Brown Hyena

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Friends,

I hesitated at first to share this with you, it is certainly not one of my best images. Decided to post eventually as I would like to hear your opinion.

Taken in overcast conditions. It was raining softly at the time, a few drops here and there, my subject moving quite fast and I knew I needed reasonable shutter speed for a decent shot. The scene was to me so unusual, I had to capture it and take it home with me. It does not resemble the Kalahari, I know... To those who have been there, the location is Kij Kij waterhole. Recent (heavy) rains performed miracles, I have never seen so much vegetation and so many shades of green in this semi-desert. Hope you like something about this. You might find it too busy and the BG overwhelming. Or perhaps not enough fine detail on the subject. Let me know if it does not work for you.

Nikon D5
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 8000
F5
1/1250

Kind regards,

[Marc Mol]

It shows what a bit of rain (well actually a lot more than a bit) can do to freshen up the landscape, your BG has a lovely dreamy paint effect here that only a big prime can deliver, agree fine subject detail isn't here and wondered if this was a large crop?

Having said that I loved it when you posted this on FB and love it just as much here, this is all about the sighting experience and not quality & technical skill IMO, just such a treat to see and witness Gabriela

TFS

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much Marc,

Not a very large crop, from what I remember. Mainly LHS and bottom. This is one such image I would normally share with my friends on FB but I could not resist sharing it here too. I thought Andreas and Morkel might have a look as they know this location. I do have better images of this Brownie which I took as she got closer and drank, but I just liked this crazy green BG with trees and everything:) I will share the better ones once I get to process them, and hopefully I can put together a sequence for the Story Sequences Forum.
Once again, much appreciated, have a great week-end Marc

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - My turn to be jealous. I still haven't seen a brown hyena in the wild. We looked but didn't find any on my recent trip. Interesting to see it so green. The bg does portray the overcast conditions well but it looks like some light was reaching the hyena. If it were mine, I would give the hyena and the fg a little more pop and try to bring out a bit more detail as well.

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Rachel,

Thank you so much. I think Brownies are truly beautiful. And so shy. I was fortunate to notice this individual as he cautiously approached the water nearby and kneeled to drink. He kept looking back as if he was followed, they all do. So cautious. I did not make a sound, was too afraid he'd go away without quenching his thirst. Only pressed the shutter when he seemed relaxed enough, one frame at a time. If you can put up with the poor image quality I will share more from this sighting. Some frames are more acceptable to me, especially where the subject is closer. Meanwhile, here's the above with a bit more pop, although I have a feeling that the more I fiddle with this, the more noise comes through.

Warmest regards,

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Gabriela, a cool looking Hyena indeed. I haven't seen one in the wild too. Nice soft light and environs.Agree the BG is a bit busy but the subject does pop especially in your RP. TFS.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Sanjeev,

So glad you're back, we missed you around here. Really appreciate you taking the time to look and comment

Kind regards,

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey Gabriela ....well i know KIjKij ....not as good as you , but i think the Hyena is on that ramp north of the WH ?
I like the shot on most counts .... even if the BG is busy you have isolated the Brownie well .I like the look of the subject to the camera , i think typical for the more shy Brownie . Crop does look good as there is plenty of room for the moving subject to walk into .... so well done .
I love the green setting of the KTP have not seen this myself though ...
Tones does look better in the RP , i think .
I am not 100 % on the colors .... i think for a rainy overcast day ( even in the KTP ) i would go cooler in the WB , just my 2 cents .

Good to see a Brownie posted !!!!!!

TFS Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, I like the framing and the body posture of the subject, although for me, I might loose about an inch off the RHS so you have less of a lighter area and more of a 'solid' edge to the trim. The image is lacking in the capture, (appears a bit 'thin', lacking some finer detail) and at ISO8000 this should not be hard for the D5, although with the subject on the move I feel 1/1250SS wasn't quite enough???? I think it's more evident because of the recent posting which are far better IMHO.

The 're mapping' in the RP is better, but I wonder if there is more you can extract???

Definitely a great sighting and a subject I have not been fortunate to see, so well done.

TFS
Steve

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Andreas and Steve,

Your comments/critique are much kinder than expected - thank you both. I must admit I am personally not happy with this frame. Afraid to say - or even think this way - but maybe the D5 capabilities were overrated?

And I hope you are right Steve, when saying 1/1250 was not enough - then I can only blame myself:) I have always had faith in my equipment and it is rather painful to admit it has failed me.

I guess I can extract even more with careful PP work, but is it going to look real? I am too happy to send you the RAW when you have time to look at it.

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

And I hope you are right Steve, when saying 1/1250 was not enough - then I can only blame myself:) I have always had faith in my equipment and it is rather painful to admit it has failed me.

Gabriela, it might be SS or perhaps how you have the camera set-up, as Nikon have taken a leaf out of Canon's book where you have the option to customise the AF within the D5, I'm second guessing, but having some more SS would have helped. Do not get despondent, we all make errors (if that is what it is), but build on it for the future.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Steve,

Not despondent (yet)

I had just serviced and cleaned all equipment with Nikon after my last KTP trip, busy to look at settings once again

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

It's just a thought, as these bodies need to be told - 'how to shoot by you' - when right they just deliver, but again, a lot to remember.

[Gabriela Plesea]

It's just a thought, as these bodies need to be told - 'how to shoot by you' - when right they just deliver, but again, a lot to remember.

I am with you