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Thread: Leopard

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    Default Leopard

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    The sun had just set and we were positioned between this young leopard on one side and a small pride of lions (including a mating pair) on the other. The leopard was, at this stage, oblivious to the nearby danger.
    Still struggling to effectively develop my 7D images with high ISO and have tried to reduce noise without removing all detail. I have removed a lot of magenta cast from the image but have tried to maintain the richer evening light.
    Photographed at 6.27pm; 7D; 100-400 @ 400mm; 1/100; f8; ISO 3200
    Any suggestions on improving it would be gratefully received.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Hilary, a lovely image that reflects a very relaxed and contented Leopard. The components of pose/look and the position of being on the tree trunk all adds up to a nice mixture within the frame.

    The IQ is quite suprising at the high ISO3200 so hats of to you for achieving the image and pushing the ISO. Colour well have taken a stab, but not ideal as this is done on the laptop, just adjusted Colour balance in the Cyan & Blue, with a hint of Levels (right slider to the left) brightness +8 as I felt the Leopard looked flat, but as I said being away and applying thoughts from the laptop is not ideal. I think you are about right for saturation/warmth of the evening light, but Grant, Dumay etc will perhaps have a better idea.

    I might also suggest moving the whole crop up to the black dot RHS about 10mm so you have more space above the subject.

    TFS
    Steve
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    Ofer Levy
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    Lovley image with sweet soft light and colours. I like steve's repost.

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    Thanks Ofer.
    Steve, I've re-cropped and reprocessed the noise reduction and would be interested in thoughts on how it compares. Although I've fiddled around with the colour and levels etc., not sure whether I'm in the ball park. Thanks for the re-post.

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    Ofer Levy
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    Hi Hilary, I like the repost with the extra room at the top and slightly less at the bottom. Maybe a tiny bit darker. Used your repost to get this - slight S/H on the whole image, selective vibrancy, contrast on the animal and selective lens blur on the BG. Maybe a bit radical for some but WDYT?

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    Hi HIlary

    lovely image , i just played around with on my laptop and it works well as a b&w too...

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Difficult Hilary to try and be objective being off site so to speak, but...

    Knowing the image and your feeling to retain that nice evening light & warmth I feel both yours and Ofer's have lost it and gone more 'yellow & brighter' and perhaps a bit cooler, I say this because it's the initial way I went first off prior to posting, but reading your intro I went back to take that on board. My adjustments/suggestions were only applied to the leopard, retaining the warmth in the rest of the image. Although I feel it is a subtle adjustment, Ofer's suggestion of going slightly darker is a good addition. Adding additional blurring etc to the BG is obviously a personal choice, but I think you shouldn't need it as it can look unnatural, as per some previous posts here. I think the crop works better now, but wonder if some space should be lost on the RHS?:2:2

    Peter interesting you say that, when playing and dropping the Saturation etc going to B/W could be a good option too, but unsure about IQ & high ISO.
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Thanks everyone, I'm now on my iPhone which isn't ideal for assessing images but you have all given me much to think about. I have some images which I haven't been brave enough to process, but given this turned out ok I'll have a go at them.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hilary - great pose and habitat. I don't have much to add to the discussion other than to say that I agree with Steve that you should try to retain the warmth of your OP as you rework it, especially on the leopard.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    This is a nice one Hilary. The logs provide some nice lines and texture and the pose of the cat is good. All the versions work for me actually but I think I like the leopard somewhere between your repost and Steve K's, Ofer's logs, and the BG just a tiny touch lighter than your OP. Looks pretty good for ISO 3200 too.

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    Hi Hilary

    I could not help myself so I had to do a conversion when I got home, its a little difficlt to convert an image alreday worked on especially when NR and Sharpening applied.

    I wanter to bring out the detail in the tree as that is the anchor point of your image.So I worked on the light and shadows falling on it.

    This is a really good image for conversion and I have only been able to do a minor conversion, working on the raw file with B&W in mind this will be a wonderful print...

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    Peter, I really do appreciate you showing me some of the possibilities with this image so I will head back to the 'darkroom' and see what I can achieve then will repost. Perhaps then you will be able to direct me further.

    Thanks everyone with your help. This leopard has been teasing me for a while and I haven't felt up to the challenge.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hilary you now have a lot of options and when you have made some decisions & decided on a way forward it will be nice to see this image again with your choice & changes made.

    I am sure Peter will be only to happy to give any assistance you may need in the B/W department
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Looks great in color and B&W. Good IQ looking at the ISO used. Lovely colors and pose.... Very nice

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    Hilary

    You are very welcome!! and Mr Kaluskiis quite correct.. if you need any assistance please pm...

    good luck!

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Cheers,, no, thank you, Mr Delaney
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Well, I have some work to do on this one and with Peter's help I will perhaps be able to post a b&w image at some stage. Maybe on a new thread as this will get buried. Thank you for all the feed back.

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Hilary, great IQ for such a high ISO, and just the pose of the leopard. Good sharp detail on the head.

  19. #19
    Brendan Dozier
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    Beautiful leopard, and really like the pose you captured, Hilary. The tree trunk really helps to create a nice composition. The IQ does look good for 3200 ISO, though I do see some slight loss of detail around the leopard's chest area and lft side (its rt side). Wondering if less NR in those areas could preserve more detail there. Lots of great suggestions, nice work and nicely seen.

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    Thanks everyone. I've given the b&w conversion a shot, a long way to go to master this but at least I'm on the bottom rung of the ladder … thanks Peter.
    This is the thread
    http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...396#post691396

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    BPN Viewer Charles Glatzer's Avatar
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    Hillary,

    Wonderful image. 10 people would do it 10 different ways, wink. If you wanted to alter the image you might consider something like this using Silver Effex Pro 2.

    Warm Regards,

    Chas

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    Ofer Levy
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    I like Chas's repost.

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    Thanks Chas, I think I'm almost up to my 10 different outcomes already!

    I quite like the nik antique effect and have used it in the past with some success but hadn't considered it for this so thanks for reminding me of other opportunities. Although nik is a really good product there was something very organic about processing the b&w using Peter's type of workflow which almost gave me the feeling of control similar to my dark room days minus the disgusting chemicals.

    I am very grateful to everyone who made the effort to repost and show me alternatives, it has been a great learning experience.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Sorry for dropping in late, Hilary, I was away for a few days...better late than never, eh?

    Lovely image, and good on you for pushing the 7D, it was designed to be able to take some "ISO beating", though not to the standard of the higher grade D3s and even 1Dmk4. You retained good detail, and my theory always seems to hold water - that given enough light and correct exposure, high ISO should not be an issue, especially for web presentation.

    I like Steve's first repost the most from the colour versions, and will head on to your B&W version now as Peter has great points about this one's potential (I dig the old-school sepia repost Chas did too!)
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