Black Jaguar, Georgous Animal!

I have never shot wildlife so my beginner-ness is clear in the photos but comments/critique is welcome, I'm always looking to get better. I found the lighting to be difficult.

I caught photos of this beautiful cat while in Xcaret Mexico.

IMAGE LINK: http://s15.photobucket​.com …F5D-D3929F4885B4.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s15.photobucket​.com …F88-96C67EE7ADE9.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s15.photobucket​.com …5C3-C51FAA704911.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s15.photobucket​.com …A1D-8B73979513BC.jpg.html

My comments/critiques are : (but of course in totaly friendship)
- probably in the middle of the day = sun too high, light too hard
(but it has the advantage to show deeply the fur)
- on second one the rear leg is cutted

Beautill cat, but ....as you said not in the wild .... so it's not really "wildlife" isn't it ?

Alvaro90 wrote in post #18302742
I have never shot wildlife so my beginner-ness is clear in the photos but comments/critique is welcome, I'm always looking to get better. I found the lighting to be difficult.

I caught photos of this beautiful cat while in Xcaret Mexico.

IMAGE LINK: http://s15.photobucket​.com …F5D-D3929F4885B4.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s15.photobucket​.com …F88-96C67EE7ADE9.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s15.photobucket​.com …5C3-C51FAA704911.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s15.photobucket​.com …A1D-8B73979513BC.jpg.html

I like the images - keep working on them and you will get better at wildlife! A few hints if you'd like to use them - if not that's fine too

1 - If possible, shoot from their eye level. Eye to eye is a powerful tool and let's the animal maintain their true size instead of seeming smaller by shooting down at them. Not always possible, but good to try.
2 - If shooting midday, wait for them to be in shadowed or diffused light areas. Hard to wait sometimes, but it can help.
3 - Watch them, and see if they have habits or "norms" for what they do. There is a big cat at our zoo who will almost always lay down, then yawn and show just how big a mouth and teeth he really has... Makes for a cool pic...
4 - Take pics whenever you get the chance! If you can't make it work out to be a great pic, it is still better to have images that are okay, than to have no images of something you rarely get to encounter.

Keep shooting, and keep posting!

Awesome, thanks Keltab. I will use these for sure next time I encounter a beautiful animal like this.

Michael, yes the sun was way too bright, light was harsh but I want able to shoot at another time.

No not wildlife I guess haha

Yes it's apparent that you are just cutting your teeth with wildlife photography. But you've still managed to convey the strength of this magnificent animal. The powerful jawline is amazing. Keep at it

Ahazra wrote in post #18363191
Yes it's apparent that you are just cutting your teeth with wildlife photography. But you've still managed to convey the strength of this magnificent animal. The powerful jawline is amazing. Keep at it

Thanks a ton Ahazra!

I've never seen the deep color of their coat before, thank you for capturing this!

MatthewK wrote in post #18363757
I've never seen the deep color of their coat before, thank you for capturing this!

Me either! I was so shocked when I saw this, it's beautiful.