"Lucky No. Seven"
A snow leopard on the prowl
Shot at Marwell, edited and filtered by "The Art of Darkness"
Nov, 2015Views
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Awards
Winner in Snow Leopards Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
All Star
Superior Skill
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Marwell in Wiltshere, England. I spent hours around the enclosure watching the snow leopards and waiting for a good combination of shooting position, subject material and lightTime
The shot was taken in the early afternoon one late autumn afternoonLighting
The image was taken in natural light outdoors but through strong glass surrounding the enclosure. There was a lot of marks and scratches on the surface of the glass to work around.Equipment
I had combination of Sigma 150-500mm with 2X teleconverter attached to my Sony A99v. The shot was taken at 300mm & f10Inspiration
The snow leopard is one of the most beautiful big cats you can see. The huge wide eyes, graceful movement and that dichotomy of apparent laziness and ruthless predator that signifies the true natural hunter.Editing
Yeah, this one got fully "Darkled". I worked on the brightness and contrast initially and then converted one layer to black and white whilst leaving the eyes in colour on another. The way the leopard was moving was fantastic - it kind of flowed as it approached me - I even remember the roll of it's shoulder blade as it came close. The image still felt like it lacked a final touch to bring out it's true character so I applied a smoothing filter that I felt matched the languid flow of the snow leopard's movement.In my camera bag
For this shoot I had my Sony A99v, Sigma 150-500mm & 2X teleconverter, a 50mm Planar T*, a 50mm macro and my usual air blower and cleaning kit. Generally though I'll swap out the 50mm Planar T* for a 16-35mm wide angle zoom lens.Feedback
Love what you do and be patient. I like to think of myself as making art through the media of photography - sometimes the image looks great straight out of the camera - sometimes it looks great after a lot of post processing. Revisit old images as your skills progress - you may be surprised at how a new technique can enhance an old favourite. Keep an open mind and never be afraid to try everything and anything to evolve your own unique style.
