♂ Chillin'

[Marc Mol]

Chillin:

"A positive phase of being, not regarded as being bored but not in the process of doing anything ..."

Pretty much sums up this girls persona, although just as I was about to reach for my 80-400 to frame her tail and all, she upped and left.
Would have preferred not to cut the tail, a limitation of using a 500 prime unfortunately, how I wish I had the 80-400 in my hand first.

Yes the tail is badly cut but does the lighting BG & pose make up for that limitation? I'd be interested to hear of other members viewpoint on this image?

Leopardess, Ruaha NP- Tanzania. F/F of course.

D3s 500 f/4 VRII f/5.6 1/160s ISO200 - a faster s/s would have been preferable, but I think it held up OK.

Cheers Marc

[Gabriela Plesea]

Brilliant image Marc, perfect colours, great angle, I love the POV here, very classy image and I do not mind that much the tail being cut. Perhaps I would take off more from the bottom, for a dramatic "very pano" look- what do you think? No tail perhaps better than half a tail, in my humble opinion. Stunning image well processed and presented, one of your best! Congratulations!

Kind regards,

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Marc - We've all been there with the wrong lens at the wrong time. Beautiful looking leopard with a dreamy expression. Clipped tail is not a deal breaker for me. As an alternative crop you can come in from the left to eliminate the space to the left of the trunk and come up from the bottom to create a pano. I'm curious where the AF point was. The face certainly looks sharp and so does the paw but there appears to be a fall off in sharpness on the leopard's body even though it seems to be on the same plane as the face. It might be an illusion due to the angle of the branch. Or it might be due to the ss and selective sharpening.

TFS,
Rachel

[Marc Mol]

Thanks Rachel

I'm curious where the AF point was. The face certainly looks sharp and so does the paw but there appears to be a fall off in sharpness on the leopard's body even though it seems to be on the same plane as the face. It might be an illusion due to the angle of the branch. Or it might be due to the ss and selective sharpening.

TFS,
Rachel

The AF was on the face, which is where it should be and the body was certainly just behind the focal plane, a small round of USM was only appplied to the face.
I'm thinking it's the angle of the large branch that's giving the illusion.

[edwardselfe]

This is beautiful - did confuse me initially as I was expecting to see a 'male' chillin but from her size, this HAS to be a female, as your blurb confirms! Stunning sighting, great colours and really different view of 'leopard in a tree' with no sky or leaves behind.
I would also lose a little off the bottom as suggested, but otherwise I think it's perfect.
Ed

[Martin Dunn]

chillin indeed
Very natural colours. Given that the tip of the tail is missing from thephoto I think you could perhaps crop a bit tighter on bottom and LH side.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Marc,
we all had the problems with cam/lens combo….., but i think you made the best out of it.Like the pose and the crop very much with the dreamy look of the cat.
As yourself know more iso would have been better , but easy to say sitting in front of the screen and writing a comment.So you got some good IQ for the technical details.

Overall i would reduce the yellows a fraction, just my thought.I have the same thoughts as Rachel about the sharpening fall off, and your reply does it not make clearer and even more it is not explaining it for my satisfaction.
You should have a least some sharpness from left tho right, but on LHS there is nothing sharp as on the RHS, so you do not need to explain it the same way as per Rachel,.

Besides the sharpness still a great shot though.

TFS Andreas

[Marc Mol]

Thanks Andreas

You should have a least some sharpness from left tho right, but on LHS there is nothing sharp as on the RHS, so you do not need to explain it the same way as per Rachel,.
TFS Andreas

Not sure how else to explain the falloff of sharpness other than the focal plane falls behind from the head back through the body, they are not on the same focal plane, with only f/5.6
should explain it I think.

[Morkel Erasmus]

I love that backdrop and the nice soft light on her. Tail is not a deal-breaker for me, Marc, but I would consider just lopping off a bit more LHS and bottom?

[Steve Kaluski]

I love that backdrop and the nice soft light on her. Tail is not a deal-breaker for me, Marc, but I would consider just lopping off a bit more LHS and bottom?

I agree on the above Marc, also marginally dropping the yellow via a selective mask I think also helps, but personal choice. I might consider adding a diagonal Graduate filter and dropping the exposure on both tree trunks, gives then a bit more depth & tone.

TFS
Steve