Been in doubt whether to post this or not, yes-because this image depicts interesting behaviour of this species, and no-because this was taken at midday, in the shade, hand-held, and the crop was so big that image quality diminished to the point that I considered deleting. A dear friend encouraged me to keep it and try my best with the processing-you be the judge
I discovered these Three Striped mother and baby Mice while waiting for birds of prey to land near a water hole in the Kalahari. The car was parked in the shade so we were comfortable, Andre and myself, even though temperatures were rather high and we were in for a long wait. After about an hour I grew restless and started looking around for any signs of wildlife. To my surprise, I discovered Mommy Mouse running around under bushes nearby and only seconds later Baby Mouse joined her. She was extremely protective of him-although we were quite far from them, as soon as we moved about in the car she would bundle him at her chest and cover him from potential danger. They sat together for a few moments and then the little one disappeared again under the shrubs, only to return with a tip of grass (grass seeds not visible in this particular image). He held it up to her as if seeking her approval, their noses touched and then he started munching-this is when I took this image, unfortunately hand held because I could not reach the window on the seat next to me, it was occupied by a rather large case containing cameras and lenses.
By the time we settled in the right position to shoot, Mommy and Baby mouse vanished under the bushes again. Some Bateleurs were coming in and we returned to our seats, happy to discover once again what a crowded place the Kalahari really is...
Hi Gabriela - It is a very sweet and tender moment from a species we rarely see (or focus on). While the IQ may not be as good as usual due to the large crop, it was definitely worth posting.
Hi Gabriella, I would consider this 'work in progress' and base a little project on this subject. I wish Mum was more visible, however I like the wider aspect, retaining more of the environment and the ratio of the subjects. As I said before, we get hooked up that it has to be 'exotic' to make a good image, if you progress this it can be as striking and also stand a better chance of IOTW because it stands out from the crowd, diversity has it pluses at times.
Hope to see more as a developing theme.
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
love your mice images. This is a great one, love the grass in little hands. Would have been great if mummy would have looked for a few seconds to LHS. Oh well. I agree with Steve, also the little ones can be outstanding in images.
Had a few mice playing in a tree trunk while camping in Namibia. They have been fun to watch and as well to photograph