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Thread: Lounging Leopard

  1. #1
    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Default Lounging Leopard

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    Hi guys,

    This is an old image that I took a while ago and I always hoped it would be great. But I've really struggled with processing it and making it look correct. It's a hard situation because it was in some shade and some sunlight and the background was pretty difficult. But the flowers are a nice touch and the leopard's pose is good, so I hope that the collective minds of this forum might be able to do something with it! The Sausage tree leaves really are that green by the way! Any comments welcome.

    This is a 16:9 crop from a 2:3 image (so the rest of the tail is available if you want it, but the background below is not very interesting which is why I cut off the bottom).
    7D
    300mm f4 @ f5.6
    ISO 200
    1/125s

    Quite a lot of processing done already including WB, selective colour adjustment, contrast management. I intentionally overexposed because I knew that I'd need more detail in the darks of the leopard face, than the lights of the background.

    Will post original RAW as a JPEG if anyone wants.

    Thanks in advance.

    Ed

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    Love these cats!! Enjoy the pose and the relaxed pose with that typical look. Not sure how bad the bg is but could be an idea to post as suggested to get a look at it. Looks like you had blown the sky but have managed to do something with it. I think the crop is good and you did well to get the details that have here. Getting the balance right in partial shade is not easy. Great setting with it on the limb surrounded by foliage. I am sure the others will have a lot more input here Ed but nice shot

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    Ed, the PP is very good, I like the look of the leopard, the details are nice, good sharpness. Wish the tail was not cut off. Overall nicely done.

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Hi Edward,

    the highlights on it's better behind & tree trunk, they do have details! Those you could get out already in LR with a few sliders! Light on it's face is nice, a bit yellowish!
    Will see what the others say on this. Sanjeev made a good point on the tail.

    have a great eve

    Ciao
    Anette

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Ed - nice relaxed pose and eye contact. I don't mind the cut tail but you can certainly post a jpeg of the raw if you want some other ideas for comp/crop. If it were mine I would drop the yellows in the whites and also drop the reds slightly overall, particularly in the tree branch. Overall, a very nice image.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Ed, lovely image of the cat with great details. Regarding the crop, why not go tighter and not even show the tail below the tree? Loi

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    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Many thanks for all your comments - some good suggestions already.
    Here's the original file, where clearly the WB is all wrong and I had to recover highlights heavily.
    WDYT?
    Thanks.
    Ed

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    BPN Viewer Tom Graham's Avatar
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    I like the cats pose and eye contact.
    When you recovered the exposure for OP the leaves beneath the cat/tree, in background, went gray. While leaves above are green. That difference bothers me. I'd change color of leaves below to match (a t lest closer) those above.
    Tom
    Last edited by Tom Graham; 10-19-2013 at 05:01 AM.

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    Loved the direct look the leopard's giving you. For my tastes I somehow liked the original highkey BG as against the processed one on top !

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    I'd definitely work on the one with the tail in. Tricky lighting at best!
    What do you think of this kind of version (did it very quickly and from your low res 2nd post)...??
    Morkel Erasmus

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    RP from Morkel in B&W does it for me. Much better than the color version

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    Same here, another vote for Morlel's RP. Loi

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    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Thanks guys - much appreciate all your input. Unusually, I don't agree on this one, as I don't really like the B&W version. I will play with it again - and I know you were rushing so I appreciate the time you spent - but it seems to have too much black and looks to have lost a lot of details. I will try from the original. I was never sure about this image and hoped we could do something with it, but there are just some shots that fall short of the mark.
    Many thanks all the same.
    Ed

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    I'm only on my iPhone but from what I can see, I love the image. The BG is beautifully OOF. I think Morkel's version is spectacular. I would explore darkening the lower portion a little more but this may prove to be the best balance after all.

    It should be possible to balance the shadows and highlights well in RAW.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Edward - I went more for high impact strong contrast than for detail in all the tonal range. You can tweak this to taste of course as you process from RAW. Was just an idea for general direction
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Ed, gorgeous image and your PP work really paid off. Based on the OP I would pull back the Highlights as they are showing clipping, likewise the blacks in the lower part of the tail. I'm away so will leave the colour issues to those with a calibrated monitor. Personally i would have upped the ISO for more SS unless you were rock steady.

    TFS
    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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    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Thanks Steve (and Morkel - I only just saw your explanatory post).....as always good ideas and suggestions.
    Ed

  18. #18
    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Default Lounging Leopard

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    Thanks all for your ideas. I have tried to incorporate many of them into a new B&W (slight sepia) version. I'm afraid I didn't like the having all the space underneath the branch just to include the tail so I chopped it off as shown. I've also gone for a lower contrast attempt than Morkel's which I like. Think this was more an exercise in PP than in anything else as this image looks too unnatural in colour version to be believable!!
    Ed

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