The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This image continues the story I told in my “Mother and Daughter” post. We followed a lioness and her two daughters from a recent kill in the woodlands, through the high grass, on their way to a water hole. One daughter was quite playful, while the other was generally more circumspect in behavior. Occasionally, however, the quiet one joined in the frolic by chasing after her sister. Here’s a moment when she caught up.
Specific Feedback
The grass: Please feel free to tell me how you feel about the grass over her face – I’d like to know, because I loved how we peered at each other over and over again through it, and that may be biasing my judgement about whether it detracts from the image.
Color and Texture: I’ve been struggling to get the color of the grass quite to my liking. Any thoughts? Also, do you think that there’s enough texture in the grass?
Color vs. Monochrome: I’ve done it both ways – would you have a preference?
Aspect Ratio: This is my uncropped 3x2 AR. I find that a 16x10 or 16x9 AR gives me more of a feeling of the lions moving through the grass – but I wonder if you think it would trim needed real estate off of the top/bottom?
Any other comments are also, always, welcome!
Technical Details
Canon 5D Mk IV, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM Mk II @ f/4, 1/500th, ISO 800, 1/3 EV.
Michael, I have an instant reaction of caution with this picture. There is tension in the lioness. The tail adds to the tension. It bothers me to see only part of that animal. Yet, it is what adds that tension of which I speak. I like the color and the grasses over the lioness. I would not change a thing.
I am not bothered by the tail at all. Growing up on shows like Wild Kingdom and Nature, I know how lionesses hunt and the environment most of them do it in. I can imagine the group of them here and that many times they only see bits of each other as they move through the grasses. The tail adds a bit of…not exactly tension, but I know what Barbara is keying on. There’s a touch of the unknown with that tail, but its not so unfamiliar that we can’t imagine, and maybe that’s what the tail does best - tugs on our imagination in a way that showing the whole cat doesn’t do. Tremendous!
Barbara, I am truly delighted – and surprised – by your reaction to the image! Noone I’ve shown this to at home has said anything about tension, and I’m so happy that you’ve shared this with me! You’ve made my day!
Kris, you make Barbara’s comment even more gratifying! You know, these lions were so close to me that they filled my frame – I couldn’t have captured an entire animal with my 500mm even if I’d wanted to. But I thought this moment was all about the bond between the three lionesses (the two sisters shown here and their mother), and about their graceful-but-deadly movement through the grass. For me, it wasn’t the tail so much as the slinky way the following sister carried her head in line with her shoulders. Classic Wild Kingdom in the flesh!
Many thanks to you and to Barbara for making my morning coffee so nice today!
The grass is fine, IMO. I especially like the tones here. There’s a bit of a darker contrast to your subjects, which I think juxtaposes nicely with the light surroundings and gives the whole thing a bit of a gritty feel. I have no doubt this would work well as a high key monochrome shot (I know from experience this subject and setting fit that sort of thing), but I think what you have works well.
I talk a lot about composition and cropping in my critiques, so I hope this doesn’t bore you… I sort of feel like there’s a bit of an uneven balance here. That is, either one of the two lions needs to be a bit more dominant in the frame, OR they should be weighted equally. So I think there are options (cropping more of the tail, for example, to give the follower more prominence), but I feel like cropping slightly from the right will halve the image between leader and follower, achieving a nice balance between the two shapes, and will also center that nice catch light in the eye.
I’m very pleased to have your thoughts on cropping and composition! This is very helpful for me indeed. I’m always working to improve these two topics. While we’re about it, would you care to give your thoughts on a longer aspect ratio for me? What would you think of this in a 16:10 or even 16:9 AR?
You are welcome. My reaction was very visceral, and I cannot explain it. I wonder If you had cropped it so less tail showed if my response would have been the same. This is a powerful image.
Barbara, I think it would take nothing less than the courage of that leading lioness to not be terrified by the one following her! I like the length of the tail, too. I’m going to experiment with Max’s suggestions on cropping, but I’m loath to give up “an inch” of that tail – especially after your response to the image. (When I’m reluctant to make a change, I call that ‘all the more reason to try the advice.’) Stay tuned – I have other lion stories that I may share, too.
would you care to give your thoughts on a longer aspect ratio for me? What would you think of this in a 16:10 or even 16:9 AR?
