Anything but Boring

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Dear BPN Friends,

I have missed the interaction and your comments and that excitement posting a new image brings!

We are back from yet another trip to the Kalahari with new lessons and many after-thoughts...In a nutshell, we were at first disappointed for not having the opportunity to spend time with our lions ( we often followed fresh spoor yet they eluded us every time) but we soon discovered joy in following, watching and photographing various other species. I would like to share with you just one example tonight, that being an image of springbok running. There are many more where this came from but I decided to work on all of them, so this is the first. It is not my best yet I find it extremely entertaining, hope you enjoy. Critique and comments always welcome, be it technical or otherwise. By the time the trip was over I managed to improve my technique of shooting these little guys as well as learnt a great deal about their behaviour. More to follow in the next few weeks/months

Nikon D3S
Nikon 500mm VR
F7.1
1/3200s

Used a bean bag this time around, I prefer the gimbal but the old support needs some changes...

Kind regards, enjoy the week-end,

[Martin Dunn]

Gabriela, what a super action shot.
I usually only see these guys running away from me so to get them running (and jumping) towards you is great.
The puffs of dirt add to the sense of action and speed.
I think your panoramic composition is well suited to this image.
Judging by the shadows the sun is quite high, but that's one of the nice things about antelope - they are active all day.

If you can't be with the one you love - love the one you're with. (CS&N)

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hi Martin!

Love your avatar

About the springbok running: myself and Andre thought the same until we decided to drive ahead of them (they keep going one way) and waiting for them to approach. This is when the behaviour thing comes in: early morning and late afternoon when it is cooler they tend to be more active; if there are many young in the herd some action is almost guaranteed, they are playful and particularly males like to show their strength (the high jump) and capabilities. We have hundreds of these shots, spent hours waiting ahead of them, anticipating action. It was so much fun, I would do this every day, the whole day!

The sun was hot and the Kalahari is truly unforgiving, we had 3'C at 6am and 34"C at lunch time...Plenty of sunscreen and moisturisers to counteract the sun and the wind...still to me the most amazing place on Earth...

Thank you Martin, you are very kind with your comments, I really appreciate it.

Kind regards,

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - Welcome back! I'm glad you had a fruitful trip even without the lions. With an image like this it's all about the action and your timing was great to capture the leap and the dust clouds. Excellent sharpness and dof to have both in focus. Well done and looking forward to more from your trip.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Welcome back Gabriela, and what an opening shot, too.

it's all about the action and your timing was great to capture the leap and the dust clouds.

Spot on Rachel, the action, composition and crop all work very well, creating and excellent image. Good to lead on the lead animal, and techs look good to, freezing the action. I wonder what you would choose to follow if it was a cheetah & impala? Overall I very much like it, however I do have a question, have you upped the colour temp/changed the WB?

TFS
Steve

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Gabriela,

welcome back. I had a laugh when I saw this image. Great action shot. I love to watch those vegetarians as well
All works very well with me

Enjoy your weekend

Ciao
Anette

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Rachel, Steve and Anette

Steve, I once tried to shoot a cheetah chasing impala and on that occasion I realised how fast the cheetah really is! I was seated in the back of the Landy behind the driver's seat when the cheetah (at the time right next to my window) went behind the vehicle and chased its prey down the river bed-I managed to jump on the other seat, grabbed the 300 lens and shot (I had my 500 for close ups in my hands and the 300 ready on the other seat). My plans did not work out, things happened so fast that all I got is a shot of a tree and the cheetah stretched in the air between the leaves Yes I have changed the WB as an experiment. Found the mid grey point on the right ear of the left springbok but decided to change the WB to "daylight" to see what happens. I kind of liked the change, do you find the image too warm? The subjects' colour perhaps too harsh? Glad you enjoyed this fun image anyway, there's more where this came from

Have a great Sunday,

[Steve Kaluski]

I kind of liked the change, do you find the image too warm?

Getting that balance right as a 'starting point' does make it cooler, what direction you take is personal taste & recolection. If you like it that's all that matters.

[Gabriela Plesea]

...I like the look on the bokkies' faces, Steve...it's priceless! Cannot wait to show you the others

We used to say: " ...there are few thousand springbok in the Kalahari...we've seen them all"...well maybe that is true, but we haven't seen all they can do!!!

PS By "bokkies" I mean springbok

[Tom Graham]

I like color and WB of original.
No one else has mentioned, but, I'm funny about merges and the dead tree branch merging with the legs bothers me.
Tom

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you kindly Tom. I gave a good long thought to that branch while processing and eventually left it in the picture for personal reasons...I have been to the Kalahari so many times that I know by now about every tree, every rock and every fallen branch in certain places, especially near water holes. Because we spend hours near waterholes. Two years ago in October an eland was killed near that branch. This year in March I photographed some jackals there, playing with the skull of the same kill. The Kalahari is so dry, even the hides of some animals killed by predators are still visible, scorched and hard as bone. This shot is part of a series taken recently-we had a lot of time on our hands and decided to drive ahead of the herd and wait for the springboks to chase each other. I realised the branch was somewhat in their way and they either avoided it (that meant running towards our vehicle) or jumped over it. My plan worked, over and over again. The branch was part of the plan and therefore I decided to include it in the image. A bit of a complicated answer, but I am sure you'll understand

Kind regards,

[Morkel Erasmus]

They are great showmen, aren't they? Lovely framing, timing and exposure control Gabriela. Can't add more to what's been said above...the branch merge doesn't bother me, didn't even see it until I read Tom's comment.
Looking forward to more "bokkies"!

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Morkel, more bokkies coming!

Warmest regards,

[edwardselfe]

Great image and I like the explanation of the branch. Shows that you took time to get to know your subject and worked out how to get a good shot. And it is a good shot. The distance between the antelopes and the residual puffs of dust tells the viewer just how fast they were running, and there's real determination on their faces. Great timing and look forward to others.
I think I might tone down WB a little as suggested, perhaps increasing saturation on the 'boks if necessary afterwards. I am sometimes tempted to increase colour saturation with the WB level, but usually find it's better to get a true WB and work from there. However, you were there and you know what impression you got at the time. Either way, it's a winner.
Ed

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Ed! I guess this Afrikaans word "boks", or more affectionately said "bokkies" is going to stick to this image. And perhaps the ones to follow...We have so many languages here in South Africa! I was born in Eastern Europe but I have been living here for over twenty years; although my home language is English, I seem to have "borrowed" expressions from other languages like Afrikaans and Zulu, etc.

Regarding image, I took note of your suggestions as well as comments from the others, hope I can apply these to the images I'll be working on soon!

Kind regards,

[Tom Graham]

"....usually find it's better to get a true WB and work from there."
How would one find the true WB from this image?
Tom