Male Cheetah Marking

[Grant Atkinson]

Canon 5Dmk2, 300mm f2.8is, handheld from vehicle. S/S 1/320s at f5.6, iso 800. +0.33 Exp comp. metering evaluative. Ai servo. Cropped from 21mp to 17mp. Processed in ACR6 and CS5. Location Savuti bush camp. 8 Dec 2010, 06h41am. Overcast morning. The male cheetah was on a territorial patrol and had climbed this fallen tree in order to scent mark and defecate. The tree was wet from a rainstorm during the night and he was being careful not to slide off.
All C and C welcome.
cheers
Grant

www.grantatkinson.com

[Harshad Barve]

beautiful image , lovely pose and perch , great tail position, techs looks spot on , big congrats
TFS

[Marc Mol]

Love the pose here in nice early light Grant with those claws hanging on for dear life.
The water/sky highlights in the BG is a tad distracting and I'm seeing a slight magenta cast on the tree bark.
That being said, for all the 4 days I spent in Savuti last Sept (09) we didn't see any Lion, let alone a Cheetah!
So well done on that front.
TFS

[Rachel Hollander]

Grant - great pose and I like the comp with the water in the bg. Nice intense look on his face as well. I also like the symmetry between the bend in the cheetah's body, tail and the bend in the log. Well done.

TFS,
Rachel

[Ken Watkins]

Grant,

Pity about the BG at the top, have you tried toning it down a bit. Where is the spray?

Marc,

Not the same area of Savuti as you went to, I think.:)

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks for all the comments. Marc, this was about 50kms higher "upriver" if you will, on the Savuti channel and to the west of Savuti marsh which is in Chobe Nat Park.
The cat had already sprayed and was smelling some old scent marks on the bark here, after which he rubbed his face on the trunk and jumped down.
I have toned down the sky in BG a little bit, any more and it starts looking a bit fake..perhaps someone with more advanced PS skills could do better..
thanks for looking and commenting
cheers
Grant

[Steve Kaluski]

Hey Grant, like the behavioural shot and setting, thought you were busy. :D

The pose and the posture of the Cheetah echoes the curvature of the trunk, well spot on and nicely composed. If you look closely even the fur under the belly indicates the conditions, wet.

Personally I wouldn't do any more in PS, as you will start to blow, halo and introduce various artifacts. The only element you might want to consider is to straighten the the image based on the river bank, providing there is enough space all round. Looks goods.

TFS
Steve

[DanWalters]

Nice behavior. Like the position of the tail.

[Todd Frost]

Well done Grant. I too like the pose of the cheetah as it mimics the trunk of the tree. Love the claws holding on to the wet tree.
TFS
Todd

[Stu Bowie]

A different posture from the normal cheetah image, but there again, its all for a reason. Nice and sharp too.

[Steve Canuel]

I like the pose with the swept up tail and how it echos the curve of the tree trunk.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the diagonal of the animal. And the soft light. A crop from below from the middle of the letters in your signature and from behind would tighten it up a bit and lose the hint of a tree in the urc that is somewhat distracting.

[Grant Atkinson]

thanks again for the comments, i will try the suggested crop too...
cheers
Grant