Fear

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Friends,

During my recent trip to the Kruger Park I witnessed an interesting scene where a terrified young baboon was being chased by a big male baboon. It all happened at some distance and I wasn't planning to get my camera out until I saw this young fellow suddenly run towards the vehicle Still managed a few shots of them interacting, will share more as soon as I get to process them.

Baboons have sharp canine teeth which - believe it or not - are similar in length to lions' teeth. They usually avoid serious fighting but from what I have seen the vocalisations and gestures are very intimidating. At some stage the big male raised his arm as if he was about to strike the youngster, who consequently crouched down in fear while looking up as in asking forgiveness. More screaming followed and then they suddenly separated, I was quite relieved to see it was over and so were the other thirty or so baboons ( big and small) who started foraging after the incident as if nothing happened...

Techs:

Nikon D5
Nikon 500F4
ISO 800
1/2500s
F6.3

Processed in LR and PSCC, cropped about 30% of the original frame. SS quite high as I needed to compensate for the lack of support, I had just removed the bean bag minutes before this happened

Hope you all have a great rest of the week, thank you for your comments and suggestions on my previous images and really appreciate your input, always

Warmest regards,

[John Mack]

Intersesting back story to this one. Nice pose on the baboon. You handled the light very well. The Detail looks great. Image quality looks great as well. Keep em coming.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, great, love the fact he's running towards you and having the light on the LHS has help light upon the face and create some lovely detail and character features. The jaunty angle I like to and the fact you have the shadow too. As he was running to you I may have looked for some more DoF as you will runout very quickly, plus/perhaps gone to 1/3200 to just nail the frame, plenty of ISO - just a thought. Not sure if pruning back two grass stems may benefit the image, stopping them at the joint?

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Well you certainly got a really eye catching shot, the expression and the radial running angle really add to the impact in the picture. Can't wait to see more!.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much dear John, Steve and Jon,

Quite certain I have more from this sighting, unfortunately in some frames I think I cut off the young baboon's tail. Subjects weren't that close but the youngster moved around a lot and his tail was all over the place. Shall post what I have, soon.

Steve, given the distance, I felt at the time that DoF was appropriate. Also hoped to have a super smooth BG ( which is actually the dry river bed below ). More SS would have been good, I completely agree. Should have had more of everything, LOL. But things happened bit too fast...Will look at the grasses, I did wonder if I must prune that bit but for some reason I left it in. Now that you mention it I think I should "trim" it

Kind regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Should have had more of everything, LOL. But things happened bit too fast...

Always easier to say from a comfy chair.

[Gabriela Plesea]

True, Steve The thing is, at first I heard the screams but did not know where they came from, could not see below that ridge. And there were so many baboons foraging all over the place, it wasn't easy to identify which one was in trouble. Was really caught unaware, did not expect to have an opportunity to shoot Could not move vehicle either, was on a bridge and parked at a slightly wider section to allow other vehicles to pass. Pleased I got a few frames though

[Steve Kaluski]

Well done anyway.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Master Steve

[haseeb badar]

Hi Gabriela -- A superb expression and a well timed shot. It is difficult to frame action moments as FP can go so easily wrong but you have done well here to get your subject sharp and I also liked the framing . SS is a bit low for such moment IMO a bit higher might have been beneficial for this particular frame. Overall a very nice image and I loved that expression.

TFS and do share more from your trip, always a treat to watch your postings.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much Haseeb, really appreciate you taking the time to view and also your thoughts on the image.

Yes to more DoF and more SS, but ooooofffff...had I known this chap was going to pop up at this spot I would have had the camera out of the window and ready. Luckily l had my hand on the lens foot while listening to the screams, just in case:)

I admit I was a little upset for being 'too late' but nothing I can do about it LOL. Will share the rest of the images soon, have a few busy days ahead but will spend some time to process more next week. Have a wonderful week-end!

Kind regards,

[Giovanni Frescura]

Hello

I like it a lot..also th composition ..for me..is perfect...it give more dinamic force to the situation!