Scent-marking Cheetah

[Morkel Erasmus]

Getting ready to head to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park again in 2 weeks, so posting some previously unshared images.
A male cheetah scent-marking a camelthorn acacia tree near Dalkeith waterhole in the Auob river. He was part of a coalition of 2 known as Smit & Smith, of which one recently died and ID'd from a brown hyaena carrying away part of his carcass. It may have been him that was killed, I haven't done further investigation into my files to tell them apart.

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f8.0 | 1/1250 SS | ISO-640

[Neil Burton]

Great conversion Morkel. The whites of Mr Smit, or Smith, really pop against the darks. Always cool to be able to add a story to an individual, sad or not.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mork, love the peering around the tree as he is doing his business. Great conversion, and I agree with Neil that the cheetah does pop from the darker tones.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - I too like the pose with cheetah peering out from under/behind the branch. The conversion and brighter cheetah to separate it from the surroundings works well.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Canuel]

The curved tree trunks provide some nice elements for this shot and I like the shadows cast upon them by the branches. To my eyes it seems to have a very slight, cool bluish tone rather than a warmer feel. I assume intentional on your part?

[Nancy Bell]

Very dramatic with the dark bkgd to provide contrast for the brights of the cheetah. I really like the compositional curves in this; the curve of the 3 tree trunks, the continuing curve of the cheetah's chest to his belly, his tilted head, the curve of his tail.

[Marc Mol]

Agree with the comments above and love the curved framing of the tree trunk and subtle vignette here Morkel with the cheetah popping nicely from it's environment.

TFS

[Jamie Douglas]

Hey Morkel buddy. Hope the family is well and keeping you on your toes. Best and worst thing we ever did lol ;)))

Love what you did with the B&W conversion but not sure if the cheetah could be a little sharper?

Jamie

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Morkel, I really like the composition, the depth and tones in the image. Everything works nicely here. I like the peering pose and that raised tail of the cheetah!

[Andre Pretorius]

All I can add.. well done!

Do know what happened to the unit of 4 brothers around Rooiputs that were bringing down Gemsbok and Eland in 2012?
Observed 3 in 2013, then 2, then none....
Back there in 2 months!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel for me it is the way you processed the image that makes this work.
Otherwise it is an image that is not that nice to start with or to present it, cheetah half hidden , but made it look interesting , so well done.
Nice tones and leading my eyes to the subject by giving it some good contrast and tonal range .

Like this one !! TFS Andreas

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks for the kind feedback, folks. Yep, this one just works better in monochrome!

[Carl Walker]

Certainly does - great image Morkel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Morkel,

I like this cheetah image very much, the conversion gives the entire scene an eerie, almost mysterious feel. I love everything about it, only I find the little black shadow on the tree trunk in front of the cheetah's face a tad bothersome. Not sure there is anything you can do about it, wondering whether it was enhanced during conversion and if possible to at least lighten it so that it is less prominent?

Great processing and beautiful scene, Morkel, enjoyed viewing, a lot!

Warmest regards,