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Thread: The Elusive One

  1. #1
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default The Elusive One

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    It was over in a minute or two, but I will never forget the glimpse we had of this elusive and beautiful leopardess in Mana Pools. They are resident in the area but not often seen and very skittish.
    We spotted her under the canopy of a tree on the edge of a bed of reeds in the Zambezi river late one afternoon after the sun had set and we were on our way back to camp.


    I love that this is a TRULY wild leopard in one of the last TRULY wild places in Africa...and not one that we were able to almost impale in a game viewer without her budging.
    She sat for a minute or two, gave us a fleeting glance, and disappeared into the reeds and out of sight.


    The light was at an absolute minimum so I opened my lens aperture wide and pushed the ISO.
    The Nikon D3s is amazing at high ISO settings and I was very pleased with how this came out.


    Techs:
    Nikon D3s with Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
    f4.0 @ 1/80 SS @ ISO-7200
    Rested on beanbag over car window
    60-70% of full frame image
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 07-11-2012 at 05:22 PM.
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    I like this portrait, Morkel. The colors are stunning. You have gorgeous light and I really like how it's hitting your subject. He's in his habitat and doesn't even seem to notice you are there. Love the way his eye, whiskers and fur are so full of details. There is the issue of the dark "blobs" in the lower part of the frame which can be distracting but your subject is so powerful here that I feel this works.
    Marina Scarr
    Florida Master Naturalist
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  4. #3
    Ken Watkins
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    Morkel,

    This is marvelous, I have not as yet seen a Leopard in Mana, maybe next year?

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    Congratulations Morkel. This is a beautiful image. The habitat, BG & the light all came together for you. I especially like the visible curved tail. I can feel your excitement with this capture. TFS.
    Andrew

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    Brilliant one !! and echo what Marina has mentioned .

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    BPN Viewer Tom Graham's Avatar
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    I like it a lot, agree with all above comments and will repeat about beautiful light. I like the dark and green leaves on the right side, it seems as if the leopard is looking in there and we would like a peak also. Just wonder if those right leaves could be subdued a bit perhaps in color? so to not draw my eye to them so much.
    Tom

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  12. #7
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel, good choice on the format and repeating the point again, the light is awesome. Love the light and clarity of the face, especially the eye, it just draws you in, nice work. I think Tom has a point about subduing the leaves a tad on the RHS, but not sure how you might do that, so perhaps leave as is.

    Still would like to see a print to see IQ at ISO7200+

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    OK, so faults already mentioned aside, the stare and quality of light in this shot is seriously great

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks a lot folks. I know the scene is busy...but that's where she posed for a few seconds before disappearing totally...


    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Still would like to see a print to see IQ at ISO7200+
    I am working on some prints of high ISO images at A2 and A3 sizes...will take some pics for you when it's done
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Gorgeous Morkel, all been said Well Done, love it

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Morkel - congrats. As has been said above, love the colors and the light. Intense stare is nice too.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel
    it is all been said about the nits,nothing to add.
    Just great IQ and processing especially on the subject. Would love to see the raw file !!
    Beautiful colors and composition.

    Cheers Andreas

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  23. #13
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks Andreas, Rachel and Vivaldo...

    For those interested, here is the full frame image, exported from RAW with no additional PP done...(100% crop of face to follow)
    Morkel Erasmus

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    As promised - 100% crop of facial area...no PP done apart from RAW conversion.

    If you keep in mind this is ISO-7200...quite decent. I think this one will print up to A3 with ease after some pre-print prep, will let you know Steve!
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Morkel, captivating image. Very interesting cropping. Looking forward to 100% crop of the face.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by EzhilSuresh View Post
    Morkel, captivating image. Very interesting cropping. Looking forward to 100% crop of the face.
    Thanks Ezhil. It's in the post right above your comment
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Lifetime Member Markus Jais's Avatar
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    I love Leopard and this is a great shot. Wonderful light and great colors. Very good IQ for ISO 7.200 (unthinkable with my 7D). I like the stare
    and the composition.

    Markus

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    Great shot and composition. I have the same lens and it's wonderful to see it action a such an elusive subject. Imagine if you had the new 800mm!!! Bill

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    Lovely image indeed !!!
    TFS

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    Crop looks good for such a high ISO without PP. By the way, I was caught out by my slowness (I was just wondering how I'd have ended up cropping the full frame image) in posting the reply after started writing when there was no 100% crop.

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  36. #21
    Forum Participant christopher galeski's Avatar
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    Beautiful image,the light and sharpness of the leopard pure magic.TFS.

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Love the overall colour here Morkel, with the tentative pose really suiting.
    Image quality holding up nicely as well, confident that it would come up nicely @ A3+, have successfully done so myself at ISO 12800 on my D3s.

    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post

    I love that this is a TRULY wild leopard in one of the last TRULY wild places in Africa...



    Which is why you must venture out to the Sth Luangwa
    Last edited by Marc Mol; 07-14-2012 at 07:06 AM.


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  40. #23
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks again for the kind comments, folks...

    Quote Originally Posted by Marc Molloy View Post
    Love the overall colour here Morkel, with the tentative pose really suiting.
    Image quality holding up nicely as well, confident that it would come up nicely @ A3+, have successfully done so myself at ISO 12800 on my D3s.



    Which is why you must venture out to the Sth Luangwa
    Marc, good to hear about your experience in printing at high ISOs...
    South Luangwa is very high on that must-see list!
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Love the processed/cropped pose, but the original one is also very enjoyable to me. Gives a good idea of how the forest layout is, with these keepers of the wild standing out in it.
    Cheers and Cheers!!
    TFS

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