I have to be honest, I never think about aspect ratios unless I need to crop in a specific instance to fit a requirement (e.g., a print requested at a standard size for a customer, or to fit a space determined by a client). Some of my peers only crop their images at standard print sizes, I suppose for ease of ordering for their potential customers, but in some instances this has come at the cost of lessening the visual appeal of the resulting image. I always go by feel, trying to determine the best way to guide a viewer’s eye through the frame… and if it results in a “non-standard” or abnormal aspect ratio, so be it.
The image looks great to me Michael.
The three elements of lion, tail and grass work so well together. I think that the grass as it is, is essential to add context and place to the picture, and the tail of the preceding lion lets you know that there is more going on here.
Wow oh wow! What an image. At first, I thought I didn’t like the tail. I’m still not sure about it, but the lioness, wowza. And great processing as well. I guess if it were my picture, I would probably keep the tail in, mostly because it makes the photo unique. Most people would take it out. Well done!
Thank you, Ryan. I’m really delighted that you picked up on the open-ended story conveyed by the tail. It was (and often is) my intent to minimize the elements of a story, in the hope that my image leads to wondering “what more?” – and you’ve rewarded me!
Thank you, Judy. You know, if there are two things I’ve learned by posting this image, one is that I don’t need to worry about the color of the grass; and the other is just how much of a little ‘controversy’ that tail is! But I’m like you – I thought it would make the image unique. Do you suppose you might tell me a bit more about your mixed reaction to the tail? Perhaps too long? Just distracting? Maybe if it was lower? Or maybe something I haven’t even picked up on yet? Best regards – Michael
Hi. I think I found it distracting. Like it is about to slap the lioness in the face. It does cause tension in the image which isn’t a bad thing since it seems she has her hunting face on. . Maybe ny initial reaction wouldn’t have been as distracting if some more of the other lion was in the shot. But I do like it as is. I truly do. And since my first thing to do, had it been my shot, would be to remove the tail, it teaches me to sometimes just let things be as they are. Especially in the wild. So thanks for showing me how to see something unique.
And thank you for your additional thoughts! If I’d had a zoom on them, instead of my 500mm prime, I think I’d have pulled back some to include more of the animals. But, then I wouldn’t have this shot because it would have passed too quickly… Bye for now!
I missed this one till now, I have been out and about at times so I’ve missed a few images.
The backstory helps me to form my personal interpretation, without it I can still come up with my own story but the interpretation might be quite different depending how imaginative I am at the time.
Whether or not the backstory comes from the author or from my imagination, there’s always a backstory, without one it’s just a picture.
Knowing that these two sisters have full bellies and are on their way to get water makes a big difference to me. They are young sisters that are still under mother’s wing so to speak and that means they’ll be playful at times.
Given that context, I feel that the tail of the lead sister and the front end of the trailing sister is just a typical view of lions while traveling.
In order to get a close up view of the two while traveling in a line, this seems to be the best way to show them in my view.
To me, this is like being in a blind or a tent while looking out of a small opening and this is what I see when two passing lions are close by.
The rear lion might get slapped by that tail but I have a feeling that the rear lion couldn’t care less, if it happens often the rear lion might become annoyed and back off or, maybe she becomes more playful.
Bottom line for me is that I like everything about this image and I enjoy it for what it is.
I even like the grass over the face and tail, I think it adds to the scene and the idea that you’re both seeing each other through that see through curtain of sorts.
No suggestions from me and I like the crop the way it is. Cropping to a 16:9 or so might be better but for me, it feels right as presented.
Well done and I’m still a bit jealous that I can’t experience this myself, but, I’m very happy to live vicariously through your images!
. Maybe ny initial reaction wouldn’t have been as distracting if some more of the other lion was in the shot. But I do like it as is. I truly do. And since my first thing to do, had it been my shot, would be to remove the tail, it teaches me to sometimes just let things be as they are. Especially in the wild. So thanks for showing me how to see something unique.
You did a GREAT job!