Scrub hare

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 1DX Canon 500mm f4 L IS Auto ISO 5000, 1/1600 sec f8. (On seeing the result f11 may have been marginally better)
ACR +PSCC

I was often asked,"what will you get?", I said, "I have absolutely no expectations so whatever turns up."
This scrub hare made the trip for me, I think I got a bigger kick out of this hare and his mate than anything. They were just totally unexpected.

[Gabriela Plesea]

He is so cute, Jon. Preening himself and completely unaware he is being watched and captured on camera:)

You were very lucky to find him in this little clearing as I see there is a lot of vegetation around. Nice separation between subject and BG and composition is spot-on IMO.

Overall colours look good. But somehow I feel there might be a tinge of blue in the whites of the fur and inside the ear? It is not that obvious but gives the Hare a "cooler" look than I would expect, if you know what I mean.
Stu will be delighted with this, I cannot wait to read his comments I too enjoyed viewing, and BTW I agree with you, whatever turns up when I visit a spot of wilderness makes me happy, be it a bird or a little mouse

Thank you so much for sharing! Hope you have a lovely week-end,

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jon, agree with Gabriela, nice to have this one out in the open, although it doesn't want to be out for too long with the raptors about.

Yes, there is some Blue, but also I find it a bit heavy in the Black/Contrast opening it up will also help the detail, less crunchy, but I have a sneaking suspicion it was under exposed....

With the head angled away you are loosing detail plus the behavioural POV has created that 'scary' eye I feel, loosing some cuteness factor for me. Like the low POV, but I think a tad less on the RHS would help and take it off that central framing. Was this with AF zone, if so then I would have swopped for a more 'conventional AF selection if it was me.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the feedback Gabriela and Steve. Colours are a bit cool, taken before 7am and yes images were underexposed. I was keen to ensure the highlights in the ears were not blown - but such underexposure was unnecessary. Regards contrast, on reflection a bit strong, I have other shots perhaps without the scary look - good point hadn't occurred to me. Case settings I have to admit never occurred to me (no not even once!), it was a case of trying to get the car in optimal position, then the zoom or the 500mm, is 5D or 1D better, then get the shot. I remember frequently changing selection mode from area to surround and to single point throughout the holiday.... but not the case setting. I had recently reset that as per Artie's suggestion for BIF and to be perfectly honest it seemed fine for other subjects though I appreciate it was twitchy at times. I will try to remember considering case settings, I do recall they were mentioned when I was photographing hares locally a year or two ago

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jon, great to have him in the open, as most times, even being in a vehicle, as soon as you stop, they bolt. Did you turn your engine off every time you stopped at a sighting? I like the preening behaviour, and the fur looks good. Im on my laptop, so I will not comment on the colour casts.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Jon, great to have him in the open, as most times, even being in a vehicle, as soon as you stop, they bolt. Did you turn your engine off every time you stopped at a sighting? I like the preening behaviour, and the fur looks good. Im on my laptop, so I will not comment on the colour casts.

Thanks Stu, regards the engine, sometimes I turned off sometimes not, I had been told to reach the spot engine running, get a shot or two then turn engine off. It seems sometimes certain animals bolt when the engine noise suddenly stops.

[Steve Kaluski]

I was keen to ensure the highlights in the ears were not blown - but such underexposure was unnecessary.

Jon, this is why you have a Histogram and Highlight alert. If you had a better spread of data/and more of it, then both processing (easier) and image would have greatly improved.

Case settings I have to admit never occurred to me

Jon, you are not alone, I had a similar conversation with another member the other day, but knowing/understanding how they work will ensure more captures, they are there to aid you . Probably suggest a few things simple things next time we talk.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Jon, this is why you have a Histogram and Highlight alert. If you had a better spread of data/and more of it, then both processing (easier) and image would have greatly improved.



Jon, you are not alone, I had a similar conversation with another member the other day, but knowing/understanding how they work will ensure more captures, they are there to aid you . Probably suggest a few things simple things next time we talk.

