Hope you are all enjoying the week-end, I was just looking through my recently edited images and found something I would like to share.
I recently captured this image at a waterhole in the Kalahari. A very fit looking male lion was around and the springbok were well aware of his presence - earlier they had seen him drink and then head off to a shady spot under a nearby tree. Interesting to observe antelope behaviour in a situation like this, they seem to know very well when a predator does not pose immediate danger, and can easily read body language to assess the situation... after some distress calls from a couple of individuals in the beginning (to alert the whole herd), they all took turns to drink and then departed, looking unconcerned and completely ignoring him.
It was only this particular springbok that seemed to take some strain in the presence of Mr. Lion, maybe he was their leader or minister of defence, his strategy was to run around the place at great speed and performing some awesome pronking behaviour, not far from the spot where the lion was. Just to show the big boy under the tree that he didn't stand a chance if it came to a race...
Here's just one of the images I managed to capture at the time:)
Nikon D4
Nikon 500 mm F4
ISO 320
1/2000s
F6.3
+0.3EV
Hi Gabriela, this is an awesome sprinting pose with the kicked up dust and the techs are spot on. I can imagine the speed with which these guys move! Well done.
Hi Gabriela - You did great freezing the action. I like that only one hoof is on the ground and the kicked up dirt behind. The sense of movement here is great. Sharpness and exp look good. Well captured and pp.
No time to change settings I am afraid, so no experiments - sorry to disappoint:) I shot with the settings I used previously on that morning, equipment in hand and just got lucky...a few sharp ones and the rest "to be deleted", ha ha. The last frame was super sharp and maybe the best, but ouch, included in the frame on the LHS was also a part of the vehicle, actually the frame of the car window:)
Might post another one I like, just hope you won't get bored with my "bokkies"
Have a great week, thank you so much for looking and commenting...
Love the image Gabriela and I think you are correct.. I've witnessed the same thing many times in Yellowstone and the prey seems to know when the predators are on the hunt or not...
Hi Gabriela , let the bokkies run for us , i think you can post more with this quality .
I love the dynamic in the image and the Kalahari colors / tones you processed . All does look very natural !!
Good that you included the kicked up dust in the frame gives even more dynamic,if this was mine i might sharpen the subject very slightly a bit more and would loose some from the top for more pano , but this is just me and not a must to do .
BTW very nice IQ , one layer or many layers in PS ?
...almost FF, just took a tad off the top and bottom of the image - no more dust I am afraid, but will show you another frame you might like...Internet on and off tonight but I will try anyway...
Andreas, err...no layers here...I took this in LR for basic adjustments and then Photoshop CC (yes, I sold my should eventually), levels and curves and some burn and dodge, sharpened for web after resizing..the next image is a tad different as I took away some of the warmth, reduced reds and yellows...will try upload it if Internet holds...
Thank you so much for your feedback, hope the bokkies are not too boring, I like your suggestions very much Andreas, but due to time constraints I will upload the next image as is...