Ruaha ♂ leopard.

[Marc Mol]

We found this male leopard, way off the beaten track and nicely placed in his green season environment, slinking through the "crows feet" grass.
Added a slight warming tone @ 5% to this moderate High Key B&W conv.

Ruaha Nat Park- Tanzania.

D4 500 f/4 VRII 1/2000s f/5.6 ISO1600. around a 20% crop, USM, curves, ACR/PS CC with B&W conv in PS CC.

C & C most welcome

Cheers
Marc

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Nice conversion & good comp with habitat shown. I like the head turn of the leopard.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Marc - I like the pose of the leopard and its placement in frame. The image definitely makes me curious about what caught the leopard's attention. I do feel like the leopard itself can use a bit more pop. The slight warm tone works for me. Your description of the green season environment though makes me want to see the color version.

TFS,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

I like the tones you achieved here Marc, though I would also play with adding pop to the kitty.
Pose works well with the comp. Also interested in the colour version...

[Dumay de Boulle]

Nice image! I like the conversion. Nice pose and comp!

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Marc, love for sure the conversion. For me the leopard pops enough I would more "u sharpen" the grass in the BG. Would do this already in LR or ACR if you use this. Maybe u sharpen is the wrong word for this, I actually mean take out more the contrast, the darks in the grass in the further off BG not right at her head. If you know what I mean. Just a suggestion :)

Have a great eve

Ciao Anette

[Nancy Bell]

I do like this conversion as the grasses have gone pale, allowing the cat to visually stand out so well. Although there was a moment of disconnect for me looking at the image and reading your comment about the "green" environment !

[Marc Mol]

Many thanks for your comments everyone.

Yes I did throw a spanner in the works with my "green" comment with a B&W submission.

So here's the colour version, I think it's one that works equally well with both conversions, what do you think?

I reduced the luminosity in the green and perhaps could do with a touch more, but it certainly really had a "natural" glow to it with the early light.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi again Marc - I like the color version too but do feel that the eye is drawn to the bright color of the grass rather than the leopard. I tried making the greens darker in a hue/saturation layer. I understand it may not be what you saw but it does focus attention on the leopard. Obviously, you can drop it less than I did (-40) on the lightness slider. WDYT?

Rachel

[Nancy Bell]

Marc, those grasses are almost glow! Visually I prefer the version that Rachel posted. But I do like your original b&w one also.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks for the colour version, mate - I actually prefer the B&W here