Tanzania Feb 2011, Ndutu area. The Marsh lion pride had 3 cubs. Several attempts over several days to get good photos of one or all. (Very few successes).
Nikon D200, 1/350, f8, ISO 1000, 70-300 zoom at 195mm.
Some cloning of intruding green twigs on bottom right. This image is a severe crop, using way less than half of the original pixels. That plus shade light, plus ISO 1000 on the D200 must hurt sharpness, but still has a nice -ahhh- factor for those who love lion cubs (anyone who does not!?!?!)
Tom, I think that you were always going to be pushing it to get a quality file with such a big crop and the low shutter speed. Just wondering why you didn't extend right out to 300mm instead of shooting at 195 and cropping?
Certainly a pose with lots of appeal but I think you've lost too much detail. Never mind, on the bright side, another excuse to go back and give it another try! (it's what I keep telling myself .....)
I'm afraid I have to agree with Hilary here, Tom. The IQ is just not there - a combination no doubt of the excessive crop, the visible noise, high ISO on a body not renowned for its low light capabilities, and most of all the critical focus which seems to be on the tree bark as the cub is much 'softer'...
Certainly a cute pose and in better conditions zoomed in more it could have turned out a cracker!
Why I didn't use all of the 300mm? I don't know!! The original is even a horizontal image. Perhaps because another cub (or 2?) was also playing there and I wanted to get the two together??
It is interesting that the tree bark appears sharper than the cub. At f8 there was enough depth of field that both should be sharp. Perhaps I should actually soften the bark some so to not draw attention to it??
Tom
Marsh cub 1
(anyone who does not!?!?!)
Reply With Quote
(it's what I keep telling myself .....)
