Mother and Cubs

[Morkel Erasmus]

A tender moment from our Wild Eye Great Migration safari last year. One thing I like to impart to the guests who travel with me is to push their confidence in their gear and technique to enable them to capture high ISO images in fading light - as it's so often when magic moments happen in the bush. Yes, it's about enjoying the moment and being present in the moment, but it's also about knowing how to enable yourself to get keeper photos in tough light.


It was raining around sunset and this family had just finished off a gazelle mom brought down in full view of our group. We were about to depart and head back to our camp, but not before we got some lovely images of her lovingly cleaning her young cubs.


I can't wait to see how this family is doing when I head up to the Mara Triangle in 7 days...


Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0 | 1/320 SS | ISO-5000

[haseeb badar]

Hi Morkel -- This is such a pretty sight ! loved the moment that you have captured here in such lighting conditions , very well done ! i find the lone cub more sharp then the heads of female and the cub nearby which is not been licked , is it due to being not on the same plane ?

[Morkel Erasmus]

i find the lone cub more sharp then the heads of female and the cub nearby which is not been licked , is it due to being not on the same plane ?

Indeed Haseeb - f4 is shallow at close distances, and the foremost cub was slightly in front of mom and the rest.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Very nice interaction Mork. I like the framing and the detail you have got in the given light. Nice POV as well. Colors are spot on too.

[Marc Mol]

Says everything about that special bond between mother and cubs, nicely depicted Morkel, well captured in difficult/fading light.



push their confidence in their gear and technique to enable them to capture high ISO images in fading light - as it's so often when magic moments happen in the bush. Yes, it's about enjoying the moment and being present in the moment, but it's also about knowing how to enable yourself to get keeper photos in tough light.

Couldn't agree more Morkel :5,

and also by having a little patience and waiting for the "crowd" to move on, I've often found that your subject relaxes just that little bit more and that special moment may arise.:bg3:

[Jonathan Ashton]

A tender moment well caught but I find the juxtaposition of the two cubs rather awkward and the head of the adult is just slightly soft.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - A very sweet moment and you did well in the waning light though I wish there was enough dof to get all sharp. It may be just me but the oof area between the cubs and mom seems to jump out at me in almost a 3D effect and distracts/draws the eye. Not sure if there is anything different about the pp of that area than the rest of the bg.

TFS,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

A tender moment well caught but I find the juxtaposition of the two cubs rather awkward and the head of the adult is just slightly soft.

Cheers Jonathan - as mentioned above DOF was at a premium as the light was gone...

[Loi Nguyen]

A tender moment indeed. I think you did very well with multiple subjects at F4. I wish the head of Mom is a bit sharper and be the main focus point. As is, it is a little hard to see the heads of the cubs and Mom. Loi

[Morkel Erasmus]

A tender moment indeed. I think you did very well with multiple subjects at F4. I wish the head of Mom is a bit sharper and be the main focus point. As is, it is a little hard to see the heads of the cubs and Mom. Loi

Thanks Loi - I might have some where I focused on mom grooming, will have to check...

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Fantastic moment captured here Morkel! Lots of comments about focus & DOF. If one looks at the focal plane on the grass, you probably focused on the cub on the left and focusing on the cub in the middle would have worked better for all subjects. But that's easy to say in hindsight - it's still a beautiful moment captured and a pleasure to look at. TFS!

[Katie Rupp]

Hi Morkel,

Love this interaction and I remember the challenge with the light and the rain but also not wanting the sighting to end.

Cheers!

Katie

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel , bit late .... but i also like the intimate tender moment you have captured .
Lovely colors and a pleasing comp , the subjects do look a bit coarse in the details ? Maybe the wet fur makes this more prominent in parts ?

Still a lovely captured scene , Morkel

TFS Andreas

[Morkel Erasmus]

Cheers folks.
Katie, was great sharing this sighting with you :5
Post some of your own images?