Meerkat Bokeh

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hello everyone. I must seem like a stranger to you by now.
First off - my apologies for being so quiet these last few months. How I laughed in my sleeve when people told me the MBA would consume my life .
I aim to be more active in 2018 again

Secondly - Happy New Year!! I hope it will be a great year for all of you.

We just returned from a lovely 2 week family camping safari to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Kalahari desert. It was my first proper photographic trip in over a year, and delivered some new images to my collection.

This photo fits the theme and was taken in the Mata-Mata rest camp after sunset. A local meerkat clan had moved into camp and had become quite habituated. I was able to lie on my stomach close to their den and shoot into the post-sunset glow.

EDIT: posted at 1920px so not sure how it displays, if you can't scroll then feel free to download to view?

Techs:
Nikon D5 (courtesy of Nikon South Africa)
Nikkor 400mm f2.8 VR
f4.0 | 1/2500 SS | ISO-4500

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Happy New Year.

I like the image. Nice shades of cold black and warm tones make this image pleasing. I wish I could the feet, probably shooting a bit higher might have helped.
Looking forward to more of your images from the trip.

Thank you for sharing.

[Marc Mol]

Welcome back bud, and all the best for 2018 also!
I hear you on the MBA, my wife has been going through another (all consuming) Masters as well.

It's all about that cracking gold/black BG here and shows the vision of a quality photographer and that superb 400/2.8 bokeh.

Not sure if there was an opportunity to show more of the legs/tail?

TFS

[Jonathan Ashton]

Good to see you back again Morkel, Masters do take up a little time don't they, happy for you if completed. Good idea imaginative photography.
I suspect I will be out on my own here but the image does not appeal to me for some reason. I think the main issue is the contrasting areas in the image which I suspect will appeal to many but they don't to me. The graininess is perhaps rather atmospheric, I too would have liked to see the legs more clearly. Sorry for sounding negative but I look forward to the next image.

[Glenn Pure]

I like this one a great deal Morkel. Your choice of position with placement of the meerkat against the background highlight on an otherwise patchy background really sets this off. I'm less keen on the grainy/noisy background though and foreground for that matter although less obvious there. I don't mind the bottom of the meerkat being obscured. Oddly, the tones in the foreground below the meerkat create shapes almost look like its virtual OOF lower body and legs! Detail on the animal is great and the tonal range there works for me along with the overall comp. Thanks for sharing.

[Rachel Hollander]

Welcome back Morkel and happy new year! So do Steve and I, among others, get to say we told you so? I do like the golden bg and judging from the techs this must have been well after sunset. I agree with the others that I want less oof fg and to see the feet and tail.

TFS,
Rachel

[Mike Poole]

I love the pose on this and the atmospheric BG is gorgeous. I even like the noise thats in the golden colours as it adds some extra frame for me. I agree with the others that having the feet and tail in the frame would take it up a notch, but still an excellent shot

Mike

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel welcome back .... and a happy new year .
You came back with a nice moody image , love the overall color and tone combo !!!
Agree with the others about the FG and the missing rest ...

I do see surprisingly some noise across the whole image ...what happened ?

Looking forward to see you more posting and commenting .

TFS Andreas

[haseeb badar]

So excited to have you back Morkel and wish you a very Happy new year as well.
Agree with Marc's comment " shows the vision of a quality photographer " . Yes , there is considerable noise but i remember where you have mentioned that you prefer some grains in your image rather than a clean , smooth image. Also agree with the others reg less fg and need to show the legs and tail as well . But really liked this image . TFS !

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks for the kind words, folks.
Regarding the "noise" - I left it grainy as the Kalahari is sandy and grainy and I wanted to have that feel here, I detest the look of NR these days and do very little at all, guess it's a taste thing.

Regarding the angle and amount of FG, it is what it is, very difficult to change as I was lying flat on my belly with sand spraying all over my gear every time I try to maneuver or change position - was photographing several meerkats at various positions all around me so opted to stay where I was and work with what they gave me. I am personally happy with the OOF FG as it's more a conceptual/arty shot than a documentary one. More about a mood/feeling than about the details on the subject.

[Glenn Pure]

Thanks for the kind words, folks.
Regarding the "noise" - I left it grainy as the Kalahari is sandy and grainy and I wanted to have that feel here, I detest the look of NR these days and do very little at all, guess it's a taste thing.

Interesting perspective on noise, Morkel. I too didn't worry much about noise for some time, having come from a film and B&W background where grain was often present and sometimes nice in a photo, especially black and white. I've since shifted to dislike noise a lot. I don't know if it's because I've trained myself to think that or because it is visually distracting? Either way, each to their own and apologies in advance if I happen to forget about your view on noise when I comment on your images in the future.

I, too, thought your OOF foreground impinging on the meerkat was arty and thought it was fine, as I commented below.