Steve I know what you are saying, I agree and I am aware, but I was so excited and chuffed at the sighting common sense did not prevail, I was in "get the shot mode" as opposed to "get the optimum image"!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Jon - Nice to see you stopping for some of the smaller things. We all tend to sometimes overlook them especially when we travel so far. I also noticed the blues in the whites and agree with Steve on a bit off the rhs. I am also guilty of forgetting about the case settings and neglecting to use them in the field in the heat of the moment. Was this really with a 50mm lens or did you mean 500mm?

TFS,
Rachel

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks Rachel, ..yes 500 (I have corrected), I will post a better one next time!

[Stuart Philpott]

Jon please forgive playing catch up a bit ,but i'm assuming that this is Africa. How wonderful for you to go to this amazing continent,we see so many enthralling images from and find a hare of all things. You love them like me,so I can imagine your joy,at seeing these guys and getting a chance of an image or two of a different species from a different part of the world.

Your excitement and going into get the shot made made me smile,I sort of hoped I might grow out of that one day,my passion gets in the way,far too often .........now I am not so sure.

Naturally I also understand the reservation with exposure too ,granted Steve has the answer,blinkies,and he's nailed it,but I am right there with your mindset,because hares close have bright bits that can become unruley so easily.

How are they compared to ours for size Jon,I can't help but be curious as you can imagine? They look smaller with larger ears,,I have to ask mate I've been musing our hares recently i'm starting to ponder whether we have races here,but that's for another day.

Mate obviously i'm at a loss for colour, it looks just like our rabbit for colour to me. I see what the guys have mentioned,but you were there. What I have noted though is those soil stained toes, they are wonderful.

Jon did any frames follow this with a lifted front leg/foot,it happens a fair bit and I always think it adds a bit of dynamic to the hare,as a viewer it makes me smile as it always looks like the grooming hare might topple over.

I love the grooming pose it really shows the ears well,take on board Steve point about the white of the eye,leading to a slightly scared look,i've seen this with ours.

Mate this has been so cool for me. Yours and Keith's hare images, here in blighty were primary inspirations, still are, for me.

So seeing you find and frame a guy from far away is a complete joy, for me,even though I am completely unsure where this is,i'm all but unread on the largos of the world horrendous really,nice learning from them though.

I guess there is only one thing that I really yearn for here,your lens to be lower,i'd imagine that is completely unfeasable,but there is something intimate for me with a hare taken low. I can't help but want that now Jon,don't get me wrong I'd adore this being mine especially if it is where I think, it is taken Detail as always wonderful mate,I like your framing

Jon a real interesting read for me especially as well as the chershire cat smile i'm typing with, tech talk noted. A question if you went to f11 where would your techs go curious I am??

Ha ha very cool ,thanks for sharing Jon............... cold hard day lovely to thaw out reading and staring!!
take care
stu

[Jonathan Ashton]

Stu - yes Africa - Kruger.
Size, similar but I would say a lighter build.
Colour is good - just a bit heavy on contrast and or blacks - perhaps a bit cold.
Plenty more other shots to post - better processed too!
Lens height - I was in the car and you are not allowed to get out other than designated places... this wasn't on of them.
I don't understand the question re techs, I was just suggesting a bit more DOF would have been beneficial.

[Stuart Philpott]

Stu - yes Africa - Kruger.
Size, similar but I would say a lighter build.
Colour is good - just a bit heavy on contrast and or blacks - perhaps a bit cold.
Plenty more other shots to post - better processed too!
Lens height - I was in the car and you are not allowed to get out other than designated places... this wasn't on of them.
I don't understand the question re techs, I was just suggesting a bit more DOF would have been beneficial.

Jon, cheers for the reply...............re the question,if you upped DOF then either you would have to up iso,or lower SS to maintain exp. I realise you oft shoot auto iso as is the case here. I was curious basically as to which trade off you would make. I suspect you would maintain SS and let the iso fall higher. Sorry for being vague Jon I was trying to not influence the reply. I was curious given the subject,but it looks like I ended up being too vague,my apologies
I'll look forwards to more Jon,can't wait actually. I didn't realise in some parks one is not allowed to leave the vehicle,I just presumed one wouldn't get out for safety reasons,forgive my ignorance.
thanks again Jon lovely to see this

stu