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Thread: Gotcha! (C)

  1. #1
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hello Everyone,

    ...and may I introduce you to Tommy the Serval...He is slowly becoming quite a success story in terms of rehabilitation. Even though he pops in to the shelter where he was brought up from time to time, he does catch his own food most of the time these days...He has not been fed in two months...Every now and then he seems to remember the "kitchen" and appears out of nowhere, causing havoc...He knows how to get in and out without having to ask, should the door be closed he comes in through the window... we were supposed to have chicken on the barbecue last week-end, but I found him devouring the most delicious bits as I entered the room to grab a bottle of wine. I approached the kitchen sink carefully to see what he was doing and was greeted with a hiss...Unintimidated, I stroked his head and was delighted (and relieved at the same time) to receive a loud purr in exchange...perhaps our last encounter...who knows, the owner of the place tells me Tommy rarely pops in these days...

    So here's one image of Tommy taken two months ago while he was still roaming around the house, in this instance he was chasing Lumi the Caracal. I managed to get in the way, things happened fast so no time to think about camera settings, BG rather busy but nothing much I could do about that, hope this is at least fun to view and if you have any suggestions regarding processing please let me know...

    Nikon D4
    Nikon 300 mm F4
    ISO 1600
    F6.3
    1/1600s

    Wishing you all a great week ahead,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Awesome image of the Serval cat in action Gabriela! You captured a lovely pouncing pose, great detail and colours. The BG does not bother me. You are tempting me to make a visit to this secret place of yours to see them in action & oh most certainly to meet you in person as you have such wonderful stories to tell (like you always do when you post your images)

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela, lovely playful pose, albeit about to pounce. Techs look good likewise the PP, think you could loose a sliver off the left, above and a bit more on the right, but still retaining being off set to the left, that was a very good call, WDYT? Any work on the eyes?

    You are tempting me to make a visit to this secret place of yours to see them in action & oh most certainly to meet you in person as you have such wonderful stories to tell (like you always do when you post your images)
    Totally agree Sanjeev, especially the story telling.


    TFS
    Steve

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela - I hope you had a suitable substitute for the chicken or enough wine that you could forget about the chicken. What a great bounding pose with excellent eye contact and low pov. The bg doesn't bother me at all. Well processed too. Steve's slight crop has improved the image IMHO.

    TFS,
    Rachel

  5. #5
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you Sanjeev, Steve and Rachel

    I forgot to tell you this is one heavy crop. Which would not have been necessary if I did not have to deal with that BG, there was a fallen tree behind the serval with white branches all over the place. The Serval was hiding right there and I have been watching him for a while, knowing he will give chase when Lumi the Caracal ran past. I lied down and started shooting early, he was not that close to me so ended up looking quite small in the frame. I so like Steve's crop, I see clearly I could have gone tighter without losing IQ. Thank you Steve!

    Sanjeev, I am really fortunate to have all those opportunities, apart from the Kalahari images you've been seeing lately and a couple more from the Kruger Park ,just about every image myself or Andre post on BPN was taken locally. An interesting fact I would like to mention, a lot of land around Hluhluwe (dedicated to farming some twenty years ago when I settled in Hluhluwe) now belongs to wildlife. Also, Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Game Reserve is only ten minutes' away:) Then there are other, very special places where we are invited from time to time - those are not open to the public and we owe these opportunities to very special people (some of them are our patients at the Pharmacy) who understand our love for nature and passion for photography. This is how me met our dearest friend Carl Walker, whose knowledge of the bush/wildlife is amazing and he is such a great companion, he has become like a brother to us.

    Steve, I tried to brighten the eyes because they were a little dull, this image was taken on a cloudy day. I raised exposure and used levels too, then D/B as well. Hope not too much?

    And Rachel, we also had prego rolls with beef fillet and boerewors (sausages) as well as a potato salad and some greens, so the missing chicken portions were not a problem Lots of good wine and great company, was interesting to meet two photographers that evening, they only did weddings and corporate photography and were so amazed at the size and weight of our equipment, saying it was so heavy and cumbersome...

    Thank you again for viewing and comments, I love posting in this forum and writing my little stories...

    Have a fabulous evening,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Steve, I tried to brighten the eyes because they were a little dull, this image was taken on a cloudy day. I raised exposure and used levels too, then D/B as well. Hope not too much?
    I might back off, hence my question.

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela you have done a great job with this speedy guy.
    I like the dynamic pose . Processing does look with the right amount of color and tones .BG is fine because the subject is well separated , ok could have been more even in tone......... but we cannot have everything all the time.
    I agree that the eyes are looking a bit too much worked on , and Steve `s crop is working better than your OP crop .
    Hope for you and Andre fro more options with this little fella.

    TFS Andreas and a good night my sister

  8. #8
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Will back off as per your suggestions, Steve Andreas also thinks I have overdone it - thanks my dear Brother

    Little hope to see the little guy soon...but then again, maybe the smell of a barbecue might trigger some good memories, who knows?

    Good night dear friends,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Gabriela really enjoyed reading and viewing and picking up tips from this post of yours, think all the tec bits have been covered so just leaves it for me to enjoy.

    Cheers Keith.

  10. #10
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hello Keith-you are always so kind with your comments, thank you!
    I did not do an RP, felt it wasn't necessary, but I did sort out the eye issue:)

    Have a fabulous week-end!

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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