Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
Does this image the behavior of African animals in the midday heat?
Other Information
Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.
Image Description
While on safari, our driver saw a leopard “chilling out” on a branch. It was late morning and the sun was hot. We slowly approached hoping not to disturb him. Such a contrast to seeing them in full flight.
Technical Details
Sony RX10iii camera, 250 mm, ISO 100, f4, 1/125th second
Specific Feedback
Appreciate any comments regarding whether I captured the moment.
Yes, it does, Paul. Even before reading anything, by just looking at the image, I thought of the squirrels in my backyard when splooting because of this atrocious heat.
Also part of my initial reaction to this intriguing image lies in the overall brightness of the photo. The LRC clearly gives the viewer a sense of the light and heat in the area. Other than cloning that area to eliminate the bright spot, I don’t know what else I’d suggest there. The leopard blends in very well with the tree, so again, a personal edit would burn the tree a little in order to accentuate the leopard.
The image is very striking and conveys a certain sense of humor. I quite enjoy it.
Thank you for your comments and suggestion. I didn’t burn in the tree for from the distance the leopard blended in with the tree tones such that it was almost camouflaged.
My youngest son spent a semester in college at the University of Nairobi, so we visited him there. My wife and I did medical missions to the bush in Northwest Tanzania for a number of summers and spent a few days on Zanzibar on the way home one year and Mafia Island on the way home another year. We have been fortunate to do safaris in Tanzania and Botswana. Lastly, I did a photo expedition to Namibia . We have fallen in love with the continent. Working the missions in the bush was a humbling experience, one I would not have missed. Paul
If you are on a photo trip and you have the opportunity to go to the Sossusvlei, the Dead Vlei and then the abandoned diamond mine village- Kolmanskop, you will not be disappointed. Safe travels.
My initial reaction is: “It’s really hot, even in this tree. Please leave me alone.” While there are a couple “hot” spots, I like that they remain. As @Mark_Seaver comments: “(They) speak clearly to a mid-day rest.”
