Play 2

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 6, 2016121 views7 comments

The night before this image was taken we were discussing with our guide previous sightings at our favourite waterhole, and agreed that we had never seen Lions at the waterhole in 10 years of trying.
It came as a surprise first thing the next morning a pride of Lion sleeping at the waterhole.
These two cubs soon started to play, in the less than bright light.
Unfortunately a high ISO was needed, hence the relatively poor quality of this image,

EOS 1DX MkII
200- 400 mm F4 with 1.4 EX at 560 mm
F5.6
ISO 8000
1/800

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on October 6, 2016 at 8:43 AM

Love this one Ken. I think it turned out pretty good for ISO 8000. With that said, I am not sure how much you have played with it yet. But, if mine, I might try to brighten this up a bit more. Maybe do a slight increase on your exposure. if so, I would then add back some contrast because you loose a lot of dynamic range at that higher ISO and it causes the image to appear flat. I would then also add a touch of warmth back to it and increase the saturation a little. Not sure if this helps or if you already did some of that (, but just my two cents. Also, I know you have really good processing skills, so I don't mean to repeat things you most likely already know.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on October 6, 2016 at 1:50 PM

Absolutely adorable Ken. Love the detail and especially the action you have captured so well. Seeing this, I think it would be really nice to have a weekly challenge with baby animals sometime. Thank you for posting this. It brightens my day.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on October 6, 2016 at 7:01 PM

If you don't want this, I'll take it!
Great behavioral shot, perfect perspective, and the light and ISO are fine.
I'd personally like a bit more room on the top, and brighten it up a little.
Fine catch!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on October 7, 2016 at 1:34 PM

Very cute indeed!
Kurt makes a good point as I felt it was underexposed too at first view. +0.7 should be good?

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

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on October 8, 2016 at 3:56 AM

Very cute and very playful! sad

I agree with Kurt's suggestions, you can add more punch to this image.
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on October 8, 2016 at 5:04 AM

Thanks everybody in particular Kurt for the detailed suggestions.
I have absolutely no knowledge as to how to process high ISO images, as I have been fortunate enough to have hardly ever gone above ISO 3200.
This post was a "best" effort, but did not really satisfy me.
I have given it another try eliminating the "blue" background, and using the various tips.
Is it better?
I am mainly asking as I have an image of Cecil's Pride a complete, well actually missing Jericho, line up drinking water in complete darkness. lit only by car headlights this was taken at ISO 52000!

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

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on October 8, 2016 at 10:31 PM

The wonderful "feet off the ground" poses and excellent expressions make this worth any effort you can to maximize its impact in post processing. Great eyes and great perspective.

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