Time for Some Grooming, Mommy?

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Everyone

Something sweet for those of you who like little cubbies. This youngster was constantly pestering mom who was trying to have a nap. His other two siblings were playing constantly, picking up sticks and pulling little plants out of the ground. A delightful scene and I took a great number of images despite the strong morning light - will share some more as soon as I get to process.

Nikon D5
Nikon 500 F4
ISO 640
F7.1
+1/3 EV
1/1600s

Hope you all have a wonderful evening

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela sweet story and a sweet moment captured as well -
Lovely tight framing , you have nice details extracted .
Overall the image can stand a bit more tonal depth from my POV . I am not 100 % on the color balance ....too much on the magenta side for my taste .
Well easy fix if you like ....well controlled harsh light .

TFS Andreas

[John Mack]

Very nice. The look on the cubs face looks quite serious. Nice detail on the whole frame.

[greg cowle]

If I was there I would have been focussed on the interaction too! In the composition I like the curve of the mother's back through the neck back towards the cub.
Greg

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - A cutie and it sounds like a handful. Lovely eye contact with the cub. Sharpness and dof work for me. The light does look a bit harsh but handled well. Curious as to why the plus EV in harsh light? If it were mine I would reduce the reds. Looking forward to more from the sighting.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, I can see where you are going, but I would like to have more of Mum's face in view, I feel it's a bit lost and with the the stare of the cub this is for me the more 'engaging' part of the frame. Agree with Andreas on the magenta, but it comes back to I think more the WB, where going a bit cooler and left on the tint helps, then tweaking key colours. Also lifting some of the darks via a Level curves adjustment just opens up the Midtones for a hint more detail. In addition a bit more 'life' comes into the eyes too I think? As it's the D5 you could have gone straight to ISO800 for a tad more SS.

Any cloning in the green BKG, as there is some green creeping over the top part of the ear, RHS as viewed??? Looks like Mum feed a day or so ago with the rings of dried blood over the neck.

TFS
Steve

I will ping you over a copy to power on

[haseeb badar]

Hi Gabriela -- This is indeed a lovely image and the cub is very cute. Nice details and light is handled very nicely. Agree with the colour part reg the reds/magenta but that can be easily sorted out . A nice image . TFS !

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much dear friends, I so appreciate your comments and thoughts as always.

To answer some of your questions briefly:

Dear Rachel, the +EV in my case is usually dictated by the histogram. And I promise to look into those reds! Also magentas, Andreas:)

Steve you are right, WB not quite right but I have some issues with LR so I process in PSCC for now. A bit painful because I am used to a certain workflow, but will sort it out asap. I see what you mean with the green on the ear but don't think I cloned anything, no bothersome grasses at this scene. SS a tad low I know but I admit I was playing around, we sat with this pride for a long time and I could afford to experiment a bit

Will be back with more images, thank you also John and Greg and Haseeb for your comments, you guys are awesome.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Steve for the "ping", I will reprocess this frame with your suggestions

[Steve Kaluski]

I have some issues with LR so I process in PSCC for now.

What are they, now fixed or pending, drop me a line tomorrow if you need help.

a tad low I know but I admit I was playing around, we sat with this pride for a long time and I could afford to experiment a bit

Not an issue as such, just thought you could grab a bit more, think you are getting distracted by 'cubs'

[Gabriela Plesea]

Steve, will drop you a mail at the week-end, if I may. Have not had enough time to even try fix the LR issue, hopefully not serious and the problem might lie with the "operator" behind the computer and not the software, LOL.

Cubs distracting indeed, but so exciting to capture and I love the challenge

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Fine, have you all the updates, are you running 'Classic CC'?

Take a chair with you to fend off those challenging cubs - if required

Steve
PS Tell Peter to call me when he is back, I need to see him, but in April when I will have some clear space - at 'The Snail' perhaps???

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela ...not sure why you are having issues switching between ACR and LR , should get the same results as it is the identical raw engine ???!!!

[Glenn Pure]

Gabriela, I do like this one. The view of the cub is wonderful. I concur with Andreas on it looking a little thin on tone (not by much) - careful not to 'ink' out the blacks though - but overall the handling looks good to me for those lighting conditions. The main issue I have is with composition. The mother and cub are given equal prominence in the frame but for me it is really about the cub with the mother's presence acknowledged but not an equally large part of the shot. So I would have gone tighter to bring the cub in closer and more centrally and take out some of the mother from the left side... if the IQ held up which I think it would looking at this.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Fine, have you all the updates, are you running 'Classic CC'?

Take a chair with you to fend off those challenging cubs - if required

Steve
PS Tell Peter to call me when he is back, I need to see him, but in April when I will have some clear space - at 'The Snail' perhaps???

Yes Steve! Classic CC came up and of course the old version does not work anymore. Have not had time to set it up properly and got frustrated so I jumped to PSCC instead and skipped a few important steps, like WB. Will try sort out on Sunday night.

Cubs yes... wild and beautiful and challenging at times but you know me...I never give up. The chair seems like an interesting idea though

Peter just got back and sent me an image of a foggy and very cold city, says he is booking all possible flights back to Africa as soon as he can. Will ask him to contact you, the Snail seems like a great place to meet

Sleep well, chat soon

[Gabriela Plesea]

Gabriela, I do like this one. The view of the cub is wonderful. I concur with Andreas on it looking a little thin on tone (not by much) - careful not to 'ink' out the blacks though - but overall the handling looks good to me for those lighting conditions. The main issue I have is with composition. The mother and cub are given equal prominence in the frame but for me it is really about the cub with the mother's presence acknowledged but not an equally large part of the shot. So I would have gone tighter to bring the cub in closer and more centrally and take out some of the mother from the left side... if the IQ held up which I think it would looking at this.

Thank you so much dear Glenn. I will look at colours and tonality as soon as I get a chance, and yes will apply changes selectively:) In terms of comp I am not so sure I want to change, not being stubborn but I have tried various options and this was the only one I was quite happy with in the end. Taking just a tad from the LHS - to my mind - does not make much of a difference so it would have to be a very heavy crop, not sure the IQ would hold. Let me look through the same folder instead and see what else I can share

Have a wonderful week-end,

Warmest regards,

[Glenn Pure]

Thank you so much dear Glenn. I will look at colours and tonality as soon as I get a chance, and yes will apply changes selectively:) In terms of comp I am not so sure I want to change, not being stubborn but I have tried various options and this was the only one I was quite happy with in the end. Taking just a tad from the LHS - to my mind - does not make much of a difference so it would have to be a very heavy crop, not sure the IQ would hold. Let me look through the same folder instead and see what else I can share

Have a wonderful week-end,

Warmest regards,

Many thanks Gabriela. I was thinking a considerably tighter crop but you have the RAW, not me, and have had a play already. Yes please if you have other shots that are tighter - look forward to seeing them when you have the time and have tackled your software issues.