Hi folks sorry to post one lion after the other , but i had this one in the pipe already , but i think at least Andre and Gabriela will love this one .
This is a Lion they have not seen , because they already left KTP when i took this shot . One early morning leaving Twee Rivieren , i was second in the car jam , i just saw the break lights of the car in front through all that dust . So i slowed down and saw this gorgeous male walking along the dunes , and i thought well a good start for that day.
I picked him up roughly 2 km ahead of Leeuwdril WH and he walked towards the water , so i was hoping that he continue his walk . And he did, in some great morning light .
In the end roughly 15 vehicles has been involved , a nightmare .
Canon EOS 1 Dx
EF 500 IS L
HH through passenger window making some funny movements to get into position to shoot .
F 4 / Iso 800 ; 1 /1600 sec , could have gone slower with the SS but wanted to retain sharpness and not risking blurry images because of that very uncomfortable position in the car .
Processed with DPP 4 and PS CC ; cropped for comp and removed an ugly branding from hind leg .
Thanks for watching and commenting to my previous posting .
You call this lion "nice"? He is a beauty of a male! Absolutely love it, glad you "had him in the pipe" and I am so excited to see this - is that a porcupine quill below his eye? And did you catch up with him at the water hole? Gorgeous light, nice pose and I like that paw off the ground, he seems to have stopped for a second, hesitating, as if he saw something...That golden light is stunning.
Please, would you be so kind to send me a jpeg version of the original, if you don't mind, I think this could be our beloved Charlie Ash of Rooiputs fame, kept looking for that inverted "C" on his hind leg in your image and was so disappointed I could not find it. Then I read your text again...realised you removed the branding...Now you make me go back to 2012 folders to check, we haven't seen him since. Couple of times I have captured him in a similar pose, paw slightly up, same angle - cannot wait to compare images and see if it's him! But I need to be sure!
Thank you for this, not just a lovely and well-processed image but a bit of a heart-stopper for me, thought this male had gone into the dunes somewhere and never came back. He is in great shape, even though it seems he had only a porcupine for dinner last night... but then again, it could have been a mere mid-night snack in-between other more substantial meals:) I do hope it's Charlie...
Well done Andreas, I guess you knew you'd make my day with this sighting
Lovely image, Andreas. Nice low angle with blurred foreground, paw up, great light overall and catchlight on the eye, and such a story being invoked by having those porcupine quills in his cheek (ouch!). As usual, beautifully processed. If I was to do anything, I would perhaps crop a sliver off the top and LHS to get rid of the darker "blobs" at the edge of the frame, but this is really minor. Cracking image, mate!
I really like the fall of light here, Andreas.
Colours and contrast look very accurate here. I might crop some off the top?
Sad to hear there were 15 cars involved. This is a LOT for KTP - I am used to having max 6-7 vehicles in a sighting down south. Photographers posting great images has made the place more popular, as has the tarring of the main road leading to Twee Rivieren gate.
PS:
While I doubt that this is Gabriela's "Ash" (based on mane, body condition - sorry Gabriela) I do think I saw him at Rooiputs last December and he is actually the male in this image: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ight=kgalagadi
I will check my files of the eland kill we saw (which definitely had Ash involved) and will post an ID shot tonight or so.
Hi Andreas - beautifully captured and beautifully processed. Love the light and walking pose. The quill adds and he looks a bit hungry too. I too would take a sliver off the top. Overall, really well done.
Hi Andreas, one of the nicest images posted to date from your travels/encounters.
Good call on the techs, nicely processed, you should have removed those quills for him and kept them for a souvenir, LOL.
...Dug up some older hard drives and found an image of Charlie Ash taken in 2012 then compared it to Andreas's emailed version, here it is. Branding is identical, maybe he grew a tad more mane and and he is not in the same shape, but two years is quite some time in the life of a lion...Morkel, what do you think? No crits please, this is before I joined BPN and it's Andreas's thread anyway
Thanks a bunch to all of you who commented and i am glad you all liked it , even better .
I am fine if some of you want to hijack my thread , i just post a new one , more lions to come to discuss if this is Ben , Charlie , Kitty Cat , Mrs Doubtfire or .......... Mr Liedmann .
Mr Liedmann was very happy to get this at that morning in gorgeous light and a lion not lying around .
To all who suggested a different crop , tried 16 x 9 and it was not working for me , so i went for 16 x 10 to have more room , my reason for this and i will leave it as is .
Who of you wants a quill ? i can offer a HiRes jpg for you guys for free (to copy the quill and print it with a 3D printer , or if someone wants it exclusive i am willing to sell the raw file. all payments are accepted , funny guy that german with the socks and sandals
Cheers Andreas
Last edited by Andreas Liedmann; 11-19-2014 at 02:26 PM.
Oops Morkel, I already did hijack the place:), so sorry Andreas...
Morkel you are welcome to remove my post, not proud of this old image but just happy to know this fellow is alive and well, quills and all:) I am a bit worried about that visible ridge on his back though...
Thought about your crop/presentation Andreas and I like it as is, I would love it if you retained every bit of that golden landscape:). ...and please do send me by post just one tiny little quill for my Kalahari "shrine" ...
I want a real quill -
a mere print won't do (sorry)
regardless of IQ.
Hope we're allowed a bit of nonsense from time to time, although I fear I shall be banned from BPN after this...Jokes aside, I really like this image, Andreas. You've been chasing that good light and got great results-congratulations!