Yet another dusty crossing

[Morkel Erasmus]

This time in near-total darkness.
We watched at the end of the day as a massive crossing built up a mere 5 minutes from our camp (the benefit of our camp location in the Mara Triangle, all the other visitors had long left to make their gate times and lodge dinner times :t3).

When they eventually started, the light was gone. My guests and I still attempted to create some images, some at barely usable shutter speeds and some at slower shutter speeds.
After a few minutes with the light really gone, I simply advised them that this was now a moment to simply enjoy and take in for what it is, and we were able to watch a leopard move right past our vehicle attempting to catch some of the wildebeests that got out of the river closer to us, all the while with dust and trampling bodies piling up from the river.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 180mm
f4.0 | 1/125 SS | ISO-18,102 (auto ISO)

[Neil Williams]

fantastic

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Mork, an amazing low light image representative of the given conditions which we can only imagine otherwise. Nice curving WB line and the WB in FG seem well in focus with just enough SS to freeze a few. Why not f/2.8 here?? Would DOF vary much? Thanks for sharing this wonderful crossing image!

[keith mitchell]

Pity about the conditions for photography but it must be a fantastic experience to witness this.


Keith.

[Marc Mol]

Whilst obviously the quality is not here, it's all about the mood, capturing the overall, moment and experience, the words darkness, dust & desperation come to mind and this image has that.

I too wondered why you hadn't at least tried f/2.8 only for the reason of a little extra S/S?

Nicely seen nonetheless Morkel

TFS

[Mike Poole]

I'm another one who was wondering about the f4?

Anyway, despite that this is another great animalscape, full of action and drama. The dustiness and the framing probably takes away from some of the high ISO issues, and it still works for me as a overall shot. I think you've done remarkable, even more so given the light levels

Mike

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks folks.

I was trying all kinds of settings here. The glory of the auto ISO setting is that you can play around with your true creative options - aperture and SS - to your heart's content and see the effects each combo has on the metering/ISO chosen. I do have some at f2.8 and even slower SS - just thought I'd share this one first to see what people think. Obviously it's more about mood than technical proficiency.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Pity about the conditions for photography but it must be a fantastic experience to witness this.


Keith.

Keith - it was a stellar wildlife experience! :cheers:

[Nancy Bell]

This is indeed all about the mood, the dust, the instinctual drive...and it is very effective! The curving line of wildebeest engages your eye through the drama, showing the big picture but enough details to see individual animals. I like this very much.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Morkel ...... i honestly think many times we should better go away from the viewfinder and look with all senses , and not look and feel through the camera ......
But i also cannot let go ....

Love the moody look &feel and i would like to hear the sounds that comes with stuff like this .

Must have been great to be there .:5

TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - Definitely a moody image and the comp works nicely. I'm sure this doesn't do the scene justice and am glad that you encouraged people to put the cameras down and enjoy the chaos.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Morkel

Love it!

Did you add some some Blue in the WB or is this with the famous blues of our D3S at low light..? Anyway it works..
Fine with f4 for that "Stellar" experience.:bg3::cheers:

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Morkel,

Perhaps the light was gone, but the so called "imperfections" in terms of colour, etc. collaborate so well with the story and time of the day, at least to me:5

A great deal of mood and atmosphere in this frame and I derive great pleasure from viewing such a magnificent scene, it is thought provoking and entertains the possibility of "blue" when the light fades.

This image is a true challenge when it comes to aesthetics "on reception"... At the same time, it presents the unresolved question as to "what the camera sees, versus the photographer's own interpretation of what he saw". Aesthetically pleasing to me for reasons I still have to completely figure out, this frame is very original IMO - I guess you decided to look for the truth rather than give us the more commercially acceptable alternative? Well, it works:)

Warmest regards,

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks folks :5



Did you add some some Blue in the WB or is this with the famous blues of our D3S at low light..? Anyway it works..
Fine with f4 for that "Stellar" experience.


Andre, it was "blue hour" already so I don't mind a blueish tint during these times of the day.
That being said, I was on "daylight" WB and had to tone down a lot of the blues :w3

[Marc Mol]

Thanks folks :5
That being said, I was on "daylight" WB and had to tone down a lot of the blues :w3

Just wondering why you had it set on daylight WB (or just an error?) and not Auto, personally always leave mine on Auto and adjust later in RAW/PP if/when required,
just one less thing to worry about as it's bad enough getting caught out with M/Auto ISO in really low light. :Whoa!:

[Morkel Erasmus]

Just wondering why you had it set on daylight WB (or just an error?) and not Auto, personally always leave mine on Auto and adjust later in RAW/PP if/when required,
just one less thing to worry about as it's bad enough getting caught out with M/Auto ISO in really low light. :Whoa!:

I hate the colour of Nikon's Auto WB in most conditions :tinysmile_shy_t:
Colour balance surely does not affect overall file quality...? :w3

[Marc Mol]

I hate the colour of Nikon's Auto WB in most conditions :tinysmile_shy_t:
Colour balance surely does not affect overall file quality...? :w3

My reason for leaving WB in Auto is if it's wrong it's not too far out either side of the spectrum rather than if you have it on daylight and you forget to change for dawn/dusk the WB will be thrown way off, all personal preferenced
and your dead right color balance is NOT fatal. :5

[haseeb badar]

Hi Morkel -- Not perfect settings certainly but i believe in experimenting during such situations , obviously to keep the camera aside and enjoy the sight is always an option but you never what one can come up with during such situation .
I liked this frame and the mood it has , so a big thumbs-up from me for this image .
TFS !