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Thread: A Ray of Sunshine and Maybe Some Hope...

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Default A Ray of Sunshine and Maybe Some Hope...

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    Dear Friends,

    This frame is a little dark I know, but so is the fate of our Rhino in South Africa. Been sharing this on all possible media, trying to raise awareness of their situation.


    Nikon D4
    Nikon 500F4
    ISO 2500
    F4
    1/1600s

    Thank you so much for viewing, and for caring. Critique appreciated, be it of a technical nature or otherwise.

    Warmest regards,











    Gabriela Plesea

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    Dear Gabriela,
    They look so calm. The light is just the way it should be. I hope people will come to their senses and stop this ridiculous hunt. I think awareness and education are the key to it.
    Thanks for sharing!

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela, this is gorgeous, love the light and how the darks fall. Mum provides a cool backdrop and the calf is head on. Personally if you have it, then perhaps a hint more space all round, although I'm wondering about a hint less at the foot, WDYT?

    This is a cracking shot of a creature that is steadily getting closer to extinction, can we really allow this to happen???

    Nice one Gabriela.

    TFS
    Steve

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    A beautiful shot of an iconic African animal facing extinction due to human stupidity and greed. If we are serious about conserving this species then get behind the Australian Rhino Project (theaustralianrhinoproject.org) with some much needed donations.

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    Gabriela if this beautiful image does not make your point I wonder what will.Can never get my head around the fact that people would kill one of these just for a piece of horn.It's good that there are people like yourself making the plight of these animals known.

    Well done Keith.

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Gabriela this is one of my favs of your images. I love how you have done this. Beautiful. The light and al gorgeous as Steve has said already above. I have to chime in with a tad more space around, if you have it, give it to them... to live freely!

    This I would hang in my office

    Have a great evening with some pineapples

    Ciao Anette

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you for your comments Kalin, Steve, Gerhard, Keith and Anette:)

    Kalin, you are absolutely right - they were calm. Even in the presence of a big male lion who pitched up to drink at the waterhole!

    Steve, I do have more space on both sides, only there's a very unsightly bush on the RHS which is quite distracting, on the LHS there I have Egyptian Goose on the ground, I did not want to clone so I cropped instead:) In terms of saving the rhino, a decision was taken to remove the horns of those animals in some reserves in SA - I can only imagine what my images would look like from now on, but such is the price to prolong their lives, what can we do? Thank you so much for caring, I so appreciate it.

    Gerhard, a number of rhino were flown to Australia recently ( 65 I am told, from Kwazulu Natal where I live). We are very grateful you guys are looking after them, and I am sure they are safe there from poachers.

    Keith, I must have captured this and processed with my heart. It is so painful to see those innocent creatures relentlessly mutilated by poachers. But the day will come for those criminals, those cruel greedy masterminds, to pay. Hopefully soon.

    Anette - I will print it for you, come get it:) It comes with a big box of pineapples, LOL.

    Warmest regards everyone, have a good evening, once again many thanks...
    Gabriela Plesea

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    So very dramatic mostly in the dark with just enough light to illuminate the heads and a bit more. That catch light in mom is perfect, as is the perfect right angle of the baby to mom. The sun angle really highlights the rough texture of mud on mom. Love this one just as it is!

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Love the low angle and mood here, nice having them perpendicular to each other.
    Perhaps shave off some space in front of mom to get it more symmetrical, and agree with Steve on less at the bottom.
    Morkel Erasmus

    WEBSITE


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    Hi Gabriela -- You have rightly kept the mood of this image , especially the plight these magnificent creatures are facing . I loved the way they are standing especially the little one facing head-on . Agree about cropping a bit from the bottom . You certainly are making a good use of your images by creating awareness about theses animals . Well done on both the counts .

    TFS !

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Superb lighting and the juxtaposition of this pair Gabriela

    The lighting is just right IMO and simply one of your VERY best as well.




    Quote Originally Posted by Gabriela Plesea View Post

    This frame is a little dark I know, but so is the fate of our Rhino in South Africa.

    Superbly put


    PS, wondering if you have your D5 as yet?
    Last edited by Marc Mol; 05-14-2016 at 01:48 AM.


