I didn't get around to do an RP to my previous WD image but thought this frame looked better in terms of colours so I am sharing it. Happy to have your comments and suggestions (which I take very seriously BTW).
For those who have not seen my previous post or read the intro, I recently came across this pack of fourteen wild dogs in the local game reserve. The subjects were lazy and scattered all over the place, they seemed in great condition and their bellies full after performing a kill that very morning. Lighting conditions not great. Mostly overcast and the sun peeked through clouds from time to time, making things more difficult for me as I had to watch my camera settings all the time.
The main character is a male, on the RHS of the frame is the Alpha female and behind her another female. Not sure about the other two near the tree, just too far. Every now and then one character got up and walked around, no point in moving the vehicle because by the time we found the right spot another dog got up and there was action somewhere else, best not to disturb them and just hoped they came to us. Nevertheless it was a wonderful experience, WD are scarce in the Park and this was my first sighting in many years, I was extremely happy and excited to see them in such great shape.
Techs:
Nikon D5
Nikon 500 F4
ISO 1600
F4.5
1/2000s
Cropped about 30% of frame to eliminate some unwanted elements, processed in LR and PSCC. Grateful for a spot in the BG between the tree branches where I found an almost perfect 50/50/50 in terms of WB.
Hope you all have a wonderful evening, H21:25 here so not much left of mine... I am off to the feathers soon:)
A great description of this encounter with these beauties. I like their alert expressions as they take a break under the tree. I also like the crop you chose.
Hi Gabriela - Nice to see them relaxing a bit and I like the comp. I am seeing a bit of magenta in the main dog and also in the bg that I would get rid of if it were mine. I also would have stopped down for some more dof with a grouping like this. With them stagnant you could have certainly dropped the ss in favor of more dof. Too bad about the visible collar. Just my thoughts.
Hi Gaby, any WD sighting is a bonus, and I like your central placement of the only WD that seems to be alert. Well positioned to have the male WD framed between the OOF inverted 'V' of the tree trunk. I bet you captured many images of this sighting.
Thank you so much dear friends, for your kind comments and time to view.
Your observations are noted and I will keep them in mind when I process the next ( indeed Stu, I have many images from sighting).
Rachel I do have a number of frames with more DoF but felt in this case F4.5 helped those characters stand out, in other images the tree in the BG is a bit much. Reduced contrast in the BG to soften it a little, rather than blurring or NR. Just checked on the magenta cast and could not find any (unless I up saturation to 40 or so in PSCC). It might be a bit of red, I will see if I can correct this when processing the next image.
Regarding collars, they used to bother me too but I have decided to accept their presence, they are as important as dehorning rhino although serve a different purpose (monitoring). They are indeed bulky and I keep wondering how on earth those poor animals manage to hunt and go about their business, nevertheless this Alpha female seemed content so I suppose they get used to them.
Looks a bit saturated Gabriela, but that might be the SA wine and freezing temperatures, if I had realised the cold I might have packed more, -3 to -6 tomorrow!!!
Nce comp and the radio collars seem to be the 'thing' these days, the WD's here also have a radio collar on the Alpha female. Large pack with 13 pups, but trying to shoot anything is impossible, sit and watch, but had two Aardvark heading off tonight...
Really pleased to hear from you, lovely surprise! I did warn you about the cold I think, but rest assured when you get to my side of the woods you will shed all those jackets - today 30"C at lunch time and 18"C now at 9:15 pm.
Indeed collars are a must and especially on WD, they need to be monitored closely. Glad you saw them and really hope you get an opportunity to capture those pups on camera, they are awesome!
Good luck with the Aardvark tonight, and see you soon, we'll have a chat about the "saturation" over a glass of wine
Lazy Bunch
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