Leopard on Serengeti kopje
We spotted this male leopard from the road in Serengeti perched high on a kopje relaxing in late afternoon light as it was finishing off the remnants of a Klipspringer,
you can just make out the hoof in it's front paws.
D4 500 f/4 VRII 1/2500s f/5.6 ISO400 +1.4tc 10% crop. (f/6.3 in hindsight)
C & C most welcome
Cheers
Marc
Hi Marc - dramatic image of the leopard. The tongue out adds a bit of interest. Not sure I would have noticed the hoof if you hadn't pointed it out. There's a slight halo around the leopard and along the top of the rock. The comp on this one is a little tough because the leopard's body is facing one way and its head another. I understand you went for rule of thirds but I feel like there's too much negative space on the rhs. I don't have a better idea though. Let's see what others think. If it were mine I would open the midtones slightly and also back off on the sharpening on the kopje. All of these are very minor adjustments to a beautiful image.
TFS,
Rachel
Wicked look and setting…
The tongue is menacing, I might take just a tad off the bottom.
Dan Kearl
Thanks Rachel, just two things you mentioned, it's not a halo as such around the leopard or rock but the slight effect of using a small amount of Nik CPL filter on the sky, I did clean most of that up and perhaps need to reasses thatOriginally Posted by Rachel Hollander
also I have not sharpened the rock at all, I used a small amount of Nik detail, (trying to bring out texture/colour) perhaps a liitle too much? I guess we'll agree to disagree on the RHS spacing.
Last edited by Marc Mol; 03-28-2014 at 06:24 PM.
Hi Marc, I like the idea of shooting up and the Leopard looking down at you, a nice POV change. Looking at the framing I too feel that I would want the space to the left and right transposed, as I get the impression the subject is wanting to drift off, out of frame, however as you say, we all see things differently. I'm not sure if adjusting the midtones would help, rather pulling back the contrast certainly on the leopard. The FG rocks scream DE, I would certainly back off, but it comes down to personal taste/preference.
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Thanks Steve,
appreciate the comments, a small contrast adj of only +7 in ACR plus a small amount of selective USM was the only PP that was done on the leopard, so to me I haven't gone overboard in that part of the image.
So once again to my eyes the leopard doesn't look over processed? The lighting/cloud cetainly was on the wane and against me somewhat.
Interesting to see what others think on this?
Hi Marc, I'm not saying it's 'over processed' but you would be surprised at adding any contrast how it effects the blacks, plus coupled with any NIK DE or TC. IMHO pulling back the contrast by around 2/3 of a stop, not only lifts the whole image, but addresses the rock issue too, for me it has the 'sooty' feel, however as you say, lets see what others think as this is just my take.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Yes, good point, understand, thanks Steve. Are you talking about the blacks on the kopje or leopard, if you're talking about the leopard they look fine to my eyes??
Feel free to take out post #6, mix up in a double posting there?
Unless you feel the need Marc I can, but lets leave it in for the time being, as it continues the flow of dialog?Feel free to take out post #6, mix up in a double posting there?
Hopefully this may illustrate my point Marc as you can arrange them side by side in PS for comparison. How far we take things, our visual interpretation etc all varies as we know.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Thanks Steve
The kopje looks good in RP to me, but prefer my slighty more contrasty leopard and reflects the lighting more to my eyes. As you say it's a personal preference thing.
If you don't mind to take out post # 6 please at it's basically a double post, I just expanded on in #7, nothing to do with flowUnless you feel the need Marc I can, but lets leave it in for the time being, as it continues the flow of dialog?
Hopefully this may illustrate my point Marc as you can arrange them side by side in PS for comparison. How far we take things, our visual interpretation etc all varies as we know.
Last edited by Marc Mol; 03-29-2014 at 10:47 AM.
No worries, good to have dialog & exchange of thoughts/views.
Job done.If you don't mind to take out post # 6 please at it's basically a double post, I just expanded on in #7, nothing to do with flow
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Hello Marc,
I am so jealous of your leopard sightings, what an amazing place the Serengeti is!
This is indeed a wonderful image, thank you for sharing it with us.
I saw the OP yesterday while at work. The image stayed on my laptop screen the whole morning, did not get a chance to sit down and comment but every time I walked past the screen I thought "mmm, the leopard is too dark, the image looks a bit chocked". I like what Steve did, his RP reveals much more detail on the subject, especially those beautiful patterns on the fur. It also puts more emphasis on the expression, that "menacing look"... And yep, now I can see the hoof as well
I agree with your choice of crop here - at first I thought of suggesting taking off from the bottom but then I would not want to lose the height of the rock and this wonderful perspective you have here.
Great image, looking forward to your next post, Marc!!!
Kind regards,
Gabriela Plesea
Hi Marc,
quite neat shot of the leopard finishing his meal.Would have not noticed the hoof, unless you pointed this out.
I like the overall comp and the subtle colors.But i am with Steve about the tonality , looks a bit too dense. I would not go as far Steve went .
I tried to do it myself in PS, i loaded the Blue Channel as selection ,adjustment layer set to screen , inverted the selection , Apply image to the layer mask with Multiply to darken the mask at 50 %.Set the opacity of the adjustment layer to 40-60 %.Blur the mask by 20 px to get detail back.
Finally mask out the BKG from the screening effect.
And it looks better to me, but i am ok if you feel it needs to be as dark as your OP, you have been there and not me.
TFS Andreas
Hi Marc. I have not read the comments above, so please excuse me if I am repeating what others say. Not sure what a 'Kopje' is, i assume a rocky outcrop. I love the leopard's look, the stare, its almost a challenge. I love it so much more than the rock, I want to see more of that and less of the rock, so therefore for me, crop from the bottom. But I assume from the title that you wanted context, to show the animal in its position so difficult to approach by any other animal unnoticed, so I got to respect that... It also looks a little dark but take that with a grain of salt also as leopards are a bit thin on the ground in OZ, so what would I know...
anyway, its a great image..!
DON
Marc - killer setting and pose here, can't imagine a better setting (well, other than scaling a baobab!).
I'm fine with spacing either side, but would shave some off the bottom personally.
As to the rock contrast - I'd go for the look of the rock in Steve's RP, but have the leopard only slightly "opened up", sort of midway between your OP and Steve's RP...but personal preference indeed.
You sure had a good trip!
Another terrfic sighting Marc.
I can see why Steve and Peter want to lighten the leopard as, on first glance their RPs do have more punch. However, me feleing is that both Steve's and Peter's reposts start to look too pale and move away from the true colours of the leopard.
I am using the leopard's tongue as my benchmark and I think that your OP is the only post that gets it right.
Appreciate the comments folks, many thanks.
Don't let my location fool you Don, I'm a dyed in the wool Aussie myself
Dont know much about this safari stuff but the OP looks good to me with the crop by PK making it even better.
JR
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