Pangolin

[Rachel Hollander]

It has been a while since I posted a Pangolin image. Here's one showing how we usually saw them with lots of grass and other things in the way. Had to be patient and wait for them to come out in the open. This was taken with Lance at Tswalu. IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/12765/0

Canon 5D3
100-400 II @ 371mm
1/1500
f5.6
ISO 800
HH while sitting on ground, ff, levels, curves, sharpened in PSCC.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Rachel, good to see a Pangolin again from you. Such amazing animals, not easy to find in the wild. Nice colours & habitat showcased here. TFS.

[Glenn Pure]

You are fortunate to see one of these - a great experience and captured nicely here in the circumstances. Some animals just won't cooperate with photographers by living in places where they are easy to photograph! In that regard, I notice you were sitting on the ground for this. Would it have spooked the animal if you'd been standing or kneeling - I know very little about them? If you had been higher up, it might have been possible to get a cleaner shot? I like the light a lot here, combined with the reddish soil/sand to produce really nice colours. Composition and subject placement look good to me as well.

PS, there was a horrifying photo in the Nature Photographer of the Year comp last year (the famous one run by the Natural History Museum in London) of a huge pile of dead pangolins found in a shipment somewhere in Asia - not surprised they are listed as vulnerable.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Sanjeev and Glenn. Glenn - I previously posted some images where it had moved out into the open more. I did see the image you mentioned. Also Lance Van de Vyver, my Ranger at Tswalu (and now a BPN member) had one of the winning images in the B&W category. It was of a pangolin in the claws of a lion.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Rachel,

Indeed a rare sighting and I would be most happy to have this frame in my folders. The light is golden and beautiful. Despite the busy environment this lovely and elusive creature stands out so nicely and I cannot help but admire its beautiful overlapping coppery scales.

I like the POV and composition works well for me. Sharpness is there where it matters most, just unfortunate the two grass blades got in the way but not much you could do about it (other than wait for the subject to get past them).

Very happy to see you had such amazing opportunities here in Africa, thank you so much for sharing, I truly appreciate this post

Warmest regards,

[Stuart Philpott]

Rachel I remember some of the previous,images, they were fabulous,but this is still lovely. For me it works so well because even though I know so little about them it feels like he is where he should be doing what pangolins do. A layman's feeling Rachel. Lovely light great detail do love the soil colour,and the dryness conveyed by grass colours.One could spend ages contemplating which blades of grass to clone ,bit for me I like as is

TFS

stu

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Gabriela and Stu, much appreciate the comments.

[Steve Kaluski]

Nice POV Rachel, but I personally would have like a frame a second or two after where the blades of grass had been swept slightly aside by the head. Lovely rich light. Good to see the SS higher on this image.

TFS
Steve