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Thread: Emerging Leopardess

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    Default Emerging Leopardess

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    Location: Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa
    Equipment: Canon 7D and 500mm F4 L lens
    Settings: 1/6400s at F5.6 and ISO 800
    Processing: Lightroom 4 Raw conversion, Silver Efex Pro 2, with selective color (blacks adjustment on leopardess), dodging (with levels) on the grass and resizing and sharpening in CS6.

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    Hi Rudi

    I love the sharpness and detail you have on the leopards face... ! its beautiful...! On the down side I do find the bright grass a little distracting. I think you could tone down the grass to help with this or maybe even better still, leave it as it is and crop a little from the bottom to remove the immediate OOF foreground.

    thanks for showing..

    DON

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Hi Rudi,

    beautiful cat you have got here. I agree with Don with the light FG grass. I might would tone it down as well to lead the viewers eyes to the cat more. If you have a bit more space on the LHS might do good as well!
    Your sharpness of the cat stops to abrupt just after the shoulder! I might would just give those 4 spots in the row a little more sharpness/contrast. Just a tiny tad. All again just IMHP

    Have a great day

    Ciao
    Anette

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Rudi - my guess is that this was in somewhat bright light and you handled it well. I like how she is emerging from the high grass and the comp is good IMHO though a 16x9 might work also. I find the face to be a little smooth compared to the neck and shoulder and wonder why.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    This is a neat image. As others have mentioned the brightness of the grass is a bit distracting. I would probably try to address that in post. The composition is good but I'd be tempted to lose a little bit off the bottom of the frame... not so much as to not leave space for the subjects "virtual feet" mind you. This also might be a situation where the addition of a tasteful vignette might help focus the eyes on the subject. Overall a nice image.

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    I like the leopard emerging from the grass but I would be tempted to crop some of the grass from the base so moving her lower in the frame,if necessary adding a little canvas to the top.

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    Very nice Rudi! I like the intent stare and the position in the grass. Great sharpness. I agree with the others that toning the grass down a little and maybe a touch off the bottom might improve things some but I would still love to have this image as is. Thanks for sharing!

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    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Thanks for the feedback guys! I have made some tweeks... An improvement you think?

    Will also have a look at a slight vignette Bob!

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Rudi, an interesting image and I like the thinking behind the shot. I do feel looking at the OP it looks 'tonally' a little flat. If you compress the Levels for a start it does help, but then if you use a luminosity mask to the scene, but avoid applying it to the subject IMHO the image has more presence and clarity. The RP is the way to go in terms of cropping, but the vignette looks patchy and overall a little muddy? just my take.

    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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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Hi Rudi,

    I like your crop in your RP. Why not try a gradient for the bottom, I am sure that works much better.

    Ciao
    Anette

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    Neat shot. Prefer the repost with the lessened amount of FG.

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    I love the idea of this shot with the soft focus grass surrounding him. Your repost is perfect IMO and I like the b&W effect too

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    I love how she appears from the grass, Rudi. I am going to be otherwise - I like the "more space" of the OP, the crop constrains her too much for me.
    I like the toning and contrast here, though I would play with lifting the brightness of the grass, or conversely making the grass more "grey" and the leopard's whites more "white"...
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Hi Rudi,

    What a beautiful cat and a nice composition. I agree with those who felt the grass was originally too bright and therefore distracting. I may have liked to see just a little more texture in the grass as it seems to me to be possibly blurred a little more than what seems natural. I disagree with those suggesting the crop off the bottom. In the original composition although we cannot see the leopard's legs or paws, it's a mistake to crop to the point where they would be cropped out of the photo if we COULD see them. In other words, do not crop off the 'virtual' legs or paws, or however you want to refer to them. It works well for me in black and white, although I am curious what it looked like in color.

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    Thanks for all the feedback guys! Will surely try and follow the suggestions...

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