Ruthless Killer or a ..... Pet

[Andreas Liedmann]

hi folks ... a Wilddog playing with a stick finally offering this stick to one of his mates of the pack . but the others refused to play with it ....
funny to watch .
image taken in south luangwa np in Zambia back in 2019 .
the original capture in terms of comp was not ideal , hence the somewhat awkward crop I do present now .... made the best out of it from my perspective .

canon eos 1dx
ef 500 is l ii + 1,4 tc
beanbag

f 7,1 , iso 1250 , 1/2000 sec , man exp

processed with dpp 4 and pscc 2022 , large crop to about 60 % of ff

thanks for looking and commenting to my previous postings

cheers Andreas

[Jonathan Ashton]

I agree with what you say the crop is not ideal but technically I thing this is super. It could be argued the ears are a little soft but that is not the point of the image.

[Andreas Liedmann]

thanx Jon .... difficult to create more dof in the heat of the moment . in this head on scenario I would have needed at least f 11 ..... if not more . as the skull is quite long of this doggie and the ears flipped backwards .
but agree that it would been better or nicer to have them in the focal plane

cheers Andreas

[Basil Dardagan]

A really lovely special moment captured. Agree about the DOF however you cant have everything. Andries can you please advise me - im off to South Lunagwa for the first time. We are staying at Flat Dogs - a camp just outside the NP and self driving in everyday. Would you suggest taking a 200-400 or a fixed 500 canon lens? THANK YOU

[Andreas Liedmann]

thanx Basil for your comment , much appreciated .

regarding your lens question or choice of them ... look I am coming from overseas and take every time both lenses with me , and I do use both every time . as do use two cameras with those two lenses attached at all times while the game drive .
as you have all sorts of options in south luangwa ... I would take both , but if would have to make decisions I would take the 500 .
hope this helps

have fun in Zambia , I had a great time there .

cheers Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Boetie,

Super cute and I'm so glad you shared. I seem to have the same issue with DoF when it comes to Wild Doggies, mostly because I am stuck to the big lens and quite often those chaps come too close...

Back to your image, I really like the pose you captured here, framing is good, pose is fantastic. I especially like the POV and the 'pet-like' behaviour of this chap... no wonder he is playful, it looks like he has a big tummy, must have eaten well

Thank you so much for this post, you made my evening and I am smiling from ear to ear

Kind regards,

[Andreas Liedmann]

thanx Gabriela .... much appreciated !!
it's not only with the doggies and the dof thingy .... long lens being close to the subject : dof trouble even with the tiny Mickey Mouse hamsters

glad I made you smile .... and your evening

cheers Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

thanx Gabriela .... much appreciated !!
it's not only with the doggies and the dof thingy .... long lens being close to the subject : dof trouble even with the tiny Mickey Mouse hamsters

glad I made you smile .... and your evening

cheers Andreas

I am with you Boetie, it's just that I almost always have this issue with the WD. It annoys me. I keep the smaller lenses on the seat next to me but if the subject starts running towards the vehicle I cannot bring myself to do the swop because I fear I might lose a frame or two, or miss something

[Andreas Liedmann]

we all have our smaller or bigger packs to carry .... does that wording make sense to you ??
i do constantly think I do miss something while shooting .