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Thread: First Meal

  1. #1
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default First Meal

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    Last year, my wife and I were incredibly blessed to be able to witness a litter of 17 African Wild Dog (Painted Dog) puppies come out of their den for the first time and feast on regurgitated meat brought from the pack's hunt. These pups are all from the alpha female, a massive litter for these critically endangered predators.


    This image crashed out of the final round of judging in this year's BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.


    Techs:
    Nikon D3s
    Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
    f8.0 | 1/640 SS | ISO-1800
    (location: Ngala Private Game Reserve, central Kruger region, South Africa)
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 05-27-2016 at 03:59 PM.
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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Just a wonderful moment to saviour, let alone capture Morkel, well done indeed.

    The cutoff off pup is unfortunate and would have loved a slightly better HA showing an eye from the adult, all in an ideal world of course but shouldn't detract too much overall.

    Very envious here as these pups are very young indeed, I'm guessing only 3 weeks old and perhaps as you say venturing out for the very first time, an honour indeed to witness.

    TFS


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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks Marc! Agree, in a perfect world there would have been some slight compositional benefits, but as you can imagine this whole sighting was pretty chaotic. 14 adults and 17 pups!

    Quote Originally Posted by Marc Mol View Post
    I'm guessing only 3 weeks old and perhaps as you say venturing out for the very first time, an honour indeed to witness.

    TFS
    Not perhaps, mate, we were there with the EWT field officer who monitors the entire greater Kruger metapopulation and had camera traps set up and daily visits to each den site in the area. The first time for sure
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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post
    Thanks Marc! Agree, in a perfect world there would have been some slight compositional benefits, but as you can imagine this whole sighting was pretty chaotic. 14 adults and 17 pups!



    Not perhaps, mate, we were there with the EWT field officer who monitors the entire greater Kruger metapopulation and had camera traps set up and daily visits to each den site in the area. The first time for sure
    Totally, I should have worded that better, my perhaps was more pertaining to the age of the pups, and thought that this was in Mana as well, my apologies mate


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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marc Mol View Post
    Totally, I should have worded that better, my perhaps was more pertaining to the age of the pups, and thought that this was in Mana as well, my apologies mate
    No worries
    Should have stated where it was in caption eh
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    Hi Morkel -- What a special moment and scene . Indeed you were lucky but you made your own luck by being there on the field . I loved the scene, not sure of the composition though as far as the half body of the extreme RHS cub . Hard luck on the Final round of Judging , though I am sure you had other images also in the Final round which might have been selected .

    TFS !

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel - A treat to get a clear view of these pups at such a young age. Well captured and processed. Yes, too bad about the partial pup but nothing you could do. Nice dof to have mom and pups sharp. It all just comes together nicely.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Morkel looks like mum is keeping a sharp eye on these pups to see if they are all getting there share,agree about the right hand pup but it would be lovely if we got everything we would like all the time.really enjoyed viewing this one.

    Keith.

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  14. #9
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Good evening Morkeltjie,

    This goes straight to my heart! Love the little chaps, what a privilege to see this. So glad you allowed Mom to be present in the frame, wonderful behavioural frame!

    Good thinking there with F8, I won't complain about the framing because I understand the challenge given the number of WD at this sighting. Also, one cannot move the vehicle up and down to look for a better spot, it is of utmost importance to not disturb the scene, especially with such little fellows around:)

    Just two questions: in retrospective, would you up the ISO to get more SS, maybe increase DOF as well, or you think it would not make a difference? Have you thought about a slightly tighter crop from the RHS?

    Really enjoyed viewing and I thank you so much for this post, a rare moment in time, very special - appreciate you sharing

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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