Leopard in tree

[Steve Kaluski]

This is the same Leopard I posted a while back with a lowish POV. Even in the colour version, the sky was flat & light, with minimal detail so I decided to go B/W. Just love the way Leopards are so relaxed in what looks to be, a very uncomfortable location. I deliberately put the whole content up in the frame with truck loads of space below for several reasons, just thinking always how it may get used.

Steve
Subject: Leopard relaxing hi up in a tree (Panthera pardus)
Location: Selinda - Botswana
Camera: Canon MKIV
Lens: 500f/4 HH
Exposure: 1/800s at f/7.1 ISO400 +1 stop compensation

Converted in LR then PS for final tweaks.

[BenBotha]

The B&W does work. I like the space at the bottom. It is a pity the leopard was not looking at you. The ears are not sharp, they should be @ f7 and I find the branch on the L side above the head distracting. The leopard does look quite comfortable.
Ben

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Steve - the b&w works well and I like the relaxed pose and hanging paw. I just don't know about the comp. The space below doesn't bother me but I feel like it needs more room to the rhs. It also feels like the vertical branches act as barriers. Techs are your usual excellent work, just not feeling the comp on this one.

TFS,
Rachel

[Martin Dunn]

Steve, I looked at this earlier today and wasn't sure how I felt about it so I came back to it later.
I like the B+W, leopards always lend themselves well to B+W.

The first thing that struck me about the photo was the intrusive little branch close to the right (as we view it) of the leopard's head and the thin branches in the top left corner.
I feel that they come too close to the leopard and - now that the image is B+W - there is not the separation you would have with colour.
I would probably have a go at cloning them out to leave your leopard in the clear.

Composition wise I think it works well. I like the space at the bottom because it accentuates that dangling leg. I don't mind the fact that the leopard is not looking straight at me - in many ways this is a more natural pose as it shows he/she is not bothered by your presence.

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Steve

Like the comp, space underneath accentuate the height he is in the tree.

I find the little branch and twigs a bit distracting.

Love the relaxed mood.

[Steve Canuel]

Hi Steve,
Excellent detail in that cat's fur. My lack of any sort of outside the box artistic thinking has my mind putting color on that thing the longer I stare at it. Don't mind the twigs, as there's one near each ear and it sort of balances them out for me. Regarding your comment on the space below, I assume you left space for possible text usage, but would you crop/compose differently if you were going to just make a print for your own viewing?

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Steve,

This is the first time I look at BPN in a long time, and this leopard "jumped" at me. I just love the paw, among other things, because it dictates the crop and tells the viewer all about the mood of the subject. My feeling is, had this leopard turned to look at you he would have moved that limb underneath its body and on the branch in order to regain balance. Just my feeling and I could be wrong but these are my first thoughts as I look at this image. Like others noticed already, this photograph is all about mood-excellent capture! The twigs do not bother me, the more leopards I see the more I realise how they like to see and not be seen and what their environment is like. On the few occasions I spotted a leopard by myself, it was because of a hanging limb or tail, or because of its prey-the leopard's body is almost always well camouflaged among twigs and leaves. I like the B/W and especially the pose, IQ excellent as always- a beauty!

Kind regards,

[Markus Jais]

I agree about the branches but I don't find them too distracting. Beautiful cat. Composition is great, like the direction the cat is looking in.
B&W works great with this Leopard.

Markus

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Steve,

yes indeed the B&W works well, but I would do a bit different, but that is just me

Enjoy the owls & weekend

Ciao
Anette

[hennieloots]

Hi Steve. I like the comp and B&W conversion. Learned from the comments on the space at the bottom; it makes a lot of sense. The small branches in the image - I'm neither here nor there on them. They do not distract for me and are moor in keeping with the natural environment, so to leave them is fine. That said, to remove them on the white BG should be fairly painless, and might also compliment the image by balancing the large, clear open white below the leopard. I feel both options could work.
TFS, Cheers
Hennie

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks for your comments folks.

Firstly regarding the ears, the hi res file is sharp, which is in colour and that is main thing. Perhaps going more contrasty with the blacks & whites may have pushed the detail & loosing clarity in this part, plus perhaps the compression, but the main part is the eye where the focus point was and IMHO should be, but I will look at it when I get back. Just as a point of note, if the nearest ear was not sharp then the left paw in view would not be sharp, being on the same plain.

I think Hennie summed things up well, the branches/twigs are neither here nor there in terms of distraction, however as you ALL know, Leopards like to hang out in these types of location, so removing them for me would make the image very 'sterile' and not reflective. Don't get me wrong, the odd leave or branch I would remove if I felt in doing so would add to the image, however I do worry about the amount of 'content removal' that is done in images.

cheers
Steve