Cape buffalo at night

[Steve Kaluski]

A shot synonymous of Zimanga and not a location I would choose to shot at, just helping an old friend. The challenge is to have a fast lens, light and shooting through at least an inch of glass. Not ideal, but good fun to at least experience, a bit like Vegas!

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

Steve

Subject: Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) at a waterhole
Location: SA
Camera: Canon EOS1DX MKII
Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8 Gitzo tripod, Flexline pro head, Canon TC80N3 remote controller
Exposure: 1/40s at f/2.8 ISO1250
Original format: Portrait, very slight crop sides & top
Processed via: LRCC Classic & PSCC2019

[Gabriela Plesea]

Good evening Steve,

I like this a lot, and in fact more than other images I have seen of buffalo taken in daylight. You captured the subject very well and the darkness and uniformity of the BG makes it a very pleasant frame. Your choice of camera gear helped overcome the difficulties the "inch of glass" creates for some photographers at underground hides.
Beautifully exposed and tack sharp. You've extracted so much detail and brought out a number of colours here, like blue-black, and pink, rich browns and gold. Setting perhaps not ideal for some, but to me the frame itself a masterpiece in terms of processing, let us not forget your excellent work in the field

A pleasure to view, thank you so much for sharing,

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, you know the 'pros & cons' being one of the first visitors to this location and what it's like.

If you ever go back let me know as there is one bit of kit you do need. I didn't want to push the ISO here and it really was a balancing act with the f-stop & SS, then lens has just been upgraded (one of the purchases, thank you Canon). You also know how quickly the lighting tails off here, but you have to be almost touching the glass, but to avoid not hitting it in the heat of the moment and spooking the subjects. The file is OK up to A3 in size, but the shallow DoF is more noticeable and the sharpness isn't quite pin sharp in all honesty.

Yet again, thank you for the kind words.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Steve, I must admit I have never been in the overnight hide. Saw it actually, but never spent a night in there. BTW I just saw Hendri Venter today ( he is the most amazing guide and a photographer too, back at Zimanga now) and we were chatting, he said they had some lovely sightings so maybe I should make a plan to pop in. Interested to learn about the kit

And the Buffalo looks very sharp to me, the entire face from nose to boss. Let's not forget the shiny grass blade, nice touch

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Steve, excellent use of the new kit! I like the dark theme and the PP work is spot on. The glistening eyes and the straw all add up nicely.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Lovely dramatic frame, really portrays the strength of the animal. Well done

[haseeb badar]

Hi Steve -- fantastic POV and Beast of an animal ! I quite like the choice of DOF but why not say 5.6 and increasing the iso for more ss ? also did you under exposed in camera to avoid blown hl's ? Curious to understand the thought process as I kind of like night photography and might get to see tigers in night if I am lucky.

I find the details quite good and looks sharp to me . Nice PP work as always. TFS !

[John Mack]

Nice view of this big guy. Like the pose and those horns. The darkness of this frame matches him well. I don't think i have ever seen a frame on here taken with the remote. Pretty neat.

[Steve Kaluski]

I quite like the choice of DOF but why not say 5.6 and increasing the iso for more ss

Hi Haseeb, I was wondering if anyone would ask.

So if I increase the DoF to f/5.6 then the SS drops without increasing the ISO, and I think I might have needed to go to perhaps f/9. But being dark we could have been looking at say ISO8000 plus, not a problem for the awesome 1DX M2, but I just wanted minimal grain in the image and you would also be loosing Dynamic Range/sharpness and so having a fast lens offers more scope IMHO. Don't forget, I'm also shooting throughout at least an inch of glass which is less that pristine clean!!!

[Gabriela Plesea]

Steve, talk about "pristine clean"... Last time I was there shooting from the hide I had a hammerkop splash around, he was bathing in front of the window

[Giovanni Frescura]

Hello
I just went twice in Zimanga and I will return in October ..and I am very ok becuse I will be with Hendri.
The shoot for me is very well; this is the Zimanga's situation...off course it is no easy but very particular
Well done !