wild dog

[peter delaney]

African Wild dog, Cape Hunting dog or Painted dog....this animal has gone by many names. Hunted by farmers in Africa to near extinction .Highly susceptible to disease . Now one of the most endangered predators on planet earth.Wild dogs live in packs normally around 20 but has been recorded up to 60. Highly sociable with a distinct hierarchies among males and females. Each individual have their own unique coat pattern.

D3 70-200 mm vr , f4.5 @ 1/400 iso 250 hand held... location :madikwe game reserve.. south africa.

[Steve Canuel]

I like the alert, running pose you captured and the head angle. I also like the warm colors and how the dog blends in with his environment yet still stands out due to the patterns on the coat.

[Jay Gould]

Hi Peter, amazing the way they blend into the BG!

Is this how it appeared when shot, or have you increased saturation/contrast a bit? The golden/tawny colors of the coat and the brush are almost identical and strong.

I also find it interesting that the tail and rear standout from the rest of the coloring.

Thanks for sharing "the hair of the dog" with us! ;) :D

[Robert Amoruso]

Peter,

I agree with the above comments. Nice work. I think a panning blur would have been killer here.

[John Ippolito]

Agree with Robert on panning blur, but I like the head up dog, in action, in habitat as captured.

[Ken Watkins]

A nice action shot, but the contrast seems a little to high for my liking. Wild Dog is a privilege to see but sometimes extremely difficult to capture an image of.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Peter,
Nice action captured. Robert's idea of pan blur would also be a good idea.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[David Fletcher]

Wonderful shot Peter. Love the alert running pose.

[Harshad Barve]

Beautiful image , panning point agreed
TFS

[Kiran Khanzode]

Ah, one of the most misunderstood species on the face of this planet due to human ignorance...what a nice capture, lovely light !!!

Looks like they are making a comeback near the Gol Mountains in Eastern Serengeti, Tanzania. I hope to see them some day.

[peter delaney]

thanks every body for comments and suggestions...

Peter... i was staying at madikwe safari lodge.... best place imo at madikwe.. but i am bias:)

They use boundary fences a lot in capturing there prey.. they also like to use dams etc... driving the prey in to water then take turns swimming after it to tire it out... ingenious killing machine.....

Robert ...your panning idea is a great one .. i did seriously consider it... but as Ken said getting a sighting of these guys is hard enough ... even more difficult on the hunt as this one was... so i played safe.... now i have nailed a few sharp ones .. next time....

i do have motion blur with high iso.... as i captured then after the sun had gone down...

Ken ... used very little contrast on this one...


thanks again

will post some more soon

peter

[Kiran Poonacha]

Amazing... the out of frame concentrated pose with great light make this.. congrats

[Marc Mol]

Great habitat image Peter, looking forward to seeing them in Botswana soon, where they are currently denning at Mapula in the Delta.
Cheers
Marc

[peter delaney]

Many thanks Kiran and Marc...

Marc..good luck in Botswana... you will have a great time there...look forward to seeing your images when you get back..

peter