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Thread: Cheetah Takeoff (with REPOST)

  1. #1
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default Cheetah Takeoff (with REPOST)

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    I am back from a lovely 2 weeks of safari and R&R in the Kalahari desert (Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park).

    I've never seen the park this green after some good rains - but that also means that in places it was hard to find game as the grass was long.We spent our last afternoon following a female cheetah and her 3 large cubs walking up-river towards some water. All of a sudden the cubs exploded into an action-packed 20 seconds of horseplay which I did my best to capture.

    I rue the fact that I was shooting wide open as opposed to f8 (this was due to me trying to smooth out the BG for portraits as they were walking along quietly without any sign of the energy that was about to explode, light was also poorish at times with clouds moving in front of the setting sun...I also fit the converter to the lens just a few minutes before this as I wanted them bigger in the frame...the choices we tend to make!! ).

    This is a VERY quick processing job and I will probably rework this one when I am home as I am still on the laptop and on the road.I will get to commenting on some of the awesome images that were posted in my absence ASAP!!

    Techs:
    Nikon D3s with Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II + 1.4xTC @ 700mm
    f5.6 @ 1/800 SS @ ISO-1400
    about 80% of original frame
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 03-11-2012 at 03:26 PM.
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Stunning shot Morkel, wouldn' t really change anything. You really did well here capturing the flying cat at a good angle, and showing the speed to great effect with the feet virtually all above ground.
    cheers
    Grant

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  4. #3
    Ken Watkins
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    Morkel.

    I am not surprised that you have tried a "quick" conversion on this one, as it is a staggeringly good capture.

    I would like to see this again once you have had the chance to do a full processing job on it.

    Your comments on camera settings and choice of lenses are all to familiar to me

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Love the crossed legs all 4 off the ground pose and swirled tail Morkel, can appreciate also the quick fire in the field changes we all make.
    TFS


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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Morkel - I think we've all been there with wrong settings and/or wrong lens/equipment as the action breaks out. You did well and the running pose with crossed legs and cheetah airborne is fantastic. Looking forward to seeing more from your trip.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Look forward to the RP Morkel, lot to catch up on too.

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

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    Beautiful Morkel, great capture of this running cheetah, one that I would be happy to have in my gallery.

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  14. #8
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks for the kind responses everyone.

    I have done the "rework" and am posting the result in this post as opposed to starting another thread containing the same image.
    Will try to crank out some more images during the week but will have lots of "real world" work to catch up on
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
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    Morkel,
    The repost is excellent. I love it. it. Shows the energy and burst of speed so very well. No nits from me,
    gail

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  17. #10
    Ken Watkins
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    Morkel,

    It certainly seems that your portable processing laboratory works quite well, as I expected the repost to have more dramatic differences. Not to say that it is not very excellent indeed, a once in a lifetime moment, but hopefully not

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    Hi Morkel,
    As I have said before, I think this is a wonderful image. The POV, detail and the legs all add up to make the image.
    TFS and best wishes,
    Mark.

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  21. #12
    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    Welcome back Morkel. Looks like you did alright on this trip too . Great timing to snage this one in this mid air stride. Nice and sharp too.

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