Etosha Pan

Attachment 174626
Our guide told us that some animals seek 'shelter' on the pan: obviously not from the sun but being in the open, it is a lot easier to spot predators even though the pickings are slim. He also said that many of the big predators like lions are unable to roam as far from water as some of the herbivores so that provides some additional safety on the pan. I'm unsure about this shot. I did like the concept of 'animals against the stark flatness' but not sure it has worked that well here. I did try a number of shots at different times and places and felt this was about the best of them. It would have been nice if I'd had the full head visible of the zebra on the left side. This is a pano slice from the full frame.

Thanks for looking and any comments you may have.

Technical: Canon 80D with Lens EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm handheld. Manual exposure 1/3200, f7.1, ISO 500. Processed in Canon DPP 4 (digital lens optimiser @ 50, Sharpness = 3, crop, lighting adjustments, reduced luminance NR) then exported 16 bit TIFF to Photoshop Elements. NR using Neat Image plus sharpening in Neat Image. Minor global lighting adjustments (midtone contrast, highlights). Sharpened in-focus band across middle of frame only (sharpness function: remove Gaussian blur, radius = 0.4 pixels, 50%) after final size reduction.

I like the concept here. Wish the zebra was on the right side of the frame.

Hi Glenn -- I too liked the concept here especially the positioning of the wildebeest between those Zebra's. Agree with your self critique reg the head of the second zebra, had that been awesome if it would have been facing the other zebra with its head completely visible. I am 50-50 on this one . Keep experimenting .

TFS !

I haven't checked properly - maybe just an illusion but does it look like it needs a little anticlockwise rotation?? Good idea but agree with your comment the LHS zebra needs raised head to increase impact. As it stands there are two main points of interest and one isn't if you get my drift.

Dear Glenn,

I do like the concept and composition works for me to a great extent. Well processed and colours look good, love those animals peppered in the background:S3:

But Glenn, had you waited for the LHS zebra to lift its head this would have been magic!

Otherwise such a beautiful tranquil scene, thank you for sharing my friend, glad you are back and posting,

Kind regards,

Hi Glenn- I also like the concept of these wide open vistas and having been to Etosha know it's not so easy to get such a shot. I wish the ridge in the fg wasn't there so that we can see the full legs and feet of the zebras. I think if the ridge wasn't there it wouldn't matter that the zebra was grazing rather than head up. Also the cloudless sky doesn't add much for me. I can see an alternate crop of an even narrower pano taking off about half of the sky. I hope to see more of your experimenting in the field.

TFS,
Rachel