Bat-eared foxes on the hunt...

[Morkel Erasmus]

The bat-eared fox is the only canine in Southern Africa who lives off a diet of insects. Here you can see them hunting late in the afternoon (soon after waking for the night) in the dry Auob riverbed in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. I like how the one's back hair is raised in anticipation for some grub coming out of the ground.

Techs:
Canon 40D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 400mm
f5.6 @ 1/500 SS @ ISO-640

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Morkel I like the behavior and similar poses without overlapping !! Good exposure showing detail and love the raised hair !!! Been thinking about the crop and the best I can come up with is taking some from the bottom? Interesting how others will feel about it !!!

[Ken Watkins]

If this is Bat-Eard fox week then I am entirely grateful, the very few that I have are not good enough for this forum.
Contrast looks a little strong to me.

[Todd Frost]

Love the near identical poses by the foxes. Good sharpness where it should be. Ken makes a good point on contrast being a little on the strong side, maybe run a light reverse s curve and see how it looks. Crop wise I would look at cropping from bottom (to horizontal dark line) and from top to make into pano format. TFS
Todd

[Stu Bowie]

Havent seen these guys before, so this is first on their feeding behaviour. Good to see similar postures, and agree taking some off the bottom can only improve the comp.

[Stephen Earle]

Excellent shot Morkel. I like the depth created by the oof fox. I agree with taking some of the bottom.

[Robert Amoruso]

Well done Morkel. Though the separation is good, a bit more would have been better. I agree on the crop from the bottom.

[Austin Thomas]

Hi Morkel,

To see one in the open is fortunate. Two is a bonus.

I too would crop some from the bottom.

tfs

Austin

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks a lot for the kind feedback guys...

here is a repost cropped from top and bottom and contrast reduced...

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks for the repost, although still harsh (i.e. real) this is to my mind a lot better.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I understand what Ken is talking. Was this taken in the evening? I would tweak the white balance, if it were mine. The crop in the repost is much better. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Ken & Sabya...it was late afternoon golden light and the colour is as I remember it. you have to be in the Kalahari to really know the quality of light there...

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Thanks Morkel!

Kalahari is in my To Do list. Hope I can do it soon.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Morkel Erasmus]

you won't regret it!! :)

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Morkel,
I was going through the Circle of Life book by Anup and Manoj Shah. They have recorded a sequence of shots of cheetah cubs catching hold of a bat eared fox and carrying it by its neck and then releasing it when the mother cheetah moved ahead. Amazing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Betsie Storm]

Well done on this one, Morkel, beautiful capture of their behaviour and the Kalahari light. I love the raised hair! Thanks for sharing my all-time fav animal.:)

[Morkel Erasmus]

wow that must've been quite a sighting Sabya - thanks for sharing. did they merely play with the fox or actually kill it?

[Hendri Venter]

The raised hair and poses are special. Love to watch them hunting.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Hendri...