Hello everyone ! I am still not able to find time with my work and home schedule but managed to squeeze out a short trip to Bandhavgarh with the Doc. We had some fine sightings and opportunities on the trip and would love to share all the Tiger images from the same but time is at a premium. Will do my best to post as and when possible.
Here is an image of fully grown male cubs of Dotty. They are now almost on the verge of separation and these play fights will turn brutal one day.
We had this sighting quite early in the morning and the Tigers were on the move but both of them were in different positions and so photographing only one individual at a time was possible. I had upped the iso for the moving subject and didn't expected this moment , when one of the brothers came and leapt on the other. I was operating at 400mm focal length for the portraits when this happened and thus managed to capture tight perspectives of the sequence , though, some were missed due to the tightness and big focal length. But as per the settings and environment , i feel a tighter perspective did more justice because it allowed for better separation from bkg.
I am open to crop suggestions from you all, but before that i would like to inform that, there is no space at the foot of the image , I had cropped from the top and slightly from the rhs.
DPP 4.8, PSCC 2020, WB, curves, levels, selective colour and colour balance, NR ( 2 rnds) , sharpening, crop as mentioned above.
Canon 1DX MK II, Canon 200-400mm @ 400mm, Bean Bag.
ss 1/1000, f/4.0, iso 10,000.
Looking forward for all your comments and suggestions, be it of any nature.
Thank you for finding the time to share more images from this trip, I see you had some fantastic sightings!
Judging by the high ISO lighting conditions were not in your favour, in this instance. Also, you were taken by surprise by the sudden leap of one of the tigers which made things even more difficult. But you still managed to capture the scene, well done
Lovely pose from the tiger on the RHS of the image and wonderful eye contact between the two subjects - I like the closeness and those whiskers touching, great timing! That outstretched paw - or rather paws from both - just awesome.
In terms of composition I think I would go much tighter by cropping quite a bit from the LHS. DoF is not enough IMO and SS a bit low, but I do realise you did not anticipate the 'action'.
I guess tigers are not very different from lions in terms of behaviour. In my experience, where there are cubs there will be some play, or stalking behaviour, youngsters cannot sit still for long. Well, unless everyone is dozing under a tree in the heat of the day
Let us see what the others say, Haseeb. I thank you for sharing, and wish you a Happy New Year in good health and filled with happiness and great photographic opportunities! See you in 2020
Hi Haseeb, sounds like you two had some great sightings, would loved to have been there with you guys. BTW just saw some images of a Tiger taking on a Sloth Bear in Ranthambore.
Using multiple AF points may have helped Haseeb and trying to keep the action in more 'in the centre' of the camera may have delivered more? I think in it's nature perhaps pushing to 16k ISO for more SS may also have helped, but again it's all a trade off. I like the framing via cropping and the LH tiger 'pouncing'.
Thank you Gabriela , Steve and John for your comments and suggestions , as always, much appreciated.
@ Gabriela -- I did tried that crop that you suggested and though it looks good but quality looks affected and so i opted for this version. I definitely would have loved to get more ss and dof but light was not that good. Also, had i been wider then it might have provided better ss and could have stopped down but then in doing so i would have not been able to get that kind of separation from the bkg. Wish you a very Happy new year and a wonderful year ahead.
@ Steve -- 16K and multiple af pts definitely would have been better but I had no idea of what was in store. And like Gabriela said , i should have anticipated the event as these cats usually perform such antics.
should have anticipated the event as these cats usually perform such antics.
No harm in preplanning Haseeb, yes it can go either way, but if in the right way you are all geared up... I will always preset my cameras with some initial setting whether on safari or out in the car, then you don't have to think too much, just every now and then, just check your Exposure/Histogram because as the day lights up, your Exposure will change.
Haseeb, that was a surprise sighting and it was so good to see the 2 brothers together and I too least expected the interaction and as you know I was with my 500mm instead of 100 400 in my hand. So I missed it. But you did a good job to make the most of it. Nice action and BG with a nice final outcome. Light was indeed low but who cares when its tigers on the first round of safaris. Cheers.
Hi Haseeb .... great moment captured IMHO , we all have seen these moments when things happening unexpected . And we all try to get the most out of it , but it does not work always .
I would be happy with the output .
You were already borderline with your techs to get a decent IQ ..... so well done. If you would have upped anything in your settings .... well you would have paid a price .
I like the image as is !!! The expression of the tiger to the right is great , so is the action . The editing could have gone in a different way , meaning more color or going cooler/warmer .... but this is personal preference .
Thank you Andreas, agree with you on all counts. As for the colours, definitely it is subjective and I did try cooler and warmer options. Will be posting another image from the same sequence , and play with colours for a different look.
Thank you Gabriela , Steve and John for your comments and suggestions , as always, much appreciated.
@ Gabriela -- I did tried that crop that you suggested and though it looks good but quality looks affected and so i opted for this version. I definitely would have loved to get more ss and dof but light was not that good. Also, had i been wider then it might have provided better ss and could have stopped down but then in doing so i would have not been able to get that kind of separation from the bkg. Wish you a very Happy new year and a wonderful year ahead.
@ Steve -- 16K and multiple af pts definitely would have been better but I had no idea of what was in store. And like Gabriela said , i should have anticipated the event as these cats usually perform such antics.
I agree Haseeb, the tighter crop might affect the IQ to some extent. And I fully understand the circumstances and think you did a great job capturing the scene! Been in this situation a number of times and do realise you have to think fast and get the SS, frame it right, no time to watch histogram and you just go with your gut and whatever experience one has comes into play:)
Regarding 'planning the shot', always anticipate that when there are youngsters present they will get into some trouble. I usually have my backup ready, the 200-400 F4 or the 300 F2.8, hoping for some action. In fact I try have all gear ready but sometimes there is too much stuff lying around and therefore the risk of damaging something
Fight Club !
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Originally Posted by haseeb badar
