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Thread: For Steve

  1. #1
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    ...If only to show you how intense his stare, how beautiful his eyes, and how awesome his presence.


    Nikon D5
    Nikon 500 F4
    ISO 2000
    F8
    1/2500s
    Metering mode: pattern
    Time: H08:28 am
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela, lovely gaze to camera and the DoF looks perfect, with a good depth from nose to the eyes. I'm unsure of the crop, as I feel the eyes need to be more left of centre, (if that makes sense), as I have the feeling the head is moving out of frame, as it's more to the right??????? I might try to 'burn' some of the white chin to bring some more tone/detail back in. I wonder if you added the 1.4 (Nikon equivalent) and moved back, whether it may have given you a lower POV, that's the beauty of long lens, as you can't achieve it with short ones. You might like to add a vignette to pull more focus?

    TFS
    Steve

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    There are some elements of this one that I really like - the fairly low perspective, the stare, the details around the face. You can feel the sheer power of him just by the look we're getting.

    However, I think 2 small adjustments wold have made it even stronger. The first is similar to Steves thought above in that he needs to be a little further over to the left in the frame to balance the shout out a bit better. The second was at the time of shooting, and may not have been possible with the environment, but if you could have bee just a few inches over to your left you would have lost the grass stalks in the bottom corner.

    Still a very good shot though

    Mike

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela i bet you loved it to get the guy looking at you .....Mrs Lion !!!
    Gorgeous look into the camera and you have a very nice overall tone and color palette , the right amount of contrast , perfect DOF and loads of details .
    A typical Gabriela .....
    I do agree with Steve on the crop ....but not a great deal breaker .
    Very nice work .... keep them coming .

    TFS Andreas

  5. #5
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Dear Steve,

    Glad I got the DOF right, it has been an issue for some time but on this trip I remembered.

    This is a tight crop so I will try explore different options, let me see what I can do. I guess no need to burn the whites if I start afresh, I might have gone overboard with my tweaks - will check. And I have not used the 1.4 in a long time, after a few trials I gave up as my images looked soft despite calibration. Got myself a 2x converter this month, have not tried it yet.

    Mmm...vignette - I might need your help here?

    Warmest regards,











    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Hi Gabriela, lovely gaze to camera and the DoF looks perfect, with a good depth from nose to the eyes. I'm unsure of the crop, as I feel the eyes need to be more left of centre, (if that makes sense), as I have the feeling the head is moving out of frame, as it's more to the right??????? I might try to 'burn' some of the white chin to bring some more tone/detail back in. I wonder if you added the 1.4 (Nikon equivalent) and moved back, whether it may have given you a lower POV, that's the beauty of long lens, as you can't achieve it with short ones. You might like to add a vignette to pull more focus?

    TFS
    Steve
    Gabriela Plesea

  6. #6
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you dear Mike and Andreas,

    Mrs. Lion is very grateful for your feedback!

    I do have more options in terms of crop, which I will certainly explore...tomorrow.

    Mike, few inches to the left would have landed me and my Landcruiser in a big hole filled with water...This is the best I could do, given the circumstances. Grass was indeed a nuisance, not used to it in the Kalahari. I was waiting for a breeze to bend those blades in the right direction so I could shoot:) Eh, why do best sightings always pose so many challenges?

    Andreas... I will keep them coming Boetie, you just give me feedback

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    A beautiful animal and image !! I agree if you could move the eyes more to the left of centre it would improve however I think it would then make the overall image too tight. For me its lovely as is

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela - yes, a good look at those eyes and stare. You have made the most of a flat cat. Excellent suggestions above about the comp and the whites of the chin. Sharpness and colors look good. Dof spot on.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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  11. #9
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you so much Basil and Rachel,

    Sorry to get back to you so late, I was hoping to post an RP but did not get to do it yet.
    I really appreciate your time to look and comment

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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