Zuka Cheetah Mom

[Gabriela Plesea]

• NIKON CORPORATION NIKON Z 9
• NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S
• ƒ/6.3
• 400mm
• 1/2000s
• ISO 720
• GABRIELA PLESEA
• Sun, 25 August 2024 4:35 PM
• COPYRIGHT GABRIELA PLESEA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2024
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 13.5.1 (Macintosh)

Hello everyone,

One late afternoon in August ( about 4:30 pm) I came across this cheetah female and her cub on an impala kill. Lovely light, background a bit of a challenge though... after some controlled burning around the camp all that was left on both sides of the road was just... sticks.

Must admit I had some reservations about my ability to deal with the background in terms of processing but here is one version, looking forward to hear your thoughts and concerns. As always, RP's and critique welcome.

Does the BG add or detract from the frame? What are your thoughts on the composition? This is quite a heavy crop so IQ might be affected to some extent. Do have other, better frames but I quite liked the pose here.

Techs as follows:

Nikon Z9
Nikon 400mm F2.8 TC @ 600mm
ISO 720
F 6.3
SS 1/2000s
0 EV

Many thanks for your comments on my previous images, I appreciate your feedback and time to view.

Kind regards,
Gabriela

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Well, if this is a shot from a kill Gabriela, then you have chosen a cool frame, one that avoids the 'gore', but the blood stained mouth and nose gives an indication of the what is going on, but it's the tongue that really is the icing on the cake, very well timed, albeit (great word) I'm sure it's taken from a sequence so you could cherry pick.

Does the BG add or detract from the frame?

The BKG is what it is and often you don't have the options to move, so your treatment of it has worked and again, helps isolate the subject nicely.

What are your thoughts on the composition?

It's safe and formulaic, but then again, it works and what else could you do, square????

This is quite a heavy crop so IQ might be affected to some extent.

If it's above 50% then you should be good for Social media as you would be around the R3 file size. Remember some of us go back to 8/10MPX camera bodies and thought the IQ was good then.

Now one thing and I'm on the fence to a degree because I think my leopard was shot quite high SS, albeit static, SS/DoF. In my defence the SS was carried over from when she was walking, however.... So, could you have dropped the SS, gained a bit more DoF yes, DoF you know why, but also having a high SS avoids pixel shift on high MPX cameras. Therefore food for thought FOR next time, if shooting with a bean bag perhaps just drop the SS say to 1/1600, but gain a tad more DoF and ISO 400 or 800???

Overall, a very nice portrait of a Cheetah, well done.

TFS
Steve

 

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much, Steve.

Yes it's above 50% (the crop).

Images were taken from the game viewer. Did not have any fancy support, just a bean bag, but wanted a lower POV so I stretched across my bench at the back using the arm rest as support for the lens. Certainly not ideal and rather uncomfortable. Cheetah mom a bit restless, walking up and down while cub was eating... so there was no point moving the vehicle back and forth as it would just have added more stress to the animal. At some stage she went to rest under a bush nearby, still looking around, two minutes later came back and sat near the cub. Then I noticed a male warthog walking nearby and thought he would barge in and chase the cheetahs ( big male warthogs do this often) but thankfully it did not happen. I so badly wanted the cub to eat, Steve.

So the scene not quite 'static' so to speak, anything could have happened so I had to be ready with some decent SS. More DoF I do not know, kept looking at the BG and even took some shots at 5.6 and less, also more, depending on how far she was walking. Good thing is, I have lots to choose from

Once again thank you for taking the time and for thoughtful comments, I should have given a more detailed explanation about the sighting but was too kin to post

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend,

Warmest regards,
Gabriela

 

[Steve Kaluski]

From what you describe, it sounds very familiar and at times quite frustrating.

More DoF, it would have been helpful in the PP side of things.

No need to apologise on what you wrote, most times its very comprehensive, but if questions are raised at least you can fill in the blanks.

Tine for a Braai?

 

[Gabriela Plesea]

From what you describe, it sounds very familiar and at times quite frustrating.

More DoF, it would have been helpful in the PP side of things.

No need to apologise on what you wrote, most times its very comprehensive, but if questions are raised at least you can fill in the blanks.

Tine for a Braai?

Indeed Steve,

Photographing wildlife is often frustrating, yet so rewarding when things come together nicely

I do my best always, albeit ( this word of yours is in my head now, LOL) sometimes I feel so much emotion when I encounter my beautiful lionesses or my cheetah boys that I have to pull myself together to focus on what I am doing. It's not always a bad thing though, having spent quite some time with those animals I got to know them intimately and these days I often manage to anticipate their behaviour.

Here I was prepared for something to happen, and if you remember the cheetah kill in the camp a few years ago I had no idea she was going to lunge forward and charge back at the warthogs so I missed a few great scenes as I was using the wrong lens. One learns something every day

You're welcome to pop over for a braai