Baboon Sentry

[Grant Atkinson]

Canon 7D, Canon EF300mmf2.8is, s/speed 1/500, f3.5, iso400, Metering Evaluative. Handheld, from a vehicle. Location Duba Plains, Okavango Delta, Botswana. 4 March 2010, 17h22. Overcast afternoon. This baboon was sitting on a grass-covered termite mound and watching out whilst the rest of the troop were foraging nearby.
Image processed and sharpened in ACR5.7
All C and C welcome
Grant

www.grantatkinson.com (http://www.grantatkinson.com)

[Robert Amoruso]

I really like the composition Grant. Soft green BG, the please texture of the grass, and the slight turned head towards you really make this a standout composition. Well done. I even like the tall grass blade to his back.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Grant, another strong composition and again, Robert has commented on the main points of the image already. Although for me, the grass looks sharper and crisper than the actual Baboon head/body? Also why f/3.5, as I might have just left it a f/2.8, not gaining much apart from SS?

TFS
Steve

[Alfred Forns]

Agree with Steve the grass seems to be sharper than the eye, the image looks good as presented and has great feel !!! Not sure if its an optional illusion since the eyes look good .. maybe just the way edges are represented !! Love the image, will make one great large print !!!

[Ed Cordes]

Wonderful perspective. I like the lighting and BG a lot. The HA is just right. Certainly looks like a sentry!

[Ken Watkins]

The pose is common place but the position is not, to my mind this is what makes this a good image.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Grant,
I like the composition. The image looks a bit more greenish to me. A little bit of tweaking the white balance would be good. However, you know the situation better. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi guys, thanks for all the feedback. Steve, f3.5 because I was trying to get a tiny bit more DOF, juggling against shutter speed. (I find the 7D to be very sensitive to camera shake and I prefer to try shoot it faster. Given a choice, I would have probably opted for f4 or 5.6.) I often seem to end up shooting in these soft lighting situations (guess I need a 1Dmk4 :)). Sabyasachi, I will reprocess my own version of the shot with your WB suggestion in mind. And I will also reprocess this shot using PS Unsharp Mask to do the sharpening as opposed to ACR which I did it with..
Thanks again for all the advice, and I am happy that everyone likes the comp and BG
Cheers
Grant

[Steve Kaluski]

(I find the 7D to be very sensitive to camera shake and I prefer to try shoot it faster.

Hence shooting at f/2.8 Grant. :D Did you have AI on? I tend to shoot with it almost always on and with a lower 'Rapid rate' L rather than single shot.

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Steve..I had Ai on, my cameras live in Ai. And in the highest frame rate, in case things start running or flying! I move the AF point when I need to. I would have preferred to have been able to use f4 or 5.6 and still gotten s/s of at least 1/500sec . But operator error accounts for grass being sharper than the baboons face :) Actually I just checked which AF point was active and lit up on the original shot, using the Canon software, and the point was right on his eyes? Maybe I was moving slightly?
Thanks for your comments, really help a lot
cheers
Grant

[Marc Mol]

Very pleasing image Grant, good comp with a magic BG and perspective.
TFS

[DanWalters]

Nice eyes. Also like the comp and the clean background.

[Harshad Barve]

lovely pose , killer BG and mighty fine image
TFS