Age Brings Wisdom

Thanks for you feedback.

nice pic but eyes not clear.

Nice lion, however the blur on the background looks to much computerized. The line around lion seems unrealistic too. It would be really interesting to see the original photo, to my mind details at the background could make the photo more live and would not distract attention from the lion. 'Scary' image though :)

Creative background and nice detail in the lion.

What a beauty, love the light and windy background.

Excellent framing....very majestic!

Ken, I like the golden light, the composition, and the blurred background that probably effectively eliminated any clutter from original capture. If anything, I'd say selectively lighten the background to match the beautiful light that hit the lion (may or may not work.) This dude has HUGE paws!

Alfreds and Wilson, here's the original shot. I used motion blur to unclutter the background. Also spruced up this old guy's mane, among many other things I did to try to improve the image.

Do I like this? You have to be kidding me. What's not to love. It's so realistic (and beautiful) that I jumped back when I opened the thumbnail. This guy could really do some damage if you got angry. Congratulations just a spectactular image.

I absolutely love this!!! Okay, technically, the blurred background doesn't bother me at all (it helps the DOF!), but once pointed out, the line around the figure is a bit frustrating. All of that aside, the FIRST impression that I had was that here is this amazing and powerful and very regal/royal creature who has such presence as to be able to rest peacefully ... possibly knowing that he's beyond worry of attack (?) Love it! (By the way ... the front paws are amazing ... I never remember seeing a lion's paws so huge. I need to get to the zoo.....)

Yes, the photo shows a distinctively wise look. Very nice, Ken. I went to the zoo last month, but got nothing even remotely close to this quality. Well done.

Ken, great capture nice sharpness and the blur definately adds to the photo.

I agree with Wilson here, Ken. Great image and ideas, just a little more tweaking and that should do it. Needless to say, an incredible image; and what an appropriate, thought-provoking title! Great job.

Wonderful glowing light on the mane. After seeing the original, I really like the original backround too. You did a really nice PS job of blurring the backround, not easy with the edges of the hair.

What about working WITH the background, since it's quite a natural setting? I duplicated the layer, then used Gaussian blur and brought back the lion sharp. Adjusted slightly and did a little cloning. Another option for you to consider that keeps the background a little more natural looking, imo. I do like what you did from the original - dramatic difference.

Hey Ken, I like Kim's version too. ^_^

I went with the motion blur because it seems like every time I use the gaussian blur on something , I get a bunch of negative comments. It's as though the gaussian blur is out of favor. I like what you did here. Does give it a more natural look. When you brought back the lion sharp, did you select it with the magic wand and then erase, or just simply erased? You did a very nice job on the mane.

Ken, I don't understand what is bad in the original background that you nedded PS blur...I think that the original BG fits very nicely the lion.!The lion with the blur BG looks " steril" to me.Pnina

Ken, I use the brush tool and "paint" the lion back in. If I missed along the edges, I blew up the image to get closer and re-did those areas to make them blurred again. If you don't know how to do it that way, email me and I'll send you more specific instructions.

Thanks for your comment. My intent was to create a nondistracting background that made the lion pop out. Wanted to do something more creative than just accept the background as is. Looks like you and Kim both have similar opinions.

Of the versions shown here I like the original best. I guess that makes me a renegade.

Pleasing composition, sharp and detailed, 6/6