Alpha lioness

[Marc Mol]

Early morning and we found the "Airstrip" pride out hunting, this was the alpha female leading the hunt as she has just spotted a small herd of zebra down in the valley.
Reduced exp on the lush green BG, then B&W conv in Nik silver.
Ruaha NP- Tanzania

D4 500 f/4VRII 1/500s f/4 ISO1600 Nearly F/F, kept some light/small detail for definition in the BG, interested as to whether others may have preferred all black? Went for a lot more tone/contrast on this one Steve.


C & C most welcome

Cheers
Marc


Forgot to add THEME to title sorry mods

[Thinus Schoeman]

Hi Marc, this is a very nice image of the female lion, with a killer dark background to add, which naturally made it very suitable for the monochrome conversion. The image is very sharp around the important areas, with very good detail.
I am in two minds about the BG detail, but is really doesn't distract much. I suppose all black would have been better.
I would have considered to bring back the highlights just a touch, but overall an extremely nice image. Congratulations!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Marc - Nice portrait. I think I would go with the all black bg rather than the few stray bits. Did you use DE on this one? It looks like it may be a little heavy/crunchy, especially in the neck area. I like the tones.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Marc ,
very nice alert/excited pose of the lioness you captured .
But i do not like the whole conversion in general , I do find the lioness overall too light , so some mid tone would help to bring some depth and definition to her .
The BKG is no killer , for me , just almost black with some hint of detail . Where is her left eye gone ? Lost in the darkness ?
The fur on LHS looks very gritty and no fine detail is kept, the fur in her face looks way better , having said all this, just personal preferences.
But the eye is looking very good , to me.

Just wondering what was the idea behind this conversion , i am referring to your conversation with Steve in your last thread

TFS Andreas

[Marc Mol]

Thanks Thinus, Rachel & Andreas.

Hi Marc - Nice portrait. I think I would go with the all black bg rather than the few stray bits. Did you use DE on this one? It looks like it may be a little heavy/crunchy, especially in the neck area. I like the tones.

TFS,
Rachel

Agreed the neck area has come up a little heavy, especially viewing on my Mac retina pro, but no Nik detail used here.

I do find the lioness overall too light , so some mid tone would help to bring some depth and definition to her .

Gotta disagree on the lightness here Andreas as I believe it has just the right amount of mid tone here (to my eyes at least)

The BKG is no killer , for me , just almost black with some hint of detail . Where is her left eye gone ? Lost in the darkness ?

I can guarantee you cannot see the eye on LHS at all (can submit colour version if you like)

The fur on LHS looks very gritty and no fine detail is kept, the fur in her face looks way better , having said all this, just personal preferences.
But the eye is looking very good , to me.

Remember I'm @ f/4 here so the fur detail (with a slight difference in focal plane) on LHS is not going to be quite as strong as on the head.

Just wondering what was the idea behind this conversion , i am referring to your conversation with Steve in your last thread
TFS Andreas

The idea behind this B&W conv was simply that it is quite different to my previous softer tone & detail using minus clarity.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Marc - with fine detail i meant the area should look softer in detail , for my eyes it looks rough/gritty.
I am fine with your view of the tones , i just have another view to this particular image , as always different views are optional , and we all our reasons for them.. No good or bad even if it sounds like sometimes.

The idea is quite simple , just do it differently , LOL, i like the idea , wonder what Steve will say about this, to do it just differently …………..

Regards Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Marc, I like the very stark approach to this, the overall black background simply works allowing the viewer to concentrate on the subject, like an old 'Masterpiece', keeping things simple. I do feel the BKG should be 100% solid and there are in parts like around the ear what looks like, or interpreted as, masking issues, however. I'm a little torn about the actual 'detail/clarity/sharpness' within the image considering it's from the D4, but that could be down to such a shallow DoF, ISO... (?), although somehow the actual 'grittiness' for me has given the subject a slight 3D quality, hence being torn.

Just loose the splodges in the BKG, they really add nothing I feel Marc.

TFS
Steve

[Marc Mol]

RP here with a clean BG and (whilst not ideal), a small Gausian blur 0.2 on the neck/chest area.

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Marc

When opening the image could see the masking issues at ear, taken care of with RP.

Liked the bit of detail in BG, added depth and bit of "mystery" to image.

RP less "gritty"; curious about clarity slider, did you add clarity? Have read lots of comments to beware of it?

Stunner, congrats.

Andre

[Marc Mol]

Thanks Andre

Hi Marc

When opening the image could see the masking issues at ear, taken care of with RP.

It was actually just part of the BG that was directly behind the ear, so not a masking issue as such.

RP less "gritty"; curious about clarity slider, did you add clarity? Have read lots of comments to beware of it?

Stunner, congrats.

Andre

No clarity (0%) used on this image.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Marc,

I admit I did not read any of the comments above will do later. Your OP I like the the most and even would go brighter with the black BG to a dark grey, but not pitch black.
Just my thoughts on this

Ciao
Anette

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Marc!

My first thoughts when I saw this lioness were "...she is so intently looking at something". I must admit that, when it comes to passing a critique on a photograph I am more concerned with the content and presentation than the nitty gritty and technical details. This is partly because I feel I am not experienced enough when it comes to processing, but especially because I derive great pleasure from viewing something that benefits my soul, and therefore I tend to ignore what one might describe as "processing errors". I do desire to some extent to see a bit more of the left eye of this lioness, at the same time when I look at this image - maybe somewhat gritty, but less so than some of my own images - my desire is very simple and hedonistic: I am looking for beauty. This image meets my aesthetic tastes and I find it worthy of appreciation: the moment captured, the intense stare, the black background, the pending drama. Would love to see the colour version of this image, when possible.

Kind regards,

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey Marc.
I like the stark contrast here on the black BG (yes for going "All Black" here). I also like the less crunchy look of the lioness in your RP. These images don't all work but the gaze here makes for a fine focal point with the BG removing all other distractions. I think the midtones are fine too, though I may even go for a softer look on the lioness detail overall here - it's got nothing to compete with and it might just enhance the mood?