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Thread: Crouching Bobcat

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    Default Crouching Bobcat

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    I live in Southern California near Los Angeles and don't have much opportunities to see wildlife, so I was so excited to see this bobcat early this morning. It turned out she had a kill and thus refused to leave. She had moved under this bush when she saw me. I had a 500f4 + 2X converter on to shoot a breeding pair of white tailed kite, so I had too much lens. But since she refused to leave, I managed to remove the 2X and got down low for this shot. There ws not much light, so this wa the best I could manage. I wish I would have taken some shots at f5.6 to get more of her body in focus.

    1DX
    500f4 II
    1/200
    f4
    ISO 1600
    Handheld
    AV mode, Evaluative metering at + 1/3 EV

    This is a full frame, un-cropped picture.

    Appreciate your comments.

    Thank you

    Loi

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Loi and welcome to the Wildlife Forum. Nice to see a wild bobcat and glad that he cooperated long enough for you to remove the 2x. You got a nice low pov and great eye contact. I would open up the midtones a bit selectively on the bobcat. There is some blue coming through (most noticeable on the top of the head) which I would reduce. Finally, a little more sharpening would take this up a notch as well. I hope you'll post more wildlife shots.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rachel Hollander View Post
    Hi Loi and welcome to the Wildlife Forum. Nice to see a wild bobcat and glad that he cooperated long enough for you to remove the 2x. You got a nice low pov and great eye contact. I would open up the midtones a bit selectively on the bobcat. There is some blue coming through (most noticeable on the top of the head) which I would reduce. Finally, a little more sharpening would take this up a notch as well. I hope you'll post more wildlife shots.

    TFS,
    Rachel
    Hi Rachael

    Thank you so much for your help. I'm keen to learn how t shoot pics of wildlife since we will be on a safari later in June and I don't have much experience here. I opened up the mid tons a little bit in LR4 using the Light and Dark levels, increased contrast, applied Auto WB (temp went from 6000 to 6600), and more sharpening. I had used a little bit of NR since the BG was noisy. I like the new version a lot more, but would like to hear comments from you and others.

    Thanks

    Loi

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Loi, the RP is certainly an improvement, the OP looked to blue & cold, however I think you could perhaps drop a bit of the yellow overall on the RP. At 1600 the noise should not be as significant as this, I would have started at around 2500, however personally I would suggest you ease off on the additional contrast. Was the lens supported or HH as I am not sure if there might be a little movement at 1/200 which is not helping the sharpness? I would, if the image can take it, crop tighter, coming in from both left, top & right, to emphasis more the face. I think ideally you wanted to move the framing down more and to the right, leaving less space on the LHS and so you had ALL the body in. If she tolerated you at this distance and you had the time, backing off so it wasn't a frame filler would I feel have been better overall.
    You can do a lot about the overall sharpness & noise in LR4 prior to exporting to PS. If you want to fwd the CRS file via Dropbox I will gladly take a look for you.

    TFS
    Steve
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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Nice low angle and a species that is quite rare as I understand it.
    I too wish you'd gone for f5.6 for more options, but actually don't mind the DOF as is.
    The repost is better but still has a greenish cast to my eyes. I support Steve's crop suggestion!
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Hi Loi, the RP is certainly an improvement, the OP looked to blue & cold, however I think you could perhaps drop a bit of the yellow overall on the RP. At 1600 the noise should not be as significant as this, I would have started at around 2500, however personally I would suggest you ease off on the additional contrast. Was the lens supported or HH as I am not sure if there might be a little movement at 1/200 which is not helping the sharpness? I would, if the image can take it, crop tighter, coming in from both left, top & right, to emphasis more the face. I think ideally you wanted to move the framing down more and to the right, leaving less space on the LHS and so you had ALL the body in. If she tolerated you at this distance and you had the time, backing off so it wasn't a frame filler would I feel have been better overall.
    You can do a lot about the overall sharpness & noise in LR4 prior to exporting to PS. If you want to fwd the CRS file via Dropbox I will gladly take a look for you.

    TFS
    Steve
    Hi Steve,

    Agreed with you on the too much yellow on the RP. I will work on it and try tighter crop. The shot was done handheld, but I was lying on the ground, so I have good support with my elbows. I couldn't really back it off due to the tall grass. In fact I had to try different positions to get a clear shot.

    I don't know how to do the Drop box option. Would love to get you the RAW file. Please point me to how to do it.

    Thank you so much.

    Loi

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Loi, OK thanks for the file and at present it's just uploading to send back. had to cut the size down a fraction as it was over 500mb as it's a TIFF rather than a JPEG.

