Lioness, Ngorongoro

Gallery: WildlifePosted July 16, 2014113 views7 comments

I'm leaving for Africa in a few days. It's always fun seeing some of your favorite destinations through the eyes of first-time visitors and clients, and this had me thinking back to my own first trip to Africa in 2007. Every time I look through the archives from that trip, I seem to find "new" images that were never processed and deserve some attention.

In this case, I had a couple of sequences with a lioness and two cubs. They were making their way across the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. Naturally, I gravitated toward cub shots in the past, but browsing through this time I found a nice portrait of the mom on her own in the tall grass. I thought it converted quite well to this high key monochrome look. What do you guys think?

Canon 40D
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 125
1/250th
f/7.1

I normally do not post larger files here, but I made an exception in this case, so feel free to look at the larger image.

Max

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Martin Dunn on July 16, 2014 at 10:39 AM

The pose of the lioness is great Max and I like the composition too, with just enough depth at th ebottom RH side for her legs.
Overall though the image is abit too high key for me. I like the monochrome but would like to see it a bit darker overall.

Registered on February 20, 2013, 198 Posts, 1011 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on July 16, 2014 at 2:37 PM

Great pose and comp.
I also would like just a bit more contrast to "pop" it.

Have a great trip!

Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on July 16, 2014 at 5:38 PM

Yes, high key. It is a subjective thing, but I find this to be quite successful, as posted!

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

Comment posted by Max Waugh on July 17, 2014 at 12:39 PM

Thanks for the feedback, folks. I tried a few different variations during the conversion, but liked the lightness of this, especially in the lion's face. In the other version's the facial features came across too dark and a bit muddled.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on July 18, 2014 at 12:20 AM

I like the hi-key as well Max, looks great. I might try just a smudge more room for the lioness at the bottom and right side, just a little too close for comfort for me.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on July 18, 2014 at 3:09 AM

Max,
Good luck on your trip.
This is a really great post, but like others I think it is a little too high key.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Ingrid Vekemans on July 20, 2014 at 1:36 PM

A bit more space at the bottom would have made it excellent. I love the beautiful pose of the lionness and think the high key monochrome you used is just the thing to make the image even better!

Good luck with wildlife on your trip!
Grt, Ingrid.

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