Moment of Silence

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey everyone - back from some family time at the coast. I'll get stuck into the backlog of critiques tomorrow!

This morning shall live in my memory for a long time. Having found the Namutoni pride around the Klein Namutoni waterhole the previous evening, my wife's premonition that they would have a kill the next morning came true. As I drove into the clearing I saw the young males trotting with purpose behind an old giraffe bull who was dragging his hind legs from fatigue. They must have been chasing him for hours already. He eventually turned around and faced the music, but he had no real fight left in him. In the end it only took two of the lions to bring him down, and he was subdued without even trying to get back up. Depth of field and shutter speed were tough to maximise with the low light I had. An amazing, riveting and humbling sighting - and I was the only one there. Once the rest of the pride caught up with the action, they too seemed spent and rather than tucking in, they took some time to rest and relax. This lioness was so tired from the night's chase that she sought out the giraffe's neck for a comfy pillow. To me it seemed like she was almost taking a moment of silence to say thank you to the giraffe for offering his life so they can eat and live, the respectful hunter taking stock of the deed she just committed.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4.0 VR-II
Apex beanbag on vehicle door
f5.6 | 1/320 SS | ISO-2000

[Colin Driscoll]

Wow! (Could we see this one in color too?)

[Don Railton]

Hi Morkel,

This is a very powerful image...The closed eyes and the two paws on the neck speak volumes of the effort put in by the pride and the determination it must take to make the kill and you have captured the moment perfectly IMHO. Well done..! My only suggestion is to (very slightly) slightly darken the BG, or more to the point, don't make it quite so light.


DON

[Rachel Hollander]

Morkel - Fantastic and this works so well in the toned image. No issues from me at all. Congrats!

TFS,
Rachel

[Marc Mol]

The head rest with both paws on its reward speaks volume buddy, good conversion as well.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel ,
great story and the conversion works very nice with this frame. Well done.
TFS Andreas

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

The lioness is saying grace, Morkel!

A great moment nicely captured. Nothing I'd do any different, well done!

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Morkel

Very powerful indeed, evoke emotions felt before in Kalahari.

Angle and comp works for me.

Would have liked some detail on underside of giraffe's neck.

You have captured emotion in this image, something not easily done.

Andre.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks everyone...glad you liked it!

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Morkel,

I started my browsing and comments tonight on a very humorous note but your image has altered the mood soflty-a kind of sadness set in, maybe it is just late and time I went to bed, or perhaps this touched me in a way very few images do. I am very taken with this, such unique moment you have captured here, this is so special, so evocative.

In all honesty, right now my feelings oscillate between admiration and jealousy. Admiration for your inspiration to press the shutter button at the right moment, and jealousy because I was not there to see this and capture it myself...This is the kind of image I am dreaming of.

Outstanding work Morkel-congratulations!

Warmest regards,

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks so much, Gabriela