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Thread: Cheetah Gaze

  1. #1
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Default Cheetah Gaze

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    March 2017. Cannot quite explain it but I felt some kind of power over this cheetah at the time I was watching her, she was well aware of me but somehow not bothered by my presence, nor by the noise of my camera shutter...

    I remember being truly delighted at the thought that Mother Nature could - on its own - produce a scene so utterly suited to my sense of beauty and proportion. This sighting was still fixed in my memory tonight as I processed this image for the second time around, somehow the trees on the horizon were missing though, their sharp degradations of green I felt I no longer wanted in this frame so I decided to remove them.

    Processed in LR and PSCC, a small crop, a few tiny tweaks here and there, the rest is just Mother Nature and maybe a shade of blue that counts, I am still experimenting so looking forward to your opinions, appreciate every minute of your time and your comments...

    Nikon D5
    Nikon 500mm F4
    ISO 500
    F6.3
    1/2500s

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Hi Gabriela -- This months theme is resulting in some interesting images and for sure this image of yours fits the bill. I liked the settings of the savanna and the cheetah gazing into infinity or may be a target is locked. Lovely warm and soft tones with the wind moving the grass takes the viewer at the location itself.

    I would have loved a bit more separation of Cheetah's head from the grass. I also feel the ss is quite high for this scene considering the subject being static. All in all a nice frame emphasizing that images with lack of eye contact can work so well .

    TFS !

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela, I like the scene and overall colour palette, but for me, with the Cheetah looking away - it just isn't grabbing, me sorry. The dark band is soft enough cutting through the head not to be too distracting and I'm OK with the SS as any lower and perhaps the grasses might be too blurred?

    TFS
    Steve

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela - This month's theme is one which makes us think. With her looking away, I wish we could see what captured her attention. It does give a bit of mystery - was it a potential mate, rival, or a possible meal? I wish the head was a little higher with the layer of green not cutting through the chin. I like the layered look though.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    I love the concept and the colours here - but on this occasion I feel the height of the grasses have prevented you from getting lower which in an ideal world would have allowed a better angle to get the head closer to the horizon.

    Still a good shot, and I could see it working as part of a sequence.

    Mike

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    Hi Gabriela,I do agree about the thin strip of green but that apart this is the sort of shot that really appeals to me,when I first started as was told that this type of shot looking away from the camera was a no no,how wrong it proved to be with a shot like this which tells a story to a thinking mind,right up my street ,love it.

    Keith.

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela,

    I for sure love the colors in the image. I agree with Steve, looking away is also not quite my thing somehow. Sometimes it suits, but here not quite for me.
    Sorry for that.

    Wish you a great start into the week

    Ciao Anette

  8. #8
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Dearest Friends,

    Thank you kindly for your feedback, not disappointed with your comments as I was rather 50/50 on this one myself. At some stage I shared this image on FB and to my surprise my dear friend Mr. Delaney liked it, so I thought I'd take my chances here and see what you thought of it. To me it is rather special, but this only is because I was there... There's so much more to this than the golden grasses or the blue sky, and I could not include the secretary bird flying off or the desperate calls of my cheetah looking for its sibling. In other words, the context is missing... All I did was reproduce exactly what was before my eyes, painting the ordinary and omitting some details, still hoping to get that much needed mysterious effect by means of colour, dimensions, perspective... and maybe framing. True possession of a scene is usually a matter of making an effort to get the viewer to notice elements and understand their construction - perhaps not enough here? I wanted this "eerie" feeling without much "pop", cheetah blending with its surroundings, some subdivided sunshine and eerie light. I must have have failed to represent what I saw... Or maybe it is just nostalgia and my childlike emotions towards this magic place called the Kalahari, a sense of beauty I associate with every sighting?

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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