Buffalo blitz!

[Marc Mol]

These 3 sisters are the mainstay attacking force of the 18 (+ 2 pride males) members of the legendery Selinda pride.
Seen here spearheading the take down of this fit & healthy buffalo bull, the battle raged on for over an hour, what a morning!:cheers:


D4 70-200f/4 VR 1/1600s f/7 ISO720@ 155mm. Slight crop for comp, bean bag from front pax seat, curves, levels, TK masking, in PS CC'15 & ACR.

Selinda- Botswana.

Cheers
Marc

[haseeb badar]

Hi Marc -- So many moods to look at in this image . Firstly the lionesses with massive muscle power and erect tail gives an aggressive feel to the image where as the Buffalo completely appears a calm soul , as if nothing is happening to him . And that subadult peeping out in the BG behind the buffalo's head appears to be observing and learning the art . I immensely enjoyed viewing this image , you have done so well with the available lighting .

TFS !

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Superb sighting and image, great emotion and power from the lionesses intimidating the buffalo (who appears to have kinda given up here). Expertly composed!

[Marc Mol]

Many thanks Haseeb & Sanjeev.


the lionesses intimidating the buffalo (who appears to have kinda given up here).

It certainly appears that way Sanjeev, at times they have this foreboding about them, but the reality was this was just the first of 3 times he collapsed and regained his feet. I liken it to a heavyweight boxing match with the battle going into a series of rounds where one and then the other appears to get the upper hand.

The battle also takes on a series of tag team fighting, just as in a wrestling match, giving the appearance that one lioness goes in and takes the place of another who sits down for a break.

Having said that, with 15 members around this hapless daga boy, there was always going to be only one victor.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Marc - Fantastic action and I prefer the comp here to the last one (though I understand you wanted to show the buff fighting back there). The musculature of the lionesses is great and I really like the sense of the other lions coming to join in. Only thing I might do is back off on the sharpening of the grasses in the fg.

TFS,
Rachel

[Marc Mol]

Thanks Rachel


Only thing I might do is back off on the sharpening of the grasses in the fg
TFS,
Rachel

NO sharpening has been applied on this image (a straight resize to web 400k) and when appplied I never sharpen globally, in fact I used -25 in Clarity on the FG here and fairly happy with how it looks, perhaps could be reduced a tad more.

At it's full resolution it looks fine, just reducing it to a tiny 400KB for the web, gives the appearance that it has been sharpened I believe.:w3

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Marc stunning action shot , with lots of muscles to look at :S3: love the detailed muscles on the lionesses .
Agree with Rachel about the better comp , overall i might give the really bright HL a bit more tonal depth .
I also see the " over sharpening " effect on the FG grass , but for me it is more a problem of being very light in the HL and the red channel is clipped to a good degree , the green is also slightly clipped ..... so this might cause the over sharpness effect ...... maybe

Besides that a great shot i would like to have in my collection .....:w3

TFS Andreas

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Marc

Very powerful moment captured here!

Colours look good.

I would crop slightly from top to have only a hint of skyline included- more attention on the girls doing their thing.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Amazing capture and so powerful in terms of content - money shot Marc!

This is one overwhelmed buffalo, love its open eye and worn-out look. All predators have their eyes focused on the victim - this is so intense, so much happening here, unbelievable scene.

One of your best! Hmm... I do have a feeling I have said this before?
Just wanted to add my congratulations, I guess all has been said above and I am very late with my comments, so sorry. I did enjoy this capture tremendously, thank you so much for sharing:cheers:

Kind regards,

[Mark Needham]

What a sighting! Wish I was there! You captured this very well and expertly handled the light and processing. Do you have a sliver more room on the LHS to give the cub coming in a bit more room to breathe? Minor issue; great shot, Marc! :5

[Morkel Erasmus]

Just a killer action frame!
I like the framing, exposure and overall handling of the light/conditions here mate.
Wish I could have witnessed this right next to you.