Eland bull

[Hilary Hann]

Mara North Conservancy, 7.25am. In hindsight, I should have dropped my ISO and I would have liked to have had a little more space at the bottom.
Full frame; 7D; 100-400 @ 400; ISO800; 1/1000; f8.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Lovely looking image in great light...I really enjoy the pose and the subject pops from the dark BG. Leaf in the mouth adds. Good angle...Agree with self crit re bottom space....Great image Hillary

[tiziano cei]

i've tried many times to capture a sht of this guy, but without succes,

nice shot of an amazing animal :eek:

[Pieter de Waal]

Nice detailed image of this species Hilary. Good use of soft light and dof. Also like the leaf in the mouth and eye contact. I might consider a little crop from our left.

[Robert Amoruso]

Hilary, I would agree that a bit wore room on the bottom would have been good.

I do like you opted for f/8 to get the right amount of depth of field needed here.

My general preference when you have abrupt changes in color of the BG is not to have it intersect with major portions of the subject, like the top of back (not an issue here) or the top of the head (as is does here) or say top of the antlers as an example.

Overall well executed image with good body position on the subject and well placed in the frame.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hilary - nice light and I like the straight on pose with the leaves sticking out. Agree with your self-critique about more room at the bottom.

TFS,
Rachel

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks for the comments. Robert, good points on horizon which I tend not to think about when photographing as much as I should.

[Steve Kaluski]

Nicely executed Hilary with good detail & colours. Would agree about a little more depth below would be nice, but for me that is a minor point, the main point for me, is you nailed it with good DOF, sharpness & clarity. Looks well processed, illustrating the good light you had, a good 'Stock' shot. :cheers:

Was this done with your newly acquired bit of kit? :w3

TFS
Steve

[Hilary Hann]

Was this done with your newly acquired bit of kit? :w3

TFS
Steve
Thanks Steve. Yes it was, and I think it helped achieve a more delicate touch ... or so I hope. :S3:

[Morkel Erasmus]

lovely light and head-on pose here Hilary

DOF is spot-on as mentioned, and I hear what Robert is saying but it isn't really bothering me that much in this image.

What is this new "kit"? You and Steve have alluded to it previously? :2

[Steve Kaluski]

Yes it was, and I think it helped achieve a more delicate touch ... or so I hope.

I think there is definitely a more 'refined' touch :bg3:

Hilary over to you on Morkels question. :bg3:

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Morkel. I have recently upgraded my monitor to an Eizo CG 24in. It is a huge change from my old CRT and has taken a bit of getting used to. I also bought an Intuos 4 tablet with an even steeper learning curve but it feels pretty good.

Have to admit that I'd love to repost some of my older images now that I can see so much missing detail but will try to find something new and interesting eventually.

[Morkel Erasmus]

oh okay congrats :5

I am not familiar with the Eizo brand...but I can't imagine working on a CRT!! :eek:
I still need to upgrade to a tablet...mmhmm...should make selective editing a breeze

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Hilary, nice shot of an animal I don't have a single decent image of yet...good light, techs look good even at iso800. Agree with Roberts and your self critique re comp, but nice shot anyway, leaf in the mouth adds a nice touch
cheers
Grant

[Hilary Hann]

Thank you Grant. Do you get many eland in Botswana? Showing my lack of Bots knowledge! :eek:

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Hilary, very few in the north, I have seen three in 12 years, and they were travelling at high speed away from me:S3:. There are some in the CKGR but I have never seen them.
South Africa has good numbers, I just need to get to some of those parks..aiming at 2012
cheers
Grant