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Contest Finalist in Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 5
Contest Finalist in Endangered Species Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 3
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in a winter wildlife workshop in Kalispell, MT. The workshops are conducted on privately owned land. The scenery is beautiful and it reflects the natural surroundings of the animals.Time
The photo was taken in early January when the days are pretty short. The sun came up reasonably late those days so it was around 10:30 am when I took this shot. This is not typical for wildlife photography - especially in the summer - one would have to be out really early to catch the best light: the golden hour. Or just wait until sunset...Lighting
It wasn't a sunny day so the light was very even under some clouds. This made it easier for post-processing because I didn't have to deal with harsh shadows and highlights.Equipment
I used my Canon 5D MarkIII with the Canon 100-400 L IS II USM lens. I just rented that lens and I loved its range and sharpness. I liked it so much that I bought it since then. I had the camera set up on my Gitzo tripod and I was using a Jobu Design Gimball head. Flash wouldn't work with wildlife in this case: the amur leopard wasn't close to us and it can moving very quickly. As the picture shows: the leopard can jump up to 12-15 feet on a tree.Inspiration
My favorite area is wildlife photography and I absolutely love big and small cats! I will take any chance to photograph cats. Sadly, there are so many cat species that are critically endangered. This is true for the amur leopards: there are only 40-80 left in the wild!!! One could spend decades in the wild and never see one... So this workshop was an amazing opportunity to see and photograph one. I am trying to raise awareness about these endangered species through my photography.Editing
I used Adobe Lightroom to make some basic adjustments: lens profile correction, cropping, straightening the picture. I also adjusted the white point and raised the exposure a tiny bit.In my camera bag
For wildlife photography trips, I take my Canon 5D III and 7D II. I have the Canon 70-200 2.8 II and the 100-400 II with me all the time. On occasion, when I need more reach, I pack my Tamron 150-600 as well. I take my tripod with the Jobu kimball head. When I go out to shoot landscape, I have the same camera bodies but I take my Canon 24-70 2.8 and I really like the ultra wide angle 11-24 lens as well. Both of these are awesome lenses.Feedback
Leopards move quickly when they get going! Wildlife does in general, of course... Take lots of shots on high burst mode - and delete most of them - keep the best of the best. Look for the moments! Split seconds make all the difference. The tripod with the kimball head was extremely helpful for this shot. This setup gave me stability and maneuverability: while the leopard is walking on the snow the better layout is landscape, however, for the jump, I had to switch to portrait orientation quickly. I would have missed the shot if I were hand-holding and maybe having some camera strap to fight with. Not being able to switch to portrait orientation would have meant taking a partial shot of the leopard or a leopard with no tail. I had an opportunity to attend a workshop but not everybody can do that. I go to the local zoos to shoot a lot as well. There are great opportunities there too take pictures of rare, beautiful animals that couldn't be seen in the wild.