Rietvlei Buffalo

[Stu Bowie]

I was lucky today. The last two weekends that I visited the nature reserve close to my house, the buffalo were on the wrong side of the light. This morning I managed to single out this handsome fellow, and he gave me a pose whilst eating his breakfast at 7.26am. He was literally a couple of meters away from me. This was the best angle of light I could achieve, thus the shadow a tad distracting.

Canon 20D
24-105 @ 84mm
1/200
F/8
ISO 400

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand Held from the car.

[Austin Thomas]

You were close Stuart. Patience has been rewarded.

I like the chewing action here and agree with your own observation regarding the shadow.

tfs

Austin

[Todd Frost]

A little too close for comfort. Light handled probably as good as possible under the conditions, self critique on shadow noted. Colors and detail look good. TFS
Todd

[Morkel Erasmus]

these Rietvlei buffs are rarely out of the reeds so huge congrats on getting this one Stu! shadow noted but still a nice close capture...

[Ken Watkins]

I always find the expressions of Bufallo chewing grass amusing, this is no exception. The side light is a bit of a nuisance but I would be happy to add this to my rather small collection .

[Vida van der Walt]

I didn't even know there were buffalo at Rietvlei Stu! (I suppose that makes crawling around in the bushes looking for insects a big no-no ;)). Great close up image and love the expression.:)

[Steve Maxson]

A nice closeup and good pose with an interesting expression, Stuart. Good sharpness and DOF. I also like the way the background gives a feel for the habitat without being distracting. I wonder if you could pull any more detail out of the shadow - without also bringing up a lot of noise?

[Callie de Wet]

Like this one, Stu, but would try a slightly different, rotated crop to loose the leg and the grass behind it. The shadow does not bother me at all. A tad more saturation in the blacks too maybe, for my taste.
Vida, there are two cheetah too, so they say, so no bugging there.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a lot guys and girls.

Steve, I did try and bring some of the shadow out. Any more and it would have looked unnatural.

Callie, thanks for the feedback on your choice of crop. It would work. BTW, Ive only heard of one cheetah, and still looking for it.