Wild Dog-Alpha Female

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

The mother of the 11 pups we saw at Selous game reserve. She cautiously approached us to check things out while she was guarding the den while the males were away hunting.
1/320 (dunno why but I should have upped this!)
f/6.3
ISO 800
7D II
100-400 II @ 148mm

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Sanjeev, yep the stance clearly shows a wariness as she approaches, love the alert ears and the way they just turn like 'radar' dishes, picking up any noise, or sounds of danger.

I quite like the framing and the amount of space around the subject and the way you caught her with the front leg, outstretched, but this and the very rear illustrates movement and the nose does look a bit soft, so yes more SS, however it's the RAW that needs to be sharp, is it? Once again I would suggest backing off on the Contrast, Shadows & Blacks, it just lifts things and the finer detail is then allowed to come through creating more detail & sharpness. Pegging back the Yellow & Orange, plus the some Saturation personally I feel providers a softer colour palette, however you were there and know the conditions.

TFS
Steve

[haseeb badar]

Hi Sanjeev -- Good to see another painted hunter image ! I like the frame and the light that is hitting its eye . Some very nice suggestions by Steve with which totally agree . Keep them coming , enjoying these images .

TFS !

[Bob Miller]

Hi Sanjeev....Nice shot! You might consider a slight vignette to draw the eye more to the subject!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Steve's made some good suggestions here.
Nice light - does it need a slight rotation?
She's quite a "golden" dog!