Mountain Zebra launch

[Morkel Erasmus]

This one is from our recent trip to the Mountain Zebra National Park, South Africa.

This Cape Mountain Zebra jumped out of the blocks when our vehicle slowly approached.

Techs:
Canon 40D with 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM @ 170mm
f5.6 @ 1/400 SS @ ISO-400

[Steve Canuel]

This is a nice shot Morkel. Good eye contact and a dynamic pose. I like the leg positions, the raised tail, and the mountain off in the distance.

[John Blumenkamp]

Great moment captured here Morkel! The raised tail adds a lot in my opinion.

[Pieter de Waal]

Action nicely captured Morkel. I also like the inclusion of the BG environment, tells the whole story.

[Vivaldo Damilano]

The zebra with raised tail pops very nicely, superb image Morkel, also like the BKGD TFS:cheers:

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Morkel, your recent postings have been excellent, but it's the clarity & cleaness that is really coming through in your images now, which IMHO on reflection, was laking in previous shots/images. If you have changed your workflow, or tweaked things then I personally feel this year could be a new Morkel coming through, just love the freshness in the whole look & feel of these images.

You have almost 'frozen' the capture, but it's the swish of the tail, slightly blurred, that gives the feeling of speed & turn. Like Peter D's, the addition of the blue skyline does add a nice bit of colour and breaks up the BG well.

TFS
Steve :5

[peter delaney]

I agree with Steve point of view, your workflow on this has really made this image pop... I like your inclusion of distant lone hill it balances the image.. the small purple flowers around the zebra add a little colour ....

a moment well captured at one of my nearest/ favorite game reserve..:S3:

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for the kind words, folks!

Steve - I didn't really change anything in my workflow...if anything I would have to say it could probably be attributed to the recent investments I made into new glass. I used to work only with the 100-400 for wildlife, and recently added the 300mm f2.8 L IS USM (mk1) and the 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM (mk1) to my kit, which caused the 100-400 to see very little action on my recent trips. :c3:

[Steve Kaluski]

Cheers Morkel, I have to say, the 300f/2.8 is probably best investment one can make, juxtapose to the 100-400 which personally I feel needs a huge overhaul and not my favourite lens, although Stuart B has proved me wrong on several occasions with some superb images. :bg3:

cheers
Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

make no mistakes - I've enjoyed my 100-400 and it's served me well...on the kind of budget I had, a great investment! :bg3:

[Robert Amoruso]

Morkel,

I agree with all the things mentioned above but find the intersection at the ear with the BG form distracting. I can't help but think you got this in a series of images and perhaps one does have the head/ears in the clear against the grass?

[Rachel Hollander]

Morkel - great action, well captured. I agree with Steve and Peter D. this really pops and is very clear and crisp.

TFS,
Rachel

[Ken Watkins]

Morkel,

Sorry a bit late on this one, I have to agree with Robert on the "ear situation" otherwise nice capture of nice animal.

[Russell Johnson]

Good action capture.

I feel the ear/bkg is a slight distraction.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for the comments Rachel, Robert, Ken & Russel...

I have got a few in this sequence but the pose really here stood out for me...the "thing" behind the ear is a black wildebeest...and to me it's not really that distracting :w3

[Jamie Douglas]

Better late than never, but I wanted to say that this is awesome Morkel. The shutter speed worked perfectly allowing you to get great sharpness on the head and at the same time capturing body motion. TFS and can't wait to see the trip write up.

[Grant Atkinson]

Nice shot Morkel, all around, love the background and far-off hill, and colour work here. I noticed the black wildebeest/ear intersection but the shot is strong enough for it not to bother me...
Well done
Cheers
Grant