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Thread: After the Kill and the Rain

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default After the Kill and the Rain

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    Thought I'd kick off the theme properly!

    A cheetah family in the Mara Triangle. I've posted some images from this sighting periodically.

    The female caught a Thomson's gazelle in front of us after we made the call to stick with this family for more than 4 hours (a privilege we can enjoy on our Great Migration safaris, having one of the only camps set up in the more private Mara Triangle) and then the family devoured it (5 cubs in total!) under a torrential downpour. As the rain subsided, so the feeding finished, and the grooming started.

    Low light, overcast, sunset, you can imagine the exposure challenges here. DOF was at a premium, and you needed to carefully select where you place the focus of your images.

    Techs:
    Nikon D3s
    Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
    f4.0 | 1/250 SS | ISO-3600
    Handheld
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 05-03-2016 at 12:28 PM.
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    Great capture Morkel! The focus on the cubs makes the image for me. I wish the head cub in the back was a bit higher but it is still a dream image for me!
    Kalin

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Dearest Morkel,

    Mara is magic indeed, a special moment you witnessed here, although in terms of comp I am not sure this works for me: the cheetah Mom a bit too far from the grooming cubs and the difference in DOF affects the way I perceive the scene in a negative way. Colours are great, they remind me of our wet green Kalahari. SS too low IMO and I do understand you had no support, did you put the VR on at least? The two young grooming do look as if they went through a lot of PP work, also the patch of ground beneath them. I realise this is more about the "moment in time", sadly it does not grab me as much as I would want to. I hope you forgive me, you have been so kind with your comments on my images that I feel bad showing not enough enthusiasm for this. I love what you saw, just not the way you captured it. Looking forward to what the others have to say, my warmest regards to you and accept my apologies for being so blunt, please.

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks Kalin & Gabriela.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gabriela Plesea View Post
    Dearest Morkel,

    Mara is magic indeed, a special moment you witnessed here, although in terms of comp I am not sure this works for me: the cheetah Mom a bit too far from the grooming cubs and the difference in DOF affects the way I perceive the scene in a negative way. Colours are great, they remind me of our wet green Kalahari. SS too low IMO and I do understand you had no support, did you put the VR on at least? The two young grooming do look as if they went through a lot of PP work, also the patch of ground beneath them. I realise this is more about the "moment in time", sadly it does not grab me as much as I would want to. I hope you forgive me, you have been so kind with your comments on my images that I feel bad showing not enough enthusiasm for this. I love what you saw, just not the way you captured it. Looking forward to what the others have to say, my warmest regards to you and accept my apologies for being so blunt, please.

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela, thanks for your honest crit - always appreciated.
    I see no problem with the SS used. I know to where I can push the SS given the kind of behaviour I'm capturing and the handholding technique I apply. The cubs are pin sharp.
    I also didn't process them overly - perhaps you are merely picking up on the narrow band of DOF for the focal plane they are on compared to the OOF plane where the mom sits.

    Personally I like the shape mom has and knowing that I would never get them all in focus, even in good light (they were that far apart), I am happy with the result. I also like how her arched position mimics the "Golden Mean" compositional overlay. This aspect does also present better in monochrome though.
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    Hi Morkel -- I personally like images with thoughtful composition and this one is no different . The over processed look on the cubs might be because they are soaked in rain and hence appear as over sharpened . The cubs lying near the mum , had they not been their then it would have been a more pleasing comp . Not one one of your better images Morkel but still a decent image .

    TFS !

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    Here's the monochrome, for interest' sake...I might have posted this one before, yet this is a bit of a rework.
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    Yes Morkel sorts out most of the issues, actually it looks much better than the colour version .

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Love the B/W Morkel, it feels like there is less separation between those grooming cubs and Mom.

    You are such a sport, I did not sleep so well last night thinking I offended you...and here you are, always the gentleman:)

    May I please ask what WB setting you used when capturing this image?

    Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, also for providing the B/W version, appreciate it

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel - I prefer the color version and the comp works for me though I think I would prefer it without the other cubs at mom's feet. The wet look works too.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Like Rache, I far prefer the color version. Excellent job with the image design and a great job by mom with the look to the left. I would love to see a version with the mom in sharp focus as I always have a problem with o-o-f stuff this side of the plane of focus. I think that the cubs behind mom are more distracting out of focus.

    Lastly, I am confused by this: "Low light, overcast, sunset, you can imagine the exposure challenges here."

    Exposure looks straightforward at about +1/3 stop with Nikon....

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    Lastly, I am confused by this: "Low light, overcast, sunset, you can imagine the exposure challenges here." Exposure looks straightforward at about +1/3 stop with Nikon.... a
    Hey Artie. Should have probably used the phrase: "ISO challenge". Meant to say light was low so tradeoffs needed to be made with SS and f-stop to keep ISO reasonable 😊
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    Hi Morkel,wow this is thought provoking actually for me almost a brave photo to take as I know already there were very deliberate choices made here by your goodself So this is incredibly interesting for my learning curve to have a foreground subject chosen to be oof by someone whose work that i have seen thus far frankly oft takes my breath away.Straight from the hip,(straight talking as honest as I can be but I hope not blunt or offensive just honest) I am unsure morkel, it's not that I dislike the image or concept,it's whether I'm letting myself be free of "conditioning". I am used to seeing an in focus foreground subject is that restraining my point of view,yee gads does that make sense?

    morkel i'm confounded I prefer the B&W version mum has taken on a somewhat ghostly appearance I freely admit most of the time colour is my preference it's just so evocative for me. But here my preference is the monotone rendition. The image instantly takes me back to sir David 's earlier films,I have no idea why.

    Morkel I must echo Gabrieal's sentiments I am usually completely blown away by your images,ahh you know that so this one and being unsure is somehow difficult to get across. i'm not the most eloquent guy mate,which has made this post hard,but I must repeat a real unsurity to this but on all levels it's not dislike

    Thanks so much for this post Morkel
    take care

    Stu

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel,

    very nice moment you have captured. I as well like the color version more. Works better for me. Loved the wet fur, that adds quite a lot for me.

    I must go to Mara one day

    Have a great day

    Ciao Anette

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