Captured this magnificent young rhinoceros during a morning drive yesterday in the...err...in a park. Hand held and very heavy but we could not really reposition the car, we were quite close to him and already switched engine off. He was wondering around, in and out of the bush, facing us then turning away from us, something was bothering him in the bushes nearby and we later saw it was another rhinoceros...
On two occasions I had the pleasure of helplessly watching a white rhino running straight at me, once on foot and some years later while driving in the same park. So I am extra cautious now, I have developed great respect for these guys. Met with a ranger yesterday and he told us how an older male rhinoceros lifted his game viewing vehicle off the ground earlier - using his horn - as he was driving around with guests and stopped for them to take a few pictures. He went on to explain that a rhino mum accompanied by her approx. two year old offspring were bothered by this big male; the youngster ran away and in fact we saw him too, he looked rather desperate to join mom but had to stay away. Apparently the big male's testosterone surge caused him take out his frustrations on the vehicle...Although game rangers here are very experienced and extremely cautious, these things do happen and if I ever drive past the panel beater's yard I take a quick glance at the vehicles parked outside and marvel at the damage they suffered by by either elephants or rhinos...
The subject in this image was unsettled at first but soon relaxed and started grazing, his companion nearby. This gave me an opportunity to capture him in various poses. Sunday was overcast the whole day but the sun was occasionally peeping through, at the time my exif data was:
ISO 1000
F6.3
1/800s
Nikon D3S
Nikon 500 F4
Comments and critique of any nature always welcome and appreciated.
Wonderful & exciting sighting plus a great image to take home! I especially like how the light brings out the skin textures & those long scratches on his side. Also very good to clearly see the eye. I am very impressed by those enormous feet! As always, you wrote a good story too. I appreciate your words setting the stage for the image.
Hi Gabriela - I'm glad you had a successful outing yesterday. I like the frame filling comp here. You've brought out nice detail and texture. The reds seem a bit heavy but I don't know if it is due to the color of the dirt in the area. Overall, very nice though.
The first time I saw a black rhino in the Mara over 10 years ago, it was taking on the front tire of a school bus. It took exception to the school children's singing.
Hi Gabriela, wonderful sighting and you captured this magnificent rhino in good light, great details, sharpness, and tonal range. The only thing I would wish for is a little more room all around, especially left and top if you have it. I know how it is when you see something like this and you already switched off the engine. You cannot move! I was in new York this weekend and paid B&H a visit. The 200-400 zoom would have solved this problem. :). Loi
Thank you kindly for your feedback, I just had a look at the image on my laptop while reading your comments and noticed some artefacts from processing Sorry about that, I reduced the brightness on the big screen few days ago and forgot about it.
Rachel, the soils here are red, very rich, and plants grow even when you stick them in the ground upside down...You should see my garden! The entire environment might look oversaturated, but it really IS that green there...winter is around the corner though and the greens will turn into yellows and browns soon.
Loi, this is indeed FF, took off a tiny bit from the RHS...My other lenses were in the Pelikan box, it would have taken too long to put the D3S on the 200...
Chat soon, I must go and work now, have a great day everyone!
Hi Gabriela, always good to see a Rhino, glad you omitted the location.
Gorgeous light and I quite like the body angle, but the feet are great, often hidden by grass. Techs look OK, but I agree with Loi, just too tight, 70-200 would have been good and if you needed a little more then a 1.4x or the equivalent Nikon would, I am sure have done the job. I think it's on the cusp whether it needs a fraction more USM or not?
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Hi Gabriela, what a frame filler. But i think the frame is filled a bit too much for my liking.
Colors and tones looks good in general , just thinking you lightened the shadow areas a tad too much. (greetings from Mr Google ?)
If it was mine i would add some points of mid tone and some shadow to give it a bit more tonal depth.
Good story in the intro , never forget how dangerous they can be, i tend to be risky from time to time………….. so far all went good .
Ps i know where… ouch.
I think I might process and upload soon another one or two of the other images I have of this fellow. The first frames I took show him facing the camera, in some of them one front limb is raised and he looks as if he might attempt a mock charge (well, I hoped it was going to be only a mock charge!). I agree this looks -or rather is - tight, but just seconds before he was facing me so I have images with lots of space on both sides, it's just that one cannot see the eye properly. This was my thinking when I chose to work on this particular frame, although on completion I did wonder whether it was just too tight, but posted anyway.
Rhino behaviour is quite complex, and even though I have had so many encounters with them in the wild, I cannot always tell how they are going to react. They are solitary creatures, the only lasting association is usually between mother and calf, and this can take up to four years. This Sunday we observed a mother and her young together, spent about two hours with them and got some lovely images as well as some interesting bits of behaviour. The young (probably around two years of age) was sleeping on its side, enjoying the oxpeckers as they "combed" parasites (mainly ticks) off his belly, while mom was lying next to him with her eyes closed. He was fast asleep, her ears kept moving though, listening to every sound and ready to protect her offspring in case some predator took a chance. The rhino's sense of smell is very well developed and the olfactory chamber is large when compared with other animals. Hearing is exceptional and those funnel shaped ears are so flexible. The two were lying on a plateau, all soft sand, and every time the mother exhaled there was a cloud of dust surrounding her - I aimed above the eyes and increased aperture, on previous occasions my images were soft because of the dust so I tried to be more "clever" this time. I will share these images with you very soon.
Steve - thank you, I think another round of USM would not hurt, I tend to over-sharpen so I was just being cautious here...
Regarding location, I must emphasise that when I say "Park" I mean a Game Reserve, in this case one of the largest Big 5 Reserves and Andreas already knows the place, it is as wild as can be and almost as magic as my beloved Kalahari
...And did I mention I saw the tiniest baby rhino on Sunday afternoon? No images as mother and calf were too far away, but the baby was so tiny I could barely see him making his way through the grass!
Here's an image of the same rhino, taken seconds before the one I posted initially...Which one would you prefer, from the framing POV? This is full frame as well, no cropping whatsoever.
Lovely light on this White Rhino, Gabriela, and I quite like the frame-filling comp of the OP. Detail and texture is great too.
On your 2nd post pose it really looks chubby with the telephoto compression haha.
Thank you Morkel for your kind words, really appreciate you taking the time to view.
He is indeed chubby and in great condition, hope he makes it to old age...His girlfriend was just as pretty, err...chubby...I managed to get both in the next frame but they barely fit in
Sunday Morning...
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Sorry about that, I reduced the brightness on the big screen few days ago and forgot about it. 
, have a great day everyone!
, I tend to over-sharpen so I was just being cautious here...
