Agitation

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey everyone - thought I would pop in for a change .

This male lion was photographed north of the Okaukuejo camp in Etosha on our trip late 2016, I just missed him chasing off a pack of jackals from his kill, and here they were still hovering around the area irritating him.

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 400mm f2.8 VR
f4.0 | 1/1000 SS | ISO-1600

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Morkel, good to see you posting again. I like the look on the lions face and that OOF jackal behind him. Nice details & sharpness.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Morkel,
Do I see a jackal behind this lion? They can be such a nuisance, stealing bits and bobs from under the lions' nose

Love the pose, those eyes show just how annoyed the subject is, the tail an indication he is about to pounce. Or maybe he has just returned from a little chase?

The framing is perfect, Morkel. And I gather you captured this in relatively low light, could be early morning? I like the surrounding vegetation and the fact that the kill is concealed to some extent, IMO it places more emphasis on the lion.

Just an observation, it seems to me that the lion's face lacks sufficient detail/sharpness. Looking at your exif I think F4 was not enough and SS barely enough for a nervous and jumpy subject. Having said this, I am aware that one cannot push the D800 too far, as I have the same problem with my D810. So let us see what the others say, I believe you know your gear and did the best under the circumstances. Maybe the bush in front of the subject also helps create this illusion, being so sharp - is it a "drie doering" Boetie?

Will you be back soon, Morkel? Love the energy and anticipation of action in this frame, and I really hope you have more to share - perhaps an image including the little trouble makers/jackals?

Have a lovely evening, thank you so much for sharing,

[Marc Mol]

Love the look of agitation in both his face and tail here Morkel, nicely seen.

Gabriela raises a good point re ISO & S/S, and personally have my D810 (Auto ISO) set to a max of ISO3200, and from memory I think the 810 is about 1/2 stop better in that dept, so perhaps your techs are not really that far away.

Agree the small bush directly in front gives the impression that focus on the face could be sharper, but I'm guessing the face is pretty much in the same focal plane, all dependent on shooting distance of course. Was this F/F Morkel?

TFS

[Mike Poole]

I really wish you could have gone and pulled up that little PPF bush in front of the lion! Other than that, this has beautiful tones and great detail on the lion, the look he has on his face and the size of the eyes are great.

Mike