Single spot light used from trackers seat on vehicle for lighting this leopard. PP very basic with USM and levels and manual WB. I added section of canvas on the RHS to creative large negative space.
Shot from vehicle with monopod.
ISO 640 , 1/80th sec , F 8 , Canon 40D with 70mm - 200mm F 2.8 L
Hey Andrew, Welcome. You did your job perfectly and I love, love, love the mood. Whoever was holding the spotlight needed to raise it about four inches and point it two inches to the right as there is not enough light on the face.... You get an A+ for creativity and EXP.
How did you figure the EXP???
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,
I think this is a really cool image. I agree with Art's comments about the light. What a neat idea—very creative. There is a sense of mystery to the image because I wonder what the leopard is focused on. Very well done.
Love that image. I'll disagree with the experts here and state that the lighting IMO is just perfect as it is. It resembles a lot what is more common in cinematography. Four inches up and two to the right would have put the light right on the head and probably made it look like a balloon floating in the dark. With part of the chest and leg exposed the lighting provides some "grounding" and depth.
While I like the large negative space to the right it might be just a bit much. Perhaps a 4 crop would work better.
That being said... fantastic and creative image. Thx, JR
I also like this as presented because I think having part of the head still in darkness enhances the feeling of stealth-in-the-night. Very, very nice image.
thanks for all the great feedback. Arthur , i did some research before the trip on other South African forums and also actually practiced various settings on a inanimated prop at home in the garden :D The end result was also after few shots on static subjects on the same safari with just a spot. I have others with more of leo exposed but this was what i was trying to achieve.:D