Leopard Hunt

[Lance van de Vyver]

A leopard catches a young impala before dragging it through an open plain to avoid being detected by near by hyenas.

Shutter 1/15
F/11
ISO 100
Evaluative Metering
0EV
1dxmk2 + 500mm f/4


Taken on an At Close Quarters - Big Cat Photo Safari

[greg cowle]

This is fabulous, so dynamic, so evocative. Panning on the leopard's head looks spot on.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Hey Lance...I love the illusion of movement, and the head looks pretty good for a slow SS pan. Colours look like the ideal colours for KNP and surrounding places. Mainly I can see the true colour by what the impala looks like.
For me I just wish you had the whole body of the Cat. I just feel what you have is not ideal.
Nicely done!

[John Mack]

The sense of motion is very nice. The prey is another plus. Another vote for seeing the whole leopard.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Not an easy shot to pull off, relatively easy for me to criticise, I wasn't there. I like the idea of the slow shutter speed but the head of the leopard, should I think be a little sharper and of course ideally the rear quarters would be in the frame. The 1/15 second SS really gave a nice blur, I am not sure if 1/30 would perhaps have given a little less blur but it may have helped get a sharper head and possibly have eliminated the apparent double ear. Despite that I like the image, it demands attention and the colours look good. I am looking forward to seeing more.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Welcome back dear Lance

I must admit I have experimented with panning at some stage but was never completely happy with the results because I wanted the subject's face to be pin sharp - I never quite managed to achieve that Your image is very close to the ideal situation but I too feel the head of the leopard could be a tad sharper. I do like the blur suggesting movement as well as speed, and colours are superb.

A dramatic frame with great content and I enjoyed viewing, sadly the composition isn't quite working for me: frame too tight at the bottom and part of the leopard missing, feels incomplete.

Thank you so much for sharing and I hope you'll be back with more,

Kind regards,

[Morkel Erasmus]

This is very nicely done, Lance! Panning is subjective and I certainly don't want something to be pin-sharp for a panning image to work for me.
Good to see you posting again...

[Lance van de Vyver]

This is fabulous, so dynamic, so evocative. Panning on the leopard's head looks spot on.

Thanks very much Greg :)

[Lance van de Vyver]

Hey Lance...I love the illusion of movement, and the head looks pretty good for a slow SS pan. Colours look like the ideal colours for KNP and surrounding places. Mainly I can see the true colour by what the impala looks like.
For me I just wish you had the whole body of the Cat. I just feel what you have is not ideal.
Nicely done!

Thanks Dumay. You are correct, Manyaleti Game reserve in Feb...

Unfortunately only had the one body andlens with me, so I agree haha 500mm was waaaaaay to close!

[Lance van de Vyver]

The sense of motion is very nice. The prey is another plus. Another vote for seeing the whole leopard.

Thanks John, I agree :)

[Lance van de Vyver]

Not an easy shot to pull off, relatively easy for me to criticise, I wasn't there. I like the idea of the slow shutter speed but the head of the leopard, should I think be a little sharper and of course ideally the rear quarters would be in the frame. The 1/15 second SS really gave a nice blur, I am not sure if 1/30 would perhaps have given a little less blur but it may have helped get a sharper head and possibly have eliminated the apparent double ear. Despite that I like the image, it demands attention and the colours look good. I am looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks Jonathan. I agree this head is not the sharpest, and the crop is way too close.....Im just warming you guys up :P
I am a super fan of the slower pans rather than the faster ones....I have panned all the way down to 2 seconds with nice results (flash included). I will have to dig them out

[Lance van de Vyver]

Welcome back dear Lance

I must admit I have experimented with panning at some stage but was never completely happy with the results because I wanted the subject's face to be pin sharp - I never quite managed to achieve that Your image is very close to the ideal situation but I too feel the head of the leopard could be a tad sharper. I do like the blur suggesting movement as well as speed, and colours are superb.

