Still in India:

[Raymond Barlow]

Not much time, so here is a quick edit- D800 - 2-400 vr1 - 1/160s f/4.0 at 200.0mm iso2500
Too much tree for me, but it is what it is. (maybe a vertical)?

I have about 8 shots of this same scene, and will edit another during the trip home
if I can! This was the only shot face on... Hand held, no vr, no support at all besides my very tired arms!

The circumstances happening around this image, so tough to explain, no time now, but it was amazing.
All is well here, having a blast, 2 more safaris, then our trek home Saturday.
I am very lucky to have one very nice guest (only) for this very private tour, we are so happy
with so many scenes, and thousands of images.

No bait, no fences, no calls, just (much needed) pure respect for a wild animal.

There is nothing in the world like being face to face with a wild tiger.

I was going to ask him if he wanted to shake hands, but thought - I better
not.. he might not be in a good mood.

Have a good weekend

• NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D800
• 200.0-400.0 mm f/4.0
• ƒ/4
• 200mm
• 1/160s
• ISO 2500
• RJB C 2013
• Flash not fired
• Thu, 11 June 2015 6:39 PM
• A
• ViewNX 2.10 M

 

[haseeb badar]

Hi Raymond !! Always a pleasure to see a tiger image ! Considering the SS and being handheld u have come out with a very sharp eyes , the result of all the hard work over the years can help in such situations ! I like the eye contact here and claws look leathal ! Some people might find the black stripes on the face a bit dark but these Ranthambore tigers has high density of stripes on their face compared to other wild tigers in India. Eager to see more images from your trip and also the story behind this sighting ! TFS

 

[Bill Nuttall]

Hi Ray

that tiger really "pops" - very impressive

maybe a different crop - 5 x 7 to reduce the dominance of the tree

 

[Rachel Hollander]

• RJB C 2013
• A
• Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh)

Hi Raymond - Wow, fantastic eye contact and that is one huge paw and claws. Glad the trip went well and looking forward to seeing more on your return. Nice sharpness at the slow ss. Your EXIF data shows -.33 EC. I'm curious as to why you would shoot with negative EC in this instance rather than go for a little more ss in the field? As to comp, I like the comp but you could certainly crop in from left and right for more of a square or add back in any that you cropped from top or bottom for a more vertical image. I did a quick crop from the posted image just to give an idea.

TFS,
Rachel

 

[shane shacaluga]

That new crop works a lot better in my opinion

Lovely pose and stare, sharp eyes and those claws look amazing

TFS

 

[Dvir Barkay]

Very nice indeed. Love the claws and face.

 

[Steve Kaluski]

• RJB C 2013
• A
• Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 Macintosh

Hi Raymond, it's always great to see a Tiger in the wild, and to have the eye contact as per this image, it doesn't get much better. Those who have had the experience of seeing Tigers in the Wild will certainly have one of the best memories in the world of a Big Cat, plus having the extended claws is real bonus.

Personally at 1/160 I think you may be asking a lot, unless you are rock steady/control your breathing and or have the camera supported, or on a bean bag, so tired arms are not ideal. I would keep to the landscape format, but crop more off the LHS, otherwise you are throwing away so much info going portrait, plus you will hammer those pixels. As Rachel mention, going -0.33EV may have pushed the blacks a little and certainly they are clipped as presented, but pulsing the EV your SS would drop, so it's back to upping that ISO, however I have no idea how far you can push the D800, perhaps Morkel can highlight this? Where was this taken Raymond?

Look forward to more
TFS
Steve

 

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey Raymond - love the eye contact and the exposed claw...cool overcast soft light too, compared to the harsh sunlight so often seen with tiger images.
I agree with Steve on your SS - a tad slow for the face to be tack sharp, even without your movement considerations even for the movement of the subject?
I personally don't mind pushing D800 ISO to 3200 or even higher if the sighting warrants it, so you could possibly have sacrificed some ISO in this nice even light.

