Queens of the Kalahari

I like the look of the blood covered line but the OOF carcass with another lion's head buried inside takes away a lot from this image. I'd try and go for a tight crop on the face/body.

Don't mind gore in photos but the position of the carcass and the degree of OOFness detract rather than add on this one. I do like the look of the bloodstained lioness's face and Luke's suggestion about a tighter crop might be worth a look.

Originally I thought this image was perhaps overexposed, but I think I remember reading some place that the costs of Lions in the Kalahari are much lighter than those found on Lions from those other parts of Africa.

Although of course it undeniably Nature in the raw, I'm not a big fan of shots of gore, so I'd have preferred this had you been able to isolate the primary subject. Captivating image nevertheless Neal, and thanks for sharing :^)

Neal,

I cannot help but agree with the comments allready made, the inclusion of the OOF Lioness and Gnu body does not add to this in anyway for me. Given the equipment you have you should be able to make this into a very decent head shot it certainly has enough detail judging from the large image

one scene to remember for long time , agreed with previous comments

Hi Neal,

I find this shot quite interesting. I understand what the others are saying re: the OOF "action" in the right corner detracting from the image, but at the same time including that portion of the image certainly enhances that "story-telling" power of the image. To be honest, I think the image would have a greater chance of being "used" (by a magazine, or book, etc.) WITH the inclusion of the somewhat gory "action" - perhaps not a wall-hanger (altho' I know of some folks who really like "gore" images - or perhaps I should say "Nature red in tooth & claw"), but certainly more dramatic than an image of a lion laying there with a little blood on its face.

On the technical side - while the scene may have been this light, I think it would be more appealing overall if the exposure were brought down a tad.

Thanks for posting this one - some good food for thought here...cheers...

Brad

Bon appetit! I'll say you were darn lucky this happened in front of you, but darn unlucky they are in the road... You did well and managed to create a very interesting take on this event Neal.

The image is very striking and lioness is beautiful. I like the relaxed posture which I believe is after a heavy meal. The nits on technical part the OOF action like other pointed out because the elegance of the lioness and the gory scene but action packed on right don't go well or rather fit aptly in the same frame(But that's my opinion, if could be seen totally opposite aswell like Brad pointed out).

If you have another frame where you have the lioness sitting as a full frame, it would be interesting to see that as I see vaguely the front right leg of the lioness is draped in blood, seeing all this would as it is convey the drama which unfolded.

exposure is a tad too much and maybe the contrast could be increased a bit.

powerful Image nonetheless

Absolutely a striking image. I think including another lion's head and a carcass of their prey only adds to the story the image conveys. I like that the secondary lioness and the killed Wildebeest are out of focus and only shown in small part to give us a sense of a bigger bloody scene yet do not compete with the focus on the resting, blood covered lioness. Truly captivating and well executed shot.

Anna Wrobel
Washington DC