On the look out.

[Stu Bowie]

There is no need to travel to an exotic private reserve to see these guys, I have them in my local reserve just down the road from me. I went out yesterday morning for the first time in ages, and came across a huge family of Meerkats foraging for their breakfast. I managed to capture quite a few different poses and behaviour, and quite liked this pose with my avian techniques kicking in with this nice HA ( head angle ). Taken early morning captured from my car.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300mm F/2.8 +2X TC = 600mm
1/1250
F/8.0
ISO 640

Hand held from my car.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Stu, very nicely frame with good space all round. Like the low POV where you are at eye level with the subject, it works very well. Techs look good albeit I would have just gone to 800 for a tad more SS. Personally I would loose the two orange blobs flanking either side of the subject, they are a little distracting I feel. Not sure what the dark item is masking the foot, but would have been better if it wasn't there. Perhaps a little cooler on the WB, but I would try to get some more 'green' back into the grass, it appears a bit yellow????

TFS
Steve

[Stu Bowie]

Not sure what the dark item is masking the foot, but would have been better if it wasn't there. Perhaps a little cooler on the WB, but I would try to get some more 'green' back into the grass, it appears a bit yellow????

Thanks Steve. The two 'orange blobs' are distant Termite mounds, and agree they do stand out a tad. The dark item seems like a piece of wood, how it got there - who knows. After reading your comment on the WB/Yellows, this was out of camera, but I see by reducing the yellows, it does make a difference to bring the grass out a bit more.

[Steve Kaluski]

After reading your comment on the WB/Yellows, this was out of camera, but I see by reducing the yellows, it does make a difference to bring the grass out a bit more.

That is why Stu I never let the camera dictate the WB or overall colour.

[Stuart Philpott]

A wonderfully characteristic pose Stu while I adore the warmth of the early light Steve's note and your edit have improved things. something i'd love to make images of in the wild Stu what a treat to have them close to you

TFS

stu

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Stu- Glad to see you stopped to photograph these guys on your way to the birds . Always good to have you post in Wildlife. Great low pov and catchlight in the eye. It's interesting to see how red the sand and termite mounds are. The comp works nicely. The greens are better in the rp. Looking forward to more.

TFS,
Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Stu, I love this shot! Wonderfully frames and captured. The RP addresses the colour and blob issue and is great. Hope you and your wife are well! My regards to her.

[Glenn Pure]

Stu, an animal I did not see when in Africa in May and did not realise they were so common. So I was delighted to see this shot. I like the simple composition and nice pose on the meerkat. I took the colour of the OP to reflect early morning light but not so sure now after reading the exchange and seeing your RP - which now looks a bit blue to me but I don't have the best monitor or best calibration so others should be relied on more for that. I'm fine with the background in the OP but am also much less inclined to alter the natural environment in my shots these days so maybe it's just a personal philosophy thing on my part. It does look natural and thank you again for sharing. Nice to see you can use your bird skills with great effect here too.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Great shot Stu, I sense the colours could be improved even further by looking at the colour balance at raw stage though I equally think that morning light would make it a little less easy than might be imagined.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the feedback everyone.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Stu , well we could see you do wildlife as well
A lovely clean frame of the nice meerkats , you captured the guy in a typical pose and the HA is about perfect . Very good POV if taken from the car .The RP is working better in terms of color , i personally would not have removed the OOF termite mounts .The stick does look more like a ....coming from the back side of another creature .
These are very enjoyable folks and always great fun to watch the family behavior .

Hoping for more , TFS Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

i personally would not have removed the OOF termite mounts

Do you not think they are distracting Andreas?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Personally i think they are not THAT distracting ...so i would leave them . But i am with you if you want to have the perfect BG .
For me sometimes a difficult question ....keep it as shot or remove stuff . If these blobs were darker or way lighter i might have thought about the removal .

[Steve Kaluski]

But i am with you if you want to have the perfect BG .

Not perhaps to have the perfect BKG, but to give more focus to the subject. If they had been remove prior we would not have known, but I think it's Stu's call, just a thought, but a cool image either way.

[Andreas Liedmann]

If they had been remove prior we would not have known, but I think it's Stu's call, just a thought, but a cool image either way.

You never know if the author does not tell you , unless it is done in a bad way . I agree a cool image

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks guys. Yes I am trying to leave things as is in all of my images. I left the mounds in the OP, as thats how it was. If I had removed them, I would have stated so, but I did the RP to show how it looks without them. The most important thing that Steve brought out was the WB/early morning light, which I didnt see in my OP. Strange, I adjust it in my avian posts as I seem to pick it up right away. As they say, a second pair of eyes always helps.

[Glenn Pure]

Yes I am trying to leave things as is in all of my images. I left the mounds in the OP, as thats how it was.

Stu, I'm also of a similar philosophy about altering reality but still do it from time to time if I think the integrity of the image won't suffer and it's simply necessary to remove or fix something that I know is going to be a visual distraction. In a case like this, another option that I'm sure you're aware of is to reduced the brightness of the oof mounds so they are a similar tonality to the rest of the background and blend in more, making them less visually prominent. I find myself doing that more these days than cloning.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Stu,

Please forgive me for coming in so late, I realise it has been a while since you posted this, whew... three days... Been busy sorting out a number of work issues and just could not find the time to participate.

Love this image, you must know I absolutely adore meerkats. Subject well placed within the frame and the HA is great. I think I prefer the RP with the "blobs" removed. And fear Andreas is right, the "stick" on the mound is probably not a stick - if you allow me to speculate I would say it is a jackal who left his mark there
Techs look good and subject is well separated from the BG. OP perhaps a little on the warm side but the light is truly beautiful, lovely detail on the subject and what nice little glint in the eye, oh-it-all-works-so-well

Warmest regards,

[Stu Bowie]

And fear Andreas is right, the "stick" on the mound is probably not a stick - if you allow me to speculate I would say it is a jackal who left his mark there

Thanks Gaby. I wasnt sure what the 'stick' was, but as you are in the bush much more than me, thanks for pointing me in the right direction - and Andreas too.

Thank you all for the great feedback. Always appreciated.