 

[Raymond Barlow]

Hi Raymond !! Always a pleasure to see a tiger image ! Considering the SS and being handheld u have come out with a very sharp eyes , the result of all the hard work over the years can help in such situations ! I like the eye contact here and claws look leathal ! Some people might find the black stripes on the face a bit dark but these Ranthambore tigers has high density of stripes on their face compared to other wild tigers in India. Eager to see more images from your trip and also the story behind this sighting ! TFS

Thanks Haseeb - Yes, this tiger is called "the black one", a result of its deeper colours. Funny thing about this sighting was that I predicted - I told everyone in our jeep that something good was going to happen near the end of the day.
1/2 hour before our time was up, a park official said there was a tiger out on the main road, along with at least 50 vehicles! I told my guest - maybe we can position ourselves in a good spot, and the tiger will come in for a photo.
We stopped at the near end of 50 jeeps and lawreys - saw the tiger about 80 yards ahead, then as soon as the engine was shut down, this tiger walked towards our opening in the bush, a rock bed, clear for a view!
100 shots later, it moved away from the road as it could not pass. Cool thing was the vip jeep in front of us try to bully its way through the mess while we sat patiently, they did not get a look.

It always pays to be patient and respectful. Our last safari - during the last 10 minutes, almost dark, 3 tiger cubs merged about 50 yards from us for a crazy sibling battle! We sat patiently, and enjoyed!

It was unreal!

 

[Raymond Barlow]

Hi Ray

that tiger really "pops" - very impressive

maybe a different crop - 5 x 7 to reduce the dominance of the tree

Thanks.. sweet light helps! I have another shot with the paw up, with her looking to our right - might work.
My standard ratio is always 2560 x 1440 px, then size reductions.
I like to creat a size that most people can use on their desktops., as I welcome friends to copy my images.

 

[Raymond Barlow]

Hi Raymond - Wow, fantastic eye contact and that is one huge paw and claws. Glad the trip went well and looking forward to seeing more on your return. Nice sharpness at the slow ss. Your EXIF data shows -.33 EC. I'm curious as to why you would shoot with negative EC in this instance rather than go for a little more ss in the field? As to comp, I like the comp but you could certainly crop in from left and right for more of a square or add back in any that you cropped from top or bottom for a more vertical image. I did a quick crop from the posted image just to give an idea.

TFS,
Rachel

Thanks so much Rachel for your time to edit! My base setting on my d800 is -2/3 stops., that gives me nice exposure results with most conditions. Using - ev, does increase ss. Conditions change so quickly
in these forests, auto aperture seems to work best, with adjustments to the ev on the fly. My goal with every shot is to transfer what I see with my eyes to the screen, as I see it., so usually minimal adjustments.
As noted.. 16/9 is my typical ratio., personally, I am not a fan of square crops, though I do like what you have done... thanks!!

 

[Raymond Barlow]

Hi Raymond, it's always great to see a Tiger in the wild, and to have the eye contact as per this image, it doesn't get much better. Those who have had the experience of seeing Tigers in the Wild will certainly have one of the best memories in the world of a Big Cat, plus having the extended claws is real bonus.

Personally at 1/160 I think you may be asking a lot, unless you are rock steady/control your breathing and or have the camera supported, or on a bean bag, so tired arms are not ideal. I would keep to the landscape format, but crop more off the LHS, otherwise you are throwing away so much info going portrait, plus you will hammer those pixels. As Rachel mention, going -0.33EV may have pushed the blacks a little and certainly they are clipped as presented, but pulsing the EV your SS would drop, so it's back to upping that ISO, however I have no idea how far you can push the D800, perhaps Morkel can highlight this? Where was this taken Raymond?

Look forward to more
TFS
Steve

Thanks so much Steve.. I do like your edit, the brighter face looks nice. Ya, hand held, no support, just doing my best. I do carry a monopod, and Jobu Jr. for support when there is time to set up, but this happened so quickly.
Also, I am comfortable shooting down to 1/60 @ 400mm hand held when I need to, and have done well at 1/15 at times. Anything over 3200 hurts the image too much, so I tough it out, unless there is fast movement, where I have gone to 5000 iso as you will see with a tiger fight image coming soon... almost dark!

Taken at Ranthambore NP., and thanks!!

