Leopard

[Rachel Hollander]

This is another one of the Vomba Young Male Leopard taken at Londolozi in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve. He was certainly a fairly cooperative subject as we spent a couple of mornings with him as he wandered around. This particular morning he was in his father's territory and following his father at a slight distance.

Canon 7D
300 II
1/320
f5.6
ISO 1600
Beanbag from safari vehicle, slight crop from above and right for comp (I do wish I had more room below but I don't), levels, curves, selective color adjustments, sharpened in CCPS.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, I like your choice of comp, and I like the alert stare. Great that he has walked in pretty open grass, and was about to mention wishing for more space below, but you have stated that in your intro.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Awesome image of this leopard Rachel. I like the vertical crop, walking pose and the eye contact. Great exposure and details. TFS. The lack of space below does not bother me as my eyes are drawn straight to the face of the leopard.

[Katie Rupp]

Hi Rachel,

Very nicely done with perfect exposure and great detail. I like the soft color of the grasses which complement the more dramatic pattern of the leopard.

Best,
Katie

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Stu, Sanjeev and Katie, much appreciated.

[Mark Needham]

Great image and very nicely processed, Rachel. I would be curious to see a version with slightly more room on the right side for the leopard to "look into," but that is just out of curiosity. Great work!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel , love this one very much . Very nicely processed with good overall tones/contrast and detail /sharpness .Only little nit is the missing space on bottom for the feet .Colors are very lovely and soft , too .

TFS Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Rachel,

I was busy writing a comment for your leopard last night when a thunderstorm came and suddenly no electricity...Rushed to end the last sentence but the UPS died on me, I was so upset. I was going to say that your leopard male here made me think of my Rosetta which I was lucky to find again in the Kalahari, she now has a cub and we were able to watch some wonderful interaction between them.

This is a lovely image and I am quite taken with that concentration on the subject's face. Well exposed and plenty of detail. Lovely warm colours. I am wondering whether taking off the top would lessen the impression that there's not enough space at the bottom, just a tad and not quite ending up with an almost square composition, if you know what I mean.

I have three recent images where I was so busy looking (and shooting) at a lion's face (he was roaring and looking right at me, also quite close), that I somehow managed to cut the paws...I sat last night and wondered "how could this happen to me?". I eventually forgave myself, seeing that in the next frames the lion was "complete"...

Hope you have a lovely evening Rachel,

Forgive my short and somewhat disconnected sentences, been working late these days and trying to catch up with everything:)

Warmest regards,

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Mark, Andreas and Gabriela. I'm glad you like this one.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, colours & detail look spot on, even for the 7D LOL. For me, I just feel the whole crop need moving down, too much space above, not enough below.

Yep, a lovely specimen and who did prove to be very cooperative and I think, enjoyed being in the limelight.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Steve. As I've said before, so long as you expose correctly and don't add too much clarity, the 7D can produce quality images. Hopefully, the 7D2 will do so even better.

Cheers,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

If you are using Clarity, as I have said before irrespective of camera, the latest versions of LR & PS require very little now, if any.

[Rachel Hollander]

Steve - my point above was that the grittiness that people sometimes complain about in 7D images I believe comes from either underexposure or adding too much clarity or a combination of both. ETTR in the field and not pumping in too much clarity will help produce high IQ images from the 7D.

[Steve Kaluski]

Yes, I know the point you were making, but I was also just making another.

[Morkel Erasmus]

IQ certainly looks good, you are the new 7D master, Rachel
I agree on space at the bottom, but I know full well when framing vertically and trying to keep an AF point on the eye, the bottom of the frame slips from the mind
I'd shave some off the top to "balance" the tightness, if it makes sense?