Cien Sonetos de Amor XI

@Ajay: Thanks Ajay for your kind words. It is inspiring to get a chance to be so close to beautiful animals in a realistic setting (with handlers looking out for your safety at all times). Triple D Game Ranch is a great place for a "wild animal" look.

@zOOm: Yes, it's a great cat. I loved being able to get so close to it, and capture this glint in his, what I found to be, amazingly deep eyes. Thanks for your comments and dropping by - I really appreciate you adding me to your bloglist, and following up with a comment.

@jamesy: Thank you Jamesy. If you have a minute more - check out Pause from triple-d shoot as well. Appreciate you dropping in, and adding a comment.

@Craig: Thanks Craig on your comment. Sometimes I get overly sensitive about my photos. A balanced perspective is always welcome.

@Yvon: Thanks Yvon. Inspiring comment from someone who is great with portraits like yourself.

@paolo: He has both of our respect. Even if he's at a game farm - I was within the pen, and it's still a wild beast. Thanks for your kind words, and dropping them into the blog. Come back soon.

@Zing: Thanks for checking this out and for the nice comment. If you have time, check out the other wild cat in black and white I saw at Triple D Game Ranch as well.

@Sarah: Yes, the eyes, for me, was the subject at hand. I find them very unusally reflective and deep. Thank you Sarah for you visiting and dropping a kind note.

@Dulcie Andres: Dulcie - thanks for dropping by the blog and posting such a provocative end of a long saturday night for me - off to bed soon. This is a nice post to finish the night with. I'll drop by your other blog on thursday to see the poetry.

@Linerberry: Thanks for the kind words - she is a beauty, I enjoyed safely getting this close to her.

@Barbara: I will look into enhancing the shot - any suggestions on removing the grain in the shadows of the grass especially?

@Linda: Linda, now you point this out about the framing and the colors - I think you are right, and i won't worry nearly as much - thanks for the critique and kind words.

@MEC: Thank you. Please drop by again soon - I am enjoying this, and will post pics daily for some time to come.

@Veronelle: she could capture any one of us, at her will. The quiet power in that gaze was very striking to me. Thank you for your kind words today.

@bluechameleon: I did PS in a light blue cooling filter to emphasize the greens and the blues in the shot. You have an amazing eye to pick that up, well done. You can only imagine how menacing she is, especially if she is so close to you within a pen, and not on any "leash". Thank you for answering specifically what I looked for in a response - that really helps me improve.

@Marie :-): She could turn me "upsadaisy" very easily - with those teeth. It's a little grainy for me - I wish I could have captured this at ISO 400 or less - but who knew she would sit still for a short bit? Thank you for your comments on the shot.

@ordinaryimages: i just love that word. I didn't think I'd learn if from reading Spanish poems. Jerry, thanks for dropping by again.

@Mariana: I was fortunate to have a large lens on a camera body that stretched that further to nearly 500mm. But she did feel like she was right next to me, when we did "running and leaping shots" towards the camera. No injuries or blood. Thanks for the kind words on the photo.

@jim: Thanks for the kind words, and for responding with specifics on what you thought about the grass.

@Sarito: That sounds like a great birthday event for your daughter. I look forward to seeing your photos when they are processed. Animals make great portraits, as you have no frustrations trying to pose them.

@Marie-Hélène Ammor: Merci Marie-Hélène for your kind words - it was a life time experience at the Triple D Game Farm in Kalispell, Montana.

@Susan: Susan, so right about the high ISO. Still learning! The color and face detail may be due to me experimenting with sharpness in post processing. This is great feedback, just what a friend would tell me.

@Mandy Provan: thank you Mandy for uour kind words and dropping by my pages so consistently.

@eva: Eva,thank you for dropping by this page and saying such kind words.

@B. Thomas: Thanks for the kind words. That type of emotional response really helps me guage what works for others. Please come back to my blog again soon.

@Magda: I missed the leaping shots before she came to a rest in the grass - one of the reasons the ISO was so cranked up. I found it easier to photograph a sitting cat, than a leaping one!

@Ron: ron, great pointers for a plugin. I always feel better when someone I respect has used a product and can recommend I try it. I was experimenting on the limits of the sensor -this ISO seems too high for anything except extreme use.

@Susan: Susan, I will. Thanks for the link, and for answering my specific questions about noise reduction. Always appreciate your feedback.

@observing: I am glad the grain doesn't distract from the shot for you. Thank you for visiting and posting such a kind comment.

@Simply Col: Really appreciate the pointers to how to fix the high ISO I had the camera set for (I was trying to capture this cat mid-air leaping, and didn't succeed: but that's why the ISO was so much higher than I would ever generally use). I am glad the eyes are so powerful, you don't notice the grain in the grass in the background.

@john4jack: She was about to pant. This was just before her tongue was hanging out from heat that day. She is a beautiful animal.