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Thread: In a Mother's Paws

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Default In a Mother's Paws

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    Gail's post of the mother leopard and cub reminded me that I hadn't posted this one yet. This is another of the Kwela Kwela female's then 7 month old cub, this time nestled in her mother's paw. We spent most of a morning with these 2 in an area of fairly dense vegetation where mom had stashed a duiker kill. The blood on the cub's nose is from the kill. We watched mom open it up for the cub and then the cub had first crack at the meal. They surprisingly seemed content to rest more than eat and the cub wandered around a bit exploring the area too. At this point the cub came to cuddle with mom a bit and even nurse for a few seconds.

    Canon 7D
    300 II
    1/640
    f5.6
    ISO 1600
    Monopod from safari vehicle, slight crop for comp, levels, curves, selective color adjustments, sharpened in CCPS.

    C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

    Rachel

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel,
    The mother's arm provides a nice base for this image. I like those bright, wide open eyes and the touch of red on the nose. I know they're not popular and you may not have the MPs to do it, but I thought a square crop to eliminate the leaves looked pretty good.

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    Rachel, the eyes really make this image! And the comp with mothers arm & bloody nose all make this a fine image. Nicely processed with good detail and sharpness.

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    Those eyes hold my attention! Maybe this youngster wants to rest, but too much interesting stuff going on to close his eyes. Great unique pose with the mom's protective leg & the full detailed and very expressive face of the youngster. Your time with this family was well spent. Did I mention I am envious ?

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    You only see the eyes so the rest is irrelevant :)

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Love the hypnotic eyes on this cub here Rachel, with the bloody nose contrasting nicely.
    TFS


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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks everyone for the kind comments. Steve - yes, a square crop would work as an alternative. I'm just not a huge fan and feel like it will also lose some of the context. The oof foliage is a trade-off I guess.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    Hi Rachel, sweet little one and good techs from the 7D at 1600. Only suggestion might be too to down the oof grass on the lhs by the eye - maybe darken it a little.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    A very cool sighting Rachel, the blood stained nose makes the image. Interesting you went portrait, I went landscape . Would look to toning down the highlight of the grass stem by the ear.

    TFS
    Steve

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Jamie and Steve, now that you mentioned it that grass stem is bothering me. Steve - I shot some horizontal of the actual nursing but thought this worked better vertical. There was too much foliage around so I went for the head shot when it was in the clear.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel , agree a cool sighting to get that close to an intimate mother/child interaction .
    Besides the two grass stems , all does look very well done . Stunning eyes.

    TFS Andreas

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    Lifetime Member Andre Pretorius's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel

    Love the eyes, they are captivating!
    Agree with the two stems.

    My personal taste would crop tighter from underneath..


    Nice capture of emotion..
    Regards

    Andre.

    www.gappimages.com

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Lovely shot I would crop the base to just below the elbow and I would patch or darken the two pale grass stems.

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, Im always late to a party, except my own . I really like this, as all the focus is on the cubs face, and just love those round eyes. The bloodied nose puts this over the top. Im fine with the vertical comp, and would like to see Steve's landscape version to compare.

    Have you finished going through all your images yet?

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Andreas, Andre, Jon and Stu for all the comments and suggestions. Stu - I've gone through them all but still deciding processing, of course.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hello Rachel,

    I must add my congratulations to you for this capture, my eyes are drawn to the little leopard's eyes as well, and I just love the way he is "nested" in mom's paws. I like the framing here and to me the grass at the bottom of the image makes sense, not bothering me at all since it adds context to the image.

    Well processed and presented as always, a pleasure to view

    Have a great week-end, Rachel!!!
    Gabriela Plesea

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