Rainy take-a-way.

[Marc Mol]

OK, enough with monochrome, it reminds me of B&W tv before colour came along, let's get back to that medium, at least for a while.

I witnessed this female cheetah grabbing 3 young Thompson's gazelle inside an hour with the first as it often happens when a downpour starts, all the other vehicles left it to us to capture the moment.
And we were most grateful.
Lighting during the downpour was at a premium.

Ndutu- Nth Tanzania.

D3s 80-400 AF-S VR 1/1000s f/5.6 ISO1600@ 400mm. slight crop, PS CC levels, curves, etc. Warmed the WB just a touch.

C & C most welcome

Cheers
Marc

[Andre Pretorius]

Nice one Marc!

S/S perfect for falling rain and stationary cat.

Eye contact accentuates the alert pose.

Techs I'll leave to the more experienced...

Andre

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Marc, good you stayed in the pouring rain to get these sightings and capture.
The falling rain makes this image different to others , it works for me.
My first thought was it looks too flat and dark , but then i thought well it reflects the situation when the image was taken , quite well, dark sky with heavy rains.
Only thing is i would reduce the blues in the shadows and 3/4 tones.

TFS Andreas

[Morkel Erasmus]

Oh I dig this! Lovely pose, soaked cat and prey, and the raindrops takes it to another level.
Did you have any time to play with slower SS for more streaky rain perhaps?

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Marc - Nice pose and eye contact. She looks skinny so good on her for a successful morning and good on you for staying through the rain. I too like the raindrops and green environment. Her placement in frame also works. Nice one.

TFS,
Rachel

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Great pic, Marc! You can still sense the adrenalin flushing through its body combined with a feeling of triumph, just by looking at those eyes!

I want to turm Morkel's question around: Did you have any time to play with faster SS for totally freezing the rain perhaps?

No action photo's of the event?

[Nancy Bell]

I really like the interesting addition of the pouring rain!I usually find rainy conditions nicely saturate the colors, such as your deep green vegetation. You captured the moment very well with the cheetah giving you a steely stare and the young animal hanging out of her mouth. It doesn't seem like the rain interfered with your focus.

[Marc Mol]

It doesn't seem like the rain interfered with your focus.

Thanks Nancy

At the stage when I took this image the rain had just started to ease, I have plenty of frames with very restricted cloudy/visibility and poor AF when it was pelting down.

[Sid Garige]

Marc.

Excellent work in challenging conditions. Lot of things to like. Great timing, pose and eye contact.

[Dawn Miller]

I love this shot! Her eyes are compelling. It is difficult to get big cats with their eyes wide open but the light was dimmed by the rain and you caught her face just right. The richness of the green adds a touch we don't often see with cheetahs.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Marc, I could be wrong as I'm away and using the laptop, but I agree with Andreas, it looks a little flat overall. Adding some mid tone & a Channel Curves adjustment certainly helps IMHO. Not sure if DE has been applied, but the shadow area on the rear leg looks light, as if the image has been lightened, I would expect it to be darker based on shadow areas? Like the rain adds a nice sense of atmosphere and the vivid green of the the environment.

TFS
Steve

[Marc Mol]

Thanks Sid & Dawn

Not sure if DE has been applied, but the shadow area on the rear leg looks light, as if the image has been lightened, I would expect it to be darker based on shadow areas?
TFS
Steve

Thanks Steve

Certainly no DE used here, the soaking fur supplied enough depth as it is, nothing other than selective USM applied on her.

[Neil Burton]

Like it as is, the rain pouring like that just makes the shot.