The stare down.

One from the archives here, from an amazing encounter when the Nsefu pride took on 2 buffalo one extremely hot evening in Zambia's South Luangwa Nat Park.

Note the no-tip tailed lioness (RHS), she orchestrated the whole event.......what a hunter she was that year,:5 I saw her make 3 kills on that near month long trip.

With the sun already down, lighting was at a premium, hence the high ISO and very fortunate that I had the D3s, I loved that camera.:bg3:

Head over to the new Story Sequence forum for the full run down on how the whole event played out.:w3

Part 1
http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...P-%28Part-1%29

Part 2
http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...P-%28Part-2%29


D3s 500 f/4 VR 1/250s f/4 ISO6400. F/F, H/H from front pax seat, mono conv in PS CC'14 with a slight coffee tone of 10%.


C & C most welcome

Cheers
Marc

Beautiful image Marc, amazing dof for f4 on a 500., that buffalo has death in his/her eyes!

Hi Marc -- what a feel here ! Monochrome conv has given it an agonising feel from the perspective of buffalo and that look in its eyes nailed it for me ! TFS

Hi Marc - Fabulous tension here and the conversion works. The lions look a little gritty which may be intentional but if it were mine I would back off the clarity slightly. I do wish you had a bit more room on the left but understand this is ff. Overall though, an excellent story telling image.

TFS,
Rachel

Hi Marc, what a thrill to witness. Light was at a premium and you did all you could. I suspect the 'grittiness" of the lions is due to the DOF of F4, so may be back off on the sharpening. The only thing I would wish for is the lion on the right not blocking the face of the buffalo. But what can you do? Loi

Hi Marc

One of these images where image content weighs more than IQ..
Have 2 D3S's, have pushed ISO with 300f2.8 lens to 12800..(and posted it..)
My only question is..what happened next?:eek3:

Hello Marc,

Unique sighting and the conversion adds so much to the tension...I happen to know what happened next, having had the pleasure of viewing the images you have shared in Story Sequences - for which I must thank you again, I really enjoyed viewing:5

It is not often that we get to see something like this, indeed the sun is going down but this is when the predators start showing their teeth...in this case your "No-tip" lioness has done her homework well, the buffalo is cornered and we see not anger, but a great deal of angst, in the victim's eyes. I think you have done a great job in capturing this, obviously the lighting conditions were not ideal but quick thinking there from you pushing the ISO and dropping the aperture, and yes the old D3S knows how to handle noise - have you still got it, Marc? I still have one:)

I like the coffee toning, by the way. At first I found the image to be a bit dark but then decided I like it as is, it reflects the time of the day and enhances the dramatic feel. You have had some awesome sightings, Marc - I want to see them all:)

Thank you again for sharing your experiences with us, always looking forward to more:5

Kind regards,

Now this is your kind of solid image Marc! This is what I was talking about with your lion on the rocks. (sounds like you could call a drink that in Africa)

Love the drama and I think the grittiness adds a bit of character and drama to the mood of the image, though I'd also check a slightly smoother version.

Man, really nicely done!

This image tells oodles of story - conversion works and the grittiness is fine given time of day and artistic intent. I do think the clarity slider suggestion could help if you wanted to tone it down.
Now heading to the story sequence!

Hi Marc a stunning scene you captured , a pleasure to view .
I am just not too fuzzed about the toning , but as this a personal thing no big deal.

TFS Andreas