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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    HI Gabriela - I'm a bit late here, sorry. Love the lighting and the dark tones work here. As others said, the head on view of the youngster and the mom as a backdrop just works. Nice catchlight in mom's eye too. I agree about a little off from the bottom.

    I know that you and Andre do everything you can to support this species. You provide more than a ray of hope!

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Top class image of a species I find really hard to get good images from. Def agree about taking some off of the bottom

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    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
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    This is excellent.
    Love the light and the mood created by it.
    IQ and POV are excellent.
    Well done,
    Gail

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    Beautiful serenity and the lighting works perfectly. I like the side light that casts the shadow on mum, so different from the brighter shots and all the better for it.

    Mike

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

    Your kind feedback warms my heart, thank you so much. The struggle to get rid of poachers is still going on, good news is, for the past few days we have not had any casualties in the area. Holding thumbs for a poacher-free week-end.

    In terms of the image, I agree less foreground makes sense and I shall implement the change asap. Decided not to clone out the EG on the LHS for now, I might revisit this in a while and do so.

    Mark, the D5 arrived over a week ago but I had no chance to play with it, only charged batteries and looked at the settings. Right now it is tucked away nicely in the dehumidifier room and sleeping, I might take it into the garden tomorrow if time allows.

    Apologies to you all for not replying sooner, I cannot do so from work during the day and a number of commitments kept me away from the computer over the past few evenings.

    Wishing you all a fabulous week-end,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    What an beautiful,Simple and powerful image this is ..... The light is just perfect the mother looking at one direction and calf looking direct to the camera .... The colour and little BG looks stunning in the frame......
    TFS.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you Ritesh, appreciate it

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Your best. The image is a mirror of your thoughts regarding the fate of the rhino. Wishing you and all the endangered wildlife the best.
    Joe Przybyla

    "Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Lovely shot - not read previous comments I like the shot as is but would have tried to move slightly to the left to avoid the foreground branches obscuring the young rhino.

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you so much Joseph, for your kind thoughts and wishes. And thank you too, Jon:)

    Just an explanation: I guess the decision not to move the vehicle was unanimous, although we never touched this topic during this sighting or afterwards - there was simply no need for it. I never mentioned this in my introduction but there were other rhino around and a male lion was just arriving to drink at the waterhole nearby. It seems that Carl, Andre and myself always think along the same lines, which is: animals come first and then our photography. We sat as still as we could in the game viewer, trying not to disturb the scene. Blessed with so many photographic opportunities around here, neither of us has this desperate urge to do everything in our power to grab the perfect shot. This is often to the detriment of our images I agree, but we have too much respect for those creatures. We are immensely grateful to be accepted as part of their environment and allowed into their space.

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Gabby,I haven't had time to read all this thread,I can say I have stared and mused at this image for too long.

    I long for a day when mankind doesn't view a rhino horn as a form of medicene. I long for a day when a child didn't ponder how horrible it might be,that a potential mutilation of an incredibly stunning animal might save it from extinction. As a small boy Gabby, my mum paid for me to learn about animals in africa (via a magazine subscription) and I was that kid who thought about cutting off a horn and cried over it, at the utter desparation that might be their only chance of survival.

    This image is one of hope it is for me as an adult,although as an adult I feel untill we educate the market and stop them wanting,things will be hard to change

    This image provides hope for the child that I was who got to spend some time feeding a rhino in a zoo by hand(when no one was looking) she was so gentle with me Gabby,I shouldn't have been where I was,but I was small and loved her and nothing else mattered no one knows even my mum!!

    Gabby your image: the light is incredible,but that isn't what you caught. The juxta of mum and kid at right angles is sublime,but that isn't what you caught. You caught hope: a new life of an animal i'll probably never see in the wild,but will always hope that maybe my son or his son/daughter will be able to see this.
    So i'm not really going to critique this in the normal way,just say you brought some joy to my life,within that is the power of an image

    just beautiful Gabby,not because you try so hard to educate me just because it is !!

    take care mate, oh and of course thank you so much for sharing made my weekend this !!!!!!!!
    Stu

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you so much Stu, I truly appreciate your kind words and thoughts, very moving. Much appreciated.

    Have a wonderful evening,
    Gabriela Plesea

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