 

[Raymond Barlow]

Hey Raymond - love the eye contact and the exposed claw...cool overcast soft light too, compared to the harsh sunlight so often seen with tiger images.
I agree with Steve on your SS - a tad slow for the face to be tack sharp, even without your movement considerations even for the movement of the subject?
I personally don't mind pushing D800 ISO to 3200 or even higher if the sighting warrants it, so you could possibly have sacrificed some ISO in this nice even light.

Thanks so much Morkel. I am very happy with the detail and sharpness of this image, I do not think I could have done better with a tripod and gimbal head. These jeeps in India are small and tight, for all of my tours we will allow only 1 person per beach seat, to give everyone room to maneuver, and keep a camera bag nearby., works well. Shot at 3200.. any higher would have hurt the image more then helping I think.

Best wishes!

 

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Raymond always special to get these guys facing the camera . So i would be happy with the image .
I really like the intense look into the camera and the extended claws .
So well done in getting this frame.

TFS Andreas

 

[Raymond Barlow]

Hi Raymond always special to get these guys facing the camera . So i would be happy with the image .
I really like the intense look into the camera and the extended claws .
So well done in getting this frame.

TFS Andreas

Thanks Andreas, with 16 safaris, I came home with 5000 images, mostly tiger shots... a few birds, monkeys, deer, but at least 4000 of tigers. The experience was incredible!
(4 fps), and I shoot conservatively.

 

[Raymond Barlow]

Sometimes I wonder about my memory!

This image was not tack sharp, as I just did a crack at it., some contrast, clarity, nr, and a vertical crop. I am not sure if 3200 iso would have made a big difference, but sometimes I do wish I have a d4s! < typo!

Thanks for all the help!

• NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D800
• 200.0-400.0 mm f/4.0
• ƒ/4
• 200mm
• 1/160s
• ISO 2500
• RJB C 2013
• Flash not fired
• Thu, 11 June 2015 6:39 PM
• A
• ViewNX 2.10 M

 

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Raymond

What a stunning animal, one that I would love to see and photograph in the wild!
The techs are covered above.
In retrospect- if I have to capture an image among 50 cars..rather stay @ home with the birds- much less stress!:S3::cheers:

 

[Raymond Barlow]

Hi Raymond

What a stunning animal, one that I would love to see and photograph in the wild!
The techs are covered above.
In retrospect- if I have to capture an image among 50 cars..rather stay @ home with the birds- much less stress!:S3::cheers:

This was a rare situation, as the tiger was out on the main road., normally, they are within the confines of areas 1 - 8., but there are 0 fences, so these animals are free to roam.

This program is not for everyone, there is a high element of adventure, a rush of excitement, and the jockeying for position among other jeeps is part of the fun.

I do love bird photography, but the adrenaline rush after a good sequence with a tiger in the true wild is nothing short of spectacular., and addictive!, but your right, this is for the
brave and adventurous.

take care!

 

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Why no VR Raymond? Did you turn it off or what happened?
With my outfit I am comfortable shooting static subjects (provided IS or VR on - and I never turn it off) at 1/160th and sometimes even 1/100th, hand held, up to 1,000mm (500mm + 2x). Although, if you're shooting from a vehicle with the engine running, the sharpness may suffer I reckon.
ISO 3200 should be a piece of cake for your D800 man!

Not quite sharp enough unfortunately, which is pretty obvious in your last post.

Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more tigers from you mate.

 

[Raymond Barlow]

Why no VR Raymond? Did you turn it off or what happened?
With my outfit I am comfortable shooting static subjects (provided IS or VR on - and I never turn it off) at 1/160th and sometimes even 1/100th, hand held, up to 1,000mm (500mm + 2x). Although, if you're shooting from a vehicle with the engine running, the sharpness may suffer I reckon.
ISO 3200 should be a piece of cake for your D800 man!

Not quite sharp enough unfortunately, which is pretty obvious in your last post.

Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more tigers from you mate.

Thanks Ákos... I never use the VR on this lens... this is the old VR1, and it really has no effect on the images., also a times, I have seen a distortion created in the background as a result of the VR being on., while comparing my
images to those of my guests. I can't really explain the how or why, but I have read about it.

I am not used to hand holding, I use a good tripod, and gimbal head for most of my shooting, except for Africa and India.

After this experience, and a few others, I think I am due for an upgrade to my equipment.

take care.