Hello,
A sub adult tigress, appearing from behind a thicket & stepping into the glorious morning light of mid summer at Pench national park India.
Canon 5D4, Canon 500 mm f /4 @ f/4, 1/400,ISO 160, Evaluative metering, Manual exposure, natural lighting, 20 % crop from FF, Minor colour corrections, white point correction & minimal sharpening.
Since there was a small tree stem on the left edge of the frame had to crop the frame a bit. The slight shadow on the worse on the left edge is because of that. The frame is tight on the bottom, i agree, because the tigress was stepping into the dry bed of a rivulet ( which was a bit depressed & i couldn't have taken this shot by standing up as my POV would change. so please excuse that. i tried to get nearly the whole PAW in.
All critique is welcome.
Thanks & regards
Abhijit
Hi Doc -- Wow a lovely looking tiger and that open mouth, eye contact and lovely light all are adding to the image. SS is way to low and the blacks look a bit strong as a result those finer details are lacking a bit. I think there should absolutely be no problem with the ISO in the 5d4. It is a bit unfortunate tht the paw is clipped , not very ideal settings in the BKG and around it i assume but with tiger sightings this is the norm most of the time. Always nice to see a Tiger image from Pench . TFS !
I like the shot very much, you self critique is spot on. I too would recommend a faster SS, I have taken many shots that I thought were sharp then I have repeated them at a faster shutter speed, it definitely does make a difference. In a circumstance like that I would imagine I would probably have been around ISO 1600 (but I use Auto ISO and Manual exposure..)
Hi Abhijit - It's always a pleasure to see a tiger. I agree with your self-critique about the comp. Yes, to some of the blacks being a bit choked and some of the whites lacking detail. Overall, the image looks a bit contrasty and heavy to me. If it were mine I would open up the midtones on the tiger a good bit. With a relatively fast moving animal on the move I try for a minimum ss of 1/1600. Also why f4? With your kit and the light, it appears you had plenty of room to increase both ss and dof. Keep them coming.
Great light and a lovely stare and pose from this beautiful tiger. Shutter speeds already mentioned and whilst I quite like the movement in the paw, the head needed the extra shutter speed. I agree with Rachel comments on the colours and contrast.
A nice frame that if you get another chance sometime and use the suggestions here would be even stronger next time
Hi Abhijit, first question, why not shoot portrait as there is a lot of dead image content it appears and for me, it would work better with the raised front paw and head turn. Can I assume it's vegetation that if providing the OOF look on the body? Yes techs are less than ideal, but I think we have addressed that in the previous posting/email, so hopefully new images will be a lot better. Remember also to configure the 'Case' settings, as this will also help you. If something is moving towards you rather than static I would wager a tidy sum that you will need to change the AFMA to ensure the images are sharp, the 5D4 like the 1DX & MK2 seem to be very alike, if not identical IMHO.
Cropping portait I feel adds impact, yes it's a bit OTT on the Black, Contrast and Saturation, but easily addressed. I would balance out the body to more in line with the face in terms of exposure and darken the RHS a bit. The head does look sharp which is good. Just hone more the basics and the rest will follow. Don't get to hung up, as enjoying things you'll find the techs come more easily. Great to see a Tiger, as Haseeb has been starving us of this majestic of animals.
TFS
Steve
PS Good to see you have the sRGB addressed, well done.
Thanks Steve.
I find this composition to be quite good. I do have a portrait in camera as well, posted this since i wanted to have a feel of the forest. But yes now that you have done it, it looks good to me.
With the clipped paw and shallow DoF so the attention goes to the face, the tighter portrait I feel adds, the forest BKG doesn't, but we all see everything differently.
Hi Abhijit ....always special these cats from India .
Lovely looking tiger ....agree with my critique 100 % what Steve had to say and reposted .
Love the reddish overall color look , reminds about the Ranthambore colors ....
Wonderful encounter with this beauty of a tiger, love the open mouth and attentive stare you captured here. I like those vibrant colours very much. But I agree with Rachel and Steve, you need to go easy on contrast and saturation:)
Steve's composition works so well by placing emphasis on the beautiful features of the subject. In doing so he detracts the eye from noticing the incomplete paw.
Thank you so much for sharing, lovely work and I do hope to see more from you More tigers please!!!