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Thread: Zimanga Wolfpack

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default Zimanga Wolfpack

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    I have just returned from a new reserve in South Africa called Zimanga - you would have seen some photos that Gabriela and Andre posted from the bird hides. This is a very exciting reserve in Zululand (northern Kwazulu Natal province, close to Mkuze Game Reserve and not very far from Hluhluwe-Imfolozi) - besides the current 2 bird hides (designed by Bence Mate from Hungary, 2010 BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year), they are also planning an eye level submerged lagoon hide (for wading birds, crocs and hippo shots), a large mammal hide and a few more. There is also a thriving pack of African Wild Dogs who are quite approachable on foot, a few cheetah who also allow you to follow them on foot and at times there have been up to 17 resident leopards in the reserve (although this fluctuates as leopards move across reserve boundaries). Lions are planned for later this year, and there are already elephants and "other" iconic animals there as well.

    More info: www.zimanga.com

    We tracked the pack of Painted Wolves (African Wild Dogs) one morning and they gave us quite the runaround as they move really fast and some sections of the reserve includes dense thicket. We eventually caught up with them and approached on foot. This was one of the photos they allowed us to get - I just love when these animals are relaxed around humans.

    It was still only 8am and the light was nice, filtering through the fever tree canopy here. Exposure was tough given the direction of light and the dark mottled coats/faces of the animals.
    I've got a contrasty B&W of this one that I like as well and might post it later.

    Techs:
    Nikon D3s
    Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
    f4.0 | 1/640 SS | ISO-400
    lying on my side in the road, shooting handheld

    I left the collar on the one on the LHS...easy to clone out though...
    This pack is monitored by the reserve management and the Endangered Wildlife Fund / Wildlife ACT volunteers - adults from this pack have been used to successfully repopulate various reserves across South Africa at no cost, also adding valuable genetic variation to regions with limited genetic variation - a good beacon of hope for Africa's most endangered predator.
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 06-16-2014 at 04:34 PM.
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  2. #2
    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Magic - love it! The lighting the composition and the interested poses really grab my attention. I did wonder about a sliver off the base but on reflection I think you have it spot on.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel - Looks like beautiful light. Great low pov and eye contact. I like the oof one in the bg too. You're right about wds being difficult to expose properly with their dark faces especially when they are in shade. Like Jonathan, my initial reaction was to have a little less of the oof band across the bottom but also thought better of it after a screen crop.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    You captured wonderful curious stares and postures of these dogs. Very nice having the light rim their ears. And great composition having the 2 main dogs in front and then a third in the back, blurred but with the same type of lighting. My dream is to jump out of the safari vehicle and lie on the ground to get the photograph. Now I see there is a place to do this. Will add this to my growing list of African destinations.

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    Good stuff. Maybe just that tiny lift of the darks???
    JohnR

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    Hi Morkel, very nice composition in difficult light. You handled the exposure well. I too feel the OOF FG is a distraction and too bad that it is in dark shadow. TFS. Loi

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel , thanks for the info on Zimanga .
    The image , great low POV , good colors and contrast . The OOF doggie is working in the frame for more depth.Framing by the bushes on LHS is giving a nice image design.
    The OOF FG is a bit distracting , but could be addressed by lightening the darker side and not cutting off the FG .If you cut off you will loose the nice depth that you have in the frame.

    Nice one Morkel , TFS andreas

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    Lovely image, Morkel. Loved the low perspective and the back-lighting looks great !

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    Nice one Morkel! I would have loved just a tad more light in their faces but not too serious.

    Your description reminded me of a lone visit to the wild dog enclosure at the Rhino & Lion park one day (mid-week) and as I left, the whole pack started following the car in a 'hunting jog'. I was leader of the pack for a few minutes and it felt just great! These are such lovely animals!

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Love the habitat and associated back lighting here Morkel, the rear WD brings good depth to the image also.
    I agree on the FG being a tad distracting, but to crop any more out would leave the whole image unbalanced, happy to have this in my WD files.


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    Again with the dark faces but I do like a bit of foreground MUSH! :)

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Mork, great that you could get out on foot, and just love the eye contact and raised ears from being inquisitive.

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    The OOF area at the bottom of the frame works well for me, as it adds an almost 3-d effect to the shot, especially combined with the 3rd dog. I too would love to see slightly lighter faces - I think a subtle lift could really finish the shot off

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Thanks everyone.
    Here's a repost with a few tonal/exposure changes as suggested. Let me know what you think...
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    Yes to the repost. Now we can see more of their faces and still have that nice rim lighting.

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    I have to agree I like the repost, I didn't think it was necessary but having seen it I like it.

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    The repost is a nice improvement (IMHO obviously!)

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    Forum Participant BenBotha's Avatar
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    I agree, the lighter faces are better.
    Ben

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    A question: which animal is closest to you? Another question: which animal is in sharpest focus?
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    Love the RP.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post
    Here's a repost with a few tonal/exposure changes as suggested. Let me know what you think...
    Yep, perfect!

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    Beautiful colours and rim lighting. Neither dog looks super sharp to me but perhaps that's just the small version on web.
    Would love to have seen this!
    Ed

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  31. #23
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    A question: which animal is closest to you? Another question: which animal is in sharpest focus?
    Front two dogs are nearly in the same plane - the one on our right is the sharpest at high res.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post
    Front two dogs are nearly in the same plane - the one on our right is the sharpest at high res.
    Our right or their right???
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    Our right or their right???
    Ours.
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post
    Ours.
    Crazy then. The sharpest focus clearly seems to be on the front animal on our left. Both the face and the body look well sharper....
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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    Crazy then. The sharpest focus clearly seems to be on the front animal on our left. Both the face and the body look well sharper....
    Just zoomed in to the RAW file again Artie - both look equally sharp as they were standing more or less in the same plane of focus. My sharpening must have been sloppy then.
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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Artie ,with all respect , i do not find this fair about the sharpness and focus point, i am referring to your thread where you ask not to make "microscopic examination " to your file and comment on that.
    Nothing else you are doing now here, i think.

    Regards Andreas

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    Quote Originally Posted by Andreas Liedmann View Post
    Hi Artie ,with all respect , i do not find this fair about the sharpness and focus point, i am referring to your thread where you ask not to make "microscopic examination " to your file and comment on that. Nothing else you are doing now here, i think. Regards Andreas
    Andreas, I think that you are way off base with your comment. #1: I have not mentioned anything about focus points. #2: I have been commenting on what I see in the posted JPEG. So you clearly think wrong.
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post
    Just zoomed in to the RAW file again Artie - both look equally sharp as they were standing more or less in the same plane of focus. My sharpening must have been sloppy then.
    Mork-man, I just put on my close reading glasses and looked at the faces of the two animals. You are correct; they are equally sharp. Perhaps the harsh sidelight on the animal on our right made the whole animal look less sharp to me. Thanks for following up on this :)
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    Lifetime Member Andre Pretorius's Avatar
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    Wonderful capture Morkel! Reminds me of Mana shots! So nice to have this on our doorstep, a Reserve that REALLY caters for photographers! Will return soon!

    Prefer the RP with shadows lifted on faces.

    VWD!
    Regards

    Andre.

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