Leopard

[Rachel Hollander]

I was away for a long weekend and am trying to catch up on the images posted while I was away. I did notice that in my absence no one posted a leopard so here's one of the Kwela Kwela Female. Taken at Kirkman's in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa. She was in the shade where she had taken her 7 month old cub to feed on a duiker kill. I know it's a little tight but that's what I was going for and it is full frame.

Canon 5D3
300 II plus 2x III
1/400
f5.6
ISO 1600
Monopod from safari vehicle, ff, luminosity mask, levels, curves, selective color adjustments and sharpened in CCPS.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Mark Needham]

Lovely image here, Rachel. Great sharpness and detail, especially on the nose. Is that blood on the left whiskers? In terms of technical issues, I would have stopped down from f5.6 to about f8 or more, as the DOF is shallow here with the FF and loses sharpness from the eyes to the back of the head, and even the eyes are a tad soft. Interesting the "dot" in the left eye - I have seen a few lion images recently with the same phenomenon and wonder what is the cause of this in some cats.

[Don Railton]

Hi Rachel.

I hope you had a nice weekend.. This is quite beautiful, I have spent at least 10 minutes just looking at it, slurping it up... I agree with mark that a little more DOF would help to improve eye sharpness, but it does not bother me too much anyway...

regards

DON

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

These beautiful shots are becoming your 'trademark' Rachel! I actually love the mentioned DOF because it highlights those beautiful eyes which are in great focus together with the nose - thus where it counts most. One's eyes are forced back to and hooked on the middle of the face in a very clever manner - well done on this one!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, this was a real feast of a day, even having breakfast delivered right to our vehicle too, LOL.

Having posted the image I had a quick look back at mine, as you shoot mainly M mode I doubt you will know the EV as it does convey a much brighter/lighter image/conditions, where the light was a little flat I think, almost bordering on backlit? I know you wanted the reach, but it's just a fraction too tight for me with the 2x, a bit more space/air above and below would I feel, have helped the subject, perhaps a square format might be an option here? I wonder if the 1.4 and cropping may have been a better choice, especially with the 5D? I think also more DoF, the eyes are a fraction off based on the eye rings? Rarely do I do it, or suggest it, but the bright green to the right by the head, might be worth just dropping the Sat or selectively the green, just so it's less dominant, but again just my take.

The gaze is captivating, but you certainly wouldn't want to play with her. Interesting about the black spot in the eye.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone. I agree that a bit more dof would have been preferable but light was at a premium due to location. Although this was shot just before 10 am so maybe there was a bit more light than earlier in the morning.

Mark and Steve - We discussed the additional spot with JP in the field and questioned whether it was a cataract but the thought was it was just a mark or pigment of some kind because she has had it since birth. I'll take a look at the greens.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel , could be right in face ...... if cropped square or 4x5 !!
For what you wanted to achieve i think there is too much space on both sides , my 2 cents.
A bit more DOF would have been better for even more clarity in those wonderful eyes. But still very nice and would love to get that close to a wild Leopard .Nice blacks and whites . The colors are not my favorite , but you were there .

TFS Andreas

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, I actually like this tight comp, and what a great stare you were given. Lovely eyes, and I do like the hint of blood on some of the whiskers. Yep, more light would have helped with more DOF, but the main parts of her face are in focus, so thats what counts.

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Rachel

Mesmerised by this captivating stare!

Techs covered above.

BTW, I have found to use limited DOF more effective; I focus in situations like this on the bridge of nose.

Sometimes, I through all caution to the wind, get that f8 and crank up the ISO

[Gabriela Plesea]

Welcome back Rachel!

Another great sighting and what grabbed me in the first place was the expression on the subject's face, this is one beautiful female leopard and you made the best of the opportunity with the equipment you had available. I love portraits of big cats and I am quite fascinated with those eyes. By the way, I too noticed the spot and wondering whether it is just pigmentation or perhaps it was caused by a foreign body?

I somehow wish you had just a tad more space at the top but I am sure you could have added some if you wanted to. I have a few close-ups of lions where I barely managed not to cut ears or chin and I tend to crop those quite tight, here I like the space you allow on both sides of the leopard, and especially that some of the body is still visible on the RHS ( which tells me the subject was in a relaxed position, lying on its side, hmm...eyes right on you)

One mistake I used to make in the past was to try and "force -sharpen" features of the face that were not as sharp as the rest - I notice with delight that you have processed this so gently and with much consideration to how the image was taken, meaning you have all that detail on the muzzle of the leopard, forehead and nose, while the eyes - set slightly deeper so just a tad OOF - you have barely touched (if you did, at all) when sharpening. Nothing too much or too little here, I like this very much Rachel, I like your thinking and find this quite inspiring, thank you so much for sharing this lovely image and I have learnt a few things

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

BTW, I have found to use limited DOF more effective; I focus in situations like this on the bridge of nose.

Andre, the closure you are, the more DoF you need, however if you focus on the bridge of the nose you may not get either the eyes or nose in focus, therefore IMHO the FP should be between the eyes in a shot like this, I even apply a little trick when shooting the Little owls close up to ensure they are as sharp as possible, but it does depend on the angle. If the eyes are sharp, but the nose begins to drift off fractional you can perhaps get away with it, but the eyes are the focal point that we all look at, especially with such an engaging image as this, but just my take.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone. FP was right between the eyes. See Steve I listened when you made that suggestion on my gorilla eyes image a year or so ago.

I still tend to resist cranking up the ISO because I generally shoot to eventually print rather than just post on the web.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

LOL Rachel, just a thought, but it might therefore, (although perhaps difficult due to Canon Service Centres) have the focus checked, to me the nose appears sharper than the eyes and so it might be front focusing?

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Rachel, great portrait as usual
I did not read all comments, well not even one of them, sorry for that, but arc wants to go for a walk.

I saw it, my first impression… well the eyes, for me they seem not to sharp, just me. IF anyone else mentioned it above, than just ignore it

Wish you grab day

Ciao
Anette

[Andreas Liedmann]

Rachel with the 5D there should be no problem with High Iso and printing ?

[Rachel Hollander]

Andreas - I guess I'll find out with some of the images from this trip when occasionally I had no choice but to shoot at ISO 2500 or 3200 but generally I haven't printed stuff with an ISO higher than 1600 from any camera body.

Thanks,
Rachel