Lioness (c)

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 21, 2012219 views8 comments

Hi everyone! I took this picture during a summer trip to the Calgary Zoo with my family. It was a really hot day so the lions were all resting in the sun. I was hoping for a nice picture of the male lion but he was behind several other lions, and if you wanted a better view of him it would have had to be through the glass

. My dad had been photographing this lioness earlier and had found the perfect spot where nothing manmade was visible. I really liked the way she looked while she was resting, so after he was done I positioned myself just right for the comp I wanted, and luckily got it! There are actually three lions showing in this picture...the big male in the upper-left background, the side of another lioness on the left, and the snoozing lioness.

This is full frame with only a little cropped from the bottom to remove an OOF portion of the rock.

Thanks for viewing! If you have time to look at the larger version, I love the detail and texture in her fur that shows up better there.

Nikon D300
Nikkor 300mm f/4 ED with 1.4TC
ISO 280
1/320sec @ f/8
exposure comp set to -0.3

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Carol Nichols on February 21, 2012 at 1:52 PM

Very nice portrait Jenaya. Your DOF is just right and so is the exposure. You managed a very nice comp in what sounds like a difficult situation. Great job!

Registered on November 7, 2007, 161 Posts, 1420 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Cross on February 21, 2012 at 2:42 PM

The color palette for this is rather nice and you certainly have a nice sharp photo. Well composed as well. She certainly looks quite tranquil here, but I guess she would be instantly at alert if something arose. Wonder if lions dream? My dogs certainly do. What would a lion dream about? Thanks for sharing with us.

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments

Comment posted by Lucy VanSwearingen on February 21, 2012 at 6:47 PM

I know I'd lose my arm....but she looks so sweet and cuddly, that I want to bury my hand in her fur

Registered on May 23, 2009, 800 Posts, 2042 Comments

Comment posted by Hussain Nalwala on February 22, 2012 at 8:04 AM

Beautiful sharpness Jenaya. I love your composition....
Hussain Nalwala

Registered on April 18, 2011, 298 Posts, 339 Comments

Comment posted by Cam Held on February 22, 2012 at 3:16 PM

Great DOF and composition! Nice work!

Registered on November 12, 2009, 59 Posts, 398 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on February 22, 2012 at 11:56 PM

Given this is full frame width, I think you did the maximum with your situation. Detail and color look excellent and the composition is pleasing. In a perfect world you would have been able to pull back just a little to apply slightly more space in front of the nose (I know this was probably impossible!) which to my eye would have ideally allowed you to draw an imaginary line down the crease of the forehead, the top of the nose to a new lower left. But again, very nicely handled.

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

Comment posted by James Campbell on February 23, 2012 at 7:23 AM

By the sounds of the conditions you were faced with, I think you have managed this beautifully. Exposure and depth look great, and the only nits re the tight crop on the bottom and left, you have already mentioned why you made the desicions that you did!

Registered on January 12, 2009, 48 Posts, 377 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on February 24, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Hi Jenaya,

I think you did a really good job here overcoming some pretty rigid constraints. Tonal range is good and I quite like the texture and detail. And to me the depth of field looks pretty much optimal here. A tad more room to the left would be nice (that nose is a little too close to the left edge of the frame than I'd prefer), but I totally understand why that had to be so. On my monitor the facial region in about the right-most 20% of the frame looks just a touch over-sharpened (inside and below the ear and the brighter patch in the lower right corner). But overall a really pleasing image to view!

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments