Leopard cub

Gallery: WildlifePosted September 24, 2017466 views7 comments

Spent a very wet outing to my favourite destination - Kabini. Only on the last safari did the clouds part, revealing a little bit of blue sky. Suddenly, the silent forest air was rent by loud langur and spotted deer alarm calls. This meant only one thing - PREDATOR! It could be any one of three in this part of the jungle - tiger, leopard, or wild dog. Soon, a lone leopard cub appeared. It was followed quickly by another cub! Unfortunately, they were going away from my vehicle, but, occasionally, one would stop and look back. This was one such moment.

Equip: Canon 7D Mk2, Canon 500 IS USM II lens

Specs: ISO 2000, f4.5, 1/1000s, Aperture priority, evaluative metering, +1 exp comp, hand-held from a vehicle

Location: Kabini (Nagarhole National Park), Karnataka, India

As always, all critics and critiques welcome :)

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on September 24, 2017 at 3:54 AM

Ajit,
This is almost to good to be true devil

I only wish I had been there!

Welcome back

Cheers

Ken

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

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on September 24, 2017 at 9:03 AM

Hello Ajit! You have done a fine job of isolating him from his background and I very much like your processing of the soft lighting and colors. I especially appreciate the raindrops in the air and the wonderful expression of your subject as he turned back to survey your location. I would not have suspected this is a cub, given body mass and expression. I encourage everyone to VIEW LARGE!

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

Comment posted by Richard Sandor on September 24, 2017 at 6:09 PM

Ajit: beautiful isolation of the cub and great eye contact. Congrats! Richard

Registered on January 12, 2014, 453 Posts, 1625 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Gavin on September 24, 2017 at 9:07 PM

Doesn't get any better than this. Outstanding!

Registered on August 14, 2008, 293 Posts, 1250 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on September 25, 2017 at 9:47 AM

Thank you all for the kind comments, and special thanks to Ken Watkins for welcoming me back :)

The entire processing was done in Adobe Camera Raw, using the brush tool for selective sharpening on the leopard, and the brush again for noise reduction on the bg. The photo was cropped in ACR as well, and then opened in Photoshop CC for image size reduction and to add the name.

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

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on September 26, 2017 at 11:38 AM

Hi Dr. Ajit !
Stunning image! Just love the tension in whiskers.
It may benefit from some boost in saturation.

Jagdeep Rajput devil

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

Comment posted by Ed Williams on September 30, 2017 at 7:55 AM

What a beautiful cat! Great detail and expression with just enough BG to give a sense of the jungle.

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