Tiger of Ranthambhore

[miacat63]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22543896@N07/2305097129/" title="Tigers of Ranthambore by miacat63, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2080/2305097129_9fc3dea8b9.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="Tigers of Ranthambore" /></a>

Very lucky to have come back from India hoping to photograph tigers in the wild. Was blessed to be able to have a few great sightings, and photographed this beauty whilst it was cooling off in a large brown puddle of water. The lighting was difficult, and so I have tried to lighten it up but dont want to loose the effect of the water. Also someone else on the jeep managed to get their arm in the way of my shots, so the left hand side is slightly obscured. What can I do to best enhance this shot further?
Thanks for your time and advise.
I use Microsoft Digital Image for editing.
This was taken using Canon 40D with a 85-300 mm DO lens.
F5.6 170mm ISO 400, Exposure Set onto Action. No flash.

[xxpinballxx]

NIce composition. AS far as the rest....the subject is a bit dark for my taste and the blown out water to the right of the frame is distracting....
However I think there could be some post work that can create a great photo.
In post i would select the tiger brighten it up a bit and then add some vignetting to make the blurred dark right side look more like it was meant to be.
Very nice shot...i love shooting tigers due to the pattern in there coats....great subject.
I took it and played with it just abit....nt sure if it helped any. I sort of like the blown out area and the fade from black to white across the image....

http://xxpinballxx.zoints.com/image/77654-tigcopy

[miacat63]

Thanks Pinball, the tiger certainly stands out much more but looks a little bit like a cut out thats been pasted over the background. Perhaps that would be another option...select just the tiger and and paste over a completely new background ! I liked the vignette effect....how did you do that? Not sure if I have that option on my Microsoft Digital image editor.
Thanks for your time.
Miacat63

[xxpinballxx]

i used a quick lens correction and slid vignetting all the way down on CS3. Not sure
if you have that ability. If you can you can add a solid layer and then erase from the center outwards leaving just a bit around the edges. lower opacity of the eraser about halfway...