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Thread: The King

  1. #1
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Default The King

    Taken in the Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa. Our ranger and tracker knew that this male lion was around but we didn't find him until the sun was setting. We watched him travel some distance and in the dark he even took a run at an old buffalo. The buffalo nearly tossed him 10 feet, sadly no photos of that because it was too dark.

    Canon 50D
    100-400 @ 400mm
    1/320
    f6.3
    ISO 800
    Handheld from the vehicle. Slight crop from the right. I blurred the BG which was mostly barren branches more in PS.

    C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

    Rachel

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    Excellent image
    I am loving lighting here , looks like a big male , May be touch contrast boost ,
    TFS

  3. #3
    Ken Watkins
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    The first thing to strike me was the relative shortness of the mane, which means he is probably still quite young,

    Baclk lighting works quite well, a boost in contrast would help a lot try using the Linear Contrast in Curves presets I find this works well in most images. (PS 4 and presumably PS 5)

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    Hi Rachel, this is one of my favourite shots of yours. Very strong composition, I love the lions intense stare, his erect ears, and his total focus. The rim lighting is good too. Also liked the battle-scarring on his nose. OOF BG just adds to the strong shape and textures of the lion. I am sure that some of the PS gurus on the site may be able to help coax a little more contrast from this shot, but for me it is a winner, and you have gotten all the hardest parts right. In case you didn't guess I really like pictures of lions
    Well done
    Grant

  5. #5
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Harshad, Ken and Grant. Here's a repost with the suggested boost in contrast. Grant - I love lion shots too and this is one of my favorites too. Thanks again.

    Rachel

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    Hi Rachel...This is a super shot of a lion. I love the rimlight and the texture in his fur. I almost like the original better with its softer rendition of the fur. I f it were mine I would take a 25% opacity brush to blend the bg better. Sample the color you want with the eyedropper and then setup a brush with 25% opacity and blend the bg. Build up layers of paint until it looks blended.

  7. #7
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Well talk about leaps & bounds Rachel. ;)

    Much prefer the repost, has more 'guts' to it, but might look at a slightly tighter crop, loosing more on the lhs? but again, it's a personal POV.

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

  8. #8
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Bob and Steve (or maybe I should start calling you Obi-Wan).

    Rachel

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    Rachel....A definite "wow" factor portrait... repost looks great....

    would also be impressive B&W....

    Peter

  10. #10
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Peter. I'll have to try converting it to B&W.

    Rachel

  11. #11
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    As Peter suggested, I did a quick conversion to B&W and just posted it as a new thread. Peter - Thanks for the suggestion.

    Rachel

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