The Crossing

[Roman Kurywczak]

I was thrilled to witness this spectacle 4 times on my recent tour to Tanzania. Even though we saw a few kills, 6 leopards, many cheetah and plenty of the other usual suspects, this was what I was looking forward to the most! Although I did not get the crocs catching any Gnu......I was just in awe as thousands of wildebeest gathered on the Kenya side and crossed back into Tanzania. It is not a sight my group or I will ever forget and I am already looking forward to next years tour!

Canon 1D Mark lll zt ISO 800 at f8 for 1/1000 sec. and the Sigmonster at 501mm on beanbag. Saved at 44 quality to fit.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Roman, great story along with nice light. What makes the image for me is the "jumper" which was caught at a perfect moment. Just enough water and top enabling the viewer to focus on the group...Well done!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Roman - great scene with lots of action. Agree with Dave on the jumper but also love the collision in the right side and the swimmers. I'm not a fan of all the partial legs along the top and if it were mine would probably crop down eliminating the flat part of the riverbank and all those legs. Congrats on seeing the crossing and looking forward to more from your trip.

TFS,
Rachel

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Roman, what I like here is how the jumping wildebeest pops out of the image. Im sure this must be an incredible sight, and no doubt the crocs were waiting somewhere to feed. Im happy with the legs on top, as one doesnt really notice them with all the action below. Show us some more.:w3

[Grace Scalzo]

Way cool, Roman. I too like the jumper and the legs don't bother me at all....gives a sense of what is waiting. I also like the shadows in this image.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Great moment here Roman, love the leaping wildebeest. You can feel the throng and almost smell the dust here.
I did a "screen crop" and feel it works just a tad better with the top legs cropped off...:e3

[Tom Graham]

I vote to crop legs off of top. Although I like it as posted also.
I've seen such crossing once and it is indeed even better than seeing it on National Geographic Channel :S3:
We did see a croc grab a zebra. Seems zebras typically cross first and wildebeest follow.
Tom

[Tom Redd]

Roman, great shot here, the only change is that I vote for the legs to be cropped out, that or I would prefer to see all the animals lined up and waiting at the hilltop, but the legs caught my eye pretty quickly. The collision and the jump are both intense, you can feel the tension in the shot. Excellent.

[Steve Canuel]

Like the suggestion of losing the legs up top. Like the crowd of onlookers and how the leaping one appears to be trying to clear the others already in the water.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Thanks All! I debated the legs up top myself! I am probably going to start eliminating a few slowly......mostly because I am worried about losing the cliff and clipping the top wildebeest but as I suspected, it could bother some so will tweak that a bit more. Thanks for the great feedback!

[Roger Clark]

Hi Roman,

While I like the action, the legs make me wonder what the expressions on the wildebeest at the top look like. Probably something like "Oh crap! we gotta do this?" So do you have an image taken within seconds of this one that includes the animals at the top? If so mosaic them together. I think that would make a very strong image compared to cropping off the legs. If not, then I agree cropping the legs. It is a strong image either way. I assume this is an early morning image, correct? Very nice light.

Question: at this time of year isn't the migration moving north into Kenya? If so why are they moving back into Tanzania?

Roger

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Roman,

.......... I assume this is an early morning image, correct? Very nice light.

Question: at this time of year isn't the migration moving north into Kenya? If so why are they moving back into Tanzania?

Roger

Early morning light is correct! As for the migration it is moving into Kenya......I have come to the conclusion that wildebeest are the minnows of land. The grass looked very lush and green in Kenya......so not sure why they risked the crossing back! I saw a herd of a couple thousand cross back into Tanzania......and then immediately after a herd of 20-30 crossed back into Kenya and joined up with the 100 or so that chickened out of the crossing. All 4 major crossings I had were from the Kenya to Tanzania side. 2 were in perfect light.

[Harshad Barve]

HI Roman

I am against flow here , this does not work for me
TFS

[Kirk Adams]

Early morning light is correct! As for the migration it is moving into Kenya......I have come to the conclusion that wildebeest are the minnows of land. The grass looked very lush and green in Kenya......so not sure why they risked the crossing back! I saw a herd of a couple thousand cross back into Tanzania......and then immediately after a herd of 20-30 crossed back into Kenya and joined up with the 100 or so that chickened out of the crossing. All 4 major crossings I had were from the Kenya to Tanzania side. 2 were in perfect light.

In the period of a single day, the herds are known to cross over to either side multiple times.....they know of no man-made boundaries, but only the smell of rain and fresh grass. Humans create boundaries :-)

[Robert Amoruso]

I saw the other image first Roman and feel that one is much stronger compositionally and action-wise.