Great sighting and well captured. Looks like light was a bit strong and cat sidelit. Love the comp and midstride capture. Here is a version with mild contrast reduction, toning down the highlights a bit and opening the shadows on the face a bit. Also created a surface mask and ran a slight surface blur to smooth the bg a bit. See what you think, if you would like me to remove it just let me know. Well done.
TFS
Todd
Hi Todd. Thanks for your comment. Actually, while the sun was fairly strong, the bobcat wasn't sidelit, at least to my understanding. it was a few minutes before noon and the sun was basically overhead and roughly to the south of the bobcat which was running north or northwest. Its face, chest and right "forearm" were all in shadow, especially the face. I lightened the shadow area a bit.
No need to remove your version. I always like to see how others see my images. I'm sure I'll print this at some point and when I do I'll work it a bit more and I'll keep your suggestions in mind. Thanks again.
Nice capture and great pose. Like where you placed cat in frame. Agree light is a bit harsh, Todd's re-post does help tone it down and bring out more detail.
Morkel, I wouldn't say bobcats are rare here in Northern California. I see them fairly frequently. If by "semi-wild" you mean "captive," then it was not a "captive" animal situation. The photo was taken at the Point Reyes National Seashore on the north coast of California.