The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Jaguar Cub and mama
Pantanal, Brazil
Specific Feedback
Lighting is terrible for the jaguars. They play and hunt in the bright daylight. The caiman they eat (exclusively) come out to sun on the water’s edge in mid-day, so that’s when one finds the jags. I really struggled with this editing to maximize the light conditions. Does this work reasonably well ?
The other stupid problem I encountered was that I had inadvertently set the Raw quality to the smallest setting, for the first day’s worth of jag images, so I had minimal pixels to play with. For some reason, Gigapixel does not recognize the low-res files, so will not enlarge them. I’d appreciate any ideas on overcoming this.
Technical Details
Sony A1
200-600 @ 463
Date Taken: 2024-08-09 13:10:04
Exposure Time: 1/200 sec
F Number: f/13
ISO Speed Ratings: ISO 6400
Exposure Program: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No flash,
Critique Template
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What a precious moment with the mother and cub Sandy. I see no problem at all with the light. I love that huge tree as the setting with the dense jungle BG. This looks a bit like it was a huge crop, but that is understandable with your RAW settings being a bit off. Still an incredible pose from momma and look from the cub.
Two big cats are playing, a loving mother. A beautiful snapshot of a splendid animal. Yes the light is a bit hard but the furs of the main subjects are so warm and detailed that make the image soft.
Sandy I can’t help with Gigapixel sorry.
Great interaction, I have not yet seen this kind of image of Jaguar !
I may crop off left most branch of the tree.
As for enlarging the file, You may try it in Camera Raw.
Sandy: no issues at all with the lighting and can’t offer any help with Gigapixel. You have captured a wonderful interaction between the mother and cub.One of the reasons the image is so appealling is because of the contrasting colors. The lush greens of S America in winter are quite different from the yellows and browns seen in S Africa in winter. The richly colored Jaguars stand out so nicely against the lush background.
Great image Sandy. The pose with the raised paws while looking into each others eyes indicates that they are playing rather than the cub being disciplined. I agree with @JRajput about the crop of the section of the tree on the left-hand side, to remove the stump in the lower left-hand side, which is now a distraction.
The claws on the hind feet of the mother suggest the effectiveness of this predator.
Well done!
Thanks to each of you for the kind comments and suggestions. What spectacular luck we had in finding this pair out in the open.
I’ll give the suggested crop a try, although I think that will change proportions in a way that may not be ideal…
