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Thread: Early Morning Cheetah 2

  1. #1
    Ken Watkins
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    Default Early Morning Cheetah 2

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    Taken near Kennedy 2 waterhole , Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, 2nd July 2010, at 06.55 just as the sun crept over the horizon.

    EOS 1D MkIV

    500mm F4 hand-held from vehicle

    F5.6, ISO 1600, 1/400

    Just seeing him going about his early morning marking was good enough for me, our first Cheetah in Hwange:)

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    love the light , walking pose and sea of grass , excellent image Ken , may be touch more sharpening
    TFS

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    Agree with Harshad, nice sighting and really nice light. Looks like he has a pretty full belly already. Lovely colour in those eyes. Any cheetah sighting is good for me.

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Very nice golden hour sidelighting here Ken, agree with Harshad, a touch more USM would really enhance here.
    TFS


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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Sweet light, animal, grasses, and image design. Yes to a bit more sharpening on the face and eye and possibly darkening the pupil a bit....
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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    sweet light and mood here as he glides through the grasses Ken
    I do wish there wasn't an OOF grass in front of his eye as it has "smudged" that area, and I wish for a bit less space on top and more at the bottom
    Morkel Erasmus

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  7. #7
    Alfred Forns
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    Agree with comments and would also sharpen the hairs sticking up out of his back Sweet light and pose Ken !!! Like it a lot !!!

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Ken - sweet light and like the intense look on the face. Agree with others about sharpening.

    TFS,
    Rachel

  9. #9
    Ken Watkins
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    Thanks for all of your comments and ideas.

    Sorry to say that yet again I forgot to add a little sharpening after conversion to JPEG.

    Here is a repost, with pupill slightly darkened.

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    Definitely looks better
    TFS

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Better. I would still try to better define the pupil.
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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  12. #12
    Ken Watkins
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    Artie,

    Any suggestions about how to define the pupil, would be greatfully received.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Work large. Paint a Quick Mask of the pupil. (Q, B, Q). Put the pupil on its own layer: Control J. Curves on a level: Control M. Pull the curve down a bit. Zoom out a bit and if the pupil looks too cookie cutter-ish, cut back on the Opacity as needed. I do that (and lighten the pupil using the same method) to 80% of my bird images. Robert O'Toole taught me to use Quick Masks. That and tons more can be found in my Digital Basics File :)
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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  14. #14
    Ken Watkins
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    Artie,

    Thanks very much I allready have APTATS 1 and find it very useful, I have just ordered APTATS 2 (better late than never), I also have Digital basics perhaps I should read it more.

    I recommend all of these to everyone who wishes to increase their abilities:)

  15. #15
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Thanks for your purchases. As of now, you actually have to read and study the stuff. We are working on newer version that you can put under your pillow and absorb the stuff :)
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

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    Wonderful light and grasses, and I like the position of the cheetah. Repost is better, sharpening as mentioned. Look forward to seeing the pupil adjustments.

  17. #17
    Ken Watkins
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    Artie &John,

    Here is the repost, not to sure if it has made much difference?

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    It looks much better to me. And after I clean my glasses it will likely look even better. Last possible suggestion:lightening the portion of the iris that is shaded by the brow (but do not over-do it) :)
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    Excellent image getting better and better here
    TFS tips Guruji

  20. #20
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    YAW Bhai. That's my job.
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










  21. #21
    Ken Watkins
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    Artie,

    Thanks for the additional comments, having had another good look I agree with your comments. Fine tuning has never been one of my great strengths.

    Cheers and Many thanks:)

  22. #22
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    One of the reasons that I much prefer digital to film is that the photographer now has the ability to fine tune. Before we were at the mercy (or lack there-of) of the labs....
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










  23. #23
    Ken Watkins
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    One of the reasons that I much prefer digital to film is that the photographer now has the ability to fine tune. Before we were at the mercy (or lack there-of) of the labs....
    Artie,

    As a person who had a dark room and all the paraphenalia necessary many years ago and then you only got B&W.
    I have to say "Never have truer words been written":)

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