I hope this works . I first flipped the image from left to right, cropped, applied a surface blur to bg and desaturated it a tad, then desaturated hot spots on the cheetah, contrast and sharpened.
Taken at 9a.m so light a little harsh.
What was interesting is that the tracker followed the spore for 2 & 1\2 hrs;( over 20 kms), before going into bush to get him back into sight again.
He's an old boy; apparently close to 11 years old. We left him resting peacefully in the shade.
Canon 40D
focal length: 200mm
f/4
SS. 1/640sec
AV priority
ISO 200
Handheld.
Last edited by Jeni Williams; 06-14-2009 at 11:54 AM.
Hi Jeni I think the mixed created most of the problems On the cat itself you did well, bg wise looks a little overworked and not natural Strong image !!!!
I like the image alot, but I see the comment about the light being harsh because of the time of day, which I see quite often with other images as well(so I'm not picking on this image!) . It is my strong opinion that it doesn't matter what time of day it is, as far as harsh light goes! Harsh and thus high contrast light exists because it is sunlight unfiltered by clouds, or by anything else (mist, dust, or smoke). Shadows eliminate most of light, and are filtering the light completely, yet other ambient light sources are sometimes suffient to bring enough light to the shadows, and elements within these shadows can be used to create lower contrast images as well. Sparse trees, especially during the early or late part of the day when the shadows are elongagted, can also create lighting that is in effect filtered as well. I'm sorry to bring this subject up, but I think that this very common idea about time of day will be an impediment in the creation of great images. I might add that high contrast is often an appropriate tool in photography, depending on the goal of the photographer, and "harsh" light isn't comepletely useless. Just in the bird and wildlife photography it is usually detrimental. regards~Bill
Last edited by WIlliam Maroldo; 06-14-2009 at 03:30 PM.
jeni, forgive me for doing this, but i loved the image and thought i might could make it a little better. darkened the bg and lightened the dark area of the eye.
awesome base image. you definitely captured a mood here.
Hi Jeni,
I like the composition and capture...you have sharp details and good color rendition on your subject...the background does look a tad washed out...the Doctor's repost works well for me...good show...lookinf forward to your next one...:cool:
Hi Jeni, Like the comp in this, really emphasizes the cheetah's gaze. I think Harold has a good idea darkening the BG, though I think I would prefer something that was in between the two. Well done!
Hi Jeni - like it a lot - Mr H's repost works well for me. Agree with Williams comments re Harsh light.
Bg does look a little overworked as mentioned by AL.
Looking forward to seeing more :)
Thanks for viewing and commenting.
Harold, no problem, as far as I'm concerned, it's the only way to learn.:)
Interesting comment about light William, it's particularly true that with wildlife they don't always (usually) co - operate with the time that we want to see them and as you said, the light is usually detrimental!!
Guess it means that I'll have to do a lot more study on how to take good photos using the prevalent light to best advantage!!:o;)
Cheetah
