- This topic is empty.
Cheetah Staredown
-
I like it
the crop does seem a little tight, i assume there was stuff on the right hand side that needed cropping out??
love the light on the lhs
Very sharp image, well exposed too.
Though as Steve said, the crop is very tight, and I don’t think
this is helping at all. There’s no real sense of the size or shape of
the animal in this because of the head-on composition, no depth
or dimension. Almost looks like a cuddly toy, if you don’t mind
me saying. Do you have more, with more of the beast?Rob.
Thanks Steve. I cropped tighter just to get a close up portrait. Have lots more from further out.
EDIT:
Thanks Rob.One of the catches down in Fota is the fence which you need to throw out of focus. You can only get so close to it because of a barrier. You also need to zoom in and shoot fairly if not completely wide open. This means that full shots just aren’t possible if you’ve got a 100-400 F5.6. There was one moment where there were 3 males all sat magically together on a mound and staring out … I was gutted that I couldn’t get a shot. All I would have had was lots of green diagonals. So, close up portraits are all I was getting.
There’s very little colour in it…or is it my screen. Could do with a dollup of saturation. Aidan, how can you go to zoos etc after having been on the African plains…I myself could never go to a zoo again having been in the Mara.
markcapilitan wrote:
There’s very little colour in it…or is it my screen. Could do with a dollup of saturation. Aidan, how can you go to zoos etc after having been on the African plains…I myself could never go to a zoo again having been in the Mara.
Agreed on the colour Mark. Thanks. Been trying a technique for the first time on animals and it doesn’t seem to work as well as I’d expected. Must go back to my old workflow for thse guys.
As for the plains VS zoo. Yeah. Most amazing 2 weeks of my life was in Tanzania. No doubts. I sat for hours watching big cats doing nothing and I was happy. I hated coming home at the end of it. But… the zoo costs ?13 to get in, a flight to south east Africa costs over ?1200. I’ve tried to go back but once you add in all of the costs … damn! Especially with the ECB trying to squeeze me ;)
There’s something really satisfying about having to go looking for the animals on the plains, rather than going to the section they’re in, in the zoo.
markcapilitan wrote:
There’s something really satisfying about having to go looking for the animals on the plains, rather than going to the section they’re in, in the zoo.
No argument there. Finding my first big cat in the wild (and I spotted it, not the guide :) ) was a huge thrill. But there is something very unsatisfying about keeping the house paid for too. Anyone who’s read my diary on my trip to Tanzania will know how much I loved it there. But until I can go back, the zoo will have to do.
Same here! Loved the Mara, and will definitely be back. But now I won’t go without a 500mm lens, and since leaving F1 behind I don’t have one at my disposal like last time.
Aidan,
Off topic I know. Just read the diary and tips. Really good read !.
Thanks Mark.
I actually put it together because I couldn’t find anything of any use when was researching my trip. Hopefully it’s of some use to anyone considering something similar.
Here’s an edit with more colour and slightly warmed up:
Way better with the slight warm up Aidan. There’s a look across his/her face – almost a look of recognition. The pose too makes it look like the cheetah was just rising from a sleep to look at an attraction. It’s tight in the frame but there’s life and energy in it.
Alan.
The warmed up version is much nicer and more natural looking. Nice shot.
Hugh
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
