Rock Hyrax (Dassie)

[Morkel Erasmus]

I have just returned from a lovely week in the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa. Though the trip was focussed on family-time I knew I would fit in some landscape photography, so I packed my gear and a selection of lenses (pretty much everything BUT the 500mm) - mistake...:2eyes2:

On the resort we were staying in there was a whole "brood" of Rock Hyrax (colloquially called the "Dassie") who were quite accustomed to human presence (though still fairly wild). I wished I had taken the 500mm, but in the end had to settle for the longest combination of what I had available, and some stealthy leopard-crawling techniques to get myself a tad closer to them.

This is one of the better images I managed of them. Taken in overcast light at midday in the shade of a thicket (they were in the bushes down by the river in the golden hours).

Techs:
Nikon D7000 with Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II + 1.4xTC @ 280mm (420mm effective FOV given the DX sensor size)
f5.6 @ 1/640 SS @ ISO-2500

PS: The closest relative to these guys in the animal kingdom?? The Elephant. No kidding. :t3

[Steve Canuel]

For such small animals, they're kind of creepy looking IMO. Always look like they're about to just go crazy and start attacking something. Even at the zoo. Like the pose and the BG. Nice job on the fur, seems to be difficult to get these guys without the fur looking over sharpened (similar to our marmots)

[Steve Kaluski]

He's a fat little bugger isn't he, certainly a frame filler. :bg3:

Like the low angle and small amount of OOF vegetation in the FG. Think you could squeak a bit more clarity & sharpness from the right eye (as viewed) & nose.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel
like the low angle with that close eye contact,colors ,contrast and comp.All of them i have seen so far look that fat.

Nice shot though. Cheers Andreas

[Ken Watkins]

There not fat, just cuddly, that is why Black Eagles find the so attractive:bg3:

Always difficult to get a good image unless they are sun bathing. Looks a little unsharp to me perhaps stopping down may have helped.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks Steve C, Steve K and Andreas! Will dodge the eye and nose some more :bg3:


Looks a little unsharp to me perhaps stopping down may have helped.

Thanks for your comment, Ken. Can't say I agree with you. DOF is quite shallow, yes, but the face is tack sharp even on the high res TIFF. As Steve Canuel mentioned - easy to make the fur look too scrunchy when applying sharpening here, so I chose to err on the side of caution. :S3:

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - Nice low pov and habitat. Good to see a different animal too. He does look bigger than the ones I've seen.

Now where are those landscapes?

TFS,
Rachel

[Harshad Barve]

Lovely image Morkelbhai , I need to shoot them this time in Mara , there are many at Mara Serena
TFS