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Thread: Mating Lions

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Default Mating Lions

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    Another great sighting in the Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa. We heard the lions in the distance as we left camp and went to look for them. We spent a quiet morning driving around with little luck and then heard them again somewhat close but we couldn't find them. The thought was that they were mating in the riverbed which in that area was in a ravine. So we kept circling around and crossing the riverbed where possible. Our tracker as well as a couple of other trackers were on foot and at least 3 vehicles were searching the general area. Of course once they were found it turned out that the lions were in the shade of some trees and that we must have passed that particular area at least half a dozen times without seeing them.

    When we first approached, the male was obviously grumpy and actually charged at our vehicle. Steve can tell you how close he got because I was checking the settings on my camera at the time and had my head down. I just caught a glimpse of his snarl (the lion's not Steve's).

    This was thought to be early in their mating cycle as there were long breaks between the sessions. The first time we saw them mate, they had crossed in front of us and then mated with their backs to us. It was over in just a few seconds so no way to reposition the vehicle. However, our Ranger, Dean, asked us if we wanted to let everyone else take a look and then wait for another turn to view. We did and after observing them for a while, Dean correctly predicted where they would come out of the group of trees. Dean positioned the vehicle and our wait began. It was more than an hour of sitting and waiting with the sun getting stronger and the light getting harsher. However, our patience and Dean's knowledge of animal behavior paid off as the lions got up from their catnap and mated facing us. It was over quickly but we were able to get a sequence of images. Here's one where I liked the snarl of the male. The female did not seem too impressed as she looks rather nonchalant and then simply rolled over and went back to sleep afterwards.

    Canon 5D3
    70-200 II @ 155mm (We weren't sure where they would mate or how close they would be so I wanted the flexibility of the zoom).
    1/1250
    f7.1
    ISO 800
    HH from safari vehicle, cropped to vertical from horizontal, luminosity mask, levels, curves, selective color adjustments, sharpened in CCPS.

    C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

    Rachel

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    Hi Rachel, very nice capture of a private moment - I was about to say intimate, but I agree with you that the female didn't seen to be so interested :). Too bad about the light, but you handled it well. I wonder whether a closer up shot would have been better as you had more focal length to spare. Would like to see the face of the male lion a little more details. Loi

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    This sequence/moment is always worth waiting for, no matter the time of day Rachel.
    You handled the harsh light well here. I would have zoomed closer or cropped closer, with less FG and less vegetation around them which in this case doesn't add much for me...
    Morkel Erasmus

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel , always fun to watch that , sadly she did not smack him afterwards , he must have been better as it seems to be .
    Your patience finally paid off even if light got harsh. You did well with the light and i like the overall tone /color.
    Nice detail and sharpness , agree with Morkel about the crop.
    I am just wondering that the shadows on the ground are not having a blue tint , it is sand .

    TFS Andreas

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Loi, Morkel and Andreas. Unfortunately, I didn't go tighter at the time and I am not a fan of heavy cropping.


    Rachel

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    Hi Rachel, great sighting and very well captured, you handled what looks like some harsh light very well, i would perhaps just tone down the high lights a little more on the side of her face, shadow detail looks good too. My only issue with the image is the space, the surrounding environment is not really adding to the image for me me and you are losing some subject separation with so much in the image, do you have any shot closer in? just my personal op and doesn't take away from the great sighting it must have been.

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, a great sighting, and its always exciting to capture moments like this. I like your choice of the vertical comp, and once again, Im going against everyone else and say that I like the surrounding bush.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Brendon and Stu for the comments and suggestions.

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    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Nice image - I am trying to include more surroundings in my images, but for me, the bushes don't really work here. Still a nice sighting and I would have waited for it too.
    Ed

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, a very difficult call on the shot. Having given them space and as you said, not knowing where they would move to, we had to keep options open, the 500, 200-400 & 70-200 were all to had waiting, but as most of you guys know, predicting is often the hardest part in situations like this.

    If the IQ allows going slightly tighter may work, but I'm OK as presented. With you being at a higher elevation it did give you the advantage with the FG leaves I had. Personally I would back off on the Curves/Contrast and also adjust perhaps the Radius in sharpening based on the posting.

    Steve can tell you how close he got because I was checking the settings on my camera at the time and had my head down. I just caught a glimpse of his snarl (the lion's not Steve's).
    This was only the second time in 24 years I've had a rather 'close' encounter, this guy was at full pelt, full on, stopping about 12ft away, with a huge attitude and he meant business!

    TFS
    Steve

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Steve and Ed Steve - I would have said from my quick glimpse that he was inside 10 feet away when he stopped.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Probably Rachel, at that time I doubt I was counting distance, more 1000th of a seconds before he was on me, but as I said at the time, there was no thinking, the whole situation just seemed to be put on paused, an unreal moment for sure. Personally I think it was good you had your head down at the time checking your camera.

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