It is kind of magic, following cheetah males in pursuit of prey...tonight I am going to show you just one of two handsome brothers...More later
Our dear friend Carl Walker spoilt us again with a game drive few weeks ago and despite poor weather conditions we managed to capture a number of images worth sharing. It was awesome being able to follow them for some time and we were pleased to see they were so relaxed and paid no attention to us whatsoever.
What cheetah want? Interesting to observe they stalked various species, among those a fat warthog crossing their path and a number of impala. We also witnessed an interesting encounter with wildebeests...For now I am going to show you a simple image of this chap resting on an ant hill and just checking the surroundings...Something relaxing for the week-end
Nikon D4
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 500
F 5.6
1/800s
Basic LR adjustments then PS CC - exposure, levels, curves, removed a number of dust bunnies, decided not to add too much warmth as I remember the subject looking rather pale and dull in terms of colour - cheetah fur is coarse so I hope you take that in consideration before you say " it's crunchy", LOL.
Thank you for viewing, I really appreciate your comments, be it of a technical nature or otherwise:)
Without the tongue it's 'just' a nice cheetah portrait. However, for me, the licking of the lips and the intense stare, it makes me think he's considering a chase or has seen a tasty snack within hunting difference, and so makes a world of difference, and a huge improvement.
The BG appeals to my taste as well - not distracting at all, but nicely mottled and complements this stunning cat.
Hi Gabriela - The tongue out definitely adds to the image as Mike and Loi have said. Nice detail and I think the sharpening looks fine. I too really like the intensity of the stare here.
Hi Gabriela, cool portrait, like the side on portrait, it also helps avoid that hint of eye when the head is slightly angled, I hope you know what mean???
Lovely BKG, provides a nice contrast to the colour & markings of the Cheetah, having the curl of the tongue is a nice touch and sets it apart. Well framed/balanced an I like the fact he's looking right, LOL. Being overcast has worked in your favour, likewise spending time in shadowing the pair.
I took the liberty of reposting , I love the clean BKG and side profile of Subject. I just felt the blacks were thin.. not sure if U used the H/S tool .. so I adj Blacks to give the image some "pop" also adj red in eye and took out some blue from the fur..
I was beginning to think this was too boring for you guys to view, let alone RP
Steve, I understand what you mean regarding eyes - I had a number of frames taken seconds apart, chose this for a number of reasons including the point you mention Some lessons don't need to be taught, right? One must view and think, why this and that works...
I like your RP dear Peter, much appreciate it, very nice touch, subtle enough and it does make a difference. By the way I processed this 8 times, eventually settled for what I thought to be closer to the cheetah I saw. I am afraid this individual was quite dull in colour and both our images make him look much better than in real life:)
I did not use H/S, this tool becomes dangerous in my hands, LOL.
Peter, I think Steve is right, the eye might be a wee bit too red/bright in your RP - I like it though, it would look good in print. Maybe I should have this printed on canvas, see what it looks like?
Once again thank you all for viewing and feedback, thank you Steve for your guidance and also for teaching me to "think", I have learnt so many precious lessons from you. And Peter - I am delighted to have an RP from you, will take this into consideration.
I believe that you should make the image the best it could be...otherwise you might as well be Xerox Machine...in reality we can never truly remember colours ,luminosity etc of a scene our brains and memory cannot work like that.
Its always for my part anyway annoying mantra of "Thats how I remember it '' from Photographers. The minute we click an image it stops from being 3D to 2D and then we have camera/processing within camera, then we have Conversion in LR etc etc ... so rather than try and be just a Photocopier make the Photograph the best it can be ..otherwise pointless shooting RAW etc.
Photography is an art Form for self expression... imagine if Ansel Adams had the mindset "Its how I remember it" what a poorer world we would be without how his stunning work.
Please don't take this has a personal attack just some advice that I have learnt along my photographic journey...
I have been following your photography for some time and I am probably one of your greatest fans, so I would never take offence to something you say - on the contrary. At the time I started posting on BPN you were quite active, I still remember looking at your B/W images and thinking " I wish I could process like that". I realised you had less and less time to participate and were quite busy following your passion but still hoped you'd give me feedback some day. So I was very happy to receive it now:)
I understand precisely what you mean, and I thank you for giving me your thoughts. In the same breath I feel I must explain a bit about my thinking when I process, and why: I love wildlife, tremendously. I work very hard so I can earn enough to go out there with my camera and find "happiness". "Happiness" for me is sitting on my camping chair and watching lions sleeping under a tree nearby, or sweating in the vehicle in 40"C at a waterhole in the KTP waiting for animals to come and drink. The problem is, I love those wild creatures so much, in my mind they often appear much more beautiful and vibrant than they probably are. For that reason my images were somehow "overdone" in the past so I have been trying - successfully or not - to put the camera down sometimes and look at my subject and say to myself: "OK, the fur is a little grey, and not quite white as I thought it was. I must be careful with the yellows and the reds when I process...the eyes are not reddish but brown, or yellow...etc...". In other words, nowadays I try to practice some restraint, I try to keep myself from overdoing things, for I have done it so many times before.
Like I said, I will take your RP into consideration - in fact I already had a good look at it. If I were to print, I would much rather print your version than mine:) I liked everything about it and will revisit this image, apply your changes and then do like Steve said, go somewhere in-between mine and yours with the brightness/colour of the eye.
Once again, thank you Peter - I appreciate your thoughts and advice
Fantastic BG to make the cheetah standout! I love the tongue touching the nose (I had a friend in school who could do that lol!) I don't know if I'm imagining it, but there seems to be a darkish halo along the forehead and far ear. Perhaps its just the dark fur strands creating that effect. Super details on the pelt and super composition.
lots of comments and loooong! Well, I go for Peter's RP. He got the eye proper out which I would have done as well. With this the image has a nice pop for me. Your ORG is the eye sort of flat to me. If I would be you I sure would go with that pop in the eye for certain reasons
Hi Gaby, a bit late to this party, but just love the stare with the protruding tongue. Killer smooth BG, just enough space all round, and your final repost is ready for printing.
It's all in the tongue I am afraid...hope to find more interesting images for you in the future, really grateful you took the time to view and tell me how you felt about this, thank you from the heart
A stunning portrait Gabriela, with the tongue and the amber eye adding great visual interest.
Great repost AND advice from Peter too...your last repost is ready for printing I believe!
Hi Gabriela I absolutely love this shot!
Without the tongue it would still be appealing, but the tongue motion adds dynamism that lacks in a static portrait. Not to say I wouldn't be happy with a static portrait sans tongue if I were there.
Big cats are among my favourite animals on the planet and cheetahs and leopards are even more so.
I could see a tighter crop from left and below.
Did I say I absolutely love this? :D