Wild Dog chasing down a Scrub Hare Pt1

[Marc Mol]

Here are two of the Sosian 11 WD pack in pursuit of a Scrub Hare that we watched flush out, the pack raced off in pursuit of the hare and vanished, thinking that was the last we would see of them, all of a sudden the hare turned 180deg's and came straight down the track right past our vehicle!
Things happened so fast and it was all over in a matter of seconds, it was impossible to get everything in focus, so I opted for the WD's here. A special and very fortunate moment indeed.

D3s 500VR 1/1600s ISO200@f/4 Sosian ranch, Loisaba, Nth Kenya Oct 2010

C & C most welcome

Cheers
Marc

[Hilary Hann]

Marc, well done! You had some pretty amazing sightings and I hope I'll have just a little of your luck. I like the fact that you managed some flowers as well.

I really love the expression on the leading dog, looks just like one of my pets when its having a great game of chase. The winding road leads nicely through the image. Shame about the hare being sooo soft but well captured IMO. This image would work quite well without the oof foreground as well. Crop to just above the hare and then balance the background to match … because of the great pose of the leading dog it carries the image either way.

Glad to hear the WDs are doing ok at Sosian.

[Marc Mol]

Thanks Hilary

Should have mentioned, that I had barely time to grab my camera and no time to change any settings , hence the aperture of only f/4 and the resulting narrow DOF.
I understand your crop suggestion, but that leaves me with a fairly square format and something I try to avoid in nature photography.

[Hilary Hann]

Re the square crop, by cropping down from the top to balance the crop from the foreground you would end up with an image of the same ratio (i.e. not sq), just with the nice 's curve' of the track and the two dogs. But as I said, it works for me as it is and I think you did an excellent job given the situation. :)

I've added a very rough crop to show what I mean.

[Marc Mol]

No offence meant Hilary, but you have left out an essential part of my image ie. the Scrub Hare.:confused:
I say this because in my future posts I have some similiar crops to the one you just posted above.
The main purpose of this image was to show the chase with all competitors.
.......stay tuned;)

[Hilary Hann]

Good, look forward to seeing the rest and if you have this sort of crop, definitely I wouldn't change the OP at all! Keep that hare. :D

[Harshad Barve]

this is award winning stuff Marc ,
Clap , Clap , Clap
TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Marc the OP is spot on, as it contains the whole scene and illustrates why the WDs are doing what they are doing, hunting down the hare.

I like the slight curve of the track and the OOF rear dog, my only comment would be, is that the focus should always be on the prey as you are then prepared for all events so to speak. In addition, shooting wide open, even as a grab shot, works well and for all the right reasons.

TFS
Steve

[Ken Watkins]

Nice one Marc,

Lucky to be in front of the action, a very rare privilege with Wid Dogs.

Looking forward to some more after this scene setter

[Rachel Hollander]

Marc - Congrats on another great capture. I too would like just a fraction of your "luck" on my next trip to Africa. I'm surprised the dogs expended all that energy for such a small meal.

TFS,
Rachel

[Katie Rupp]

Very exciting moment indeed and I share other's desire to experience something similar. Thanks for positing!

[Shreyas Mantri]

Marc, your frames are a master story teller :). I love the spontaneity of the click, the best that anyone could have done in those circumstance.
To be able to see such events in person is a grand treat in itself, (and the "experience" part is what matters to me personally) ... not to mention that I'm green with envy ;)

Nevertheless, your images are a steller