Cheetah close-up

[Hilary Hann]

One of four cheetahs we found under some bushes in the Mara Triangle. They weren't doing much but I liked the expression on this male. I realised, once I had looked closely, that I can see the reflection of our vehicle in the cheetah's eyes which I thought was quite cool! The light was a little difficult as it was under bushes in the midday sun but I've tried to balance it a bit without making it too muddy. I've used a burn and dodge luminosity mask on his face. I would have liked his other ear in the photos as well, oh well.

7D; 100-400; ISO400; 1/400 @ f7.1 Manual exp, hand held.

[Ken Watkins]

OK figured out how to get the full picture on this monitor.

Nice close up

Have you tried to darken some of the whites, I think this may help, especially the area on the nose next to the eye.

Would have preferred a little more room at bottom.

[Marc Mol]

You've done well here considering the harsh lighting Hilary, one can even make out it's rasping taste buds.
Your reflection in the eye is always a nice bonus.
A tad more lower room would have been nice, was this F/F?
TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Good DOF Hilary, and I like that the mouth is open. Another vote for more all round.

[Kurt Bowman]

Nice detail in this one Hilary. The whites and exposure look spot on to me. I agree with your self critique about the ear, it gives this a bit of an unbalanced look to me. My only other little nit is a bit more room on bottom would have been nice, but overall, I really like the impact of this.

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I have more room at the bottom so can recrop.

[Morkel Erasmus]

I agree on needing more room at the bottom, lovely details! I also have shots of cheetahs with my vehicle reflecting in their eyes

for the interest of myself and others - please elaborate a bit more on "burn and dodge luminosity mask" as I am more familiar with the luminosity masks I use for blending multiple landscape exposures

[Harshad Barve]

Nice detail and VWD in given lighting
TFS

[Hilary Hann]

I agree on needing more room at the bottom, lovely details! I also have shots of cheetahs with my vehicle reflecting in their eyes

for the interest of myself and others - please elaborate a bit more on "burn and dodge luminosity mask" as I am more familiar with the luminosity masks I use for blending multiple landscape exposures

You can read about the luminosity masks on Tony Kuyper's site
http://goodlight.us/writing/luminosi...tymasks-1.html

For $25 you can download his tutorial pdfs and all his PS actions. I have found them easy to use and quite versatile. The burn and dodge mask is easy to do yourself without the action, but you would find it easier to have an action set up if using them often. The 'light', 'mid-tones' and 'dark' masks are very effective and more useable than making them yourself, imo. I use a reverse luminosity mask for landscapes, but make my own for that purpose and don't tend to use it much on wildlife. Hope this helps.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks ma'am...I know Kuyper's masks and use some of them (learnt from other photographers) but it seems worthwhile to purchase the tutorial with the actions...

[Hilary Hann]

thanks ma'am...

Boy, that makes me feel really old!!