Drinking up

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

A thirsty lion quenches her thirst in the morning at Masai Mara. I wanted to take a head on view but our position was not the best so got this profile. So chipping in for the theme again. Went for a square crop to balance things out.
7D II
100-400 II
312mm
1/2000
f/7.1
ISO 1600

[Bretoteanu Dan]

I like the soft morning light and the detail in the fur plus the ripples she is causing in the water. Have you thought perhaps about straitening the picture a bit, it seems a tad off balanced.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Sanjeev - I like the pov and the drinking pose with the visible tongue. The bit of movement in the tongue also works. Colors look good. Did you have to recover the highlights substantially? I might consider a more pano comp since you don't have the full reflection and the ripples interrupt it anyway.

TFS,
Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Rachel, I recovered the HL a little but not much, esp in the area of the jaw/mandible. I can try a pano but it was cutting across the hind limb.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Sanjeev, for what you said then you did make the most of it. Agree on loosing more water and I would try to get more depth too, it just looks a bit washed out. Sadly the head is in shadow which was not ideal and from the image it looks/appears as if it is lacking the detail/clarity compared to the rest of the body, where did you have the FP, on the head? Colour does look better here.

I wanted to take a head on view but our position was not the best so got this profile.

Why could you not move, what prevented you from moving???

TFS
Steve

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Steve, there were 2 other 4X4's in the best position. Sadly they belonged to my group. Imagine me & my group of 17 friends (18 total) made it there!! All guys bonding over game drives during days & single malts by night :-) The best guide was with the vehicle with guys armed with iphones ha ha!!!!! I missed one great opportunity of a lioness dragging a kill right in front of those iPhone guys while we were still getting there boo hoo :-(

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Of course they got some amazing video footage! So we have a great collection of those videos.

[Steve Kaluski]

Steve, there were 2 other 4X4's in the best position. Sadly they belonged to my group.

Sanjeev, there is an 'unwritten' code in my book, you get the shots and move on to allow others in, if they leave then you can return should you wish. That way everyone has a chance.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Sanjeev I have taken the liberty of playing with the light, I really think if you went back to the RAW file and reprocessed you could get more again. I guess it would have been tricky to get an ideal crop but would a 5:4 have worked giving a little less water beneath the lioness?

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Thank you Jon, your RP is a good improvement over my OP. I will look at the 5:4 crop option. Appreciate it.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Sanjeev,

Thank you so much for yet another Theme image. I take it you had a hard time getting the shot but this happens when you share with seventeen other photographers, LOL.

Pose from the lioness is great but the heavy shadow over her face and highlights made it difficult to achieve the results we are usually seeing from you. Just not enough detail for me where it matters most, I am afraid.

For all it is worth I would try open up the eye a bit and crop a substantial amount from the bottom. Colours look good overall and Jon's RP adds richness and warmth to that lovely golden fur.

You must have much more from this trip and I am looking forward to see those frames, keep them coming please!


Kind regards,