Captured this image this past February in Botswana while driving past some dense leafy bushes. Our eagle eyed guide spotted him and we had to reverse a bit to barely get a glimpse. I was able to get 3 images before he or she faded into the bush.
As shaded as it was, I was happy to capture the destructive reddish brown coloring in the fur. C&C welcome.
D500, Sigma 150-600mm @ 600mm, 1/500s, f 6.3, HH, ISO 640.
H Geoffrey, a nice encounter, albeit a fleeting one.
I like the thinking and framing I just think in PP you may have added a bit too much into the scene and so overall the image looks/appears a bit dirty/sooty and colours a bit muddy. With regard to the techs I might have gone to f/4 and shot wide open and so all the foliage is soft just to frame the subject. In doing so you could have gained a bit more SS too, although I would have upped the ISO anyway to say 1600, better to have a sharp image with a hint of noise than a soft one.
An option, but with a slight 'artistic' tweak, still trying to convey your original.
Just taking the image into LR and getting a better WB the image improves, but I get the impression that Clarity was used or some form of Contrast (are you using PS Geoffrey?), because as soon as you reduce it, detail comes back. OK, yes reducing other elements helps, but a lot in the OP seems to have been 'masked' sadly. Removing some HL's and selectively 'Bluring' the top half to build on your original OOF foliage I think helps and 'frames' the face. Colour, Saturation, luminosity of the image is personal, but overall you start to see far more clarity and detail, and this is without adding anything, just stripping away some of the 'darker' sliders that may have been used, however I am making assumptions, be good to hear what you did.
How special this sighting! And I must say I quite like the way the little one peeks through those leaves. Been struggling with a number of images of a Wild Cat for some years now, I keep trying to process them because the subject is tack sharp but there are some very unsightly branches that spoil everything.
Your framing is good and I like the pose from the subject here. That small pink nose is delightful:) Wonderful RP from Steve, correcting WB and a few clever tweaks take this frame to another level.
I would be happy to have this in my folders Geoffrey, you were so lucky and I envy you
Hi Geoffrey, a nice rare encounter with this wildcat, agree with Steve's RP which is bang on target! Good framing and eye contact. Agree the ISO should have been 1600 for more SS.
Not a case for critique IMO, just simply a wonderful moment well captured Geoffrey and guessing this is a female sub adult, due to the smallish head size and over sized ears/head ratio and still quite pinkish nose.
Hi Geoffrey -- I liked the RP from Steve and he has given some very useful suggestions , so thank you for this post. But Marc's comment sums it well . Lucky to see something elusive is always special. TFS !
Hi Geoffrey - I think all sightings of these are fleeting so good for you in capturing it. You did well under the circumstances and Steve's rp has taken this up a notch. Good suggestions for in the field too.
H Geoffrey, a nice encounter, albeit a fleeting one.
I like the thinking and framing I just think in PP you may have added a bit too much into the scene and so overall the image looks/appears a bit dirty/sooty and colours a bit muddy. With regard to the techs I might have gone to f/4 and shot wide open and so all the foliage is soft just to frame the subject. In doing so you could have gained a bit more SS too, although I would have upped the ISO anyway to say 1600, better to have a sharp image with a hint of noise than a soft one.
An option, but with a slight 'artistic' tweak, still trying to convey your original.
Just taking the image into LR and getting a better WB the image improves, but I get the impression that Clarity was used or some form of Contrast (are you using PS Geoffrey?), because as soon as you reduce it, detail comes back. OK, yes reducing other elements helps, but a lot in the OP seems to have been 'masked' sadly. Removing some HL's and selectively 'Bluring' the top half to build on your original OOF foliage I think helps and 'frames' the face. Colour, Saturation, luminosity of the image is personal, but overall you start to see far more clarity and detail, and this is without adding anything, just stripping away some of the 'darker' sliders that may have been used, however I am making assumptions, be good to hear what you did.
TFS
Steve
Hi Steve. Thanks, and fleeting moment is an understatement. Regarding the exif, I just went back to the original sequence and discovered what I suspected. I had been capturing images of a Lilac Roller in bright sun, and I'm glad I had the presence of mind to at least change the shutter speed from 1/2500s. Appreciate your repost, but my original is the actual lighting conditions which I liked. I like yours as well.
No Clarity or contrast was applied. Yes I'm using PS. I know I used NR on the BG/FG, and I darkened the foreground leaves. Selective sharpening on her face.
How special this sighting! And I must say I quite like the way the little one peeks through those leaves. Been struggling with a number of images of a Wild Cat for some years now, I keep trying to process them because the subject is tack sharp but there are some very unsightly branches that spoil everything.
Your framing is good and I like the pose from the subject here. That small pink nose is delightful:) Wonderful RP from Steve, correcting WB and a few clever tweaks take this frame to another level.
I would be happy to have this in my folders Geoffrey, you were so lucky and I envy you
Kind regards,
Hello Gabriela,
Thanks, as always, for your compliments. I know the frustration of having a great capture only to be ruined by some unsightly object.
Southern African Wildcat
and guessing this is a female sub adult, due to the smallish head size and over sized ears/head ratio and still quite pinkish nose.
Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski
Gabriela Plesea thanked for this post
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