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Thread: The stalk

  1. #1
    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Default The stalk

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    It's been a terrible week for my wife and I with the loss of our beloved 4 legged boy "Gromit" our 9 1/2 yr old mini schnauzer, who meant the world to us and travelled with us everywhere including from Australia to Switzerland,
    one hopes the pain eases soon but not the memory of sharing our lives with him.

    I thought it was time to be positive and start to post a few more images again.


    07.40am.
    I was fortunate to witness and capture this leopardess stalking a puku (antelope) in early light as it stealthly & slowly slinked it's way towards it's unwitting prey grazing in high grass close by.
    It's not often one gets to capture such behaviour in good light and open cover.
    South Luangwa Nat Park- Zambia

    D4 80-400 AF-S 1/2500s f/5.6 ISO400 @400mm. Cropped top & bottom for comp, processed in ACR PS/CC

    C & C most welcome

    Cheers
    Marc


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    Lifetime Member Charleen Ratcliff's Avatar
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    oh, so very sorry to hear about Gromit; they become so very much part and parcel of the family.

    South Luangwa NP - I wonder if this was one of Alice's offspring? I am still in 'early learning mode' so just wondering if lovely leopard could be a tad sharper? But perhaps it is my eyes!

    So very fortunate to get the shot!!

    Kind regards, Charleen

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Marc - Sorry to hear about Gromit. It's never easy to lose a beloved pet. Classic stalking pose here and interesting to see it in a open area. The pano crop suits the image. If it were mine I would drop the blues/cyans which are coming through in the whites of the underside. I would also apply another round of sharpening as Charleen suggests. It must have been quite bright already given your settings and EC of -.67. Good job controlling the highlights.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Appreciate the comments & support Charleen & Rachel.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rachel Hollander View Post
    If it were mine I would drop the blues/cyans which are coming through in the whites of the underside.
    In the RAW file the whites showed a lot of blue here and have taken them right down as it is Rachel, and happy with how they look to my eyes. USM could do with a tad extra perhaps.


    Quote Originally Posted by Charleen Ratcliff View Post

    South Luangwa NP - I wonder if this was one of Alice's offspring?
    I'd say not likely Charleen, SLNP covers a huge area and has one of the highest concentrations of leopard in Africa.
    Last edited by Marc Mol; 01-17-2015 at 11:13 AM.


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    Hi Marc...sorry to hear about the loss of your 4 Legged friend. Only dog lovers understand the void that is left in ones life when they leave us. I feel for you and your wife.

    re; the image, great pose in what looks like lovely light. I think you could get away with a little more on top for more space but this crop isn't bad. I also see the blues/cyans that Rachel is talking about in the whites, but otherwise the colours on the Leopard look perfect. Sharpness looks good to me.

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  9. #6
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Marc sorry to hear about the loss of your dog , i feel with you , never good to loose a friend in this way.
    Very cool pose of the leopard you captured , comp works for me , and the detail and colors are looking good , do not mind that much about the blues .......... you had more in your winning images .
    I also think a tiny bit more sharpness would not hurt but avoid the HL . I only the image is a bit dull /dark , i tried 15 pts brightness and it looked a bit more friendly and the colors also came out with a bit more pop. Just my thought .

    TFS Andreas

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    Hi Marc, sorry about your loss of the 4-legged friend. We lost ours after coming back from our first Africa trip in July 2013 and it really broke our hearts, my wife especially. She finally got over the loss and got herself a goofy Irish Water Spaniel and now we are in love with our new pup. Do let time to heal, but do get another dog. He/she will never replace the one we lost, but it will be a new love.

    Regarding the image, I'm on my lap top and not so good with colors, so leave it to the others. Love the stalking pose, comp is fine with me, agreed the image is a tad dark. Tough to shoot in such bright light, but you handled it well.

    Congrats on your other winning images, I enjoyed them.

    Loi

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Classic pose here mate. Can't add much to the critiques received above.
    Sorry for your loss! I have lost many pets in my life, but none sticks by me as much as losing both our beloved dogs 3 years ago (they were poisoned by would-be burglars one night). Best medicine - get a new puppy!
    Morkel Erasmus

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Hi Marc,

    most has been said above already. You know my style and for personally would love a tad more room in front of the cat. Reason, the tale/tail is stretched to the right nearly touching the free, so the leopard looks for me longer than usual with curled up tale/tail (never know which tale is correct in here US or UK). Anyway, since the leopard takes so much space already therefor I would like more space. This is just me, of course. No deal breaker at all, just me eyes and feel.

    Sorry to hear that with Gromit. Merkel is right, get a new pet, that helps a lot

    Have a great evening

    Ciao Anette

    PS I see no blue in the image!!

  14. #10
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hello Marc,

    So sorry to hear about Gromit - not easy to console someone when they lose a special friend, but I am sure the little one was much loved and had a wonderful life filled with fun and travels. Don't know if to advise you to get a new pet, I was incapable of doing so after losing my two dobermans, for fear of having to cope with another loss in the future.

    Regarding your image - I find this capture to be quite breathtaking, the beautiful stalking pose and that concentration truly make this image for me. Crop is spot-on, sharpness is there IMO, I would have liked the image a bit brighter though, for I am tempted to increase the screen brightness but it is at maximum level already:)

    I too feel there's some cyan in the whites, but only a bit. I am not the habit of nit-picking, you know me by now and I admit I have not verified my observations, just my impression as I opened the thumbnail that the whites should be whiter (fur under the belly and tail).

    All in all one awesome shot and I would love this in my folders, hopefully I get lucky in three weeks' time

    Thank you for sharing Marc, and a last thought : perhaps you could share with us an image of little Gromit in "Family Friends" forum?

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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