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Thread: Enemy Approaching

  1. #1
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Default Enemy Approaching

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    Dear Friends,

    I am sharing another cheetah image tonight but I assure you it is not the same individual I posted earlier this week This mom successfully raised three cubs, and at the time my companion and I captured the scene (December last year) they were about six months of age and rather playful. The little ones never sat still and never cooperated, which really made things difficult for us

    So it took a very large crop to have mom alone in the picture, something you should bear in mind when you consider image quality. Time was about 5:30pm and light was sweet and pink. At some stage I decided I needed a fair amount of ISO because mom suddenly looked as if she was about to take off: she just spotted a male lion passing by!

    Unaware of what was going on - and to her distress - the cubs kept jumping up and down the ant hill. One of them even tried to bite her tail. Eventually she decided to take this threatening stance towards the enemy - what brave girl! Fortunately the only thing the big lion had in mind was to find his mate. So he walked at some distance and roared to his heart content, completely ignoring our frightened cheetah and her naughty cubs.

    Nikon D5
    Nikon 500F4
    ISO 2500
    F9
    1/2500s

    PS Forgot to mention, the little plant at the top of the mound spoiled a number of images of mom interacting with the cubs, it always got in the way
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Had to laugh when I opened this as that tail gave the impression of a fifth leg stabiliser. Would have loved to have seen a full curl here.

    Love the defensive and yet agressive posture and also that sweet light fully visible in this mum's eyes, very nice Gabriela. Nice to hear that all were safe in the end..........we need to hang onto our Cheetah numbers*.

    *My guide and I back in June @ Namiri watched one of the cheetah bros die in front of us from what we believe was a male leopard attack and that was very hard to take, and sadly statistics show that if there were only a pair, the odds of the other surviving past another year is only around 10%, anthropomorphically speaking a "broken heart" perhaps.
    Latest news is he's doing well, and will hope to check on his progress when I return late November.

    TFS


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    Very nice. Love the pose with the intent stare. The composition works well. Image quality held up nicely from the large crop. Sweet light as well. Hope to see more of your work old or new.

  4. #4
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you so much Marc and John:)

    Marc, I laughed too when I read about the " leg stabiliser" Image a bit tight at the bottom but I was trying to include the cubs in the frame when mom suddenly got up.

    John, I will post some more - I promise! I haven't been out and about in a while so not many new images. What really frustrates me is that at the week-ends when I do get away the weather seems to change, it is either raining or overcast and windy

    Hope you two have a nice day ( awww, can you believe it, week-end is near and the temperature dropped, sun hiding in the clouds again...)

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela - My first reaction was the same as Marc's about the tail, it looks like a fifth leg. You can see how they use it as a sort of rudder when at full speed. I like the stare and light. The IQ has held up despite the large crop.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you so much Rachel

    Your reaction and Marc's made me laugh too. BTW that "fifth" leg looks like a Christmas tree when the hairs are all up

    I must look through my folders and find some fun stuff to post, we all could do with a smile and a little laughter around here.

    Hope you have a lovely week-end,

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela, the tail is a bit unfortunate and I find the capture a little 'awkward' in the pose. Love the fixed stare and hunch of the back and inclusion of the hill, but here I might have gone tighter on the head to maximise that intenseness you have in the face.

    TFS
    Steve

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hello Steve!

    Thank you so much for feedback, lovely to hear from you

    I get you, just think I cannot go any tighter - unfortunately it is a fairly big crop.

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    I get you, just think I cannot go any tighter - unfortunately it is a fairly big crop.
    No worries.

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