King Blue Eyes (C)

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Another image of one of the young white lions at the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve, SA. A close crop (specially at the top), but I wanted to bring these beautiful eyes as close as possible.

D600, f/4.5, 1/1250s, ISO 1000, 140mm. Beanbag in car window. Mid tones adjusted in LR for contrast and to reflect real colors.

(PS: Morkel if you're not in the sky yet: it seems that f/5.6 would not have been enough to blur the grasses in my previous thread - a longer FL would have been required too, which was impossible in this case)

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Mod's please add a 'C' to my theme, sorry I forgot...

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Tobie - I added the C. See the chin here is whiter and it's the same lion. You're only going to get a blurred bg if there is some distance between the lion and the bg. Here it looks like he is closer to the bg foliage and actually sitting in it so he is on the same focal plane as the foliage, so it won't be blurred. The light looks more overcast here and as a result the image looks a little flatter but again the blacks are a bit choked. I did a levels adjustment bringing in the right slider to just before the whites started clipping (238) and opened up the midtones slightly. I did a lumo mask to bring back the highlights at 40%. I dropped the reds by -10, boosted midtone contrast and then finally did a linear contrast curve adjustment. WDYT?

TFS,
Rachel

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Rachel, thanks - much appreciated! My version looks a little 'duller' because I think I've gone a little too far in bringing down the highlights (these light skins are quite a challenge to handle at times). I definitely like your version more because of the 'brighter' feel about it. Thanks - now to go back and trace step by step what yo've done!

(PS: the distance from the plants are the same - it just sat up to follow a bird in flight)

[Rachel Hollander]

Tobie - I actually further recovered/tamed the highlights more than you had with the lumo mask. Google Tony Kuyper and luminosity masks to read up on them. It's a good tool to be able to have in your arsenal.

Rachel

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Tobie - I actually further recovered/tamed the highlights more than you had with the lumo mask. Google Tony Kuyper and luminosity masks to read up on them. It's a good tool to be able to have in your arsenal.

Rachel

Thanks Rachel, will do!

[Nancy Bell]

I really like seeing this white lion & those pale eyes. A very lovely animal! Rachel really knows highlights and colors and her repost shows good adjustments.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Rachel really knows highlights and colors and her repost shows good adjustments.

I know nancy - seeing her much appreciated comments reminds me of how much I still have to learn and it drives me nuts!