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Caracal 02 Exmoor Zoo-1
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Caracal 02 Exmoor Zoo-1



Taken at Exmoor Zoo through glass.

Taken at Exmoor Zoo through glass.
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cameraPENTAX K-3

settings Aperture f/2.8 ISO 125 Shutter 1/250 Focal Length 12300/100 

upload_dateNov, 2015

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2183

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Awards

Judge Favorite
Peer Award
billmartin_2615 davidjprosser ileanaandreagmezgavinoser NancyFlemingPhotography JuanGiraldo 2001vermont RDDIIPhotography +134
Superb Composition
photolifejournal dumbdrum Charles_w_scott 123ecarney Yuldoshov ianjansen GlabayPhotography +70
Top Choice
PatriZioMBusnel kenkast2 jefboulet surendrachaturvedi efimbirenbaum JVendetti tonybruguiere +52
Absolute Masterpiece
gabrielakeller Eclipse_0f_the_Heart AnitaMulder CURUTCHET Doncila dlr85 doriskrandel +46
Love it
Buro-Lsk corraventer rickrusso_3161 edandaniphone reinhardtenzler rhiannyn marvinborst +38
Magnificent Capture
billtaylorphotos SunChaser1 dianarootphotography Marmot56 douglasunger daydreamsbymary0710 leifmagnesworld +10
All Star
DELETED_paulbloch Lisa2021 dennisrubin DGriffiths sallyG11 Nikonic randybenzie +6
Superior Skill
Beno62 Fotofile50 Hippiechic Lizsette mihrt MickAlicic Mother_Nature +2
Outstanding Creativity
TERRYLEIGH Diane_ katiewellehan jeffjacobson
Genius
jlappen richardpetersen
Virtuoso
LifeForcePhotography

Emotions

Impressed
Kam_Naidoo

Top Ranks

Happening At The Zoo Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Happening At The Zoo Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Composing with Negative Space Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Composing with Negative Space Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 2
Composing with Negative Space Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
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Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank
Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank week 2
Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank week 1
Covers Photo Contest Vol 27Top 20 rank
Covers Photo Contest Vol 27Top 20 rank week 1
Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 2Top 10 rank
Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 2Top 10 rank week 1

Categories

12 Comments | Report
jimdavis_2058
 
jimdavis_2058 November 21, 2015
Superb shot!
onyanita PRO+
 
onyanita November 22, 2015
stunning capture. Love the composition, light, colour and dof
ovosphotography
 
ovosphotography November 24, 2015
like it!
artemiopascua
 
artemiopascua November 28, 2015
so simple so powerful nice work
anashortspin
 
anashortspin December 06, 2015
wonderful image.
Ottovan
 
Ottovan January 07, 2016
Cutie
mihrt PRO+
 
mihrt January 20, 2016
Beautifully captured. Excellent exposure (nice use of that fine lens!) Congrats - exceptional detail!
edandaniphone PRO+
 
edandaniphone February 26, 2016
Very cool shot.
matthewecapina
 
matthewecapina February 27, 2016
Looking for dinner....
MickAlicic PRO
 
MickAlicic May 20, 2016
Beautiful capture! Voted in Animal Kingdom.
Arzhtatiana
 
Arzhtatiana July 14, 2016
A great shot!
tonybruguiere
 
tonybruguiere December 10, 2017
Very nice portfolio. I enjoyed them all. I am going to have to try your technique of different color temps for different portions of the image. Also, thanks for your tip that macro lenses have a 50/50 dof range.

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#nature #wildlife #portrait #animal #cat #Caracal #lynx #predator #pictorial
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Behind The Lens

Location
This image was taken at Exmoor Zoo, near Barnstaple/Lynton in North Devon. I met up here with my daughter and grandchildren to have a lovely day out at the zoo, which is well worth a visit.
Time
This was midday, just walking around and enjoying the animals on show. I think this Caracal, was my favourite a beautiful animal and I just love the ear tufts.
Lighting
The sky was overcast, so was acting as a giant diffuser. This is perfect for shooting midday and focusing on the smaller details, because there is no harsh light to blow out highlights and consequently the best time to photograph gulls. Great for macro photography too.
Equipment
I was using my Pentax K3 with their 50-135mm f2.8 lens attached. I didn't use flash and generally try to avoid using it. This was handheld, though a monopod could have been useful.
Inspiration
It was just a beautiful animal and close enough too get a good shot without cropping. There was a pheasant on the roof of its enclosure and the Caracal was quite still, watching, waiting and hoping, patiently. The natural diffused light was also great for capturing detail and colour.
Editing
Most of post processing is done in LR but here I did the initial raw processing in DXO for lens correction and then export to LR and play with the crop tool to optimise composition. Next I warmed the temperature of the fg (the Caracal) and cooled the temp of the bg using brushes. Adjusted white point setting to suit. Closed the image with the graduated filter, top & bottom and lightened the right hand side (direction of animals gaze). Selectively used brushes for contrast and clarity (increasing slightly in fg and reducing for bg) and the used the brush to lighten the mid area from the cat to the right hand side to draw attention to the animals gaze. Exported to PS CC, tweaked and sharpened using high pass and saved_as, before reopening in LR to check and if necessary add a vignette, but not in this case.
In my camera bag
Now days I have the Pentax K3 and 16-50 and 50-135 lens to carry around and when going for walks/hikes. I include polariser filters and spare memory cards and a spare battery. Plus a black rapide strap.
Feedback
This was shot through thick plate glass, which was reasonably clean but not perfect. The trick is when shooting through a fence or glass is to get as close as possible and open your aperture wide, I was using f3.5 here at 135mm and ISO 400 to ensure the shutter speed was high enough (1/800 sec) to avoid movement and vibrations. Getting really close and opening up the aperture is much like the principle of dust on your lens i.e. the light bends around the obstacles and enough light information arrives at the sensor to negate the influence of the obstructions.

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