Leopard in a tree - P&P help needed

[davidedric]

I shot this on my lasttrip. The light was pretty awful, and I am struggling to get it looking good. Getting rid of those pesky leaves and stems on the animal's flanks is beyond me. I would be grateful for suggestions as to how you would go about it. (My consolation is that there was a BBC camera crew a few metres from us, I'll look out for their next leopard documentary!)

I've posted the original image first, and my attempt below.

Thanks,

Dave

[TobyMac]

Hi Dave,

I think what you've done so far is all you really need to do. I especially love how the leaves frame the animal beautifully. The branch that's going over the animal's back doesn't bother me at all, if anything it adds to how nestled into the tree the Leopard is. A very beautiful shot in my opinion.

[Donald]

Wonderful. Getting yourself into position so that you could get that shot is, in itself, the great achievement. To then get the picture is a bonus.

I, of course, would go straight for the B & W treatment. Hope you don't mind, but I couldn't resist.

[Wavelength]

A superb image, that shows the whole ferocity of the hero of the story...and Donald's conversion is a bonus

[rpcrowe]

I cropped this a bit closer and added some structure using NIK Viveza.

[Mike Buckley]

Agreed with Toby that the leaves are not a problem but actually add context and realism to the image. I really like Richard's version. Notice that the eyes display more detail in his version.

[Geoff F]

I agree that the leaves aren't a problem.

You might try to selectively add a little bit of brightness particularly around the face area, but I would be wary of going too far when the original is quite good anyway.

[Shadowman]

I like it and no real need to remove the stray leaves, it's as you might encounter in the wild as you did.

[kdoc856]

Nice shot, Dave

A bit of dodging and burning is all I'd suggest- the lightest part of the scene is across the animal's shoulders, and draws our eye too much away from those striking eyes. An emphasis on the face and less on the body would be my focus.

[Brownbear]

Beautiful image... Truly special showing the leopard in its natural habitat (two leaves or not). I like your edit with a slight personal preference for Richard's because the leopards beautiful face stands out, especially the eyes.

[davidedric]

I cropped this a bit closer and added some structure using NIK Viveza.

Hi Richard

I really like your edit. Was that done globally, or only with control points?

Dave

[FootLoose]

David, you could try pulling down the bright background light by selecting it with the Select>Colour Range function and then applying a curves adjustment to it. Then darken the greens with another curve, and finally apply a vignette with curves to focus more attention on the leopard. I think this gives the image a bit more depth and the brighter light on the subject takes attention away from that bright background light. Just quickly:

[Mike Buckley]

Greg's version definitely has more pop than Richard's version. The choice you make about that really depends on what you want to convey.

[IzzieK]

I love Greg's edit very much too. It helps to use the arrows in Lytebox to go through all the images to take note of all the changes...the vignette helps concentrate on the leopard.

[davidedric]

Thanks, Greg, that looks great. I think this is an example of where Lightroom starts to let one down - I'm not sure if I can replicate what you have done, and my Photoshop skills are very limited. I'm going to try out some of the ideas.

Thanks to all who commented,

Dave

[pnodrog]

OK lets all have a go... The leaves being there was not a problem I just found them a bit bright and also the sky.

[IzzieK]

This one looks good too, Dan as the trees are more subtle and not as glaring, but Greg's edit has more vibrance added separately to the Leopard. Try pressing the arrow keys in Lytebox to see the difference. I like both...

[davidedric]

Hi,

Thanks for the ideas. Here is another attempt from me, using Lightroom, but trying some things out. Basically

Global:

Drawing down the luminance in the leaves using "Targeted Adjustment Tool"
Slight exposure increase
Significant (+48) contrast increase
Default sharpening
Vignette, much heavier than I usually use

Local. Created various Adjustment Brush masks:

Whole leopard: half a stop exposure, a little more contrast, boost to clarity, dehaze (yes, I took the plunge to Lightroom 6.3), sharpening

Leopard head: A few adjustments so that it tones better with the body

Leopard eyes: Just to accentuate them a bit

Bight white on flanks: reduce exposure a little

Further thoughts welcome

Dave

[Dave Humphries]

That's much nicer Dave, not that the capture wasn't good.

Understated (despite/because of, the work that went in to it), so still looks natural.

Well done, Dave

[Loose Canon]

Further thoughts welcome

How about your latest edit with a white balance adjustment?