Cheetah chasing Gazelle

[Austin Thomas]

Hi all,

It is getting close to the time when I go back to Kenya for another session with the African wildlife, so in preparation I went back through the archives.
Here is one from last years trip where I managed to record the last moments of this poor Gazelles life as it desperately tried to escape the claws of the Cheetah. I don't imagine that "lightning will strike twice" but I am certainly looking forward to spending more time on safari.

C&C most welcome.

Canon 1DMK3, 500mm, f5.6, 1/5000, ISO400. (I had no time to reduce the ISO)

Cheers

Austin

[Rachel Hollander]

Incredible action shot. Love it.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Canuel]

Nice shot Austin. You captured the fear in the eyes of the gazelle perfectly and the airborne cheetah with its outstretched claws and tail make the outcome of this chase pretty clear.

[Arthur Morris]

Boy oh boy, you nailed this one. And right on sun angle too. Great job of framing/cropping. (Can we see the full frame original?) Your timing was beyond impeccable and both animals are perfectly square to the back of the camera. Did you see the situation developing or was it a total grab shot? What focusing sensor did you use?

[Austin Thomas]

Boy oh boy, you nailed this one. And right on sun angle too. Great job of framing/cropping. (Can we see the full frame original?) Your timing was beyond impeccable and both animals are perfectly square to the back of the camera. Did you see the situation developing or was it a total grab shot? What focusing sensor did you use?

Hi Artie,

Yes the Gods were with me on that day. It is about 70% of the original and I had only the central focus point active, catching the rear of the Gazelle.
In terms of sun angle then I can claim to have at least increased the probability of getting this image right. The Cheetah had been alert and looking for prey for some time. The Gazelle, unaware, had apparently fallen asleep. I was therefore able to slowly reposition the jeep with the Cheetah to my left, Gazelle just to my right and the sun fully behind me. I then sat and waited for some action. There was of course no guarantee that the action would develop and no guarantee which way the Gazelle would choose to run. I just gave myself the best chance to record an image IF any action unfolded.

Thanks for your feedback. Much appreciated.

Austin

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for sharing that great story. As my Dad would say on rare occasion, "You done well." I would still love to see the full frame original. :)

[Harshad Barve]

My standing ovation for creating such image Austin ,
TFS

[DanWalters]

Great action and very sharp! Like the raised tail and the gazelles open mouth.

[Ken Watkins]

Austin,

Another incredible shot from an incredible sighting, with a totally different perspective to your image which somehow did not win IOTY. I think this clearly shows that patience pays off.

I am deeply envious, good luck on your trip, sometimes lightning strikes twice:D

Another vote to see the full frame.

[Marc Mol]

Another exquisite Cheetah hunt image Austin, love the tail up attack stance! Very nice.
TFS



I don't imagine that "lightning will strike twice" but I am certainly looking forward to spending more time on safari.


If lightening can strike just ONCE for me I'd really appreciate it!! :p
As my wife and I will be leaving for the Mara & Nrthrn Serengeti in just over 6 weeks.:D

[Rich Steel]

Excellent photo Austin. In fact I think I prefer this one to your 'head on one' mainly due to the pose of the cheetah in mid-air.

Cheers

Rich

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I prefer this image better than the previous one. Like Artie, I would also like to see the full frame uncropped version. It would be great if you can share it.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Alfred Forns]

Just perfect as presented Austin Sure hope you get another chase this time around !!! Big Congrats !!!

[Sid Garige]

Fantastic timing and perfect execuation. Excellent job.

[Morkel Erasmus]

crackerjack Austin....a dream image for most any wildlife photographer...wow
:D

[Stu Bowie]

Austin, they dont come much better than this. Superb reaction and timing on your part, and as Morkel stated, "a dream image". Very well captured.

[Austin Thomas]

Hi all,

A number of people asked to see the original full frame image of this picture, so here it is for your interest. I checked the image immediately before this one was recorded and the focus point was pretty much on the Cheetahs head ( which was central in the frame on that image ), so I guess the focus stayed locked for the fractions of a second in between these images as I had the centre AF point enabled.

Thanks again for your interest.

Austin

[Arthur Morris]

TAT (Thanks a ton.) It is always great to see the original capture for an outstanding image. And yes, the AF sensor was not on either animal yet the image is sharp. Makes you wonder how we get o-o-f ones when the sensor is right on the subject. It held up quite well to the small moderate crop and your processing was impeccable.

[Austin Thomas]

Thanks Artie,

As I mentioned the frame immediately before this one has the AF point on the Cheetah. With panning I have moved a little more to the right than was required but the focus was still good enough to keep locked on the subject.

Pretty ironic when the MK3 camera was getting some poor publicity in certain quarters...... on that topic I have never experienced any issues at all.

Cheers

Austin

[Ken Watkins]

Austin,

Thanks for posting the full frame, having seen it I think that the inclusion of more "run into" space might (if it were possible) give the image even more impact.

My MkIII has also managed to retain focus in "strange" situations, as does the MkIV.:)