Leopard cub

[Glenn Pure]

Species listed as 'Vulnerable' by the IUCN. I reviewed my leopard shots from the Okavango and think this one may have potential - hopefully better than the last shot I posts of this 7 month old male with his mother. I've had to clone out some distracting grass stems in the foreground. Otherwise little else done to this. Crop is about half the frame area. Thank you for taking a look and any comments you may wish to provide.

Technical: Canon 80D with Lens EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm handheld. Manual exposure 1/800, f7.1, ISO 1000. Processed in Canon DPP 4 (digital lens optimiser @ 50, Sharpness = 3, crop, lighting adjustments, default NR) then exported 16 bit TIFF to Photoshop Elements with Neat Image NR plugin where very modest NR applied globally along with some sharpening. Sharpened (sharpness, radius = 0.5 pixels, 50%) after final size reduction.

[John Mack]

The composition is good here the overcast light is nice. Wish that branch wasn't there on the right.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Glenn - A good look at this youngster and IQ seems to have held up at this size despite the large crop. The branch coming out of the jaw is unfortunate. I don't know if the vehicle could have moved to avoid it but we've all been there where we haven't noticed in the heat of the moment. Because you are ok with cloning, I would suggest removing the white flower/branch tip in the ulc. Watch the blacks in the mouth area, they are a little heavy. If it were mine I would open up the midtones on the leopard.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Glenn, for me this is one of the better images you have posted and illustrates well the habitat/location we often find these subjects in and not the uncluttered 'killer' backgrounds we all wish for . I like the strong gaze and open jaw and the 'impression' that the hind legs ready to spring into action. The image appears to have coped with the hefty crop compared to the baboon, but I would think about using an extender to help in instances like this. The curvature of the tree creates a lovely, natural perch. Sadly, the branch coming out from the lower jaw is distracting and if time allows shows why you should take a shot review both the histogram and image to identify any issues and if time allows & subject move position, don't use the LCD for colour.

I think you can afford to open the exposure up by a third of a stop, a hint less in the shadows and also reducing the black as you still retain the tonal values nicely and the shape & form of the body.

TFS
Steve

[Glenn Pure]

Thanks John, Rachel and Steve. Yes, a clean shot can be a tough call so I hope you don't mind me inflicting this one on you. As you say Steve, is does reflect the cat's environment. In spite of appearances, these cats were on the move and it wouldn't have been practical or useful to move the vehicle. Good idea though. The only action this cub was about to spring into was to hassle his mum who was nearby, and maybe mess up her next hunt!

The image appears to have coped with the hefty crop compared to the baboon, but I would think about using an extender to help in instances like this.

I have tried a teleconverter (1.4x MkIII) with my lens and got the expected result - which will be very different to your experience Steve using a converter with your large pixel 1DxII and optically better lenses: I am at the limits of the optical resolution of this lens on the small pixels in my camera. Adding a teleconverter does not improve optical resolution. It just spreads the image over more pixels with noticeably more blur as the lens resolving power is limiting the sharpness now to a much greater extent. I understand your point but this is a case where a solution that might work for a large pixel full frame won't work with a small pixel crop sensor (or for that matter a full frame like the 5Ds which has pixels not much bigger than my camera). The only time a teleconverter might work for me is with a super sharp prime and the lens which would work best due to its top level of sharpness is the 300 f2.8 which is the sharpest in the Canon fleet.

I think you can afford to open the exposure up by a third of a stop, a hint less in the shadows and also reducing the black as you still retain the tonal values nicely and the shape & form of the body.

I appreciate your and Rachel's view that it looks a little dark. I have reworked by just lifting the cat only, not the background. The choice I made when I worked this one up was to keep the richer, deeper tones as presented in the OP - it simply created a mood I liked. Just a personal choice on my part. I do like the reworked shot though so thanks for suggesting.

I'm deeply indebted for your assistance.

[Steve Kaluski]

Interesting to hear your thoughts on the 1.4. As it only 'magnifies' (as it has no moving parts) so I am very surprised, as this will/may limit things in the future if you cannot get close without the addition of a longer lens.

The image looks far better and just lifting the subject works, worth a repose.

Cheers
Steve

[haseeb badar]

Hi Glenn - quite late on this so i would just echo the above comments . Your RP is certainly an improvement . A nice looking subject as well.

TFS !