Please don't laugh
As one of the many who are not fortunate enough to be able to travel to their wild habititat, I drool over the images on this thread, but I need to satisfy myself with images from the Phoenix Zoo. These guys are usually asleep when I get in, but they now open the zoo for members early in the morning and I was happy to see them awake and active.
Canon 7D
Sigma 100-300/4 @ 250mm
1/400 sec f/4 ISO 400 handheld
Nik Color Efex for highlights
Crop for comp and sharpening in CS6
Hi Ian, I like the posture/twist and the way the Cheetah has turned towards you and that great 'pendulum' of a tail hanging in the air, the counter balance! The eyes are fixed and engages with the viewer nicely. I think the crop is a little tight and you could afford to open it out a bit more, especially at the foot. There is a heavy red cast running through the image, an easy fix to resolve the image. There is no real form within the face and I just wonder if NIK has been a bit tough and lost a lot of the features, likewise the black are a little too heavy, perhaps Contrast was applied? Not sure what causes the 'mottling' within the BKG, however this is not unusual from images I have seen from the 7D, however i would look to perhaps 'reduce or soften' it.
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
I too like the pose, here, Ian.
I too see a red cast and also some magenta creeping in...
Was this shot through mesh/fence? There seems to be a lack of clarity/crispness, hence my question. I would have considered upping SS slightly to 1/800 or so for better handheld sharpness.
Thanks, folks. Yes, I see the cast and will go back and rework this one. I don't think the mottling is a function of the 7D, but rather may be from Nik. I'm going to start from scratch and see what happens.
No, Morkel, no fence.
Well we cant all have these on our doorsteps so no harm in visiting a wildlife park. I use a 7D as well Ian and have encountered this mottling before. Can be controlled with reducing contrast but like you said, it might have been exaggerated from applying the NIK work. Rest of comments covered by M and S above.
Hi Ian, I finally got to Africa this year after waiting 56 of them, keep planning.
I don't have a problem with mottling with Nik, it looks to me like sharpening was applied to the whole image which could make the grass look a little different, my apologies if that's not the case. Just a thought.
No laughing - it's a nice shot. Not much more that I can add, except that the Cheetah's ears are back. I don't know if you have any others where the ears are forward, but they are crucial to a cat's expression and would probably make the subject more 'attractive'. But the lithe athleticism of this animal is evident and with a bit of work the background could add to the image nicely, rather than taking away from it.
Ed
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