Mariana Kruger
August 2026 - Female Inqwe
About the Image(s)
I liked the pose and eyes of the female Leopard in this shot; unfortunately the background was very busy and also very distracting. So I cleaned it up using Photoshop.I am not a Photoshop guru yet :)
I took this photo 22 June 18:43 in Timbabati, South Africa. This time of year is winter in the southern hemisphere and the sun sets at 17:27, so I was already at my night time settings:
Nikon Z9
400mm lens
F2.8
1/125s
ISO 2500
The big cats is definitely a firm favorite of mine to photograph, especially leopards, I love their gracefulness and strength.
5 comments posted
Mariana, This is beautiful. What a gorgeous animal .
Your exposure was perfect and I love the catch light in her eyes. I think you did a good job of blurring the background.
If I were to make any changes, I would crop a bit off the top of this picture as it isn't needed.
Also I notice something strange about the leopard's "tail end" - it looks chopped off and it would be nice to see it softened. I hope this makes sense. You could even crop on the left and top.
I played around with it -- cropping as I did does put her in the middle of the picture. Or you could use a softer brush on her hind quarters while working on the background. In any case, it's a beautiful animal !
Posted: 08/21/2026 19:51:17
Your exposure was perfect and I love the catch light in her eyes. I think you did a good job of blurring the background.
If I were to make any changes, I would crop a bit off the top of this picture as it isn't needed.
Also I notice something strange about the leopard's "tail end" - it looks chopped off and it would be nice to see it softened. I hope this makes sense. You could even crop on the left and top.
I played around with it -- cropping as I did does put her in the middle of the picture. Or you could use a softer brush on her hind quarters while working on the background. In any case, it's a beautiful animal !
Posted: 08/21/2026 19:51:17
Well, just for fun I used my Clone tool and extended her back end a bit, making it look a little softer, then cropped off the top. I like this better. So many choices ! Posted: 08/21/2026 19:55:23
Thanks Donna, what a difference!I agree this looks much better. Posted: 08/23/2026 04:16:38
Hi Mariana, This is indeed a photo of feline gracefulness and strength, and with a serene pose! Your removal of background detail worked well. I agree with Donna that the image can be cropped down from the top. To me, the image is a bit on the cool side - I might try increasing color saturation a bit to bring out colors in the leopard's fur. Posted: 08/23/2026 17:07:51
Thanks Mark, I have made the changes and just touched the temperature a tiny bit and yes the leopard's coat pops. I have entered it into a local salon, will let you know how it does Posted: 08/24/2026 10:47:57