I thought I would keep with the wild dogs for another posting. This is from a completely different pack. As some of you may know, Kirkman's Kamp in the Sabi Sands has a pack of 5 adults with 9 pups denning on their property. The pack seems to be doing well despite the recent death of the alpha male at the hands of lions (check out Kirkman's Facebook page if you want to see JP Joubert's images of the confrontation which occurred just before the pups were seen). The pups were thought to be between 5 and 6 weeks old when we were there last week. We were fortunate to spend lots of time at the den, helping to get the pups acclimated to the vehicle. Sightings are very controlled with only one vehicle allowed at a time and parking in a designated space a bit away from the den. While we were there the pups just tentatively started approaching an open area near the vehicle but mostly played near the opening to the den. This meant mostly shooting through some annoying foliage which you see across the pup at the bottom or having puppies behind grass. Here's one I was able to capture with at least a couple of the pups in the clear.
Canon 5D3
300 II plus 2x III
1/500
f5.6
ISO 3200
Monopod in safari vehicle, cropped some from left and above for comp, luminosity mask, levels, curves, selective color adjustments, selective burning and dodging, NR on bg, Nik Detail Extractor at 4%, sharpened in CCPS.
C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,
Rachel
P.S. Didn't realize this was my 8000th post but feel it is a fitting image of a special sighting for a milestone post.
Last edited by Rachel Hollander; 06-10-2014 at 06:52 AM.
Reason: Added P.S.
Green with envy & admiration over this sighting Rachel, what a privelige just to witness and capture!
I do applaud Kirkman's policy on the sightings and which ALL camps/lodges were that way.
Yes, it would have been nice to have them ALL in the clear but totally understand that hardly ever happens in the bush, but liked how you got the attention from all of them.
I did see the images on the males death, and hope the hierarchical order can soon be re-established. At least it was a natural death and not from some nasty wire snare, of which I have seen.
Have seen WD on many occasions, but never pups this young so I can only prey I get this opportunity on my upcoming trip to Sth Luangwa next week.
I as well envy such sighting. There comes the telecsope cutting thingy in place. We should invent one
Not much to add at this image, I might would turn down a bit the light LH upper corner a bit. That's about it.
Great sighting for sure.
Hi Rachel great sighting for you guys.Think you enjoyed it even if conditions has been less than ideal.
Nice to see all of them facing the viewer , would loose some of the top , not adding much to the image for me.
I do feel it is kind of thin from tonality POV , like as the previous one .
Maybe it is just me , the grass in front does look sharper then the doggies themselves ?!
Thanks Marc, Anette and Andreas. Andreas - thanks for the suggestions but I'd rather keep this ratio than go to a more panoramic or 16x9 on this one. The pups have a very fine whitish/gray fur that they are slowly losing in favor of their normal fur. I found it was a fine balance to bring out that fur and didn't want to go too contrasty because of it.
Super adorable! Vegetation is good for concealment for the animals, not so good for the photographer! Very good to have all eyes and all ears forward. I'm fine with that little OOF guy on the left peaking around the vegetation. Adds to the curiosity that all the pups are showing. I'm thinking that pup disappearing from the bottom frame might be less distracting if that one eye was not so bright. Maybe more vegetation!
Thanks Nancy, I would have preferred to be able to crop that guy on the lower right out but can't because he intersects with the one behind. Oh well, I'll just have to keep going back until I get the perfect shot .
This sighting is so precious, the subjects so special, and I took great delight in viewing this image!
I read the comments above with much interest, and knowing your capabilities in terms of processing I am certain you did your utmost best to present this in the best way possible.
Yes, you could have cropped from the left if you wanted to, but that little OOF pup is the shy little fellow hiding behind the tall grasses who adds a great deal of charm to this image. This is such an intimate scene, and let us not forget the subjects are at the top of the list of endangered species, their number (in my humble view) adds so much value to this image. What it would take to get the perfect shot? Apart from a great deal of luck, one would have to spend days following these guys. When the pups are ready to "travel", the pack will be moving fast, you were so fortunate to capture this, my guess is they were near the den?
In 2008 I was invited to join a group of individuals from Japan and UK who donated substantial amounts of money towards a wild dog project, we were up at 3 am every morning and allowed to join those wonderful people who gave their time and knowledge to study this pack of wild dogs recently introduced into this game reserve - an amazing experience I shall never forget. We followed them with some difficulty - they seemed to be always on the run and the vehicle could not always follow them through the bush; when we did find them they had already hunted and eaten and lying under trees (always in the shade), bellies full - I wish I knew a bit more about photography then, I have lots of images from that trip but the IQ is so poor, I should delete them but I just cannot bring myself to do so - they are the last images of these wild dogs; not long after we left they were killed by lions, one by one, so that particular attempt to reintroduce them into the wild had failed - we were all filled with sadness but the researchers (as well as ourselves) learnt a lot from the experience.
Sorry about the long story above, my intention was to emphasise how precious this image is and how special its characters. I have always had an interest in wild dogs and their behaviour and I am so happy to see a success story - love to see these pups and immediately counted them, not forgetting to include those little ears on the bottom RHS! Well done Rachel, I guess you could make the subjects "pop" a bit more, at the same time I am aware that Mother Nature must have given them this "soft, mottled" look so they can blend with the environment well and not be seen by other predators.
Hi Gabriela - yes, it was a very special sighting and we were very fortunate. They were actually still at the den. One of the openings is just below them. They just barely ventured off the termite mound which houses the den the days we were there. Now they are playing in a clearing a few meters/yards from the den. We saw the adults successfully hunt this same night and apparently they are often hunting 2x a day with so many young mouths to feed. Let's hope the news continues to be good about them.