Pastel Lion

[Morkel Erasmus]

The same young male I posted previously head-on in vertical format, taken from the bunker in Etosha moments before dawn.
Again, I blended in a darker exposure to get the most out of the colours (Orion's Belt) on the horizon in these moments before sunrise.

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 140mm
f4.0 | 1/200 SS | ISO-560
Full frame!

[Gabriela Plesea]

Morkel...I am green with jealousy...I must go there...love the angle, the lion, colours, everything, no crits, just compliments

Warmest regards,

[Markus Jais]

Awesome great. Beautiful light. I love the low angle.

Markus

[Loi Nguyen]

Pastel Lion indeed, Morkel. This is a stunning image in terms of the light, colors , and pose of the lion. Loi

[Andrew Merwin]

A beautiful image Morkel. It truly shows why he is called "King of the Beasts."

[Tim King]

Feels like I'm right there. Fine job.

[Tom Graham]

Beautiful. Exposure and colors perfect.
Bur most importantly is the pose of the lion. No leg/tail merges, can see all four legs and feet/paws, and head angle just right for the body pose.
Tom

[peter delaney]

Hi Morkel

Cracker of a portrait.....

I brightened up face and body slightly and a little work on the eye as It will help to draw the viewer in to the image.

[Steve Kaluski]

Nice work Mr D, just cranked it up a tad. Great image, and the low POV from the bunker really shows what can be achieved. The light is awesome.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - fantastic image and Peter's repost has managed to take it up a notch.

TFS,
Rachel

[Tom Graham]

I prefer Morkel's original. The lion is too light in PD's re-work, beginning to look as if fill flash used.
Tom

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks everyone.
Nice repost, Peter. I do agree with Tom, however (see, it can happen Tom ) that I prefer my OP. I processed for that natural pre-dawn look. In your repost the lion body look okay but the eyes look a bit too light, somewhat unnatural. I may play with it to get something halfway between the 2 though...

[Russell Johnson]

Nothing to add than has already been mentioned, great capture.

[Nancy Bell]

WOW. I'm a week late on commenting, but I just wanted to add my admiration for this awesome image. The view from the bunker is unbeatable & Morkel, you have made the most of it.

[Brendon Cremer]

Lats to this as normal, so just adding my 2 cents. Stunning image, and agree with somewhere between the OP and RP would be perfect.

[Girish Prahalad]

awesome image! great pastel colors, pose, details & the DOF for F4 is too good.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks everyone