Jaguar

[SCraig]

I visited the Chattanooga Zoo today and they have a gorgeous pair of Jaguars. It was very hot, even at mid-morning, and they were not in much of a mood to move around. One of them was back in the bushes where I could barely see her, and the other was draped across a large rock. I had to shoot through a rather dirty sheet of double-pane glass so the shots aren't quite as sharp as I'd have liked but it's still easy to see what a beautiful cat this guy is.

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[WesternGuy]

Nice shots of a magnificent creature. You managed to get the eyes in all three, an important aspect in wildlife photography, at least for me it is.
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WesterrnGuy

[JoshuaSimPhotography]

Number 2 I don't think you should have put the cage in, you want the animal to look free, even though it isn't but it depends on what you're trying to tell

[SCraig]

Nice shots of a magnificent creature. You managed to get the eyes in all three, an important aspect in wildlife photography, at least for me it is.

Yep, I agree. Both that he is magnificent and that the eyes are important. The eyes are the windows to the soul and I always do my best to get the eyes sharp even if everything else goes to heck He was sleepy but would raise his head up and look around every few minutes. I hung around that area about 30 minutes or so and each time he raised his head I'd shoot a string.

Number 2 I don't think you should have put the cage in, you want the animal to look free, even though it isn't but it depends on what you're trying to tell

Granted the shot would have been better without the fence but I didn't PUT the fence there, it was just there and there was nothing I could do about it. I was as close as I could get (my sunshade was literally against the glass trying to cut down the reflections), I was shooting at maximum aperture (f/4.5), he was on the rock, and the fence was behind him. To get the entire cat in the shot I needed 90mm and at that short focal length the fence came into partial focus. The others are at 200mm and over so the fence was out of focus. When shooting at a zoo I take what I can get and sometimes it isn't exactly what I want or what would be the best shot, but there are no other choices.

[cgipson1]

Nice shots and a gorgeous animal, Scott!

[FireDiva]

#3 is stunning, you caught the typical cat stare, beautiful, I would buy that shot!

[SCraig]

Nice shots and a gorgeous animal, Scott!

Thanks, Charlie. I agree about the gorgeous animal but the shots aren't all that great.

#3 is stunning, you caught the typical cat stare, beautiful, I would buy that shot!

Thanks, I think that was #3 in a series of 6 or 7 shots. He started out looking slightly to his left and as he turned his head I held the shutter down. I think this was about the 3rd in the series. Looking at it now the background looks a little washed out to me. I may revisit the contrast some, it doesn't look right to me.

The shot isn't for sale but I'll be glad to give you a copy of it

[LizardKing]

Magnificent animal... You did pretty well capturing it, specially #1

[SCraig]

Magnificent animal... You did pretty well capturing it, specially #1

Thanks! I agree that he is a magnificent cat, not so much that I captured him that well. I like the poses but the window I was shooting through was causing all kinds of problems. Glad you like it though.

[FireDiva]

Cats are so interesting , they can take you or leave you....I'd be pleased to have a copy....your work is beautiful.

[SCraig]

Cats are so interesting , they can take you or leave you....I'd be pleased to have a copy....your work is beautiful.

I agree, and thank you very much. I have two cats here that mean more to me than anything else in the world. They can put more expression into just the crinkle of an eye or the raising of a lip than most people can with an unlimited vocabulary.

Give me a little while, I want to look at that background a little bit. I'll put a copy on my web site somewhere and PM you a link to it.

[SCraig]

Minor edit to #3 - I darkened the background and increased the contrast some to separate the subject from the background better. I also cropped it differently to eliminate the big light blob in the upper right corner.

Do you guys think this is an improvement or not?

[Joel_W]

Scott, a really nice set. Your re-edit is the best of the set by quite a margin.

[SCraig]

Scott, a really nice set. Your re-edit is the best of the set by quite a margin.

Thanks, Joel. Glad you like them. I think the re-edit is an improvement as well, the background in the first edit just didn't work in my opinion.

[FireDiva]

It is an improvement yes....SCraig......can't stop staring at his "if there wasn't galss here I'd....." stare.....lol