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Thread: Cheetah

  1. #1
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Default Cheetah

    Taken on my 2009 trip to the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa.

    Canon 50D
    100-400 @ 375mm
    1/400
    f7.1
    ISO 200
    HH from safari vehicle, slight crop from left side, s/h adjustment and sharpened in CS5.

    C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

    Rachel

  2. #2
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, have you added any saturation or vibrancy to this?

    Any 'Style setting' within the camera?

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

  3. #3
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Steve - no saturation or vibrancy added. Style setting was "Standard."

    Rachel

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    lovely image Rachel.. I thought I might have not liked the crop but because the cat is at a slight angle your eye follows the OOF body...which leads me to the my next point the OOF highlight streaks . I would be tempted to toned them down or even cloned them out ...

    you have handled the tricky side lighting well managing to control the whites in the fur from burning out.. also mange good detail in the blacks...good IQ and sharpness in the facial features..

    lovely image

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    nice close-up here Rachel...pity the cheetah didn't look the other way eh? :)

    I agree with Peter - the exposure is nicely handled...I think Steve asked because it might be a tad too red/orange (the bodies are normally a tad paler) .

    I would try and recover some detail from one or two overly bright patches of fur on the sunlit part.
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, I too like the pose & DOF on this, as the focus is all in the face. I especially like the detail as you have clarity & sharpness from the eye to the nose, difficult to be able to do this at such close quarters, top marks.

    Would agree with Peter about the highlights, but again not a big deal, but I think it would improve the overall look. I also think you can still get some detail out from the eye area, easily and this would I feel again enhance the image, but I know this might be easier said than done, but...

    On first impressions as you know I thought it appeared to be a little saturated, hence my PM, and as Morkel quite rightly thought I was referring to in my question, but having visited the image several times I think it's fine, but if you were revisiting the original file you might like to see what happens if you reduce things marginally, good to play.

    TFS
    Steve

    PS Hope you enjoyed dinner.
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    I like the angle of the semi profile. Gives a good view of both eyes and the line of the nose. I think some simple blurring of the BG will minimize the "distorted" look without changing the nice color.

  8. #8
    BPN Viewer Pieter de Waal's Avatar
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    A lovely portrait Rachel, good detail in both shaded and highlight areas of the head. Colour is good for me and more detail in the eyes as suggested by Steve is a worth considering. Agree with toning down the BG highlights. Nice to get this close to a Cheetah.

  9. #9
    Ken Watkins
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    To be entirely fair the light was not really working for you in this image, but it has nevertheless come out pretty well.

    On my monitor (calibrated a few months ago) here in UK the Cheetah looks a little too yellow/red , and you have the light patches on both Cheetah and BG neither of which bother me overly. Always nice to see a fine Cheetah

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    Lights not perfect but a lovely close-up. If the cheetah had turn his head towards you, the light would have maybe fallen onto his eyes. TFS

  11. #11
    Robert Amoruso
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    Given the tough lighting conditions, this came out pretty well. I agree with the comment on toning down the bright portions.

  12. #12
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks everyone for the comments. The light was not ideal and as Vivaldo said, I do wish the cheetah had turned the other way.

    I'll play with desaturating it a little and with the bright spots to see what I can do.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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