Backlit Meerkat

[Rachel Hollander]

Taken at one of the habituated meerkat colonies in Tswalu Game Reserve, South Africa.

Canon 7D2
100-400 II @ 400mm
1/1000
f5.6
ISO 800
HH while sitting on the ground, shot vertical, slight crop for comp, levels, curves, sharpened in CCPS. I wish I had a sliver more room below.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel agree on a tad more below and a bit more I feel, to the left, I just get the impression he's pushed into a LH corner, in addition I think you can afford to loose some from the top which won't hurt the image.

It's quite a rich and saturated image which I quite like, with an almost 'dreamy' backdrop, but it's the 'warm' highlight between his legs that catches my eye!!! :e3 It might be the size of image, but I might be tempted just to lift the shadow areas around the eyes a fraction with a Curves adjustment. It looks OK as presented, but may help, not sure about the ear though.

Good to see a slightly higher SS here. :S3:

TFS
Steve

[Mike Poole]

Right up my street this one, I love alternative light angles, and the rim lighting works perfectly here. Maybe just tone down the area between the legs.

Mike

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Rachel,

I cannot help but imagine you sitting on the ground and trying to capture this cute chap in a perfect pose, standing between those grasses!

Nice techs, not easy to follow (or focus) on those little guys, they move so fast in their search for food and suddenly stand up to check for predators. My last experience with a Meerkat was a frustrating one, he was moving so fast I just could not follow ( Feb 2016).

Regarding framing - I too would take off a tad from the top, just below the signature. Colours are great and I love the warmth, love the detail on the fur very much, super pose, a tad bright between the legs I agree, easy fix for you if you like:)

Lovely image and it triggered a few Kalahari moments in my mind, really thankful for this Rachel as it makes me consider another trip in the near future, I need to go home sometime soon...

Warmest regards,

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Steve, Mike and Gabriela. I'll take a look at some off the top and the highlight between the legs.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[keith mitchell]

Rachel as you know i am a big fan of small mammals,this one I like a lot ,take the point about the brightness between the back legs but that apart it is the sort of image that I really like,think all the soft muted colours work very well and those two strands of grass make a nice little frame around the Meerkat.

Keith.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice rim light and warm tones here Rachel.
Steve's made some good points on placement-in-the-frame...
I agree with shaving some off the top as well if the IQ can take it?

[haseeb badar]

Hi Rachel -- I am late on this but i totally agree with the above and your self critique regarding some more space at the bottom. I liked the way you have managed to capture your subject between those two twigs, a very cute character against a nice backdrop . The rim lighting is well captured .

TFS !

[Dumay de Boulle]

I love this image one of your best ever, great details, backlighting perfectly handled and the details are sublime....

Congrats rachel!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel lovely cool character !!
Like the typical pose and you did very well with the difficult lighting.Nice deep and saturated colors without going overboard , well controlled tones and i am ok with the eyes/ ears darkness as it does look quite natural having the lighting in mind .
Good detail and as always sharp where it counts . Not sure about the crop as presented , bit too much on top and RHS for my liking . I would have preferred a bit more below .
Nevertheless a very fine image of this little guy .
Very well done Rachel
TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone. I very much appreciate the comments and suggestions.

Rachel