I have tried to apply some of the lessons Mr Steve K taught me and kept in mind that "less is more". I also tried to be a bit adventurous, since I never liked a square crop but thought this image called for it. No blurring of the BG, no colour enhancement of any kind, no more filters, cloned out two little OOF grasses on the bottom right hand corner. Sharpened in LR and then again before posting. Exposure up by just a tad and played a bit with curves, a little contrast but not too much. All in moderation. Cropped a little, since I was missing a bit of the mane at the top.
I have chosen this slightly ambiguous title but for good reasons. One-I really wanted you to look and if possible pass a critique. Two-at the time I was shooting this lion I was tempted to stretch my hand out and touch him (it all happened in my mind really, I would never grab a lion by his mane) and three-my thoughts at the time were "...should I open the car door and get out, would he be tempted to come closer or would he run away?". An educated guess would be - he would run away; he has never tasted human flesh and I was as foreign to him in terms of looks and smell as one could be. Also, he seemed to have had his fill recently, judging by the blood on his face...
I welcome any suggestions and critique, your time to view is much appreciated,
This is a very nice and clean portrait, with that lion serious looking expression, only lions have. Very good captured, and I think your comp is great. Really like the colors in his eyes. In his face there is lines, and on his right hand side of his face it is blurry (but not consistent from my view with how it would look if out of focus/short focus field). what is going on here? Is it blood or what?
This works brilliantly for me Gabriela. Strong use of the square crop...amazing pastel colour tones and exquisite detail, coupled with a penetrating gaze. For me, possibly the best of this sighting I've seen to date.
Arresting image.
PS: only thing - might take some magenta and overly red tones from the lion's face...
Hi Gabriela - Amazing portrait. I love the pastel BG and the IQ is fantastic. The square crop works for me. The best part is definitely those eyes!TFS
Cheers
Hennie
Gabriela - this is one of your best for me. Love the intense stare, the pastel bg, the detail and sharpness. Comp works great too. Less is definitely more. Well done!
Gabriela, I'd say you have mastered the close up portrait. Exquisite details, sharpness, perfect exposure and a killer BG. I wouldn't mind seeing a full frame image on this one if you have time to post. Thanks. Loi
Exquisite, pretty much my favorite lion post I've seen so far........ I like up close and personal, you sound like me, should I step closer..... yup I would have.
Really nothing I don't like, might take a tad off the bottom or add a tad to the top. The BG colors are great.
Hi Gabriela - This is stunning - the pastel background and the detail is excellent. The eyes obviously really bring this shot out and the detail around the eye is really good. You have had some practice there hey. You have done really well
Thank you all so much for taking the time to view and for your generous words, I really appreciate it.
Gregor, thank you for your observations and questions-will answer you the best I can: regarding the lines, this is indeed blood. This image was taken not long after a rain storm, so I would assume some of the blood (probably from the morning kill) had been washed off his face, and therefore the streaks. I suppose one would normally try to "enhance" the blood on the lion's face to achieve a more dramatic effect. I did not do it this time around, applied the same steps in processing to the whole face and hoped that a little contrast would bring out whatever there was-I kind of liked it "barely there"...Talking about sharpening, you have an interesting point: the right side of his face was a tad softer, even though I shot at 7.1. That, because the subject was so close-at the time I took this image I knew a lot less than I know now, and honestly the thought of changing F-stop never occurred to me. Also, my excitement got in the way-I remember taking a few shots of this male on my right and then another few shots at the female with young, walking in the road towards the vehicle-I wanted it all, Gregor, tried not to miss out on anything. So I did sharpen a bit on the right side, but not as much as the eyes and nose etc.
Morkel-thank you my friend! I am afraid there is more where this came from-can you take more? I have enough for the next few years! All that can change things is maybe the February 2014 trip-the lions better come to me!!! I will look at the magenta and the reds, thank you
And Rachel, this one would definitely bite if I rubbed his tummy Your bear is superb, by the way! Saw it while at work today and never got to sit down and pass a proper comment-sorry, will take another look tonight on the big screen.
Loi-you are too kind! Thank you for kind words, I will show you the original of course
Hi Gabriela, I don't think I can add much more, a stunning image above in pane 14, and far better IMHO than the OP , well shot, extremely well processed!
Although...
...you could try adding two luminosity adjustments at various %'s one for the BKG the other for the mane & face, but again using %'s of a brush opacity, just a thought, as I would worry it starts to look over worked, or more importantly, it gets away from the fine refinements you have displayed in the image above. It just needs a bit more form/structure in the face. I'll fwd something to ponder on, plus I owe Andre a reply.
Looks like a lot of people have kick up a gear, WOW , great to see!
TFS
Steve
Post Production: Its ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Steve-will look at your suggestions and do the adjustments tonight!
Loi-thank you so much for your input-much appreciated! Love the colours!!!Your crop is identical to my previous image of this lion, posted when I joined ODP( not exactly the same image but one of the series-there the lion is not missing his mane). I was just trying something different here (just cannot let go of these lions...)
Will be back soon with some changes on this image
I wish you could see this lion walking in that golden grass- confident, content, relaxed. I wish you could see him with your own eyes, because no matter how hard I try, no image of mine can do him justice. He walked like a king, I kind of begged for his attention but he only gave me a glance -enough for a few shots-and then walked past me as if I did not exist. What I like about the Kalahari lions is that they have no negative experience with humans (like hunting) so they tolerate us, as long as we behave...
Soon I will try to process the images of his young-I guess you have had enough of their dad
And yes Morkel, I completely agree -so many photographers, so many opinions. All very inspiring and I thank you so much for taking the time to help!