Taken in Timbavati Game Reserve in South Africa. We were lucky to find a Leopard that had just eaten. No bars, no cage, so there was no way I was getting out of the jeep to move that grass around.
The other technical challenge was that I couldn't stand up or use a tripod (lest the Leopard think we are prey), so that required handholding my long lense with a large aperture.
Whether this scores well or not, taking this photo was an amazing experience. I was literally less than 20 feet from this wild predator.
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This is a great portrait of the leopard. You've caught the expression wonderfully and the exposure seems right on. However, the grass in front of the face is very distracting. 7
Was this taken with a mirror lens? I see CA and swirllies. Looks a bit metallic to me, better if it were warmed up a bit to bring out the organic feel of the subject.
The leopard is neat although the blades of grass in front of his eye and over his nose are a little distracting. A fair amount of detail on the fur, bright eyes, and good color. I'm not sure what you did to the background or whether it was part of the saturation/color balance or what, but it looks very unusual and pixelated almost.
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