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Thread: Leopard Cub

  1. #1
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Default Leopard Cub

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    One of Kwela Kwela's then 7 month old female cub taken in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa. This was at the sighting in the thick brush where mom had stashed a duiker kill.

    Canon 5D3
    300 II plus 2x III
    1/320
    f5.6
    ISO 1600
    Beanbag from safari vehicle, levels, curves, selective color adjustments, sharpened in CCPS.

    C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

    Rachel

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel , a nice side profile of the youngster with the look up makes it different which i quite like . Nice tones in the subject . As colors are subjective , my initial thought is it is a tad too much on the green side as viewed , without taking it into PS !!
    I would like to see more room on top instead of the RHS as the cub is looking up not forward .
    To me the image does seem to have motion blur or camera shake ? Does not seem to be a sharp .Well at least to me , lets see what others have to say . Any way thanks for sharing this .

    Cheers Andreas

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  4. #3
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Andreas, this is ff so no room above. The cub was walking at the time so with the slow ss there could be a bit of motion but I could also sharpen a bit more.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    No problem Rachel the eye is looking somehow not as sharp , to me. Have you used DE on the HL ?

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    No, I almost never use DE and if I do I disclose it in the intro. I think it has to do with the way the light is hitting the eye and the reflection off the eye.

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

    What strikes me most here is the serene pose and innocent looks of this leopard cub - the curiosity of youth, discovering new things, his world full of new shapes and sounds...Those eyes are amazing, you captured this so well Rachel, a very appealing portrait. I like it as is, my guess is the lighting conditions changed as he moved from light to shade but you handled this well, and with careful processing you have managed to emphasize the beauty of this elusive creature - love the colours and tonality, you may sharpen it a tad if you like but I am happy with this image as presented.

    Warmest regards and wishes of a good week ahead,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Gabriela, "he" is a she though. The then 7 month old female cub.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

  11. #8
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Of course it is a "SHE" - that explains the cuteness factor, thank you Rachel!!!
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Douglas Bolt's Avatar
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    Very appealing image. I especially like the eyes and the OOF background. My first impression was that the image looked too cool, as in color temp. The more I examined it, the less the color temp bothered me, but I took the image into PS and applied an Alt-Auto-Curves and added a little Warming 85 filter. I liked the change. Here 'tis.
    Douglas Bolt
    DougBoltPhotography.com

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Douglas but I never use auto anything and I don't generally add warming filters. I try to process my images so that they are accurate to the scene as I saw it. Truthfully though I don't see much, if any difference, viewing in my browser. I have not taken your rp into PS though.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    I just don't like the eye much...
    All else looks fine, but the vacant look just doesn't work for me.
    Dan Kearl

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    Another nicely detailed portrait. Does look a touch on the greenish side but I suspect that was due to being the bushes. The reflections in the eye give the appearance of not being sharp, a problem I've encountered in a lot of my pics due to bright clouds and dappled light in the woods.

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    Forum Participant christopher galeski's Avatar
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    Nice image Rachel,good detail,like how it is looking up,I presume at the deer stashed in tree.I am probably wrong.

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    Nice look up pose and the clean BG makes her pop nicely, not as critically sharp as your usual posts but you have mentioned it already. I do also feel its a tad on the green side so Douglas has improved it slightly.

    We still have no idea what has happened to Kwela Kwela or her cub. It has been many months since we last saw them.

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, love the attentive stare towards her next meal, and the cub pops nicely from the OOF BG. I do like the overall detail, especially the whiskers, and Im fine with the eye, as thats how you captured it.

    You were taking a big chance adding your 2X TC when shooting animals - unless of course you knew they were going to be far away.

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  24. #16
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. The cub was actually looking at some birds flying overhead. The kill was stashed at the base of a tree. Stu - I added the 2x to shoot some close-ups and try to avoid some of the dense foliage of the surrounds. They were actually fairly close.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

  25. #17
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, such sad news about Kwela Kwela and her cub as Dumay mentioned in both our postings, however it's nice to have a record of both.

    Agree on the above comments and if you were panning perhaps you needed to change the settings on the lens? I know you don't like to, but adding a hint more above would help and an easy fix. Just quickly brought it into LR, upping the Temp a fraction to the right certainly helps, can't be too specific based on the laptop, but also upping the quarter tones just lifts it a bit more, but like you, I much prefer to be in control of the finer Curves adjustments than PS.

    TFS
    Steve

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Cute pose here, Rachel, and those big eyes make it for me.
    I agree on the colour temp, and slightly prefer Douglas' RP colour to yours (albeit a subtle difference). You were there though, so no arguing how it looked in person.
    Morkel Erasmus

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  27. #19
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Steve and Morkel, much appreciated as always.

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