Sharp Focus

[Jay Shah]

This image was also made at the break of dawn. Mother and sub adult cheetah are watching impala grazing in the distance with laser sharp focus. They had no interest in my shifting here and there to get into the best position to make this image. Samburu, Kenya.

Nikon D850 Nikon 600 mm
1/1600 s, f4, ISO 6400.

Many thanks for C&C on the previous image.

[Jonathan Ashton]

A beautiful image Jay but it looks rather noisy to me. If it is cropped I would suggest moving the image to the right and if possible include the tail tips.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jay, regarding the comp, for me you need more below. As the tail on the RHS is semi obscured by the grasses etc, I'm less concerned and would actually come in from the RHS and have more on the LH, in doing so you loose this 'void' of negative space IMHO. Again, is the conversion via NIK, if so have you added grain to the overall scene, hence Jon's point about looking noises? I like the poses of the two Cheetah's but as the image isn't sharp, it' a non starter for me sadly. As for the conversion, I quite like the strong Black to White as creates a little more interest & atmosphere.

TFS
Steve

[John Mack]

The black and white treatment worked out quite nicely here. Yes to more room below. The pose on the right cheetah is great.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Jay - Great to see you commenting on other images. Please remember to do so each time you post one of your own. I agree with the above comments particularly about the noise in the fur, the more room below and the effective black and white conversion.

TFS,
Rachel

[Jay Shah]

Hi Jonathan, image is full frame on the long side, cropped on vertical. So no room. Image was noisy to begin with, got noisier along PP. So had to choose a point on the subject between NR and retention of details. IMHO B&W images can work despite noise and lack of sharpness if the story is compelling.

[Jay Shah]

Hi Steve, like your suggestion on getting tighter on RHS. In fact, should be possible to get rid of tail w/o becoming obvious and that would improve the composition as it will draw further attention to the gaze. No Nik any more. Responded on noise below. Thanks. Feels like I am getting hooked on to B&W and getting some hang of it as well.

[Steve Kaluski]

Feels like I am getting hooked on to B&W and getting some hang of it as well.

Look at some B/W Wildlife photographers for inspiration and how they use light, but as I said, you have to process the image differently to how you would colour.

[Rachel Hollander]

IMHO B&W images can work despite noise and lack of sharpness if the story is compelling.

Hi again Jay - I think a lot of people feel that they can salvage a flawed image by converting it but personally I feel this is a myth. The best b&w images are ones that still have all the hallmarks of a great image e.g. sharpness, detail, proper exposure, etc. and then they have another element that lifts them even further whether it's emotion, a shaft of light, emphasized texture, tonal range between subject and bg, etc. And it helps to think about the image being in b&w or toned at the time you are taking it. Take a look at the b&w/toned images of David Lloyd, Villiers Steyn and Peter Delaney, among others.

Cheers,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Jay ... a lovely image in terms of Cheetah content .
But technically it is not working for me .... noise / added grain , whatever it is , is just not looking good IMHO . As said in my opinion .
The B&W conversion does not seem to be too bad .... many times i do not understand why an Image is good in B&W or bad , following others here in BPN .
But i do find Rachel´s comment quite good in some terms ....!!!!!

IN the end it is your view ,,,,

TFS Andreas