I took this image in February in Kenya’s Masai Mara. I had to do a fair amount of work on it to minimize the shadow on the side of the face, as it was taken near midday when the sun was high. Sony a9, Sony 100-400mm with 1.4 teleconverter for a 560mm focal length, manual exposure, f/8 at 1/1250th, ISO 500.
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I really like this shot, Charles. The partial head turn, ears up and alert, with the one pulled down slightly in the direction it is looking, as if it is listening to some noise, and caught in mid step, just seems to make this shot for me. You did a fine job with managing the shadow and harsh light.
A Serval at midday out in the open. That is a rare catch! You managed to capture the animal well and it appears to be aware of you. The Mara, of course, is a good place for Serval.
I like the presence that you achieved through shallow DOF, however, it appears to be slightly oversharpened to me.
A nice open view of a gorgeous species, Charles. I think the sharpening looks fine in the larger version, and you handled the shadows pretty well. However, I do think in working on the face the eyes came out with a bit of an unnaturally bright glow to them. It looks cool, but on my monitor they’re a bit too bold.