Black Sable

[Steve Kaluski]

Taken on route back to the lodge, this solitary Black Sable was quite happy just to stand there and be photographed. This, along with Roan have also been a rarity for me in the past, however here, they were 'ten a penny' we were literally tripping over them, however Antelope like Eland were so skittish you just had to watch them, anything within 300m they were off...

I have many images over the time spent here of Sable in all manner of poses & formats, but here I just wanted to get his head, part of the body, but really, that fantastic curved horn set against the pale grasses of the habitat and so it's almost FF.

Thanks to those who posted or viewed on the last posting.

Steve

Subject: Black Sable (Hippotragus niger, niger)
Location: SA
Camera: Canon 1DX MKII
Lens: 500f/4 MKII, plus 1.4 MKIII HH
Exposure: 1/1600s at f/7.1 ISO1000
Original format: Portrait, almost FF
Processed via: LRCC Classic & PSCC2018

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Gorgeous portrait Steve, love the details in whites & blacks! Those horns are fantastic as you say, the clean BG, the techs and exposure are perfect.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Steve - I am presuming this was at Tswalu and yes, it's a great place for those rare antelopes. This is a classic portrait with nice detail and good control of blacks and whites. If it were mine I would crop to eliminate the space behind the legs, most likely by cropping from the bottom to eliminate the legs and ensure that the tips of the horns aren't too close to the left edge.

TFS,
Rachel

[John Mack]

Looks fancy. Nice looking horns or antlers on this beast. Great background.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Steve -- This is indeed a fantastic portrait. Loved the details and superbly exposed. Loved those horns , what a handsome animal this is and you have done full justice to its beauty. I liked the crop suggestion by Rachel, i feel it will be better off with those legs completely gone.

TFS !

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Steve,

I have never had an opportunity to photograph this species, so a little jealous And if I am not mistaken, no one has shared an image of this animal on BPN Wildlife - at least since I've been around

Beautiful specimen with awesome horns. BG is superb. Good techs, perfectly exposed and wonderful detail, nice to see the eye despite those long eye lashes.

I borrowed your frame and tried to crop it tighter to eliminate the legs but in the end I still prefer your version - a matter of proportion, I think?

You must be really happy with this image, Steve. Superb PP work. A very pleasant frame with natural colours and good proportion. Your standards are as always impeccably high - I wouldn't expect anything less from you.

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

If it were mine I would crop to eliminate the space behind the legs, most likely by cropping from the bottom to eliminate the legs and ensure that the tips of the horns aren't too close to the left edge.

Thanks Rachel, but it's just too tight Rachel, for me the hint of legs is required I feel here.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks folks, I'm not always getting notifications, so I'm not responding so quickly.

Thanks Gabriela, yes I'm leaving the crop as is.

Steve. Superb PP work

No quite, compared to some of my 'Peers' I have a lot to catch up on since being away and lose track of 'my' homework too. I also need to cross platform some stuff with this new raw converter, but it takes time to get 'my head around' things, may need to get a day's tuition in to get me up & running.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Steve, I originally felt the whole antelope would look better than a partial one, however I do concede that the frame you post does precisely what you intended, the horns and head are beautifully rendered. The chopped legs at first foxed me but now I have looked again a little later it all comes together rather nicely.

[Steve Kaluski]

Cheers Jon, although the initial edit has been done from the trip, there is truck load still to do and having to play catch up, plus with some new avian stuff now, not planned, so will look at a different option. Looking forward to seeing a post from you, want to see if there are any changes, good luck 'Bones'.