how to edit these flash shots

[LCPete]

morning
I've just come back from our first safari trip to Africa and have now got loads of shots to go through
anyway what is the best way to edit these night shots of a leopard in lightroom and photoshop
I have got nice ones taken in the daytime of leopards but these ones were of him on a kill
I shot in Raw with my 550D and 70-200 and a 430 ex flash
I used + 1/3 flash exposure compensation as the shots were coming out dark
the first one I have had a go myself but don't really know how to process these as I very rarely use flash
I especially would like to get his eyes looking right and the colours a bit better
with the first one I used the following settings in light room (I have got adobe CC)
custom white balance 6167 tint +8
exp - 0.48
blacks - 24
sharpness 36
radius 1.2
detail 17
masking 37
noise reduction luminance and colour 10

the rest are just straight out of the camera raws converted to jpeg using the default settings in lightroom

 

[danny a]

You can use the adjustment brush in raw to work on certain sections of the image to bring the harshness of the flash down and bring more detail back.
Then player with levels and curves in ps and maybe colour adjustment.
You can then use dodge and burn to add even more detail.
Then I would stick a duplicated layer through high pass filter and adjust opacity to your liking.

 

[LCPete]

thanks Danny for the help
I see what you mean he is a bit bright
I haven't tried the adjustment brush in lightroom yet will try it out

 

[BintyMcFrazzles]

Super shots! Leopards are shy creatures, so this is a fab capture! Enjoy editing, and I would love to see the final results.

 

[LCPete]

Super shots! Leopards are shy creatures, so this is a fab capture! Enjoy editing, and I would love to see the final results.

thanks Jackie I will definitely post up the final results

 

[LCPete]

I had a play with the adjustment brush and also adjusted the colour and contrast am happy with this now
thanks Danny for the help