I am back from an amazing trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. I wanted to 'ease into things' but was just too excited about this sighting to share anything else here on BPN...
One of my most memorable moments on safari came last Thursday morning at sunrise when we were witness to lions hunting, killing and devouring a young eland right next to our vehicle...on an open plain...with almost no vegetation to clutter the view.
I will share a whole series of these as I get stuck into processing...but here's one that just made me grin from ear-to-ear when I saw it on the back of the camera LCD that morning.
This is full frame left to right and only cropped slightly top and bottom.
Would love your thoughts. She's actually running through the dust left by the prey.
I'll get stuck into critiquing some of the images posted in my absence tomorrow!
Techs:
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f5.6 @ 1/800 SS @ ISO-2500
Morkel - sounds like a great sighting and looking forward to the whole series. What an excellent image to start off with. Nice and sharp with a good HA and fantastic action with all 4 paws in the air. Looks like she's got a decent vertical leap too.
An exciting image of an experience that you will remember for a very long time. I like the dust coming off the rear feet, the pose & the comp. Wonderful image. TFS.
Love it for all of above reasons. Especially her eye concentration.
Though might like a bit more space all around. Know that you did crop some top/bottom. Great luck (or skill ) to get her that position full frame.
Ton
Last edited by Tom Graham; 12-03-2012 at 05:55 PM.
Hey Morkel,
hope you enjoyed the time in this magical place.
Nice one to start with.
Like the speedy action you captured , perfecto framed, here.
Would like to see a bit more depth in the lion and specially in the dust to make it more obvious , but leave the rest untouched.
Small amount of USM on the head , i would prefer ,too.
thanks for the time taken to do this RP, Andreas...
for me it looks a little gritty and choked up, it was a slightly overcast sunrise and with all the dust the contrast was naturally low in the scene, I tried to add enough depth without losing the feel of the conditions that morning.
Hi Morkel, good to see some exchanges and thoughts on this one.
Well timed, love the splayed legs and mid flight posture, with the intense focus. Being 'picky' (thought we had lost that word ) perhaps a tad more separation in the front paws? I think overall it's a shot we would all love to have, but to execute it, well that's another story especially with a fixed lens, nice one. When I first viewed it, I too though it needed some more 'in it' it's a little light in all respects, however I can only surmise. Personally I think there is some more mid tone to pull out to give more 'forum' and have probably gone too far on this, it needs a more gentle hand, but you can get the picture, likewise in the nice plumes of dust thrown up in the acceleration too.
I did pick up the rock by the front paws on this RP, found it a wee distracting being so close, however if you like it there, you can put it back. Left the sharpening as is, but perhaps some selective, WDYT?
TFS
steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Yes, good to see everyone's thoughts, Steve. And thanks for yours too! And the repost
As I said to Andreas, it was soft, bright-ish overcast light, brightened even more by the white dust kicked up. I am pretty happy with the depth of the OP, but will play around some and see where it goes. Yours does show a little 'heavy-handedness' but I know what you're going for.
Hey Morkel, I do prefer the OP. The RPs create too much contrast that accentuates the dust in front of the lion making it almost white which I find distracting because it draws my eye away from the lion. But, as has been said, it is all personal. Again, this is a wonderful image that was excellently captured during an exciting encounter. Truly well done.
Hi Morkel,
What an image!!!, this is one of the best lioness images I have seen. It really shows off the true power and agility of the lioness and with the puffs of dust, well that has just taken it over the top. Well done!!
I have taken the liberty to improve the basic mid tones, improving contrast by using the soft light LBM. To finish the change I burnt the background dune to even focus the eye further on the lioness. What an image, thanks for sharing and I would think that this is your best image I have seen of yours.
Best wishes,
Mark.