Male Cheetah in Mountain Zebra National Park, SA

[Grant Atkinson]

Canon 1Dmk4, Canon 300 f2.8 IS, handheld. S/speed 1/250 at f.4.0, iso 800. Cropped from 16 to 14mp. Cheetah were re-introduced to this area a few years ago, and I was very happy to be able to get an image of this large male. The habitat is upland grass plains, set amongst mountains and hills, so spectacular arena for photography. Light was broken up by clouds, made for a bit of pp work in evening things up a bit. The cheetah had a researchers collar on but when he adopted this pose only a small part of the collar could be seen on the top and bottom of his neck, which I cloned out.
Processed in ACR 6 and CS5. Ran one round of NR on background.
All c and c welcome
cheers
Grant

[Rachel Hollander]

Grant - I like how the dappled light is coming through and hitting just the face. Nice colors throughout. I like the comp but think this would also work well with more of a pano crop. I might evict the one taller strand of grass in front of his nose.

TFS,
Rachel

[John Ippolito]

Beautiful light, and I like how it is just touching the cheetah's face and shoulder. Rachel makes a good point on the strength of a pano crop, but I would miss the habitat element of the distant peaks that add depth to the composition you have chosen.

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks Rachel and John, I didn't notice that piece of grass Rachel, I shall evict on my version of the image here. I hear what you say about the pano crop but I think I may have better frames for the pano, without the background mountains. For this one the mountains were important to me...
thanks again for looking and commenting
cheers
Grant

[Steve Kaluski]

Grant, the light has really worked for you on this one, the warm colours have given you some excellent results, with that lovely piercing amber eye of the Cheetah. You just can't beat nature light. I'm with John, the pano may offer an alternative, but doesn't really convey the look & feel the OP has and offers to the viewer/reader.

Appreciate the additional info about the PP work re the collar.

TFS
Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

Grant you lucky bugger! Been there 3 times and haven't spotted one of the 30-odd cheetahs
Lovely light here and I always love seeing the gorgeous backgrounds that MZNP dishes up - a true photographic paradise, despite the cheetah-elusiveness .I wouldn't crop as it would negate that BG with the distant mountains.

[Brendon Cremer]

Stunning image, light is beautiful here and over all image well processed

[Danny J Brown]

Hey Grant -- This image is just wonderful as you have combined a superb subject with velvet light. I'm with Morkel on leaving the comp as is because I love the scenery in the bokeh. Lovely!

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Too good Grant, have to comment again, just love the light, scene and colours

[Hilary Hann]

Grant, just gorgeous light here but if I'm honest (and going against everyone else I know) the light and the background are almost too overpowering for the cheetah which almost seems to be hiding from the effect. I love the colour in the cheetah's eye and the warmth on the coat and I'm very glad that you evicted the collar. I love the background with the blue hills edged with white and the golden grasslands but everytime I look at the image as a whole, I find myself looking at the background instead of going straight to the cheetah. So I don't think I would do anything different and I still like the image, just wanted to explain what I felt when I saw it first. Classy post production with the collar and the evening up of effects of clouds etc.

[peter delaney]

Hi Grant


I have just come back from MZNP... it was cold.. (camping)... had a lot of cool sightings... same problem as you with cheetah.. dam research collars...

I think the light is gorgeous ,typical of winter time Karoo.. the composition is correct for image.. I think if you had used a smaller aperture to give more DOF you would have brought the BKG more in to focus.. and it would not have been such as a distraction...... and would have given the image more of a "cheetah within its environs" feel to it...

TFS

Peter

[Grant Atkinson]

thanks Steve, Danny, Vivaldo, Peter, Hilary, Morkel and Brendon for giving your thoughts. Hilary, I hear what you are saying about the sun highlighting the background more than the cheetah, but as the direct light never fell on the foreground completely, nor lit up the entire cheetah, there was not much else I could do. The cheetah only adopted this alert pose for a short time, and he did so in response to a young kudu that was walking by perhaps fifty metres away. As soon as the kudu passed by, he relaxed and lost the intensity of his gaze. The direct light was also quite fleeting, and only lasted moments. I have more images taken with no direct sunlight, and more even lighting all over. I have attached one of those to this reply for comparison.
Peter, I was handholding, and with the possibility of the cat taking off after the kudu I did not want to get caught out at a too slow shutter speed, hence my choice of a shallower dof and a fast shutter speed. By the time the kudu had passed the direct light had gone..however I had no complaints, I was quite happy with it all

cheers

[Steve Kaluski]

Grant, which offers the truer light?

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Steve, it was the light that was changing here rather than my processing approach. Both are pretty close to what took place, as the sun was hidden behind cloud and only came out for some moments, which is when I took the OP. It was also very close to the horizon at that point. In the repost, I have punched up the contrast on the cheetah to make him stand out from the duller surrounds, in the other image the sun kind of did that for me, although I still added contrast to the cat in the OP. Initially my preferred selection was for the repost, the flat light cheetah as I preferred his pose, but I ended up posting the one with the partial warm light as I feel it shows off the surrounding a bit more..any and all thoughts appreciated...
cheers
Grant

[Morkel Erasmus]

Grant I actually think I like the repost more...yes the light is 'better' in the OP but for me the cheetah pops from the scene a bit more in the repost due to the cold look of the surroundings contrasted with the cheetahs colours...plus the pose is nicer hehe

[Hilary Hann]

Grant, thanks for the explanation, I actually prefer the repost because the cheetah takes all the focus. However, it is hard not to be seduced by the light in the OP.

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks Morkel, your thoughts appreciated, cheers for taking the time

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks Hilary...I like them both. I would have really liked to have gotten one with everything in the golden light, but not this time...
Hilary, the one with the partial sunlight on the BG grabs attention better as a thumbnail, that also played a role in my selection for web presentation...
Thanks again for your input
cheers
Grant

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Grant, forgot to post my typed thoughts, DOH! Must be down to some new kit and selling the old.

I personally prefer the OP with it's warm, gentle light & tones juxtapose to the more cooler repost. For me this has a hint of green running through it and the Cyan/Blue of the mountains is a little to dominate in the depth of colour, but as both you & Peter have been there can only be guided by you guys.

Hopefully this will make sense now when you get an email.

TFS
Steve

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks Steve for the email, and your colour outline makes sense, I really just processed the second shot in a bit of a rush, which isnt always the best approach..I will have another go at it with your revised colour as a target...
It is much appreciated.
cheers
Grant

[Rudi van den Heever]

Super low angle Grant! Like the concentration in the pose!