A dramatic frame with great content and I enjoyed viewing, sadly the composition isn't quite working for me: frame too tight at the bottom and part of the leopard missing, feels incomplete.

Thank you so much for sharing and I hope you'll be back with more,

Kind regards,

Thanks Gabriela! I always go with the idea that if the head is much sharper than the rest of the image, you can get away with not being tack sharp, but in this case I agree its a little too soft (I blame the tight crop and being too close haha).

[Lance van de Vyver]

This is very nicely done, Lance! Panning is subjective and I certainly don't want something to be pin-sharp for a panning image to work for me.
Good to see you posting again...

Thanks Morkel! Long time :)

Definately subjective! Some of my favorite pans (of my own, and from others) have no real sharpness at all, I will have to post some to see the consensus.

How the heck do you reply to everyones comments in one reply again?

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Lance - I know how tough these are to pull off and once again, you have done so. But I do agree with the others, like many of my images when we were together last year, I wish the whole leopard was in the shot. Say hi to everyone there for me

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thanks Gabriela! I always go with the idea that if the head is much sharper than the rest of the image, you can get away with not being tack sharp, but in this case I agree its a little too soft (I blame the tight crop and being too close haha).

Thank you very much, Lance. Been thinking about this, and read all the comments above with much interest. Over time I saw a few images where the subject was blurry from head to toe (cheetah running, etc) and I must admit they did appeal to me. There was this book I once paged through while visiting Nikon head office in Joburg some years ago, wish I could remember the author's name - images were perfectly composed and there was an incredible sense of motion and speed from the subjects. Colours were amazing. The only "imperfection" was the motion blur itself, but so well planned and executed that it did not look as if it happened by chance, like my own experiments Sometimes my creative side is jumping to get out there and try some panning techniques but I think I have to learn a bit more in order to avoid disappointment. I am off to the Kalahari in March, we'll see what happens. Still not sure I will want to drop the SS when I see that leopard with a springbok in its teeth

Please post some more Lance, you have such unique images and they get us going. BTW I personally enjoy those discussions a lot, so much to learn and think about

Kind regards,

[Lance van de Vyver]

Hi Lance - I know how tough these are to pull off and once again, you have done so. But I do agree with the others, like many of my images when we were together last year, I wish the whole leopard was in the shot. Say hi to everyone there for me

TFS,
Rachel

Thanks Rachel, I will do! Im going to have to post another one

[Lance van de Vyver]

Thank you very much, Lance. Been thinking about this, and read all the comments above with much interest. Over time I saw a few images where the subject was blurry from head to toe (cheetah running, etc) and I must admit they did appeal to me. There was this book I once paged through while visiting Nikon head office in Joburg some years ago, wish I could remember the author's name - images were perfectly composed and there was an incredible sense of motion and speed from the subjects. Colours were amazing. The only "imperfection" was the motion blur itself, but so well planned and executed that it did not look as if it happened by chance, like my own experiments Sometimes my creative side is jumping to get out there and try some panning techniques but I think I have to learn a bit more in order to avoid disappointment. I am off to the Kalahari in March, we'll see what happens. Still not sure I will want to drop the SS when I see that leopard with a springbok in its teeth

Please post some more Lance, you have such unique images and they get us going. BTW I personally enjoy those discussions a lot, so much to learn and think about

Kind regards,

Me too Gabriela! Some of the best wildlife images I have seen I'm sure have come by accident haha, one of my best panning shots was because my battery grip dial changed all my settings for me when my camera was in its bag!

We were lucky enough to have a few seconds to see that this cat was going to drag the impala. The way I have set my cameras up (Canon, using the C1, C2 and C3 modes) I can quickly jump between a fast shutter and a slow one without even having to think about it. This scene was shot at 1/2000th of a second and 1/15th or so at the same time!

The hardest thing about panning shots is being brave enough to try them! Its one of the shots I teach the most on our safaris as it is something new, but people can be very reluctant to "miss a shot" if things go wrong.