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Thread: Count the spots...

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default Count the spots...

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    Hi everyone! Back from an amazing (albeit too short) 11 day trip to the Kalahari, specifically the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

    Mountains of images to add to my already backlogged processing list...but found time today for a quick one.

    We had a lot less lion sightings than I am able to be happy with (a friend who was also there at this time found 30 lions in 2 weeks, we found 8 in 2 weeks), but we had AWESOME cheetah sightings...7 sightings in total, 10 different cheetahs in total.

    This is a mother with a mind-blowing 4 cubs who are nearing adulthood, a great feat for a cheetah to accomplish. We had 2 separate sightings of them, and in this one we missed the kill by mere seconds as they were still choking the springbok lamb as we came round a bend in the road.

    We watched them devour it in about 30 minutes right next to our car...and we were ALONE for at least 15 minutes thereof!! :eek::D

    Many more shots of this sighting to follow...this one posted just to show what four cheetahs on a kill look like :).
    Pity the mom is collared, but cheetah research in this park is a big part of the success their having.

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    f8.0 @ 1/320 SS @ ISO-400
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Hi Morkel, good to have you back. What a sighting. I like the fact that you caught this much of the kill before the messy part. You did well to shoot in such a way that it doesn't really look too much like a road either, and I like the BG..
    TFS
    Grant

  3. #3
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    thanks Grant. yep they dragged the springbok into the shade of a tree which was on the side of the road, and the sun was busy descending to the right (about 4pm), so light conditions were challenging to say the least.

    we had seen the 2 springbok lambs cantering carelessly away from the herd a few minutes earlier and thought it strange - we knew the cheetahs were in the area and I wanted to check at the waterhole a few kilometers ahead...by the time we turned around they had JUST struck :eek: (can kick myself for not sticking with my hunch about the springbok youngsters)
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Morkelbhai , welcome back and I must say this is grand image , excellent framing and moment here
    TFS
    Last edited by Harshad Barve; 06-13-2010 at 11:02 PM.

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    Morkel, that 11 days seemed to go very quickly. :(
    Looking forward to seeing lots of images. This is a fantastic start and you could almost miss the collar so it isn't too intrusive. Having 4 almost adult cubs is, indeed, a great feat.

    Like this very much, shame about the lighting.

  6. #6
    Ken Watkins
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    Morkel,

    I would much prefer to see Cheetahs to Lions, as they sometimes (as here) do something:)

    Looks like Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is the place to be for Cheetahs.

    It looks like a mercifully small collar.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel welcome back, great image to kick off with and an exciting moment too.

    Regarding the collar it's not that visible, however it is a small price to paid to help the Cheetahs to survive. :)

    Not sure if it does help, but try +5 Brightness +10 Contrast, +80 USM?

    All the best
    Steve ;)
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Welcome back Morkel, a great moment well captured! What a great mum she must be to raise this four to near maturity. Very jealous here! :D
    TFS

    PS. Congrats on RSA's opening showing in the 1st game of the WC! :)
    (Can't say the same for our dismal 0-4 loss to Germany! :(:()
    Last edited by Marc Mol; 06-14-2010 at 02:55 AM.


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    Morkel,
    Great sighting. A fine moment captured. I don't know how much of a crop this is. Space at the top would have added to the image. A bit more to the right showing the tree would have been good as well, because one can see that they are in the shade of the tree with small portion of it visible. Look forward to more compositions.

    Cheers,
    Sabyasachi

  10. #10
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    thanks for the kind feedback everyone...

    Sabya here is the full-size image straight out of camera - didn't include enough tree here :)
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Morkel,
    May be take a bit off from the bottom. For me rest is fine. Thanks for sharing.

    Cheers,
    Sabyasachi

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