    Firstly I see you put the FP on the right eye as viewed, IMHO that's fine if you have a greater DOF, I might have placed it on the bridge of the nose on a line to the bottom of the eyes to try and get both eyes & nose sharp, but at f/4 a little tricky perhaps? I tried to get as close to a mid grey for the WB which I measure around the nose, this gave me a 6700. I just opened the exposure up a fraction +0.20, no contrast. Dropped the Yellow by 50%. I also tried to get back some detail in the white areas ie under the eyes & nose. Cleaned up the eyes and changed the green cast in the iris to a black. Obviously how far you take things is purely personal. I also dropped the exposure a fraction to the BKG to try and lift the subject out. Applied some sharpening then exported to PS. Made some Mid tone adjustments, added 2 points of black to the neutrals & black. Applied some gardening to some bits off grass, not visible on this, but you will see on the uncropped version. Cropped & applied some selective USM. What I have done is only my take and have NO idea how close this is so will be interested to know, however I have tried to keep close to the original file. I would look at a skimmer pod to help steady your lens, especially at this low SS, easy to use and works well in this situation.

    Here you go, plus have gone for a slightly tighter crop too.

    cheers
    Steve
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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Wow, awesome rp by Steve. Loi - it goes to show what you can get out of the image. My guess is with steady participation on the Wildlife Forum both by posting your own images and by participating in the threads regarding other people's images, you'll be ready to come home with stellar images from your safari. Where are you going on safari?

    Rachel

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Hi Loi, OK thanks for the file and at present it's just uploading to send back. had to cut the size down a fraction as it was over 500mb as it's a TIFF rather than a JPEG.

    Firstly I see you put the FP on the right eye as viewed, IMHO that's fine if you have a greater DOF, I might have placed it on the bridge of the nose on a line to the bottom of the eyes to try and get both eyes & nose sharp, but at f/4 a little tricky perhaps? I tried to get as close to a mid grey for the WB which I measure around the nose, this gave me a 6700. I just opened the exposure up a fraction +0.20, no contrast. Dropped the Yellow by 50%. I also tried to get back some detail in the white areas ie under the eyes & nose. Cleaned up the eyes and changed the green cast in the iris to a black. Obviously how far you take things is purely personal. I also dropped the exposure a fraction to the BKG to try and lift the subject out. Applied some sharpening then exported to PS. Made some Mid tone adjustments, added 2 points of black to the neutrals & black. Applied some gardening to some bits off grass, not visible on this, but you will see on the uncropped version. Cropped & applied some selective USM. What I have done is only my take and have NO idea how close this is so will be interested to know, however I have tried to keep close to the original file. I would look at a skimmer pod to help steady your lens, especially at this low SS, easy to use and works well in this situation.

    Here you go, plus have gone for a slightly tighter crop too.

    cheers
    Steve
    Wow, Steve, this is amazing! The cat is now so much more alive and when I look into her eyes, I see them so much brighter and 3 dimensional. The darker BG and the tight crop bring the cat's face more prominent, which is really the focal point of this image since the rest of the body is not in sharp focus.

    Thank you do much! I will try to follow your steps with the image so that I can learn myself.

    Loi

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rachel Hollander View Post
    Wow, awesome rp by Steve. Loi - it goes to show what you can get out of the image. My guess is with steady participation on the Wildlife Forum both by posting your own images and by participating in the threads regarding other people's images, you'll be ready to come home with stellar images from your safari. Where are you going on safari?

    Rachel
    Hi Rachel,

    I will try to participate here in the Wildlife Forum regularly from nw on. We will be visiting Amboseli and the Serengeti in June. Can't wait.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Loi, I'm glad it's a step in the right direction, however I am sure that there are others here who can also chime in to help improve the image with their observations, thoughts & comments. Hope you got the returned TIFF file?

    I will try to participate here in the Wildlife Forum regularly from nw on.
    I look forward to your further participation, as we can all learn things from the interaction of others in threads posted.

    All the best for now.

    cheers
    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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    [ Hope you got the returned TIFF file?
    [/QUOTE]

    Thank you so much Steve. Took me awhile, but I finally figured out to get the TITF file.

    Loi

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    Thanks for the file, Loi. Here's my take. Not sure if my colour balance is too yellow (having never seen the animal in real life)...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post
    Thanks for the file, Loi. Here's my take. Not sure if my colour balance is too yellow (having never seen the animal in real life)...
    Hi Morkel, Thank you for looking at this pic. I like the tighter crop as it reduces the part of the body that is out of focus. I can't be sure about the color balance either because it was before sunrise and the cat was in the shade, so the color I saw may not be true either, but my recollection is less yellow.

    Among all of the versions, I love the eyes in Steve's the best as they are very alive - bright and sharp. Would be interested to hear comments for other folks.

    Thank you. This has been a good learning experience for me.

    Loi

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    Wow this has been a great string to read and see all the reposts. Love how much more you were able to get out of the image inspires me to continue to improve my pp.
    Thanks
    Gen
    PS Love bobcats and it seems to me like you made the best of the situation that was persented to you

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