Just wanted to share this with you all. With a lot of time spent out in the bush I have come to see the amazing leaping capabilities of impala but this really surprised me.
Was heading back for lunch around midday and a small group of impala caught my eye at the nearby dam. I could see the ram contemplating the gap and I had just enough time to take a series of shots of them all leaping over 4+meter gap. It was about 50m/60m off so the image is not of great IQ but hey! I was also up on the slipway so it is angled from a height. Not easy to portray just how high his jump was but I estimate at least 3m high. I have a series of shots of the others following suit. This is also from a standing position and away from waters edge.Amazing
1d Mk IV - Canon 300mm f2,8 L is USM Mk II
ISO 640 - f6,3 - 1/2500 sec
Oh Carl, you have witnessed something amazing here! When I saw this image on Andre's mobile phone today I could not believe it, I did not notice the little avocet either... Now this is a piece of natural history worth recording and I am so glad you were there to capture it. I am sure the moderators won't mind your second post, I certainly take great joy in viewing the sequence and I gather the other members too. You had the right settings to freeze the action, well done! What a leap! Congratulations my friend!!!
those are some great images, just wonder why on earth they id not walk through the water. It does not look deep. Maybe a croc around. Fr sure they can jump high and far. Great images, well done.
Thanks Anette and Gabriela. I think that is why they chose to jump the gap as there is 3m croc that lurks around that opening
Have a great weekend too all
Hi Carl what a jump !!!
You captured this very well, think not easy to get this as presented . Nice timing .
You might try to soften the BKG to give the illusion of a flying Impala even more .
Remember duplicate BG layer - invert -set to soft light - 20 to 30 % opacity - High pass at 10 px or a bit lower . add layer mask and paint in or out where needed.
Great action captured here, Carl! Agree about trying to soften the BG to make the subject stand out a tad more. Also, the RP for comparison looks like it is leaning left a bit, so could benefit from some straightening.
This is great action indeed..! Very surprised the avocet? hung around... It looks very much to be in the landing zone of the Impala in the first image.. Maybe it happens every day and no surprise for the bird..
That's quite some jump from a standing start, Carl! You timed and framed it very well...
IQ is not the best as per your crop and the time of day/heat haze...but I'd still keep this.
Thanks everyone for the comments and Andreas for your suggestion. This was more of a sharing opportunity and was not expecting anyone to comment on it as an offered image. Hope this is ok to do occasionally ? That is why I did not spend too much time on it.
Very cool picture. Nothing wrong with posting images of things you find interesting, others most likely will too. Just be sure to preface it with a comment about not really posting for critique.