Tiger on Prowl

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Panthera tigris tigris

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, India. I photographed this in a place called Andhiari Jhiria. A stream passes in that area and due to the dense vegetation/tall trees and climbers the place is mostly dark. Ofcourse, in the last few years the vegetation has become less dense. Still it is tough to photograph as light levels are mostly low except for patches where the sunlight can filter through the leaves.


Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM, EF 2xII, ISO 4000, f5.6, 1/250, full frame image.

Look forward to your comments and critiques.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[peter delaney]

beautiful portrait.. u did well considering difficult lighting conditions

[Morkel Erasmus]

it's good that the head is in the clear here Sabya!

good to see you posting again - techs look very good for an image at that high ISO with a 2x TC

I do wish, as probably a few others will, that the leaf in front of the tiger's face was either gone or a bit further away from the cat

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Peter and Morkel,
Thanks for your comments. I have been pretty busy due to my job, so I couldnt spend time here. Ofcourse, I have checked the video dslr section a couple of times before. Also, these days what ever little time I get, a major part of it goes in filming.

I find the 2x TC working fine with the 400 f2.8 IS lens. Ofcourse, when used without TCs, this lens is amazingly sharp even at 2.8 and 3.2 apertures.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Hilary Hann]

Do you put your films on line? Would be interested to look at them.

Lovely tiger portrait and although I agree somewhat with Morkel about the leaves, I don't find them too distracting.

[Ken Watkins]

Sabyasachi,

A "natural" portrait of a Tiger in its " jungle" environment. On my monitor it seems like it could do with a tad more sharpening.

Cheers

Ken

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Sabyasachi, like Morkel, great to see you back & posting again, hopefully adding to the critique forum too.

I too, like the clear head and the feeling of emerging from the undergrowth/forest. Personally I might, if possible, be tempted to just move the whole crop up, so it starts just below the tree root below the paw and add a fraction of 'Vibrance', say +30/Sat+5 as it just gives it a little more 'punch' IMHO. A nice habitat image Sabyasachi to start the ball rolling again.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Nice habitat shot with intensity in the eyes. Some good suggestions above.

TFS,
Rachel

[Robert Amoruso]

I think Steve had some good comments and agree with them.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Hi Sabyasachi, like Morkel, great to see you back & posting again, hopefully adding to the critique forum too.

TFS
Steve

Hi Steve,

The job pressure had forced me to resign as a moderator. I was not comfortable as I didn't have time to critique. I am a bit more comfortable in terms of time, so will try to hang in here more often.

Hilary,
I don't have any clips posted online. I am working on a short film and it will soon get into editing stage. Will post online and share link when it is done. Keeping my fingers crossed till that time.

Ken,
The sharpening was default in lightroom. I hardly do anything more unless I am printing. Will have a look again.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi