This image was captured on the 16th of December this year. My friends and I waited patiently for about an hour for this lioness to open her eyes, she and her female companion were having a siesta and were not bothered by our presence (even though we arrived at the sighting in a large and rather noisy game vehicle).
It was overcast and the ground was moist and cool because it had rained a bit the previous night. You will notice the FG is quite red/magenta in colour, please bear in mind this is not a colour cast, such are the soils around here. The slight green tinge on the muzzle is algae from the water she had been drinking.
I decided to share this because I like the relaxed pose from the lioness, and even though there is no eye contact I feel there is enough expression to capture the viewer.
Processed in LR and PSCC. Cropped quite hard - about 70% of the frame. BG consists of the body of the other lioness, they were lying next to each other and barely touching.
Techs a bit "extreme" but lighting conditions changed constantly and I took a few frames in a hurry when the subject opened her eyes. I have some images taken at F9 and F10 which I will share at a laster stage.
Nikon D5
Nikon 500 F4
ISO 4000
F7.1
1/3200s
Thank you so much for taking the time to view, as well as for your comments on my previous images - much appreciated.
What a great frame. The lion looks very relaxed. The image quality held up very well considering the large crop. Details look great. I like the composition and the care free expression on the lion.
I like it! The tight crop works well for me, one small suggestion would be to increase the sharpening around the right eye just a tiny bit. I love looking at detail and her nose looks great. Hope she enjoyed her pillow I think I would have given it a miss!!
Hi Gabriela, I like it because it's different and the subject is soooooo relaxed. Excellent POV and the undulating mud just adds to the location habitat. I think the DoF is about right, but the advantage Canon over Nikon is the Auto ISO, something I wouldn't try with the the D5, but for me is a huge asset to shooting. High ISO & SS for this, yes a mistake, but I too made many with the tigers, ISO 16000 lying down, BIG mistake!!!! The overcast skies helped, but I just feel the Blacks/Contrast is just clouding the file and gives it that 'flat' look. Controlling these two elements helps and then a slight tweak of both WB & Sat gives you some nice colour. I popped a tad of light into the LH eye, leaving the RH one in shade.
Thank you soooo much for taking the time to RP, you are so kind And it looks lovely
Used to shoot auto ISO but stopped about four or five years ago. Nowadays I only do it when shooting BIF or bokkies running in the Kalahari, because it's all fast and random and no time to check/change settings. Not sure why you say I shouldn't try it with the D5 though, we must have a chat about that before March when I go camping in the magic place
And glad you liked my lioness, I plan to look for her and her friend again and see how they are doing. Forgot to mention she had a thorn in her foot ( L hind leg) and limping quite badly, I am a little concerned.
Hope you have a wonderful rest of the evening, I am off to my wilderness retreat tomorrow after work, yay
Hi Gabriela - She does look very relaxed and when they are flat like this it is tough to come away with a keeper. I like what Steve has done. Yes, a bit extreme on the techs given the static nature of the subject but we've all done something similar.
Hi Gabriela ...well enjoy your time in the bush !!!!
Hope you recover from daily stress in your ....other world
Oh a very fine siesta image , lovely low POV for a shot taken from the car window . I do like the overall tone/color combo of the OP in general , but i do see potential with Steve´s version going with lower blacks contrast . If his version would be on a layer ....drop it to 50% opacity , my view .
The other lion body in the BG is giving a nice solid backdrop .
Glad to hear from you all and I really appreciate your time to view and comment.
Indeed Andreas, I am having a hectic time at work this time of the year. But it has always been like this. So I am trying to balance things with some "time out" in the wilderness whenever possible Very hot though around here and we are expecting temperatures in the 40's from Thursday - typical Christmas in Kwazulu Natal This image was taken from Carl's game viewer - I was seated right at the back and rather high, tried to lie down on the bench which gave me a better POV but no chance to move around really.
I will try do an RP keeping in mind Steve's version and your suggestions
Feline Siesta
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And it looks lovely
This image was taken from Carl's game viewer - I was seated right at the back and rather high, tried to lie down on the bench which gave me a better POV but no chance to move around really. 
