Lion Eye

[Loi Nguyen]

This image taken before sun rise in the Ngorongoro Crater, not much light due to a thick fog layer above the crater's floor. We found this lion next to the road with a fresh wildebeest kill. I decided to go for a head shot, but with the grass covering the bottom of her face, I decided to focus on the eye instead. I had other shots with both eyes but they were a bit blurry, so this is the best shot.

1DX
500f4 II
1/40
f5.6
ISO-3200

Steve, I used the procedure you showed me to find the mid-grey for WB. Appreciate your feedback here.

I can post a FF later if anyone is interested. Your comments are much appreciated.

Thank you

Loi

[Loi Nguyen]

Please see alternate crop. This is almost FF, cropped from 3X2 to 4X3. Sharpened the lion's left eye only.

Loi

[jack williamson]

Exceptional detail in the eye Loi, amazing.

Jack

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Loi, the detail is indeed amazing-great sharpness too. I prefer the OP - I feel that the grass is front is a bit too much in the RP. Don't know your position on cloning, if I were you I would try to clone out where possible. Just another thought-how about a vignette?

Warmest regards,

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Loi,

I as well like the original post more. The details in the eyes is very nice. I might would drop the blue to -30 or -40 in a saturation layer under the eyes in the fur! That is a matter of taste I assume. I like it pulled down to -40 very much. But would leave the blue in the iris for the sky
That's just me.

Ciao
Anette

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, good to try something different and I like your thinking on this one. Shots IMHO like this can fall into that 'marmite' category, you like it or hate it, it's very subjective.

Looking at your techs, to really achieve a good result IMHO you needed more DOF, better light and a slightly lower ISO, all obvious I know, however that is in an ideal world, so well done in getting what you did. The image does however give the appearance of peering, stalking with the inclusion of the vegetation.

I too prefer the OP, but good to see the original FF, as that may also offer others to suggest alternative thinking in terms of crops. The OP I feel is a little too cold, with hints of blue coming through, just look at the whites, I also personally feel that the weight of the image is at the foot, therefore you can loose some off the top and perhaps go pano, drawing the viewer more into the focal point of the image, the eyes. I still feel even this isn't quite balanced, but you get the idea. You can also add an old trick and slightly darken parts to, not a vignette, but perhaps the bottom LH corner & top RH corner. Bringing up some saturation, then targeting key parts with Shadow, exposure etc (this was all done in LR) brings out more that you have. This goes back to my comments about doing as much in RAW as possible and being selective Finally adding some more selective sharpening.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[Loi Nguyen]

Thank you folks. I'm glad to hear positive feedback on this risky image. Steve, you have the magic touch that made the eye sparkled!!! I'm re-reading Artie's Digital Basics this morning to try to pick up some basic stuff so that I can follow your and others' suggestions on PS. Thank you. Loi

[Steve Kaluski]

HI Loi, FYI everything I did, bar the sharpening, was mainly in LR.

[vishaljadhav]

Nice image Loi,
I like the idea
however i may prefer a single eye here for the distraction in front is a bit too much

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi,
i like the close up idea , but i think it is not ideal with scrub in front even with the pano version by Steve.
As Steve normally would say all has to be in focus with this kind of shot, to make it work I would go for the single eye version .

Good suggestions by Steve ,covering the tonal and color issues, in which i agree .

TFS Andreas

[Nancy Bell]

This is a fascinating image & very creative thinking. I prefer the crop of the OP showing just a bit of the ears, but with the added sharpness to the eyes. It would be nice to tone down the whites in the OOF vegetation some, without making them grayish. Maybe clone some of the tones from the lower vegetation in the ff image, using a reduced opacity and a very soft brush.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Loi - always good to experiment in the field, especially when the shot you want doesn't present itself due to conditions. I too prefer the op. Definitely reduce the blues as suggested and as always, Steve has given you tips for both in the field and PP improvements.

TFS,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Love the detail in that eye - OP is a strong crop!
Steve's RP works well...though both images seem to have a green/cyan cast to my eyes?

[edwardselfe]

Steve's repost is great. In a dreamy kind of way. I like the way the vegetation crosses the eye, but not too much. I too thought that lion's forehead was distracting from the image, so the wider crop is better in my opinion.
Ed