by Max Waugh
I wanted to put together a "Wild Cat" calendar for 2016, so this year I hoped to add a couple more feline species to my archive. In March I visited central California in hopes of finding bobcats. I'd only seen a couple before, with no decent photos to show for it. We found three in two days--which apparently was a poor showing for this area!--with this being the only really close encounter.
For this post I purposely cropped to a panoramic cut to exclude a distracting log in the foreground. You can see the wider composition via the print link.
Canon 1DX
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 800
1/200th
f/4
(Photographed from a vehicle)
Max
Comments
9 commentsA really good look at this fine Bobcat, Max. I think it works better as a cropped scene that you've listed above after reviewing the Print link. Should be a nice addition to your calendar series also........
Nice photo of this seemingly calm Bobcat. The crop and the inclusion of the tall grass adds an environmental touch.
This one will look good in your calendar. The panorama is perfect and the bobcat is giving you a rather cute look....................Jim
Max,
I have no idea as to how rare a sighting this is, biut if it as rare s an African Wild Cat then very well done.
For me the crop is perfect and the log really needed removing
Well taken! I like the stare of the bobcat. Overall it looks just a bit light to me, Good that you could get the bobcat without the tall stems over its face. Thanks for sharing.
This presentation is way better than the full frame with log, for sure. It is rare to get a bobcat to pose, so hats off for that! Too bad about the stems in general, but good job of getting the cat clear of them. Just a thought, but I wonder if you could do a little added selective contrast to just the subject, for additional pop?
Great sighting mate.
The photo feels a bit gritty?
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I've replaced the print version with this crop, since I agree that it's stronger without the log. I also bumped the midtone contrast slightly based on Lon's suggestion.
For those in Africa, Ken's comparison of an African wildcat is a good one, but I'd say bobcats are typically much harder to find. I've only seen three bobcats, versus about a dozen African wildcats during my last two trips to South Africa and Botswana. Size-wize, Bobcats are slightly larger.
Max
Max: really like the cropped version much more than the original. The bobcat's really given you the lookover, which adds tremendously to the photo. Congrats on getting a good shot of a very hard to get a cood shot of critter
Richard