Oh Deer Come Near

[Harshad Barve]

Taken at Andhiyari Jhiria grassland, He kept eyes on Deers but nothing happned

ISO 200/ Nikon D300 / Nikon 600MM

C & C welcome

Harshad

[AB Apana]

Harshad, this is an environmental shot. I would personally have preferred to see the entire body of the tiger and ideally with the eye visible.

Apana

[Harshad Barve]

Remaining part of body was behind one bush & not visible and how this fellow will manage a kill if he is visible as you want ;)
thanks for stopping
Harshad

[Harshad Barve]

and one more thing, I can see attitude in his eyes through grass, I hope you too

Harshad

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Harshad,
This image would have been better with a wider lens as that would have shown the entire body with space infront. At the moment, since the head is hidden behind grass and the body is in focus, our eyes naturally move towards the body portion. Moving a little to the right would have shown the eye and enhanced the image. It is not always easy to get the eye clear behind the bush as one either has to wait for the wind to blow the grass or the tiger to move it.

While composing an image at times we cut off the body. During those times, it is always better to cut off at the joints. For eg. cut off either at the ankle, or don't show the leg at all. If there is even a hint of the leg then our human minds will wander.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Kiran Khanzode]

Harshad,
If this is full frame, not sure if anything would have fixed this image. I agree with others about the crop/composition. Maybe a wide angle lens would have been really better for this one.

As we chatted on yahoo earlier today, when going for distant body shots, it's not necessary to put the primary focus point on the "face/eyes" of any animal. You can easily focus on the tummy and frame the entire animal and the snap the shutter. Everything will be in focus (along that focal plane, atleast) and appear equally sharp . Looking at this image, I believe, you did focus on the eye/face...thereby losing the hind portion of the cat.

It's a lesson I learned after making the same mistake in the field. I had to trash those images (backup on drives...I mean).

If you are going for tight portrait/head shots, by all means, go for the eyes and eyes only (for focus)...there's nothing more powerful than ultra sharp eyes in any portrait, human or animal.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I would like to add to what Kiran said.

Do you remember the Head Hunters of yore? I mean not the recruitment consultants who call themselves head hunters. :D

Some of the head hunter tribes used to cut off the heads of their opponents as a trophy. They used to feel that by cutting off their head as (it has the eyes), they have captured the soul of the person. Without the eyes a person appears lifeless. So the importance of eyes in wildlife photography as well.