This cheetah was found feeding on a freshly caught impala in the Tsokwane area of the Kruger National Park back in 1998.
Canon EOS-1 with 600mm f4.5 FD lens with FD-EOS adapter.
Fuji Velvia film.
C & C always appreciated.
I echo the others - it's a beautiful portrait and a good, close crop. What I am wondering about is the color balance. The nose is so black it's almost blue and the tongue and top of the head look a bit dark. Did you intensify / saturate the colors at all? If so, you might want to back down on them just a bit. Natural with a slight boost is always better than a full out blast of color.
Charl, this is a strong image with the close-up bloody fur, but on my monitor it looks supersaturated. Toned down a notch or two this would be even more appealing. Nice job!
Thank you all for the kind comments and suggestions. This was a drum scan from my original slide that was done a few years ago. I remember the sight very well. The cheetah had caught this impala in a patch of very lush grass, and even then the overwhelming green around her caught my eye. I was very close and the image was cropped very little. Her head and nose color was certainly affected by the blood. Velvia also had a role in the saturation, but I will do a bit more work on the original tiff. Thanks again. This forum is the best learning tool I've found in a long time.
Charl,
This is a nice capture. I love the intense looks. First thing that hit me about this image is the intense colours. The nose tip looks more like blue as Julie has pointed out. If you look carefully, you will find the green colours in the fur as well - a place where that colour clearly doesn't belong. Reduce the saturation, and it will great. Too often, great images are ruined by oversaturation.
I find the vibrance slider in the Lightroom to be a nice tool. It doesn't increase the saturation where it doesn't belong. I hardly need the saturation slider. Wildlife photography is a life long learning. We are all learners. I agree that by sharing you learn a lot and BPN has come across as a good learning tool.