Young Waterbuck

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Friends,

Here's another species, the Waterbuck. This animal has earned its name because it is highly dependent on water, more so than any other antelope. In comparison with the Gemsbok - who needs about 4 L of water daily - the Waterbuck needs at least 9L of water per day and in fact much more under heat stress. Only males have horns. And they weigh a hefty 250 kilograms... Life span is about fourteen years.

I remember this youngster was lying down when we arrived at the scene. He seemed quite relaxed but then suddenly got up when I lifted the camera gear to place it on the bean bag. So I took a couple of rushed shots, afraid he would turn away. Light was a bit harsh. I am not entirely happy with the framing because there is quite a bit of space on the RHS and not enough in front of my subject. So I ended up with the Waterbuck in the middle of the frame.

Nevertheless thought I'd share because it is such a beautiful species and I do not see a lot of images of them here in the Wildlife Forum. Image processed in LR Classic and Photoshop 2022. Removed two tiny flies which I thought did not add to the image.

Techs as follows:

Nikon D5
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 1250
F9
1/3 EV
1/2000s

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week-end, and many thanks for your comments and time to view, always appreciated!

Kind regards,

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Gabriela I agree the composition is a little less than conventional, extending canvas to the left helps a little - but not much, how about a portrait orientation to include a little more shoulder and perhaps a little less back? The image is clean as a whistle and the waterbuck looks freshly showered and dried! Beautiful tone and colours, the background is ideal. I enjoyed this very much.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela .. super portrait work !!!!!!
stunning iq and beautifully processed , love the fine presented hair structure .... very very well done .
crop and comp are a matter of taste .... I am ok with the frame as presented .
only thing I might change is pushing a bit more life into those eyes

a real peach and tfs A

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

A solid portrait Gabriela. It works as is for me. Great amount of detail and sharp as tack! Love the colours too and the head angle is fine. Well done.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Jon, Andreas and Sanjeev, glad you liked this. I thought of doing a number of things like extending canvas or a vertical crop but decided to post as is so I can hear your opinions. Have a number of images taken afterwards but head angle not as good. The eye was very dark, I lifted it a bit, felt it looked awkward if I lifted more but I will try again. Thank you so much once again!

Kind regards,

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Gabriela, wonder filled portrait of this antelope. I think your post processing is really well done. I read the comments of others regarding the composition, I had a go with the image trying options, after doing that I think you have the best possible. Thank you for sharing.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Joe, so kind of you to pop and and comment, I so appreciate it!

Kind regards,