"I shoot a tiger in my pajamas...

[theantiquetiger]

...how he got in my pajamas is beyond me!"

This is LSU's live tiger mascot, Mike the Tiger. He lives on campus, in a $3,000,000 habitat. He is tough to shoot because you are either shooting through glass or two layers of fence. I shot 30+ shots of him today as he walked around the habitat, but nothing was coming out good. Finally he got tired and laid down in an opening between bushes. I walked to the opening and found myself five feet (less than 2 meters) from his head. He turned and looked directly at me. This was through fence but luckily, both of his eyes fell between the wires of the fence. I just had to clone out the fence across his nose. If you look closely, you will find flaws in the cloning.

This image is about 98% full frame. All I did was level his eyes, causing just a tad cropping on the edges.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3807/9518437244_804ba68a6b_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/theantiquetiger/9518437244/)
mike the tiger1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/theantiquetiger/9518437244/) by Theantiquetiger (http://www.flickr.com/people/theantiquetiger/), on Flickr

[JAS_Photo]

Cool! It is tough to get good photos of animals in captivity due to all things you mentioned above.

[Mad Aussie]

Aren't they amazing animals to see up close like that. I took photos of one in similar conditions myself a few years back. Tell me AT ... did you feel like 'prey'? When he locked in on me and just stared at me ... that's what I felt like!

[theantiquetiger]

Aren't they amazing animals to see up close like that. I took photos of one in similar conditions myself a few years back. Tell me AT ... did you feel like 'prey'? When he locked in on me and just stared at me ... that's what I felt like!

He is kind of a gentle giant, born and raised in captivity. He probably gets more visitors daily than any other tiger in a zoo. I wouldn't want to locked in his habitat, of course.

BTW, it's already printed and framed

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r198/theantiquetiger/Snapbucket/28DAE030.jpg

[Mad Aussie]

Good stuff!

[Runmonty]

Good thinking to go in close. Great shot. No need to volunteer the cloning issues - I dont think most people will notice them if they dont go looking

[theantiquetiger]

Good thinking to go in close. Great shot. No need to volunteer the cloning issues - I dont think most people will notice them if they dont go looking

I like showing off my cloning skills since most of my other PP suck!!! :headslap:

here is the original

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r198/theantiquetiger/originalmike.jpg

[Runmonty]

Wow - that is good cloning.

I wasnt suggesting not to show off your cloning skills :thumbup::1st:- just no need to mention the imperfections ;)

[Hillbillygirl]

Excellent cloning skills and love the intensity. Very nice!

Could have had some shots at a leopard right in the front yard the other day. The dogs treed it, and it was only twenty feet up. Our main concern was getting the dogs away from it. As soon as the dogs were safely put in house, my husband went out to get a pic. The leopard jumped out about 20ft, hit the ground and disappeared into the bush in three bounds.
YES, I did say Leopard, and a black one at that. We both got a good look at it, and there is a really good story behind this one. Several persons in the area have spotted large cats and a couple have been shot here in the past. We live 5 doors down from this place in article I have linked to.
Gotta say, it makes going for walks in the bush around our house quite exciting!!

Nanda Guha | Guha | ZoomInfo.com (http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Nanda-Guha/269852873)

[theantiquetiger]

WOW, HBG, I just saw your edit. I didn't think they had black leopards in Canada. We have them down here but VERY rare. There are a lot of bobcats here.

The reason I love this image and printed it (and didn't print the others from the other Tiger thread) is because around here, there is a famous painting by a local artist that ALOT of people own prints of that looks alot like my image

Jack Jaubert's "Tiger Eyes" (http://www.jackjaubert.com/LSUArt/Jack%202003%20web%20promo%20001.jpg)

[Hillbillygirl]

WOW, HBG, I just saw your edit. I didn't think they had black leopards in Canada. We have them down here but VERY rare. There are a lot of bobcats here.

The reason I love this image and printed it (and didn't print the others from the other Tiger thread) is because around here, there is a famous painting by a local artist that ALOT of people own prints of that looks alot like my image

Jack Jaubert's "Tiger Eyes" (http://www.jackjaubert.com/LSUArt/Jack%202003%20web%20promo%20001.jpg)

We don't have Leopards in Canada, and neither do the States or South America in fact. These are escapees from the guy down the road in the article. Leopards are native to Africa, and Asia. We do have a lot of Lynx and bobcats, and have seen them many a time, but no shots yet.

I know the pic that you speak of and it was the first thing that came to mind actually when I saw yours.

[theantiquetiger]

We don't have Leopards in Canada, and neither do the States or South America in fact. These are escapees from the guy down the road in the article. Leopards are native to Africa, and Asia. We do have a lot of Lynx and bobcats, and have seen them many a time, but no shots yet.


I am thinking black jaguars. They have been spotted in southwest Louisiana, but VERY rare.