I have just returned from another trip to the Kalahari. It has been magic and wonderful as always, albeit in the beginning quite challenging in terms of photography. It had rained just about everywhere in the Park before our arrival so the antelopes/herds disappeared over the dunes, no longer relying on waterholes to quench their thirst. Predators followed them. The riverbeds were recovering though so within a week this arid landscape/semi-desert started resembling a golf course! The transformation was amazing, my companion and I could not believe how many flowers ( scorpion's tail, wild cabbage, yellow mouse whiskers, cat's tail, vlei lilly, just to name a few) appeared overnight. Rain is the driving force behind this ecosystem and when it falls, flowers and plants respond in a most dramatic fashion by emerging from dormancy almost overnight. And very soon the herbivores move back into the riverbeds: first the springboks, then the wildebeests and red hartebeests, and later gemsboks. Predators return. The place is alive again...
I do have a number of sightings to share with you. So here is the first one, leopard mother and cub looking for prey. Taken at about 9 am in slightly cloudy conditions, techs as follows:
Nikon D5
Nikon 500 F4
ISO 1250
F8
1/1600s
I did push the ISO for better SS but a little too late. Really liked the pose from those two here so I am sharing it Critique and comments of any nature most welcome and appreciated.
Hi Gabriela - I like this very much. They look skinny and hungry. Techs look good. 1/1600 should be sufficient for them walking. Good choice on the dof to have both mom and cub sharp and I like the walking poses. Looks like you were above them a bit but I am betting there is nothing you could do about the shooting angle. It looks a little light to me. If it were mine, I would give the midtones a boost. Looking forward to seeing more from your trip.
First class work, Gabriela. I love the pose you've captured and the great colour palette provided by the sand. Always a really big bonus to get the soft light as well which makes such a difference. While the DOF is limited, I think this works well with both heads and the main part of the bodies in good focus. Has the mother just come from a kill? There is a little red around her cheek and neck. There may also be something of a magenta cast on the animals. That could simply be due to reflected light from the sand but wonder if a further play with the colour is worthwhile (just on the cats, not the background). I'd be tempted to tone down the highlights a touch also.
Just briefly about those two, they did look healthy although quite hungry. Mom must have caught something earlier that morning ( note the faint traces of blood on her face ) but it might have been small prey (a hare, a jackal or a wild cat ) so not sufficient to fill their tummies.
Rachel, shooting angle not ideal and I took those images leaning over my gear:) We did not turn the vehicle around as we did not want to distress mom and cub. They were pretty close, this is almost FF. And yes the image does look a bit "thin" so I did some adjustments, hope I did not go too far.
I cannot find a magenta cast, Glenn. I did check. Have a look at the RP and see if it looks better now, I played with colours a bit
Thank you both so much, I so appreciate your comments and suggestions!
Warmest regards,
So good to be back... I do have more images for you, let me try process some tonight
A wonderful moment captured between mum & cub here gabriela, I like the look on the cubs face as if it's seeking reassurance from mum. Agree it does look a little light and would explore the possibility of bringing out more of that Kalahari red in the sand.
You were doing a RP whilst I was commenting here, so I like what you've done here now Gabriela, adds a little more pop.
I cannot find a magenta cast, Glenn. I did check. Have a look at the RP and see if it looks better now, I played with colours a bit
Hi Gabriela, your repost looks better tonally to my eye. As for the cast, try Artie's trick of turning up the saturation on the Magenta channel. The areas affected are on the lower parts of the bodies and heads of the two leopards and probably are simply the reflected light from the ground. Nevertheless, I did find them a little distracting and hence mentioned them. It may be that I am just overly sensitive so please ignore. I'll look forward to seeing more from your trip but will be away for a week from tomorrow.
Thank you so much Glenn! I did try but no Magenta comes up. Must be my computer, will check again on Sunday on a friend's calibrated monitor and see if I can fix it
Hi Gabriela -- A lovely sighting and an excellent frame . Nice details and colours do look good to me . I liked the way the cub is looking at mum, lovely expression. RP is certainly better in terms of midtones.
I wonder if you have habitat shots of mammals with those lovely flowers you mentioned above ? running my imagination as of now .
Gabriela and Glenn - I'm not seeing a magenta cast. Yes, magenta comes up in certain areas of the leopards (the whites of the underbelly) if you increase the sat but I'm not seeing a cast as posted. The whites look good and I just recently recalibrated.
Rachel I looked again as well and could not find the magenta. Anyway Glenn is away so we'll have to leave the issue to rest for a week or so
Haseeb, I will look for something for you. My dream is to photograph a lion among those lovely flowers but all I got is lions in tall grasses! I have some images of avian species among the pretty flowers, will let you know when I process, I will share those in the Avian Forum.
Hi Gabriela, you have rain, we had 45cms of fresh powder -8, lovely.
I like the two Leopards together and although I can't really comment on colour, the RP looks better. Techs look good, but not a lover of the shooting angle, (just smacks of a safari vehicle where the vehicle is just too close to the subject), you could easily of got a lower angle, you just need to plan it, with the subject still walking to you.
Yay, we had almost 300 mm of rain here in Hluhluwe. When we returned from the Kalahari all was miraculously green and lush and the dams were full!
Back to the image, I fully understand - and agree - with your point regarding shooting angle. I did think about it before processing and hoped I'd get away with it, LOL. I do have other frames from this sighting you would be pleased with, but I really liked the pose from those two here and decided to share it first. It is FF by the way. We could have done a number of things at the time, like turning the car around to make use of the gimpro door mount or constantly moving ahead of the leopards to face them as they walked across the riverbed. But you know how much we love the species...We did our best not to cause any stress to mom and cub by simply turning off the engine and waiting for them to come to us. In return, we were rewarded with a most memorable (and very close) encounter
Err...mmm...-8' not for me thank you, I prefer 37' and dry. Unfortunately I had to put up with 36" and high humidity today, thank goodness for air conditioning!
A lovely image Gabriela. I like the visible tongue of the youngster & the open mouth of the mother. Both faces are visible & they are also walking step.
Gabriela and Glenn - I'm not seeing a magenta cast. Yes, magenta comes up in certain areas of the leopards (the whites of the underbelly) if you increase the sat but I'm not seeing a cast as posted. The whites look good and I just recently recalibrated.
Rachel
Hi everyone. Yes, this is what I was seeing. Perhaps I'm using the wrong terminology - apologies for that. The only reason I raised it is that I did find it drawing my eye.
No problem Glenn And no need to apologise my friend. I always listen to everyone and then check again for those colour casts. I do not trust my computer anymore. It has not been calibrated properly in a long time (it is very very old BTW) and soon will be used only for emails and work stuff. I have just ordered a new one and looking forward to enjoying my PP work again. Unfortunately I was told it would take about six weeks or so