Playing wild dogs

[Carole Deschuymere]

In october I was in Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. Early morning, I came across hunting wild dogs, and when they caught an impala, I got out of the car, and went closer together with some other photographers. An amazing experience!!!

f/4.5
ISO 1250
1/1250
Canon 1D mark IV
Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM

it's my first picture I post on this website. So would love to get some feedback!


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[Ignacio Yufera]

Excellent shot! I love how the three dogs' stare leads to the snarling teeth... the dust is a bonus. Super.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Carole,

first of all ,a very warm welcome to the best photographic forum on the planet..... !
Watching , listening and learning ...... and commenting big job to do here.
Don`t be shy throw in your thoughts on other people`s images.

Even if your images get ripped apart , from time to time (LOL) , never give up, learn your lesson and you will proceed.

About the shot, a spectacular subject to start with.
Good action shot with nice kicked up dust and snarling of the doggies.Excellent low POV.
Nicely processed with good overall tonality and contrast.

Sadly the dog on LHS is kind of distracting, but nothing you can do about him.

TFS Andreas

[Carole Deschuymere]

thanks Andreas! It is indeed a pity about the dog on the LHS, but as you probably know, wild dogs are moving all the time, and although it was my first time I photographed them, I found it very hard to get a good shot. They are all over the place and you don't know where to look first! They move so fast! But felt like the luckiest girl on earth, even though the tse tse flies were killing me...

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Carole,
as i said , not much you can do about, and i understand that you feel lucky to get this shot in all the chaos all over the place.

Ps : you should run a slight NR on the BG , just a bit to get rid of the noise that is slightly visible.

[Morkel Erasmus]

It's great to see you on here Carole! I'm sure you will learn a lot and I'm looking forward to some cracking images. Love this one...love Mana Pools and being with Wild Dogs on foot there is an awe-inspiring experience.
I love the interaction and moment here. Good contrast and detail throughout, especially in the dark fur. I'm amazed at the DOF you managed at f4.5!
I hear what Andreas is saying about the dog on the LHS, might crop a tad tighter from that end?
Ditto on running some NR (Noise Reduction) on the BG (background)...

Feel free to add your thoughts/suggestions to the images of others, as this way we all grow from each other's perspectives.

Keep them coming! :5

[Carole Deschuymere]

Hi Morkel, thanks for inviting me to the site! I will try a tighter crop. I tried the sharpening you posted from Philip Perold. works great! any tips on how to reduce noise on the background? can I repost the new version here below?
Kind regards,
Carole

[Morkel Erasmus]

Carole you can select the BG roughly and apply NR, just make sure it doesn't bleed onto the dogs.
You can repost as many improvements of the image as you want in this thread - if you want to post a different image (even if from the same sighting) you need to start a new thread :S3:

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Carole - Let me add another big welcome to BPN and the Wildlife Forum. Nice to have another female participant. A great first post with lots of action. I just love how the 2 dogs in the middle are leaning one on the other. Nice low pov. Good suggestions above for taking an already impressive start to another level. Looking forward to seeing more of your images.

TFS,
Rachel

[laurie golden]

Carole,

You have really great action here. Love the low angle. I would crop off the left - just to the right of his leg. The background does not bother me but i think it may be better with less noise. I always reduce the noise on the background on my photos. I use Topaz DeNoise for noise reduction and Topaz ReMask for the mask.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Carole, a little late, but another warm welcome to the Forum and to the Wildlife part. You will find that having interaction not only in posting images, but comment too, you will get a lot more out of it and discover the 'community' on here. :S3:

I like the warm colours and good call on the low POV as it places you at eye level with the subjects which is key. I also like the interaction and posturing you have capture, however cropping tighter on the LH edge may help in relation to the clipped dog and unavoidable in situations like this and with a fixed lens. A little NR to parts of the FG & BKG, but no real deal breaker, look forward to more from the trip.

Any question just ask, were are all friendly here and never 'really' bite. :bg3:

TFS
Steve

[Grady Weed]

Welcome! A superb image to start with. All has been mentioned, losing the left partial dog, but not much you can do about it now. to me it does not kill the image. I would love to have it in my files. TFS this fine first image.

[Carole Deschuymere]

Hope this one is more like it! Thank you all for the comments!

[Morkel Erasmus]

It's stronger IMHO! Nice work.

PS: would be great to have your thoughts on some of the other folks' posts here :w3

[Carole Deschuymere]

Thanks Morkel. What is IMHO? Will do that!

[Morkel Erasmus]

IMHO = In My Humble Opinion :5

[Steve Kaluski]

Certainly an improvement Carole, however you are now so close to just taking that ear out and just softening the brighter, vertical highlight in the BKG towards the RHS, all quick quick to do, but certainly it looks good.

[Grady Weed]

Your re-post gets my vote. Excellent image, just excellent.

[Steve Canuel]

Nice cooperative poses by the pack for this one. Love the interaction between the one baring the teeth and the other three. Agree that the repost strengthens it.

[Carole Deschuymere]

Thanks Steve! I will try that!

[Nancy Bell]

Since I do not have many animal images to post, I am mostly a lurker here. But this image is spectacular! You captured an amazing moment. I agree with the above comments and the repost is very good.

[Sid Garige]

Carole,
your respost rocks.

[Marina Scarr]

I find this to be a powerful image, and the RP is better b/c it removes a distraction.

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Carole,
As Sid said, " Your repost rocks." I would definitely use a surface mask to reduce noise and an edge mask to sharpen your images. It is so easy to make into an action and apply in photoshop as it is specific to that image should you need to remove noise and sharpen. Thank you for sharing and welcome. Well done on your image.
Best wishes,
Mark Wiseman.