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Thread: The Princess of darkness

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Default The Princess of darkness

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Giza Mrembo (Swahili for Black beauty), grabs a Dik Dik whilst out on her nightly hunting trip, what a beautiful huntress she is!
    For me this has been my Holy Grail, after 42 yrs travelling to/and photographing African wildlife, I never thought the day would come when I would be privileged to see a melanistic Leopard!
    This was just one of 8 successful hunting trips I was most fortunate to witness during my amazing 9 nights here in Laikipia, Kenya.
    I'm back here again in March.

    Nikon Z9
    Nikkor Z70-200 f/2.8
    f/2.8
    1/160s
    -2EV
    ISO9000@ 115mm.
    Spot lit from the right (as viewed)

    Cheers
    Marc
    Last edited by Marc Mol; 06-26-2023 at 07:10 PM. Reason: spelling


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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Marc ... pretty long time to wait to finally get what you were after .
    Congrats on your success !!!
    Image does look awesome with Leopard and its prey on the move . Almost like a ghost in real life .... just guessing .
    And you must have lots more .... with her .

    Personally not a fan of night shots in general , but this is really special .

    TFS Andreas

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andreas Liedmann View Post
    Hi Marc ... pretty long time to wait to finally get what you were after .
    Congrats on your success !!!
    Image does look awesome with Leopard and its prey on the move . Almost like a ghost in real life .... just guessing .
    And you must have lots more .... with her .

    Personally not a fan of night shots in general , but this is really special .

    TFS Andreas
    Knowing you're not a big fan of night photography, I gracefully accept your compliments.

    Personally not a fan of flash/night photography either, although using a spot light can give some nice results and plus the fact this was really such a unique occasion, made it so special.

    And yes, I do have many thousands of images to process.


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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Exceptional - wow you must have been buzzing when you got this, it looks absolutely splendid. I really do like the light and the exposure looks excellent. What a capture - congratulations.

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hello Marc,

    Thank you so much for sharing, truly a special sighting, wow... I am not a fan of flash photography either but do appreciate how rare and unusual this is!

    Frame doesn't look bad for 1/160s and I see clearly you did your best in terms of techs to capture this leopard carrying its prey

    Cannot think of anything to improve this image, other than maybe emphasising those beautiful alert eyes of the subject a tad more, giving them a tad more oomph?

    Would love some images of the Dik Dik if you have, cannot remember seeing any in this Forum and I have never encountered one in real life either...they are super cute

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Many thanks Jonathon & Gabriela for your positive comments and support!


    Quote Originally Posted by Gabriela Plesea View Post
    Hello Marc, I am not a fan of flash photography either but do appreciate how rare and unusual this is!
    Just to reiterate, this image was taken via a spotlight, not flash and is my favourite form of night wildlife photography. Flash does have its use, particularly rear curtain, but have moved away from that art in the last 15 yrs.


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    You realised a dream and did it beautifully IMO without much light to spare. Really love to see some of what else you did with this wonderfull creature.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Stunning stuff! Mazel tov.

    with love, a
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