out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

I took this photo at the River Banks Zoo in Columbia SC and had it blown up to 11x14. I am looking for peoples option and advice as I am thinking about having the tigers name and my name as photographer added to the photo then donated to the zoo for display. You honest option is greatly appreciated.
It was taken about 10am bright sunny morning using a Canon 6Dmarkii with a Tamron 150-600mm G2 series lens and tripod. The photo itself was only edited for the Vigniting sorry spelling using windows 10

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Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Maybe it's just the harsh light, but the image doesn't seem to be in focus. I personally don't care for the shot because the tiger appears stressed. Regarding whether appropriate for the zoo display, I guess that would depend on whether there are other photos and what they depict. Also, would it be worthwhile to consult with the big cat keepers for their opinions?

Rotated for easier viewing:

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sandiegosteve Loc: San Diego, CA

Assuming the focus is from the upload, I'd tweak the composition a little. It seems a little like a gun-sight; dead center on the head. Move one of the eyes along the "rule of thirds" might help. The vignetting is a little much for me too. The quick fall off in light doesn't look natural to me. Some vignette to focus attention is good, this feels like a bit much.

What I do see here is a powerful animal showing force. My eyes then go to his left cheek and then the log in the bottom-left of the frame.

Then I question what is hiding in the dark, or why I can see more. I wish the eyes were more dominant. Maybe a tighter crop?


In asking for improvement, that is what I see. Nice shot.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I would do something about the blue tint on the white parts of the fur on the face. And any extra sharpening will be a delicate balancing act to avoid the fur becoming over-textured, but the area round the eyes and the softer parts of the face need a little extra.

out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Thank you for your advice as always. When I shot the photo I was trying to bring out the aggressive and yet powerful side of the animal instead of it just laying in its enclosure at the zoo. Unfortantly the sun was extremely bright that day and almost at high noon when shot. I will see if they will allow me to consult with the keepers there. Thank you

out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Thank you for your advice, I was trying to capture a shot showing the power and aggressive side of this beautiful animal instead of it just laying around in its enclosure at the zoo. I used the heavy vignette to try and draw the viewers attention from the log and background more toward the tigers face and teeth. Unfortantly it was a very bright sunny day with the sun almost at high noon which I know was the best time to shoot but I had to get it while he was active. Will work with it more and see what I come up with

out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Thank you for your words of wisdom. It really needs to be adjusted in Lightroom or photoshop however I am not a fan of using either to change the photo. To me it more becomes a computer generated image and I strive to shot the photo as close to perfect as I can without photoshop. I do however appreciate you advice and will take it into consideration and see what I come with after the changes in photoshop

bleirer

If you do have access to lightroom or photoshop, especially if you have a raw file, you might try to unblock the shadows in the face area that are black with no detail. They might be unrecoverable you'd have to see. To my eye something could be done to dial down the contrast and maybe bring up the overall exposure.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Obviously the first thing to do is rotate the image 90 degrees CCW!

After that, it's pretty low resolution to make a 16x20" print. However, the crop doing that would help by putting the cat's eyes and mouth more aligned with the "rule of thirds" composition.

The next concern is image sharpness. I used a high pass filter to try to improve that, with partial success (see below).

I also added a slight warming filter, which counteracts the bluishness of the white fur (see below).

I think the shot would have been a lot better if you could see the cat's eyes and there was a catchlight in them.... a low powered fill flash would have accomplished that. Without a catchlight in their eyes, animals don't appear to be alive. I don't think anything can be done to resolve this. Here's an example of an image where a fill flash was used, and there's a catchlight in the the (considerably more domestic) cat's eyes....



And I'm not a fan of heavy vignetting. I do like to lightly burn in corners and edges... but I try to keep it pretty subtle. I'd need to the original image to work from, to try a lighter amount of vignetting.

Here's a mild revision... also resized for printing 16x20".

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out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Thank you for your advice. This shot was taken at nearly 40 yards away so I don’t think a catch light would have been possible. Filters are something new to me and I’m slowly learning them.

SonyBug

Looking at the download, there is some camera motion. Looks to be slow shutter.

Silverrails

These "Cats" are Beautiful Animals, I would have enjoyed seeing more of the "Whole" Cat, although the existing pose the Cat presented to you is quite amazing, he does not look happy, for sure.

out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Thank you for taking a look. I can’t remember what shutter speed I was using but typically shoot at a fast shutter usually 1/800 to 1/1000 shutter speed. Even though I was using the tripod with a ball head I had the head unlocked to allow me to follow the animal which could result in the movement.

out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Thank you, he truly is a beautiful animal and out of the big cats definitely my favorite. It’s not to often we actually get to see him up and wondering around since the heat here is terrible hot and mainly he is resting in the shade.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

The comments so far are all on point.
I like the photo because it gives the viewpoint of the prey.
I’m glad I’m not an Impala😀