Lion Portrait

[Rachel Hollander]

This is one of the young males of Tswalu in the Kalahari in South Africa. I can't believe he didn't seem bothered by all those flies. A simple portrait but for me it's about the eye contact. It feels like they can bore a hole through you. African Lions are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Canon 7D2
100-400 II @ 400mm
1/1250
f6.3
ISO 800
HH from safari vehicle, ff, levels, curves, sharpened in PSCC.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Rachel,

Lovely portrait of this young male - judging by the blood stains in its mane I gather he had a king's meal

Great eye contact. I love the warmth and golden tones here. Well exposed, nice choice of DoF, superb detail, composition works well - wonderful work, Rachel.

I too wondered at some stage how lions manage to keep their composure with those flies. Especially while visiting the Kalahari, I had plenty of time to think about these things. After sitting in the car for a few hours in temperatures as high as 48" C, bothered by the same insects pestering my subjects, I finally understood: flies look for moisture in those arid places, and not food. They settle around the eyes, nose, mouth, wherever they can find a drop of water or sweat, even blood. If one moves or tries to swat them one perspires immediately, consequently more flies arrive. The secret is to sit still, like lions do. To learn to ignore the pests. Get used to them, or you will attract more. Lions are smart

Thank you Rachel, I thoroughly enjoyed viewing this frame. Made me think of special places. I'll raise you a lion image, a portrait too if I may. It is all I have at the moment, I am off to a "wild place" in about an hour's time so no chance to process something else. Back soon, hope you have a lovely week-end

Warmest regards,

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, yes, those eyes are piercing, and he looks quite relaxed with your presence from the vehicle. I like the hint of blood on the mane from a previous meal. Comp wise, as you stated this is FF, a little more space above wouldnt have harmed the image.

[Glenn Pure]

Rachel, beautiful crisp shot of this lion and I think the light angle has been good here even though it is fairly harsh, direct light. I think this tight crop works fairly well, especially given the direct stare. Note your comment about flies and I think Gabriela is right here. As long as the animal stays still, the flies aren't going to cause bother. Colours and background in this shot are wonderful but I feel (with some deference to what Steve might say here) is that there isn't a lot of separation in tones between the lion and the background. Some selective lighting adjustments, possibly to tame some of the highlights on the lion and maybe alter the brightness of the background would really work well here IMHO - provided that doesn't conflict with your ethics. Thanks for sharing

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Gabriela, Stu and Glenn for the comments and suggestions. As always, much appreciated.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Rachel-- lovely eye contact ! I think you have handled the light quite well . I feel it is slightest bit of crunchy for my liking and as Stu mentioned a bit of space at the top would have been better IMO. nicely done .

TFS !

[Stuart Philpott]

I'm also of the view on those flies Rachel,UGG also how does this affect the viewer interesting isn't it??

Great image as you say the stare bores through one ,which I love yes a bit more on top interesting what Haseeb noted on crunchy these are fine lines !!

TFS

stu

stu

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Haseeb and Stu