A Mother's Warning: All comments and suggestions appreciated. Please download...

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

All comments and suggestions appreciated.

Please download

(Download)

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I hope that was (1) a very long lens OR (2) shot being glass at a zoo. LOL.

I love the Mountain Cats. They are beautiful and largely misunderstood animals.

That is a very nice composition, and you got catchlights! But the focus is just slightly off, her whiskers are in sharp focus, but her eyes are not.

And, FYI, if a mother cat focused that kind of attention on me, I would endeavor to make myself very scarce very fast.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

JD750 wrote:

I hope that was (1) a very long lens OR (2) shot being glass at a zoo. LOL.

I love the Mountain Cats. They are beautiful and largely misunderstood animals.

That is a very nice composition, and you got catchlights! But the focus is just slightly off, her whiskers are in sharp focus, but her eyes are not.

And, FYI, if a mother cat focused that kind of attention on me, I would endeavor to make myself very scarce very fast.

She does look a bit like a mountain lion but she is an African lion with two cubs. Shot in Kenya, Maasai Mara Reserve. Did you look at the download? The catch lights/reflections in the eyes look pretty sharp to me.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Who's going to argue with a look like that

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Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Hi, Don,
At NVD this is a portrait with great impact.
Her face is directed slightly to the left, but her piercing, insistent, riveting gaze is dead-on to the viewer!

Inspection at closer than NVD does reveal a bit of motion blur...most evident in the ear hairs, corneal reflections, and vibrissae, but this is likely susceptible to deconvolutional sharpening like the "shake reduction" filter or "smart sharpen".
I find "Shake reduction" especially effective, most via its ability to specify direction of effect.

Again, my only substantive suggestion for real improvement is to render this lioness in color...but that's just a personal preference, and I acknowledge that for some, the B&W is the end-all of all portraits.

Best regards,
Dave

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

mcveed wrote:

She does look a bit like a mountain lion but she is an African lion with two cubs. Shot in Kenya, Maasai Mara Reserve. Did you look at the download? The catch lights/reflections in the eyes look pretty sharp to me.

Sorry, this was actually shot in South Africa this past April.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Uuglypher wrote:

Hi, Don, br At NVD this is a portrait with great i... (show quote)

Thanks Dave. This was shot with an Olympus E-M1 MkII with a 40-150mm f2.8 lens at 150mm and f2.8, 1/250 sec, ISO 320. Besides motion blur from the slow shutter speed (she was walking) the narrow depth of field has caused the nose to be soft as well as the right ear. Should have gone for a faster shutter speed, f4 and higher ISO. Oh! well! Maybe next year.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

mcveed wrote:

All comments and suggestions appreciated.

Please download

Some comments were made about the eyes not being tack sharp, and motion blur. Honestly, this photo has so much impact that those issues really don't detract. Certainly not deal breakers. You got in nice and tight to the head of the cat. The catch lights are there. The pose is near perfect. This is a really stunning photo and small issues aside you would not even notice those things if this were hanging on a wall and you were standing a few feet away. Get close enough and you will find minor flaws in almost any photograph. Overall impact, in my opinion, wins out over minor deficiencies.
Erich

JD750 Loc: SoCal

ebrunner wrote:

Some comments were made about the eyes not being t... (show quote)

I agree with all you say but that focus issue is the difference between ok, good, and epic. 3 stars vs 5 stars.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

ebrunner wrote:

Some comments were made about the eyes not being t... (show quote)

Thanks Erich. I accept that there are some sharpness issues with this image. Sharpness, contrast, dynamic range, and composition are all photographer's considerations. The viewing public, however, sees only the impact. If the impact transcends the flaws, only the photographers in the crowd will notice them. I expected this audience to find the faults, and I'm glad they did, and pointed them out. I often see the impact of my images and need someone else to bring me back to earth by pointing out the flaws.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Uuglypher wrote:

Hi, Don, br At NVD this is a portrait with great i... (show quote)

Thanks again Dave. As you requested sir. I still think the eyes trump the softness in the fur.

(Download)

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

mcveed wrote:

Thanks again Dave. As you requested sir. I still think the eyes trump the softness in the fur.

The eyes and color trump any "softness" There's nothing soft about her gaze and mood!
A really strong image!

Dave

R.G. Loc: Scotland

mcveed wrote:

....I often see the impact of my images and need someone else to bring me back to earth by pointing out the flaws.

My assessment is that having an eye for impact is considerably more important than having an eye for fault-finding.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

R.G. wrote:

My assessment is that having an eye for impact is considerably more important than having an eye for fault-finding.

So incredibly well said. Will you permit being quoted? (with attribution, of course)

Coz in the Colonies

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Uuglypher wrote:

So incredibly well said. Will you permit being quoted? (with attribution, of course)

Coz in the Colonies