Portrait of Karoo

Gallery: WildlifePosted November 3, 2011338 views17 comments

Canon EOS 7D, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM MK II, Aperture Priority @ f/8 (1/640 sec), -1/3 EV, ISO 800, Handheld, JPEG from RAW, About 80% of Full Frame

Of all the felines at the Big Cat Reserve (Limpopo, South Africa) I got to spend time with, the one that well and truly stole my heart was this absolutely wonderful 6-month old male Caracal cub who goes by the name of Karoo!

Karoo is one of three orphaned Caracal cubs at the BCR and, while I was there, the only one amiable enough to come out and play. I had a number of sessions with him and every one it was a sheer delight; he's just as curious and playful as any kitten you could hope to meet.

I took many photos of Karoo in all sorts of poses and action sequences, but I think this is probably my favourite portrait shot of him. Hope you like it too!

Critique and comments always welcome.

Comments

17 comments

Comment posted by Verdon on November 3, 2011 at 9:56 AM

that's very beautiful animal, nicely done, can wait to see whole body, I am sure he is a beauty!!! thank you for sharing

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on November 3, 2011 at 12:33 PM

You did it again ! Wonderful shot, very detailed and also with a hint of the environment in the BG ! Well done, Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on November 3, 2011 at 1:13 PM

Awesome capture. Great details and the light is superb.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on November 3, 2011 at 3:43 PM

Now you have done it! Great shot of the caracal. I think I would have looked at a tighter crop cutting out the fur sticking up on the side, looks like maybe a hind leg. I can not tell you how much I like these cats, having care for some in my early zoo keeper days. They are very smart cats. The colors are fine and the light is right on. Thanks for sharing, looking forward to more.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on November 3, 2011 at 4:28 PM

Wonderful Ashley, love the light and the eyes!

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on November 3, 2011 at 4:54 PM

Ashley, I can see why you like this so much! Beautiful light & nice eye contact. Great image!

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on November 3, 2011 at 5:58 PM

Just love the light on his face and in his eyes...
You know I think this would have been so much better had it been a wild caracal

, but it's a great image nonetheless...

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

Comment posted by kiran khanzode on November 4, 2011 at 12:43 AM

That 7-200 II is a 'classic' lens, isn't it, Ashley ? Love this species...yet to see/capture it in the wild...

Registered on February 21, 2009, 83 Posts, 428 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on November 4, 2011 at 9:49 AM

Love the expression, warm color and fine details Ashely.
Beautiful work

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on November 4, 2011 at 11:25 AM

Wonderful portrait of a beautiful cat Ashley. A species that is extremely difficult to photograph in the wild as they are very elusive.
Personally I would have opted for a different composition though; either vertically framed with the entire body included, or alternatively crop a bit tighter by cropping some off the bottom, right and left.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on November 5, 2011 at 3:10 AM

He's a handsome looking youngster. Nice close-up in sweet light Ashley. But, I'm not to sure about the comp either, perhaps a vertical or a tigher horizontal, the hind leg seems distracting to me.

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on November 5, 2011 at 7:59 AM

Great light n spectacular specie, but framing could have been better.
Jagdeep Rajput

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

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on November 6, 2011 at 1:05 AM

Thanks for your thoughts and comments Verdon, Hans, Keith, John, Ray, Tonia, Morkel, Kiran, Howard, Vincent, Ken, and Jagdeep :^)

As to my choice of framing and crop: the crop I made was actually pretty much uniform from the RH, LH, and upper edges of the frame, meaning that I actually framed this shot like this, with much more vacant area on the left, through the camera, main reason being that Karoo was looking off to my left (at the ranger behind me) and I thought this would make for the best composition.

This is just one of a number of shots I took one after the other of Karoo sitting on a rock in this gorgeous light, but this is one of the few that I framed in this way as a horizontal close-up.

I've now added another tighter crop to this thread in line with suggestions some of you made, although to my eye I still prefer the original version with Karoo's right knee included, as the way I see this it adds balance, being that Karoo appears to be leaning to the left of the frame, if that makes any sense to you ;^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Gorazd Golob on November 6, 2011 at 7:39 PM

Really great light and even better looking cat. Very nice photo.

Best regards, Gorazd

Registered on December 28, 2010, 23 Posts, 53 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on November 7, 2011 at 12:12 AM

Am image to die for, and to kill for, too!

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

Comment posted by Ingrid Vekemans on November 7, 2011 at 2:43 PM

Hi Ashley,
Having read all the comments, I would definitely go for the crop, it doesn't bother me in the slightest that the cat seems to lean to the left...and the hind leg distracts...
They are just the most beautiful of cats and although I saw one only once for two seconds in the wild, it's one of my dearest memories. I do believe your image is overly saturated, though, although it doesn't seem to bother anyone else.
All in all...beautiful shot and I envy you for your private time and photo shoot with this gorgeous animal.
Ingrid.

Registered on August 2, 2010, 138 Posts, 780 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on November 23, 2011 at 5:51 AM

Thanks for your comments and feedback Gozard, Ajit, and Ingrid :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments