The lions here don't seem to mind the water -- as long as they don't get their whiskers wet :)
We followed this boy for some time as he trekked through the delta. What struck me is his eyes were transfixed on something in the distance and never wavered as he walked. He couldn't care less I was in his face shooting photos. He was on a mission.
Taken at Duba Plains, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Canon 6D
Zeiss 80-200 @200mm HH and manual focus
1/1250 ISO 400 f/8
Highlights/shadows/blacks in LR
A light touch of smart sharpening in PS
Superb light and fantastic colours and surroundings....Looks like the 'Delta'. Nice walking pose and I like the foot up with the splash. Sharpening technique looks a little crunchy, the only recommendation would be trying a different sharpening for web presentation technique. Otherwise a beautiful image!
Hi Ed, yep looks like the Delta and these boys are BIG at Duba and really do not mind the water as often they will take a Buff down in the area if the opportunity arises. I quite like the angle being 3/4 on and the diagonal walking in, works well, plus the fact you have the water as part of the BKG which is a nice change, did you use a CP filter here? Balance looks good and nicely held whites, not blown. Like the splashing water and trailing front paw, adds interest. If you have it, then perhaps just pulling out a little more adding a tad more space may help?
Also Ed don't forget to add your thoughts to some other wildlife images too, it's the best way to learn and get the most out of BPN and also build on the community.
Hi Ed - Nice to see you moving over to the Wildlife Forum. Much better control of the whites and highlights here than in the leopard image. I love the walking pose, the determined look of the lion and the bit of habitat. Good suggestions above. If it were mine I would run a luminosity mask at about 30%. It helps with the brightness and brings out a little more richness too. Looking forward to seeing more of your images.
I also echo Steve's point about participating in other threads. It is the best way to get the most out of BPN.
Nice to see you posting here, Ed. Great specimen - love to see them walking through the water of the delta.
My first thought was also the luminosity mask suggested by Rachel.
Looking forward to more of your wildlife photos and also your input on the images of others
Hi Ed nice lion in a very nice setting. The lifted paw with the water splashes gives a bit of dynamic to the frame .Good call on a luminosity punch by Rachel .Like the crop/comp.
Thanks everyone for the great feedback. Very helpful and much appreciated! Here's a repost using everyone's suggestions. Whether they were executed to better effect is on me, but I do see improvement.
I pulled back top, bottom and right for more space. Reduced capture and output sharpening. Luminosity mask is new to me so I needed to play around with it quite a bit, tweaking curves and opacity while trying to maintain the "less is more" idea. The luminosity mask is a great concept and there a number of my Africa shots that can benefit from it.