Out of the Cover of Darkness

[Rachel Hollander]

I know these types of images are not everyone's cuppa but it's more of my experimenting and branching out on my recent trip. This is Tingana one of the dominant males in the northern sector of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve. Apparently, he is often seen on the Safari Live broadcasts. We shut off our lights and spot and had the other vehicle spot him as he walked by us and toward them.

Canon 5D3
70-200 II @ 200mm
1/180
f2.8
ISO 3200
HH from safari vehicle, slight crop for comp, converted to B&W in ACR, bg darkened, final adjustments and sharpened in PSCC.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Rachel, this is a good one with nice effect thanks to the spot light & dark BG. A bit more brightness on the face might be better? Looks a bit grey and dull to me.

[John Mack]

I like how his face is brighter than the rest of the frame. I wonder what it looks like not in black and white. Was this shot at night?

[haseeb badar]

Hi Rachel -- A big looking Leopard ! I liked what you tried to achieve , the conversion works mostly. I feel that shadow intersecting the leopard in the center is a bit distracting. Also i would have liked some more space at the bottom of the front leg. 50-50 on this one . Keep experimenting !

TFS !

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Sanjeev, John and Haseeb. John - Yes at night, it is the only time you can use a spot light. Haseeb - I can add back in space below but felt that it looked like the leopard was floating with more space.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Rachel,

My cuppa always, this kind of image And I like the way the leopard is melting into the background as well as that fixed, intent stare - it must have been such an exciting sighting!

B/W conversion works well for me, framing looks good and I personally do not feel like more space is needed. I just feel that 1/180s wasn't enough, the face lacks a certain amount of definition, so to speak.

The only thing I would change here is darken a bit further the light patch under the leopard's neck. You were inspired to allow enough space for him to walk into, and the pose is stunning - those things that make the image for me.

Glad you had so many opportunities to experiment during this last trip - your recent posts made me realise I must get out and about a little more, and play more Thank you so much for sharing!

Warmest regards,

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very dramatic Rachel - : like it a lot! I am very curious to think what a colour version would be like, were the eyes bright yellow??

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Gabriela and Jon . Jon - I haven't processed it in color. I've been converting the images from this trip to b&w in ACR (something I learned on the trip) and also shot some things with b&w in mind. Here there were some branches and stuff in the fg that further darkening the surrounds in pp eliminated.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Would have preferred a tad more to the left and at the foot Rachel, but perhaps its from the angle that you were at and sitting higher? Personally I would have preferred the colour version, B/W just looks a bit flat. Not a great lover of spotting animals on the move only because they might be on the hunt, I think when stationary it's more dramatic as per Brendon Cramer's images (ex BPN) all those years ago.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Steve. He clearly was not on the hunt. Rather, just patrolling his territory and scent marking on occasion. He wasn't bothered by the spot at all, walking into it rather than avoiding it.