Leopard at Night @ ISO-20000

[Loi Nguyen]

Not sure which forum is the best for this post, but since I'm "Eagle to Learn," so this Forum seems appropriate.

This is a FF image taken on a private ranch at Laikipia, Kenya. There was a dead cow calf due to natural cause, and the ranch manager put it up on the tree for the Leopard.

1DX
500f4 II
1/200
f5.6
ISO-20000
No flash
Spot light from a safari vehicle

Would appreciate comments whether this shot "works" or not and what would be best in the future. The cat was certainly more beautiful in real life!!!
Thank you !

Loi

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

I like this Loi, certainly a keeper for me! Your PP looks good and there is enough subtle detail on the cat.

[Bob Miller]

Lori.....Wow 20000! This shot looks very good for such a high ISO! The pose looks a bit awkward but I would keep it! The cat looks well exposed and I don't see alot of noise. Nice work!

[Bruce Spell]

Loi, impressive image for ISO 20000! I was also stunned when I read "no flash" (since I hadn't yet read that the scene was illuminated by a spotlight from the safari vehicle, lol). I think the exposure for the leopard is spot on and definitely works for this situation. Did you run any NR on the background? I can see either noise or dust in the black background. What are your thoughts about removing/reducing that?

[Loi Nguyen]

Loi, impressive image for ISO 20000! I was also stunned when I read "no flash" (since I hadn't yet read that the scene was illuminated by a spotlight from the safari vehicle, lol). I think the exposure for the leopard is spot on and definitely works for this situation. Did you run any NR on the background? I can see either noise or dust in the black background. What are your thoughts about removing/reducing that?

Hi Bruce, I did run NR on the BG. Now that you mentioned dust, I went back and looked at the BG at 100% view. What looks like dust are hundreds or thousands of tiny bright dots, not sure what they are. They seem to be mostly in the black BG. I'm thinking it may be the leakage current from the sensor at ISO-20000. I have not seen this before, but I have not shot anything at ISO-20000 in the dark before either. I could clone it out of course, but it will take forever with the spot healing brush :)

Loi

[edwardselfe]

Nice shot - and thanks for explaining how the calf got there - I would have been confused by the wire otherwise! You handled the bright spotlight well - I use spotlights all the time on night safaris here and I know how hard it is to get a balanced shot.
Envious of a camera that can produce images like that at ISO 20,000!
Ed