Critique Why doesn't this shot work (cheetah)

roadeh

roadeh

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Name
Ben
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Hi guys,

Just wanting some critique on this. I originally took two separate pictures that captured different parts of the cheetah but realised that they overlapped so stitched them together. However, I think it's something about the perspective that doesn't sit quite right.. Maybe the body is too large relative to the head? Any thoughts?

I'm not too fussed as it wasn't an intentional shot as I mentioned, but I know it *could* be a good shot; I just can't seem to crop it in a way that I like..

Oh and it's from an OMD EM-5 and 45mm f1.8 for anyone who's interested

Cheers,

PCR2srd.jpg
 
Lighting
Composition
Depth of focus
Chosen angle of view

If it's a shot of a wild Cheetah, then congrats on getting an image at all.

It looks like it was shot midday with the sun over head and the animal making use of some handy shade. This puts shadows all over the subject resulting in a dark face and lighter patches on the body. Cutting off half of its backside is a bit unfortunate and using f/1.8 is a bit puzzling to me when you had plenty of light. IMHO I don't think there's a simple crop that will fix this image. Just take it as it is.

Your watermark is distracting too, looks like a reflection in a pane of glass.
 
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Hi,

Thanks for the feedback; it was a semi-wild cheetah (was found injured and rehabilitated but is not able to be released back into the wild). However, we were allowed to get close when accompanied by a ranger. However, the angle we could shoot from was limited, hence the limited choice for lighting.

Agreed I wouldn't have clipped the back off had it been intentional to take the shot like that.. I used f1.8 to get some isolation on the subject, and in particular draw attention to the face (away from the body in front of it) - due to the greater depth of field on M4/3 at wide apertures than FF/APS-C
 
it is not everyone who can take a photo from an animal bum foremost and the head furthest away,;) Still at least it is different:D. Reminds me about the guy who invented cats eyes in the road. Having seen how they reflex light he invented reflective studs for road indication at night.

Now if the cat had been facing the other way he might have invented the pencil sharpener instead.:runaway:
my Avator is of a cheetah that I took as well
 
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To my eye, the obvious problem you faced is the shadows... he (or she?!) is nice and sharp, but the perspective makes his hind quarter look out of proportion.
Beyond that, I agree with Glenn, cut off rear end, and overbearing watermark.

It sounds like you didn't have a huge amount of choice in the location/posing, so just need to take what you can.
 
Cheetahs are lean mean runnin' machines,
without being funny the stitch make it look fat.
I guess its just the angle, but the proportions just don't sit well.

Also there is a strong magenta cast to the image, which isn't helping.
I managed removed most of it, but if you don't like the edit say so and I'll nuked.

I've taken loads of images of these in captivity, and one day I WILL get a wild one ;)
So nice one on that (y)

View attachment 26566
 
The head is very central, and I think a better composition would be to throw it off centre a bit. The rear of the body is out of focus so I though about cropping that off and just getting the top of the body, the head and the front legs and paws in frame. This looks very strange though and I think it's because the cheetah's head is twisted right round to look at you (it makes it look uncomfortable).

I tried the opposite, cutting the front legs and paws off, but the large area of OOF body again makes the image look unbalanced.

An alternate would be a tight crop of the head (portrait orientation) but due to the position of the front leg and the head being twisted like that, it again looks a bit weird.

I think the best crop would be to keep the forelegs in but just crop off the paws, part way up the leg. This presents a more balanced image to my mind, although it is a shame to lose the detail of the paws.

Edit: OK I had a play and this was the best I can come up with (I think):

View attachment 26568

It's an awkward ratio however, not quite a square. You might be able to get a bit more of the forelegs in...
 
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This is what i'd do with it

 
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