One of the many highlights from our trip was this encounter of a female Leopard Kwela Kwela (thanks Rachel) and her very young cub. When we found her she was on her way to a kill she had made and hidden the cub close by. Sadly because of the dense thicket and limited access we were the only vehicle to have access to both mum & cub, sorry Dumay, you know if we could we would have gladly shared the encounter with you and your guest.
She was so content, allowing us to have prime sightings of the cub trying to feed (no so good for shooting), and all the antics that then transpired i.e. playing, bonding, grooming etc, a good 3-4 hrs of prime time. In parts the habitat would open up a bit more, allowing more light, albeit at times backlit. Because of the environment I just wanted close quarter portraits at this particular time, other options became available when she and her cub moved around. An awesome encounter both for photography and at times, just to sit and watch.
Thanks for either viewing or commenting on the previous image.
Steve
Subject: Female leopard (Panthera pardus), backlit, lying down, head shot
Location: SA
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 200-400f/4 HH
Exposure: 1/400s at f/5.6 ISO1600
Original format: Portrait, very slight crop from top, FF width
No nits from me either, but then it is so hard to find nits in your work:)
What I like about this most is the eye contact you established with this female leopard - she is looking straight into your lens with those beautiful eyes of hers.
Great POV, she seems about to stand up and there's an urgency in her eyes...or maybe it was just the cub, playing around, unsettling her?
Love the gentle light and the soft colours, the detail is superb. Those few drops of blood on the whiskers confirm your story of the kill she has just made.
Techs spot on as usual, and thank you Steve - as always, such a pleasure to view
Hi Steve , very nice intense look right in the face ,looking a bit down and up in the same moment . Looks like she was saying do not come any closer !!
Nice subtle colors and tonality and well controlled dappled light , techs as always does look good .
POV and the tight crop seem to eliminate some of the stuff you described as being busy surrounding . Nice job
I do feel a bit more DOF would not have hurt and you had the room to play a bit with the ISO i think , but maybe you wanted that small DOF .
Hi Steve - yes, it was a great sighting albeit in the thick of the brush and drainage. She gave you a great look down the barrel here. Detail and sharpness good as always. I think there's a little more red then I recall, particularly in the bg.
I remember the sighting well, I struggled to find exactly where in the block you guys were and then when we finally did we couldn't really get a good view but fortunately as we were leaving mom walked out and came and lay close to us so my guests got a good view in the end. Amazing IQ and perfect tones as always. Not sure if you were going for a shallower DOF...you usually get what you are after but maybe a little more DOF could have also worked. Lovely image.You know I have never seen this Leopard agian after this sighting. none of us know what's happened to her.
Last edited by Dumay de Boulle; 01-28-2015 at 03:48 AM.
Beautiful shot, Steve. I love the shallow DOF as it accentuates this beautiful face & eyes. Perfect surrounding foliage to show her typical environment. The colours are spot-on too!
Hi Steve, that 200-400 really sings in your hands, and it certainly produced the results here. Great eye contact, sharp detail, and nicely posed in the open. I do like the peachy colour of the far BG. Well captured.
Expertly exposed in tricky conditions, Steve - love that look and your framed it well given the foliage and the location/setting/situation.
I might go a tad darker overall here, just for mood?