Crunchy on the outside – soft in the middle! (best viewed larger)

This is a real beauty. Could almost be a puppy dog chewing on a bone, which is not easy to do with a lion - but you have captured a peaceful moment here. Very nice. How close were you?

very beautiful detailrich BW portrait

A King could not ask for better.

Superb

Hi Mike

 

Magnificent shot of a magnificent animal.

 

Kind Regards

Helen

 

PS - Love the title!

I like your lion. Great photo. Regards, Tina

Clear and powerful portrait. I love the close-up.

Well done portrait. I Like the b/w choice too. Take care

Amazing portrait, lovely pose and excellent b/w. Ciao.

Powerful image.

Details are awesome.

B&W makes it picture perfect!

 

Love your shot my friend.

Love it, Mike. Congrats.

So silvery in tones. Just enough glow to make this special without being cloying. Lovely transfer.

Superb portrait. Congrats.

Lovely .......best regards!!!!

Well Mike, since the stupid system doesn't allow me to vote the right, I put in my agenda to come make on December, 3rd to rate 7/7 this picture.

Really great

 

Mauro

 

PS: mike, maybe is rude question, but is the lion free or does he live in a zoo?

Fantastic Photo.

Thank you all for the wonderful response to this photo!

 

‘Jambo’ is the adult male African lion at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. He shares his relatively large rock sided compound with his ‘wife’ and two semi-adult offspring. This image was captured with a focal length of 135mm through the thick panes of glass that separate these majestic creatures from the humans (ie. food). This arrangement allows the lions to walk just 0.5m (and 0.5” of glass) away from the crowd. In this case, Jambo was sitting down eating his lunch about 3 metres away from me.

 

All the best, Mike

 

Mike, the information you gave in your previous message add some more admiration, if possible, to your work. I've imagined it was hosted by a zoo but cannot beleive a thick glass divides you, the food and the photographer, from the king of kings. Really great! Regards,

 

Mauro

Mike, can you share how you can make such a great photo under the conditions you stated? I am trying to do the same thig and cant seem to come up with the same results. Thank you for you time Steve

Hi Steven

 

The main problem I have had is with reflections from objects or light sources on my side of the glass. The ‘trick’ is to shield the glass from all light on your side. So what I do is place the lens hood against the glass (gently) and wrap a spare piece of clothing or cloth (as near opaque as I can find) around the front of the lens to block all side light from hitting the glass in front of the lens.

 

The other problem is bright light striking the glass from within the enclosure. I am not aware of any fix to this problem other than to shoot through a section of glass that is in as much shadow as possible. This applies both to the sun and any bright light sources.

 

I’ve not found the distortion resulting from the plate glass to be a problem; perhaps because there are few straight lines inside animal enclosures.

 

For this image the post processing was done using Photoshop. The principle steps consisted of B&W conversion using the B&W filter (infrared in this case but whatever setting works best for individual images) and removing/de-emphasising the background using the burn tool.

 

All the best with your zoo photos.

 

Cheers,

 

Mike

 

Thanks Mike I will keep that in mind, still in awe of all your photos

 

This is really a true amazing image. I've seen some great photos of Lions and Tigers but this one has drawn out interesting details and compostion. I love the treatment.

Thanks Michael!

 

Cheers, Mike

wow....VERY good work,the tones are the sharpness are just perfect.good job,sir,good job.

Dear Mike, For me in this section it is a toss up between the elephant image and this one. I am drawn to this by the soft lighting it is not dissimilar to a Lee Carter Painting we own. The tonal range is superb and detail in the fur PURRFECT.

Thanks once again for your critique of my Mother & Son Image

Regards Clive

Thanks Gabriel and Clive for taking the time to leave your thoughts on my close up of Jambo - much appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Mike