Poised and Ready

[Rachel Hollander]

I thought I would throw another predator into the mix. An early morning portrait of a wild dog in South Luangwa N.P., Zambia. They had apparently already completed a kill and eaten before dawn but the pack was still on the hunt.

Canon 7D2
100-400 II @ 248mm
1/1250
f5.6
ISO 800
HH from safari vehicle, slight crop for comp (nothing more below), levels, curves, sharpened in PSCC.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Rachel,

Wonderful image of one of my favourite predators:)

Love the alert pose from this wild dog with its front paw slightly raised and about to take off. A well exposed frame and some nice detail coming through. The blood stained fur adds a degree of drama and gives a chronological framework to the event you have captured, in other words "tells the story". I see you already mentioned you have no more space at the bottom of the frame - it is a bit tight but still works for me. Nice separation between subject and BG.

A carefully processed frame and an engaging frame I truly enjoyed viewing - thank you so much for sharing!

Warmest regards,

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Rachel. a fine image of this predator. Love the raised front limb, alert pose and intent shown by the dog.
TFS.

[keith mitchell]

Think you have captured this animals alert pose beautifully,the blood on it's neck and that full looking belly tell there own story,very nice work Rachel.

Keith.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Light well handled here, Rachel - liking the pose and the bloodied fur.
I think it can go with a bit more depth in midtone?

[Stuart Philpott]

Hey Rachel, the light ,how it catches her? just makes this for me Rachel,the alert pose raised foot all give an intensity to the wild dog for me. Rachel the base proximity works for me ,I'm curious as I make this mistake on a worse level is it feasable to add canvas to a shot like this? Ethics permitting etc,just musing really obviously I can go there at this time,sadly

Wonderful frame Rachel, I really like this !!

take care

Stu

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone, I'm glad you like this one. Stu - it might be possible to add canvas, though not something I generally do. You would have to be careful not to have telltale repeating features.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[haseeb badar]

Hi Rachel -- This is very nicely done , The subject is special and the image is doing full justice to the scene . no need to mention regarding the space at the bottom. I tend to agree with Morkel reg some more punch in the midtones .

TFS !

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot Rachel I really like the alert pose, gorgeous colours and light. If you recrop and use Content Aware fill in simultaneously I think you can get away with a bit more canvas at the base.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Haseeb and Jon. Yes, Jon, but generally not a manipulation that I am comfortable with ethically.

Thanks,
Rachel

[Mike Hitchen]

I have never been to Africa but the hunting dog is one animal there that above all others has caught my attention since I was a kid, and this is a great shot. You can almost feel the inquisitiveness and the attention to whatever it is looking at.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel ....always a thrill to see one of those , and specially when they are not running :bg3:.
Lovely side profile shot and the blood stained fur is adding a lot to the image .
Love the well controlled tones under the given lighting situation ...very good job .
Colors do look good too.... only nit is the missing space at the foot of the frame ...but you know yourself !!!

TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Mike and Andreas, much appreciated.