Leopard

[Steve Kaluski]

OK, firstly this is one I would not have kept for two reasons, one because it's too tight at the foot of the image and also there is a dead branch in front of the legs which is really distracting, as the light was quite strong, but because of the time of day the light gave also a vibrance/saturation to the colour too. Even toning down part of the branch for me, it still would catch my eye, however...

So working with the colour version I pushed the colours, I also applied an 'effect' which is not a NR, but it just softened everything around the female leopard, but by using layers/masks etc you can pin point areas. I then converted the colour version in a totally different way (not NIK just PSCC) which provides, IMHO quite a contesting Blacks & Whites. In the colour version there is more tone in the chest, but it's a lot lighter here, however I could add another tonal layer for the grass. You can peg the whites back, but it's a little trial & error.

For the SS the head is pin sharp and Andreas know how sharp that can be. Having a fixed lens obviously I was limited, could not move because of the two cubs playing, likewise where the FP could be, as I tend to always put it bang on the eye, or as close to it, something that has change with the flexibility of the 200-400.

Do I like it, probably not, but worth a punt, I will post the colour as another thread later.

Cheers
Steve

Subject: Female leopard, sitting, side profile (Panthera pardus)
Location: Botswana, Chiefs camp
Camera: Canon MKIV
Lens: 300f/2.8 (resting on bean bag)
Exposure: 1/125s at f/6.3 ISO800 -0.33 EV Comp ​

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Steve - I like how you have sort of painted her with the light. The conversion works well. I agree on your self-critique about it being too tight at the bottom but the branch doesn't bother. What bothers me more is the slightly brighter blade/twig from the bg right in front of the nose. If it were mine I would back off on the sharpening just behind the ear.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

OOPS Steve are going to become an artistic painter ? Throw away the mouse and grab yourself a paint brush and start working , LOL.
Reminds me of something i have seen somewhere else , just with other tones and color ,.
Quite like the posture of the leopard and the whole side profile . Really like the conversion and the painting good job on that , tried myself , but gave up, bout will revisit this stuff. I think people with airbrush skills will have an easier life in doing this.
But your "blurring " , not for me………….. working.You have a done a good job in masking though.

TFS Andreas

[Marc Mol]

Good points from Rachel, although the BG branch behind the nose is an easy fix.........that's IF you want to have this as a keeper,
I do like the shaft of light across the centre, was this early or late?

[Steve Kaluski]

Rachel re sharpening, I think it's where you have extreme 'softening' and sharpness meet that gives the impression? It's bait like where you have a BKG that is very diffused and the subject looks 'cutout'.

Andreas no painting it's just the soft focus that may give that look, personally it's not something I would use, just playing a bit to see what might be achieved.

Marc, around 5.30 - 6.15pm the light was just crazy saturated in parts and I just emphasised it when you see the colour.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Is This something close to Orton ?as effect ? working with a blurred and unblurred version of the image ?

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Steve

Very interesting image. Love the Shaft of light.

Would expect bit more DOF with 6,3.

Branch at back does not bother at all, but as Rachel pointed out, the OOF twig in front of nose and under chin/ throat area is competing with the leopard's rosette.

If the area in question was more uniform in colour it would not detract..?

TFS

Andre

[Gabriela Plesea]

Good evening Steve,

I gather you already know how much I admire your processing skills and knowledge, and how hard I try to read between the lines to figure out what you did to a particular image ...But I never ask, love to figure out things by myself, only need some guiding every now and then, a sense of direction

I love how you brought out detail in the eye, as well as the way in which the subject pops against the BG. Indeed, this is a wee bit tight at the foot of the image and if it were mine I would have added canvas and did some cloning, a leopard image is always too precious to discard.
I did not notice the OOF branch near the nose until I read the comments above, now that I know about it it bothers me a bit

Love the detail in the fur, love the light, but especially the lack of light in places, suggesting an intimate encounter - am I right in saying that this is what you found most attractive when it comes to this leopard image?

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Andreas, no idea who Orton is, was etc, guess I need to Google.

Andre, not sure how much detail you were looking for, but perhaps some of the detail within the fur in the body is more subdued within the process, I've only really kept a lot of the detail in the head and tapered it off in % opacities. As I mentioned, I have pushed it in parts only because of effects that were applied, perhaps the colour version may 'illuminate' things? I have no idea because like a lot of us we get drawn down a path that we follow, right or wrong.

Gabriela you are very generous with your kind words, as I said, this normally would not have passed the second edit, but somehow I kept it in. I guess I was just playing with it to see if anything would move the image on and I still am unsure as wether it has, perhaps it's a bit like 'The Kings Clothes?'. 99% of my images follow the same basic Workflow, the only thing I do is omit certain stages, adjustments etc depending on the image, but with this IMHO it's a little overworked.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Steve i thought you know who Michael Orton is .
How was the softness applied ? I have another idea - inverted a duplicate of the BG layer and use High Pass filter with radius of 20 - 50 px ? Or just one of the lens blur filters ?
What is the new ? B/W conversion in CC , have not found it yet, can you open my eyes , Maestro.

Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

How was the softness applied ?

With NIK, it's a gimmick I guess, not something I feel that you would use on an ongoing basis. I think the colour will help, it's easier to see I feel.

What is the new ? B/W conversion in CC

No there is no new B/W in CC, from the colour version I just set the FG & BKG to their default setting of B/W and use Adjustments to push the Blacks & Whites a bit more just to beef them up, basically making them more 'contrasty' but not using Contrast, that's all. I still think that within PS going to B/W gives you a lot of options with the sliders.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Steve for clarifying this,have a good night.

[Morkel Erasmus]

I like your play on the fall of light and shadow here, Steve, likewise the toning. It's tight yes, but no deal-breaker.
What I do wish for is a hint more "head turn" or eye contact as it were...presume you have those?

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

I've read some of the critiques with interest, Steve. I guess there's always something to be wished for in any pic if you're really looking for it but as far as I'm concerned, this one is perfect and I won't change a thing! Well done!

[Sid Garige]

Steve,

Excellent B&W conversion. I guess rest of the points are covered.

-sid