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Thread: Golden Skin

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    Default Golden Skin

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    We saw this leopard sleeping on a tree by the side of the road.

    1DX
    500f4 Ii + 2X III
    1/400
    f10
    ISO-800
    Bean bag on safari vehicle

    I wish we could have waited until the cat wake up from her sleep, but we had a long way to go to camp, so our guide pressed on. Taken late in the afternoon.

    Thank you for your comments.

    Loi

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    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Hi Loi - this is a lovely situation and you did well to make a nice image with the constraints that you faced. You obviously couldn't move forward a little to expose the cat a bit more, and you couldn't wait until she woke up which would both have improved the image, but as it is, it's nicely executed and the colours are good. You balanced the white sky well without blowing it out. Tough circumstances but you did well. I would consider lifting the brightness of the yellows on the leopard - just looks a little dark and saturated to me.
    Ed

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    Nice sighting Loi, I like the colors and the light. Well done. A little crop form above and left will probably give more emphasis on the subject.
    Last edited by Sanjeev Aurangabadkar; 10-11-2013 at 02:56 AM.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Loi, Edward summed up this very well and I would explore his thoughts.

    Personally I would crop more off the top, and I tried to write explaining where to start, but it sounded very complicated/unclear, so here is what I would look at as an alternative. Perhaps also looking the OOF tree in the BKG, WDYT? BTW, why f/10?

    Cheers
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Loi - always exciting to see a leopard in the wild, even a sleeping one. Too bad you could not wait for it to wake up but you made the most of the situation. I also immediately wondered why f10. You've gotten excellent suggestions above and I like Steve's crop suggestion.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Steve's is a big improvement and actually, I like this more and more. There's a suggestion from this image that the leopard didn't know you were there (probably not true) and I like that idea.
    Ed

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    Given that it was late afternoon I prefer Loi's OP but with Steves crop. The colours on the leopard look more natural in OP to me - IMONice Leopard Loi!

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    Something bothers me about the image but I haven't worked out what yet. I will get back to you when I do though

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    Hi Everyone, thank you for your comments. I like Steve's crop and colors of the leopard, but I missed the OOF tree as I feel it adds to the environment. There were dozen or more cars there, we were closer on the first approach, but the light was coming from the side, so our guide moved the car forward and I shot back at the leopard at a greater distance, thus the 2X III. I found with the 2XIII, stopping down the lens a little bit helps with the sharpness. F10 seems like the sweet spot.

    Loi

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Loi, in fact the brush over the Leo was not intentional, meant to delete, but... trees are certainly optional, LOL. Interesting about the sweet spot, I found f/9 or 11 is good too when working with the owls, guess 9-11 is good.
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    A lot has been covered already. I wouldn't remove the OOF tree as it doesn't bother and gives context for me (East Africa, baby!)...
    OP colours look okay to me, I would go with Steve's crop too. Thanks for expanding on the f10 choice.
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Lifetime Member Andre Pretorius's Avatar
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    Loi, I agree with the bit tighter crop, bit to much wood in OP. The Leopard is part of the tree in OP, stands out in RP. Depends what you want the image to convey.

    Interested about F10?
    Regards

    Andre.

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