Leopard - Mana Pools

[Douglas Bolt]

Canon 5DM3, 400mm f5.6, 1/1000s, f6.3, ISO 800, HH. PP: Bridge/ACR and CC. Photo taken on a Wild-Eye safari 8/14 led by Morkel Erasmus. Finally getting caught up on processing. First time to Mana Pools. What a magical place!

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Douglas

Just my humble take on this beautiful cat in his magical place…( very sloppy edit..)

[Morkel Erasmus]

Good to see you getting stuck into your Mana shots, Douglas! I still can't believe our vehicle missed out on this relaxed leopard (by Mana standards). You made the most of the fleeting moments you had.
I actually prefer your OP crop to Andre's crop (though I'd slice some off the bottom for sure), but I do wonder if you have a touch more space on the RHS of the frame?
I'd also look at opening up the blacks on the kitty ever so slightly. Looking forward to more!

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Douglas!

Great capture of this impressive male leopard and I really like the point of view here. I agree with Morkel, this needs a tad of space on the RHS and I see Andre has added some canvas there. I notice a tad a blue creeping into the white fur of the leopard which Andre managed to remove to some extent in his RP. The eye contact is very special, I cannot help but stare at those large inquisitive eyes, really an unusual leopard image with great potential, if this were mine I would perhaps look at opening the blacks a little and reducing the contrast and also saturation (especially yellows).

Well done Douglas, looking forward to more images from your Mana trip!

Kind regards,

[Douglas Bolt]

Thanks Morkel and Andre. I did have room on the RS and I removed some of the distractions in front of the Leopard. I think all the suggested changes improved the image.
Yes, Morkel, I am finally making progress on my images from the safari.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Douglas. A fine looking animal giving you a very nice pose. I like what you've done on your repost as the bright foreground was drawing my eye.