Sleepy Sable Antelope for Ken W.

[gail bisson]

Canon 7D
f 5.6 100-400
ISO 400
SS 1/1000
Aperture 8.0
Almost full frame
PP in LR3 and NR, cloned out several grasses around head of sable , S & H and selective coloring
Taken at 9:30am so light is a bit harsh. BG not ideal
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

An impressive fellow. Agree about the light and the BG. When you have the opportunity, and you know the BG is cluttered, I would recommend taking a few frames wide open to reduce your DOF as much as possible to soften that BG.

In this case, moving either left or right( if possible) to get his head away from the clump of bushes behind him would have helped. It wouldn't have caused any light angle problems under these circumstances.

Cheers

Randy

[gail bisson]

Hi Randy,
Couldn't agree more but we couldn't change the position of the vehicle,
Gail

[Marc Mol]

An impressive guy indeed Gail! Agree on the BG/DOF issue not great, was this taken in Botswana as I found them not as dark as where Ken has been seeing them in Zim?
TFS

[Ken Watkins]

Gail,

Thanks a lot for this, much appreciated.

Let's face it most areas of Southern Africa are not open plains, and many of the larger Antelope prefer the scrubby areas for both food and safety, bushes in awkward places are the norm.

Getting the black to come out of the camera black can to say the least be awkward, bit then that is only really a problem with the Males, of which this is a magnificent example.

Marc,

Through your eyes all of the Males are really black, I doubt that there is a colour difference between populations, or at least I have never noticed it. I might have some time in the Mopane west of Kwando to search for Roan and Sable, you never can tell:w3

[Marc Mol]

Marc,

Through your eyes all of the Males are really black, I doubt that there is a colour difference between populations, or at least I have never noticed it. I might have some time in the Mopane west of Kwando to search for Roan and Sable, you never can tell:w3

Most cruel Ken............have had the need for glasses more than ever now that my 53rd b'day is coming up!:t3:t3:bg3::bg3:

[Harshad Barve]

Nice one , agreed with Randy here
TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gail, these guys are magnificent animals, so congrats on getting this one.

Looking at the image firstly for me the IQ is lacking, especially when you look at the main body & mane and this is FF. The clarity and detail isn't quite there, perhaps some refinements in the RAW might bring things out more, but I see you were shooting some 23m away if I am correct, so heat haze could also be a contributing factor when shooting at a distance and to the BKG. I think you could have got away with 5.6, although the actual EXIF says 7.1 (@ 1/1600) so not a huge difference, but it might have given a little help in knocking back (diffusing) a little more of the surroundings. Certainly moving the vehicle would have improved things, even a couple of feet, as the BKG vegetation does conflict with those magnificent horns, but if you were fixed then...

TFS
Steve

[gail bisson]

Thank you all for your comments. I agree with all of you re:IQ and I wouldn't have even posted the shot except that I had told Ken that I only ever saw them lying in the grass and he requested a picture! I do believe the heat haze was a problem as temps were around 40 to 45 Celcius that day.
Gail

[Ken Watkins]

Gail,

Given that you posted this at my request, I thought it only fair to see what I could do with it, very difficult from a low quality JPEG

[Rachel Hollander]

Gail - still a nice sighting and good suggestions above both for in the field and pp.

TFS,
Rachel

[Stan Cunningham]

WOW Ken, I think you need to give us a lesson on removing backgrounds, that's really nice.
And Gail, they all can't be contest winners, and if brings back pleasant memories to you of a magnificent animal then it's a keeper.