Protective Mum

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey everyone! Lots of great posts for me to catch up on...will do so ASAP. :t3

I wanted to start the week off with this adorable image captured from the Wild Eye photographic boat on the Chobe river. This mother hippo was nursing her small baby away from the main pod in a secluded channel up the Chobe river, far away from the main photographic areas. We kept a safe distance so as not to disturb her.


Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f5.6 | 1/1000 SS | ISO-800
EV +0.7

[Joe Senzatimore]

Love how the baby is looking out from under Mom. Great texture and pose. Might take just a bit off the bottom. Just my taste.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - really like your techs here. Good choice on the dof. Subtle reflection and bubbles add to the image but the baby takes it to another level.

TFS,
Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Morkel, what an adorable image. Love the contrast in size of baby and Mum. You handled the exposure very well here. The only knit picking I have is the image seems to center both horizontally and vertically. Not sure if you have room.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks guys
Loi - I have a sliver more room all around but cropped to have baby on the ROT power point :bg3:

[dankearl]

Very nicely seen and captured Morkel.
Technically perfect and a 10 on the cuteness scale.
Made my evening, thanks!

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Morkel,

lovely image, love the little one. The details and all as usual spot one. I as well have the feeling of a bit less room on the bottom!
Great image :bg3:

Ciao
Anette

[Brendon Cremer]

Very nice image Morkel, well exposed with lovely detail and colours, i like the cop as is. The POV, subtle reflection and great position of the baby under the mothers neck is just stunning.

[Nancy Bell]

This is fantastic! Love the baby, the nice open eye of the mom, the green grass bkgd and the smooth water foreground, the reflection...all of it!

[Russell Johnson]

Very cute image - would agree with the other suggestions on the crop.

[Steve Kaluski]

Very nice indeed Morkel and the vibrant green on this works well. Interesting to see the scares on the body. having the face of the baby to camera is priceless.

TFS
Steve

[Gabriela Plesea]

Morkel, this makes me think of the St Lucia Lake and its hippo pods...As always, I must compliment you on the processing-impecable! Love the detail on the hippo mom, and the little one is a great bonus! I believe you did not crop too much behind the hippo because the water shows some movement from the tail (highlights behavior of the species) -I would not change a thing here, a lot of thinking has gone into editing this image and it all makes sense to me-congratulations!

Kind regards

[Andre Pretorius]

Love the scar and texture on mother's skin,bigger FG leads eye to mother&baby, Gabriela talk about crop , agree with Steve on greens,eye contact from baby makes this image.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks so much, everyone :cheers:

[John Ippolito]

Great texture on the hide, brilliant natural looking color, and I like the comp as is. Wouldn't change a thing. Very nice work, Morkel.

[hirandesilva]

Always not easy to have a baby looking towards the camera, like the detail, low camera angle makes this picture a good one.

Hiran

[Shreyas Mantri]

Excellent angle, details and color. Love this frame Morkel!
TFS

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks everybody...