Female Leopard

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 3, 2012167 views7 comments

A resting Leopard who posed for only a few minutes before walking off into the bush. She was in prime condition and then gave some excellent photo opportunities, especially high up in the canopy.

Steve
Subject: Leopard (close-up head shot) (Panthera pardus)
Location: Chitabe, Botswana
Camera: Canon MKIV
Lens: 500f/4 - HH
Exposure: 1/320s at f/5.6 ISO200 (higher ISO would have given better SS) 0 stop compensation
Crop: Slight crop (original capture vertical)

No blurring applied to BKG, all down to DOF & the 500 compressing the BKG

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on February 3, 2012 at 9:51 AM

Great shot. Love the eyes.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Rebecka on February 3, 2012 at 10:41 AM

I agree with Jerry - the eyes are just magnificent. They steal the shot, and draw you in. They make her look soulful, and the viewer wonders what she is thinking and feeling.

She looks so pristine to me: no scars from scratches on the nose or ripped ears at all. Was she a young leopard, do you think?

Botswana is such a magnificent country....

Registered on February 5, 2009, 170 Posts, 924 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on February 3, 2012 at 11:43 AM

I think you did a fine job in maximizing the situation, working with leopard fully in shade. Excellent portrait and I really like the quality of the eyes clearly focused to the side, beyond the photographer.

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

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on February 4, 2012 at 5:35 AM

Thanks guys, apologies for not being on here for sometime, just commitments and process a backlog of images.

Lon the larger version really makes a difference and conveys very well the depth of those eyes, awesome in print!

cheers
Steve

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on February 4, 2012 at 9:34 PM

Beautiful portrait of a beautiful animal! Great sharpness and detail. If this were mine, I would experiment with a little warming, because it looks a little too blue for me.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on February 6, 2012 at 3:34 AM

DOF is great (you know how I love them shallow with portraits like this)
Eyes are haunting...
I would have gone for a bit more saturation on the leopard's skin (I know you were in the shade and you were probably trying to stay as true as possible to how you remember it)...

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Roman Kurywczak on February 7, 2012 at 4:13 PM

Sweet! The eyes definitely make it and the details in the large image are outstanding!

Registered on November 20, 2009, 56 Posts, 748 Comments