This is a tiger cub near about 7 to 8 months old from a newly declared wildlife sanctuary Umrer Karhandla also known as UKWLS .
A good number of Tigers have been counted in the area and we hope that their tribe continue to grow inspite of facing a very bleak future .
Canon 1D MK IV
Canon 300mm f 2.8 IS II
Bean Bag from vehicle
SS 1/2000, iso 1600, f /2.8, early morning shot , processed in DPP 4 and CS 5, levels,HSL,sharpening ,selective colour, cropped a bit , low pov as the tiger cub appeared at a high part of the forest stretch .
All your C&C's are welcome.
Hi Haseeb - Great eye contact and low pov. Those paws are huge! I might have stopped down a little in the field rather than shoot wide open since you had enough ss but you had enough distance that your dof seems to have been ok even at 2.8. I took the liberty of doing a rp giving the midtones a bit more oomph and also darkening the greens so that the tiger stood out a bit more from the bg. I also burned the yellow spots coming through in the bg and finally cropped a bit from the bottom and right to eliminate some distractions. WDYT?
Hi Haseeb, what a nice shot! I like the pose, the low angle, the eye contact and the raised paw! Wish that stick was not there though but we can't avoid it sometimes in forests. Rachel's RP is awesome!
TFS.
Hi Haseeb, with the background far enough away, plus with a fixed lens I think f/4 'may' have been better. Yes, less SS but a bit more DoF and the FG/BKG still would be be good. I like the feeling of slightly looking up, with the head towards you and raised paw, good timing, look at those PAWS. Not sure if this is a big crop or FF on the width? If it's FF then I might come in on the RHS to loose part of the dark branches???
Comparing the OP & RP I find the RP a little too dark and adding contrast, almost as if the Clarity slider had been increased. Perhaps darkening the road, but using a filter within PS at the RAW stage and a Curves/Channel for the subject, but selectively masked. Haseeb, are you sharpening the image after, or before cropping??? If you are using DPP then have you bought Arash's guide?
No clarity added to the rp. Just a simple midtones curves layer to the tiger and road and then darkened the greens in a HSL and burned the yellow spots.
Thank you Rachel , Sanjeev And Steve !
@ Rachel : like Steve I also find the RP dark but still it adds that punch .
@Steve : I have arash's DPP guide book . And I sharpen after resizing the image ( very last thing that I do ) . Any suggestions on that ?
It's a 'figure' of speech Rachel, the RP has a look & feel of 'Clarity', the blacks become enhanced, more pronounced emphasising contrast.
Just took the image into LR Haseeb, if you reduce the highlights and say drop the Exp 0.15 approx I think it looks good, perhaps it's the contrast of the whites & blacks on the OP? What else you then do I think is then personal taste. To me the saturated/vibrant greens look good and in keeping with the location.
And I sharpen after resizing the image ( very last thing that I do ) . Any suggestions on that ?
Sharpening on say web images is 'Perceptional' sharpening and all comes down to does it look right, or wrong. With the DoF, adding a bit more tonal depth to the image, it could stand a bit more? Yes, it is being rather vague, but there are some variables, if I add more to your OP it does starts to look a little crunchy which could be down to how much you added in the original posting, and if you used Smart sharpen or USM.
Hi Haseeb as i am a DPP 4 " expert" LOL , can you tell me your settings and sliders you used in DPP 4 , just for the interest .
As you have not done much in PS , the error if there is any should be in DPP !
When finished in PS with all adjustments ,then you crop if you want to .
Then you downsize with whatever method , and the final and last step will be output sharpening . To me the sharpening in here does look ok , to do it better is always possible from my POV , and there are many ways to sharpen for output .
I guess you have worked on the HL of the lifted leg , it does not look quite right to me in terms of the technical aspect . (colors do look muddy )
I do find Rachelīs RP quite ok but understand where Steve is coming from ....... just a very subjective thing .
So your image is quite nice and i love the low POV , the look the cub gave you , the overall comp and the colors . A slight mid tone boost would be great but maybe just the subject .
I like this a little better than your previous posting Haseeb, the eye contact & low POV really takes this above the norm, an effective RP from Rachel. I do concur on the sharpening issue mentioned above.
Love the pose of the tiger in good light and good BG. The f2.8 is a surprise to me too, as I would go for F4 or even F5.6. Not sure if this is a big crop. If it is close to FF, I would expect sharper images from the 300 f2.8 lens. I think Steve's suggestion of reducing the exposure by 0.15eV is a good one. I find Rachel's RP a bit too dark and less lively, a different kind of mood, than a glorious morning. Loi
Just loving the angle and pose here, Haseeb!
I agree with most points raised above, I think Rachel's repost is stronger.
Looking forward to perhaps seeing more from this place?