Peeking

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 2, 2015134 views10 comments

One of two relatively young Male Lions looking for a pride to inherit in Kwando, Botswana. Later on in our trip to we found them in the "open".
Here he attempts to hide in the shade.
My settings are inexplicable

EOS 1DX
200-400 mm F4 at 533 mm
F10
ISO 800
1/40 EV +0.33
hand-held

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on February 2, 2015 at 7:33 AM

Like the peeping Tom n wonder who's getting all the attention here.
If this was mine, I may experiment with darkening the leaves.
Jagdeep Rajput

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

Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on February 2, 2015 at 7:51 AM

Good bones to this image. Love the leaves surrounding him and how his eyes are looking at you, but agree with Jagdeep that a dark vignette or some burning of the leaves might be a good experiment. I envy your experience.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on February 2, 2015 at 9:16 AM

Love those eyes. Very intense look. I agree with Jagdeep about the leaves. I might also lighten the face ever so slightly. Very nice.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on February 2, 2015 at 11:52 AM

Great shot - I love natural frames and while they're difficult to pull off you have done it here

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on February 2, 2015 at 4:58 PM

This makes for good story tension. Quality of the eyes is critical...and you nailed it. The other comments about tweaking just the foliage might be worth a try.

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

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on February 2, 2015 at 6:13 PM

Hey Ken. I love these kinds of predator images, but I feel they work better in monochrome.
I did a quick job in Nik Silver Efex - hope you don't mind?
I know you don't have a particular love for the medium, so feel free to remove this repost if you don't like it.

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

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on February 3, 2015 at 1:48 AM

Thanks everybody for your extremely useful comments, I had tried to darken the leaves but it did not work too well.
So I have tried a different method which I hope works better, I think it does?
Morkel.
It is not that I do not like B & W, but having had my formative years with no alternative but B& W, I much prefer colour. No problem with a repost which certainly makes the Lion look much more "scary"

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on February 3, 2015 at 5:11 AM

Ken - PHENOMENAL image. I loved your original post and probably prefer it to the repost for the stronger contrast between the leaves and the lion. Have to admit Morkel's B&W conversion is extremely powerful and dramatic for me, but I'm a sucker for strong monochrome images. This is one of those cases that is simply exquisite either way. Beautiful.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on February 3, 2015 at 11:47 AM

Ken,

Few would argue this is one of the most interesting and creative posts you've shared with us on NPN. Definitely moves beyond the documentary style image (the "f8 and be there" style). I'm in agreement with Jagdeep's comment about the leaves, but would add that how they are currently rendered in no way deals a death blow to the image (think of it as a mere flesh wound, and not in the limb-cleaving Monty Python sense).

Brad

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

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on February 4, 2015 at 1:40 AM

John,
Thanks very much for your comment.
Brad,
I would like to plead not guilty to (the "f8 and be there" style).

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