Black Rhino #2

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Here is another frame of the rhino in better light while he was answering nature's call. He left a huge dump of poop and then started kicking it with hind limbs raising some dust and muck. Waited a while for the dust to settle before clicking. Left the OOF WB in the BG as is.
1DX II
500 II
1/2500
f/8
ISO 3200

[Gabriela Plesea]

Interesting behavioural frame, Sanjeev:S3:

For those of you who want to know more, the rhino like to use the same place for defecating, which is called a "midden". It is said the faeces provide information about the gender, age, and reproductive status of the species, so really a communication tool. The 'kicking' described by Sanjeev is called 'scraping', and is mostly done by dominant males and possibly females in oestrus. I say 'possibly' because the behaviour is poorly understood due to the elusiveness of the species. Nowadays a lot of studies are being done in order to understand rhino behaviour so hopefully in the future we'll know more...My guess is, the subject here is a territorial male marking its habitat. He looks a bit old and scarred but otherwise strong and fit, he probably still has great success with the ladies so making sure the intruders stay away:tinysmile_shy_t:

Frame well composed and POV is great, Sanjeev. Nice view of this old boy's face. I like the habitat too, not sure about the WB in the BG but he was there so we let him be:w3

I think it was Andreas who suggested you give some 'oomph' to the grass in your previous rhino image, maybe not a bad idea. Subject looks great with lovely textures and nice detail even in the shadow areas.

Overall a nice image and educational too. Great techs by the way.
One more thought, I would remove the Wildebeest poo in front of the rhino:tinysmile_shy_t:

Have a wonderful rest of the week, and thank you for sharing Sanjeev!

Kind regards,

[haseeb badar]

Hi Doc -- I really liked this one than the previous post of Rhino. Light is better here and nice behaviour captured. WB in the BKG is not an issue but agree with Gabriela on removing its poo from fg.

Nice textures and details in your subject and good call on waiting for the dust to settle as it does affects the sharpness.

Thank you Gabriela for the information reg the behaviour , I have observed similar midden from Blue Bulls or Nilgai back here in India.

Nice image, TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Sanjeev, I feel the image could benefit from a slightly looser crop.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Sanjeev,I get the impression you are maximising detail in the darker elements of your images by lifting tones and or reducing contrast - perhaps I am wrong but as a consequence I get the impression too many tones have been lifted. I would like to see the rhino with more tonal contrast, the grass looks a little wishy washy but I really like the ghostly antelope n the background.