A leopard photo 7 years in the making...

[Morkel Erasmus]

Here it is folks, the leopard photo I've been waiting 7 years for.
After 9 successive safaris I finally have my Kalahari leopard.
Full story here: http://blog.morkelerasmus.com/2016/0...r-leopard.html

Techs:
Nikon D4s | Nikkor 400mm f2.8G VR
f4.5 | 1/1250 SS | ISO-640
(should have gone for f8, snout is slightly soft at high res, I was just too giddy and got 4 frames off before she got up and left for the ridge)

[Eric Dienesch]

this picture is more than impressive, very interessting light conditions and the lying cat with this teeth.. great !!

it could be a paid model shooting... nearly perfect.
what hve you done for it: kobe beef ?

[Rachel Hollander]

Morkel - Congrats on getting your elusive leopard. Great pose with the open mouth and eye contact. You handled the dappled light well and the pano crop works.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel , congrats you finally made it with the Leopard .
The Leopard gave you a fine clean set up , you handed the light quite well . Overall color and tone are looking good with a nice tonal and color depth , i just think the blacks are looking tiny bit too solid and heavy , but this could be just me .
A relaxed pose and the look into the cam is very nice . I am happy for you . I hope i can follow you shortly with "my elusive " leopard .

TFS Andreas

[keith mitchell]

Morkel can well understand this if you have waited 7 years"should have gone for f8, snout is slightly soft at high res"congrats on getting it.Leopard looks nice and relaxed probably more than yourself ,fur looks very natural with lots of detail.

Keith.

[Mark Needham]

Nice one breaking the KTP leopard drought with authority (4 good sightings). And this one in 50 degree heat - eish! Lovely image of this stunning young leopard. Pano crop works well here and processing looks great, although I agree with Andreas that the blacks look a tad blocked up on my screen - easy fix.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Congratulations, Morkel. So wonderful you had this opportunity. Beautiful Leopard, thank you for sharing.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Morkel -- Congrats on this one ! Must have been a great experience for you .Agree with your self critique on the choice of DOF , you have that option of ulitising the iso but can certainly understand how exciting it must have been for you .

TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

Nice relaxed pose Morkel and the open mouth works well as he/she 'pants' in the warmth. The shade of dappled light has helped on the brighter whites, but agree the blacks do look a bit choked. Perhaps f/8, but we've all been there in the heat of the moment and looked back with hindsight, however, better to get a shot in the bag rather than nothing, especially after 7 years. Looks still quite young too.

TFS
Steve

[Mike Poole]

Well deserved shot for the persistence! I like the open mouthed pose you're getting and the way he is lying almost makes me want to give him a little cuddle. Almost!

Very nice work.

Mike

[Gregor Bergquist]

Very nice. Congratulations :)