It was close to six pm. A rhino mother and calf had their drink but were still lingering by the small waterhole. Light was fading fast. The eyesight of this species is rather poor so it must have been their acute sense of smell that helped my subjects anticipate the arrival of a male lion. The rhino mother stiffened up and raised her head in defiance as the lion entered the scene. Her young decided to seek protection behind her. This is not unusual behaviour and my guess is, had it not been for the little one the adult would have probably carried on browsing.
They are so bold, so beautiful and so unfazed by predators, our rhino. And it is usually not lions or hyenas but humans, who are responsible for their rapidly decreasing numbers.
Nikon D4
Nikon 500 F4
ISO 1250
F8
1/1000s
-0.7EV
I am sharing this for a few reasons: 1. I think the situation is somehow interesting in terms of behaviour 2. I quite like that bit of golden light and the way it touches Mom rhino, highlighting her defiant pose and that awesome horn.
I experimented a bit during PP work with this frame I initially thought should go to the bin: it had some vegetation in the FG which I did not quite like and some tree branches on the RHS. The legs of the subjects were not fully visible. I'd say this is a 30% crop. Eliminated a few distracting elements like small rocks and of course those branches I mentioned above. Dropped exposure to create a more dramatic feel to the scene. I tried to maintain as much detail as possible in the shadowed areas. I do expect some of you to question the colour of the rhino but please know I allowed a certain "tinge" because that is what it looked like to me at the time of shooting and I liked it. Personal choice and you are welcome to say you do not like it, as well as do an RP - I welcome all your suggestions and critique.
Thank you so much for viewing, I appreciate it. Hope you all have a wonderful week-end:)







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. Also like the way you have dealt with the foreground suff.


I love this one Gabrieala,mind I'm a softy for mum and kids anyway. Is there an in joke I've missed regarding pink tinges??? what's a braii??

