.A. is in Phinda.
Thanks again,
Rachel
12-01-2011, 09:43 PM
Steve Canuel
Nice colors, detail, and pose here Rachel. Its a nice simple image. Like your wider original comp but would remove the rock if mine.