Curious look + repost

A little too 'tight' for my liking, Steve, and the glazed eye is a bit distracting, too. But, what the heck, I'll take a leopard any way, any day! And, have another beer in my name

I agree with Ajit that I'll take a leopard any way, any day, meaning it is one of the very few subjects I will shoot in harsh light like this simply because they are not an everyday sight. I don't think the framing as such is too tight, but the crop is the type of crop where one starts missing the tail, because it shows it partly. Perhaps a tighter portrait framing would have been the way to go here. I also wonder why you choose to shoot this at f/4, IMHO more DOF would have benefited the image as is.

Hi Vincent, I cropped in tighter due to some distracting branches and really wanted the face to be the focus point on this one having shot a lot in various formats, even using the 70-200 for a more wider POV. I personally feel that the body being in dappled light would not have benefited from a larger DOF, but guess it is all subjective, plus if she moved I wanted enough SS to capture any such movement. With hindsight there could have been a bit more done as she gave over 15 minutes of pure bliss, one vehicle three people, heaven, but in the end I got the shot I wanted which has been very lucrative, not this one though.

Happy if you want to suggest an alternative crop, always open to suggestions. Will keep an eye out for you, as it is amazing who you bump into in this location.

cheers
Steve

I think this would make a dandy vertical portrait! I am curious about the eye color. Is this darker than usual? In other images I see, leopard eyes tend to be more yellow except in young.

Hi Lon, the left eye as viewed is the damaged eye. When seen close up, it is a bluey grey colour with no opacity, hence the colour variation.

Hi Lon, perhaps something like this might be more in keeping with your thoughts & may also offer Vincent another option.

cheers
Steve

Beautiful animal. I like the vertical, seems a bit more polished, although the op is fine as well.

I quite like the vertical format over the original.

Nice POV here Steve. I quite like the vertical repost. Something that bugs me on both versions is that I see some slight halos around the cat and tree, presumably from working on the sky separately??
Wish I could join you in the catching up

It's the vertical portrait for me, Steve, although I would have been happy with either.

David