Lion Cub with repost

Gallery: WildlifePosted May 26, 2011121 views7 comments

Nikon D300 F8 1/250th ISO 1000

I boosted the ISO in order to get F8 on this cub in order to keep him sharp from nose to tail. Shot from DC National Zoo. I liked the direct stare and alert pose.

Comments and critiques please

Thanks

Andrew

Repost- I went to the shot before to see if I could increase sharpness. This was a handheld shot. The tail was moving back and forth so I had to time it to get it in the frame.I thought 1/250th would be fast enough to freeze the tail and F8 would give me clarity across the body. Thanks to some insight I used Clarity in ACR and then moved to Photoshop to boost the contrast in the lion cub and I sharpened the lion cub's head. Any better ? I think it is not as soft as the first post. Thanks for looking and adding your thoughts.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on May 27, 2011 at 1:12 AM

Wonderful subject and love the intensity of it's gaze Andrew :^)

Not sure if your needed to boost your ISO so high, unless the light was really low, but assuming this Lion wasn't constantly in movement I reckon a shutter speed of 1/80 - 1/100 would have been more than sufficient to create a sharp image. Quiet honestly, unless there's something up with my monitor or eyes, there's very little sharpness and detail I can see anywhere in this image.

If this were mine though, shot as is, I would certainly apply as much sharpening in post processing (i.e. Photoshop of the like) to see how much detail I could recover without it looking too unnatural.

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on May 27, 2011 at 7:35 PM

The pose is wonderful, with equally wonderful expression. I, too, feel that the entire image is somewhat soft, leading me to suspect a bit of camera movement, perhaps.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Julia Flanagan on May 27, 2011 at 10:34 PM

Kitty's gonna pounce! I hope you didn't turn your back to him. Looks like you may have some motion blue here. Was this hand held? Despite the slight blur I love the playfully alert eyes and ready position. I can just imagine that tail swishing back and forth. Cute shot.

Registered on November 13, 2003, 59 Posts, 986 Comments

Comment posted by Billy Fairburn on May 29, 2011 at 2:58 AM

Hi Andrew,

Great eye contact! I agree it is a bit soft and a little sharpening would do the image wonders, as would a slight contrast increase on the lion cub only.

Thanks,
Billy

Registered on March 3, 2007, 123 Posts, 717 Comments

Comment posted by Andrew Sentipal on May 29, 2011 at 5:21 PM

Registered on February 16, 2008, 200 Posts, 317 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on May 30, 2011 at 3:34 AM

Definite improvement with the sharpening Andrew, but whatever you did to increase the black levels gives whole image, particularly the cub, a bit of an unnatural feel to it, perhaps sharpening on it's own would have been enough?

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on May 30, 2011 at 6:34 AM

I cannot help but agree with ashley's comments here.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments