Leopard profile

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi all,
Here is another one of the leopard I clicked in Jhalana reserve, Rajasthan.
A lateral view showcasing the beautiful curves of the leopard & tail.
Cloned out the twig above the head and darkened the BG a bit as suggested by Steve and adjusted the colour cast and WB a bit.
5D IV
400mm
1/500
f/5.6
ISO 6400

[John Mack]

The pose is very nice. Like the tree as well. Image looks great for the high ISO.

[Morkel Erasmus]

A very nice open side-on pose and framed well.
It looks a tad too light exposure-wise (exposing to the right for high ISO no doubt) and a bit thin tonally.
Adding some midtone contrast will work well here, and perhaps adjusting colour balance as it looks a bit too green overall.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Sanjeev, I much prefer this image to the previous, albeit that the body is truncated by the tree, but a classic lookout pose.
Techs already covered in the previous, but great to see you not being hesitant. like the framing/comp.

I'm OK on the Leopard and my concerns in applying any Midtone is that you will loose some of the detail in the tree bark and clog the rosette markings in the coat. On the tree you could carefully apply some Contrast, but the BKG does need a bit more punch, however this is more of an 'artistic' thought not being there. Tweaking with a Channels Curves and some Saturation I think helps and some exposure shading, likewise in removing the branch, less distraction. Like the catchlight in the eye.

TFS
Steve

[haseeb badar]

Hi Sanjeev -- I prefer the previous image as far as the pose is concerned, but processing wise find both the same. Steve's RP has provided a nice punch and the removal of branch from bkg in the RP makes this more pleasing.

Your 500mm would have been a better equipment in this situation considering the dense vegetation and low light.

nice one. TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

Your 500mm would have been a better equipment in this situation considering the dense vegetation and low light.

Not sure Haseeb, yes the 500 is probably faster being f/4 and may have compressed the BKG a tad more, but I just wonder if Sanjeev would have been too close (more subject in frame) and not had more of the 'environment/subject' in?????

[haseeb badar]

Yes, that could have been an issue about framing, only Sanjeev could answer that.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Yes I wish I had the 500mm. This was an instant where we went off-road (thanks to the driver/guide who was from the forest department!) he got us quiet close to the sighting and I had about 2 min to click and retreat to the path. If I had the 500mm, I could have asked him to stay back a bit but you all know how these things occur so fast. I really wished I had a 200-400 :-) for this trip!! I am eyeing a used but mint 200-400 f/4 L from a friend. I might trade in a few under used lenses and gear to fund it.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Sanjeev - I do like the alert pose here and the space to the left. I agree with Morkel that the leopard, at least the part on the left side of the tree, looks a little thin tonally. I like what Steve has done to the bg but still think the leopard needs adjustment.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

still think the leopard needs adjustment.

I think it would be really helpful for Sanjeev if either you or Morkel could do a RP to help illustrate the point, as being 'visual' it's far easier to grasp and if need be, Sanjeev like others are very happy often to supply the RAW to get the best from the feedback.