His Royal Highness

[John Lowin]

Image created in the Upper Masi Mara. About 6:45 AM, golden morning light and a truly regal, aloof demeanor. Definitely "King of the Beasts." This is a slide scan, so no detailed exposure info. Hope you like my image. Critique and comments welcome, I'm here to learn. - John.

Nikon F5
Nikkor 500mm f/4 AF-s
Fuji Velvia
Kinesis Safari Sack (Bean Bag)

[John Lowin]

Sure a regal shot. Good composition. Animal looks too saturated, even in golden morning light. I selected the lion by quick mask and desaturated it by 20 pts. Next I added a warm filter 85, at 50% to get the golden morning glow back. A minor unsharp masked sharpening round at 125/.2/0. When editing, I try as much as I can to remember what I saw and tweak towards this.

Peter, Thanks for the repost. Unfortunately, it does not vaguely resemble the actual/original scene. I do agree that the image is oversaturated, all my images gain saturation upon upload. Yes the image is converted to sRGB, yes my montior is calibrated and no, unfortunately it does not match what is on my screen. Yes, I have a quality monitor. As soon as I figure this issue out I'll try to remedy it. But I do appreciate your assistance, that is greatly appreciated. - John

[John Lowin]

I have reduced saturation on my monitor hoping that the resulting image will look closer to the original scene. Please let me know if this is a move in the right direction. Thanks. - John

[John Lowin]

The lion in your image is significantly browner in color than any lion I have seen on any of our safaris. I'm wondering if there are sub-species or regional coloration variances. Because this does not resemble images from any of our three different safaris. - John

[Robert Amoruso]

I can't argue the color issues having never been there or seen one int he wild, but I do like the vertical framing and placement.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

John,
I am not sure how saturation can increase when you upload your images to BPN. I had a go at your king. Animals can have slight colour variations across regions though they belong to the same species. Coupled with the incredible morning light and Velvia, your images can look really saturated. Velvia 50 or 100?

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[John Lowin]

Thanks Sabyasachi, for your repost. The Velvia was 50. - John

[Nate Chappell]

I think the first one was a bit oversaturated but both John's and Sabyasachi's reposts look good to me. With respect to Peter's comments I think there is a fair bit of variation among individual animals and every morning lighting is going to be a little different. Anyway, getting back to the big picture I think its a wonderful portrait, well composed.