Eye to Eye

[Stu Bowie]

Another surfing Heron from my series of these Grey Herons enjoying a ride on the back of a Hippo. I like the look of the Heron staring at the Hippo, as if a bit cautious, but no harm is done. With a fixed lens, I was lucky to at least get most of the Hippo's head in, even though having some space on the right would have been ideal. Taken alongside sunset dam in the Kruger National Park.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300F/2.8 +1.4 TC = 420mm
1/2500
F/7.1
ISO 800

Hand held from the car.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Cute! Cool shot, Stu! You've sais it about the space but that's the occasional frustration about primes. There's enough to supply sufficient context, though so it's still a good shot technically and a keeper in my books!

[Mike Poole]

Nice interaction shot Stuart. I agree it would have been nicer to have more space on the right, but it still works for me

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Stu - nice light and dof. I like the pano crop too. I agree with your self-assessment of the space on the right but it's the hazards of using a prime and the ever changing action happening in front of us. I like the oof hippos in the bg too.

TFS,
Rachel

[Joseph Przybyla]

Over here those herons seem to eat anything, where you are they seem to catch a ride on anything. Nice image, very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Pretty neat scene. Well exposed, sharp. Yes to more room at right as the clipped hippo snout is rather unfortunate, and perhaps at top too. As posted I'd eliminate the top-most hippo as it adds to the sensation of needing more space up there.

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

If there weren't so many moving parts here, with hippos in the background, I would have suggested taking two quick frames of the main subject, one slightly to the left and one slightly to the right and then stitching them. Can work to squeeze the whole image in when your FOV is too small for a single shot.

Pretty darn funny. DO the hippos every try to get the herons off?

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Pretty darn funny. DO the hippos every try to get the herons off?

Thanks Randy. Good point on taking two images for a stitch. Im sure you are aware that action like this happens so fast and lots to try and take in to get the best shot. Nature never stays still. With regards to getting the herons off their backs. I think they do sometimes get annoyed, even though they probably cant feel them on their thick hides. Here is an image I posted a little while back from this trip where the hippo decided to submerge himself, probably due to being annoyed. http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...et-off-my-back

Thanks a stack to everyone else for your feedback.

[Tom van den Brandt]

Such a funny and very nice image Stuart. I really love it a bit more room at the right in front of the Hippo would have been nice.

Tom

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

My strategy in this situation, make my best attempt at a single frame to capture it all, but if time allows, add the extra frames for later post processing use. Doesn't work very often, but it is so easy to take the same slightly flawed shot over and over, when you might make it a great shot with the extra canvas to work with.

Randy

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Stu , funny shot with good color and tonal range . One little nit as stated already the cut off hippo snout , but still a great image .

TFS Andreas

[Stu Bowie]

Stuart:

My strategy in this situation, make my best attempt at a single frame to capture it all, but if time allows, add the extra frames for later post processing use.

I agree Randy. Although I didnt do it in this situation, there are many times I get the shot, and then play around with different comps, angles and when I use my 100-400, different focal lengths. Cheers.

[gail bisson]

I would love to see this in real life.
Great action/behavior shot and agree with what has been said by others.
Gail

[Jim Crosswell]

Very interesting and fun image Stuart. I like the interaction and setting.

[Binu John]

Great interaction shot, Stu! Excellent exposure, light and colors! Well done.

[Shawn Zierman]

Really nice storytelling aspect to the image....leaves much to the imagination as to what each subject might be thinking. Great job on the exposure. That heron just gleams in this scene.

[Richard Flack]

Cool image Stu! Like the way this captures the behaviour and habitat nicely. As you say pity that you clipped the hippos nose. And I agree about getting rid of the top hippo

[David Salem]

He sure dose look worried. I like the interaction between the two and the detail and exposure looks great. I like the others in the BG too. Very cool.