This images is a rework of a 2006 image made during my last Africa (Tanzania) trip. I always liked the concept of the Lion staring at us from the top of his hill. However the original had a pretty dark face due to the extreme back light and a very bright rock just under his face. If I exposed to not blow the rock or BG sky the face went even darker. So I chose to make the exposure at zero EV and try to see what I could do. In 2006 my PS skills were severely lacking so the image was never really satisfactory. Now, with the help of those here at BPN, I have reprocessed the image.
The details are as follows: The light was very warm late afternoon Sunset lighting. 1DMK2 with 1.4 TC on beanbag on the top of Land Rover. Manual metering with ISO 200 and f 9 and 1/250. Cropped to vertical from horizontal, and cropped to about 50% of original. I kept the crop tight to try to emphasize the "stare". Shadow/highlight used entire image. Then a multiply layer used on the rock. The rock was further modified by using a quick mask to bring darker areas over the very, very bright areas to tone down the contrast as much as possible. The eyes were selectively lightened and the image sharpened in PK Sharpener.
I know the bright highlight on the Lion's right mane is not perfect, but anything I did to this (late last night) looked too funky and not natural so I left it.
OK - Let's have it! What do you think?







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