Underfed, Wild Dingo - Simpson Desert National Park, Australia

[Mark Farnan]

This was taken back in 2006, so I thought i'd start with a couple of existing shots as as place to start for Critiques.

Canon EOS 20D with Canon 100-400 f4-5.6
1/1000 @ f/5.6 Hand Held. Av, +0ev.

Wild Dingo, in the middle of the Simpson Desert on the WAA Line. Approx 400km west of Birdsville.



This was only one we saw for 3 days. Being a large desert, the wildelife is scarce at the best of times. I was trying to capture both the animal, and some sense of the environment it was in. This is a crop from a wider shot which includes a chunk of bald sky that I found very distracting. There is a little more room in front of the animal I could use as well.

All comments welcome.

Regards

Mark.

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Mark, Nicely exposed in those strong light conditions. I like the Dingo on the move and sense of motion created. Also like the idea of the environment and might consider more room in front.

Don't know much about these guys, do they go around in packs ?

[Mark Farnan]

Hi Mark, Nicely exposed in those strong light conditions. I like the Dingo on the move and sense of motion created. Also like the idea of the environment and might consider more room in front.

Don't know much about these guys, do they go around in packs ?

Not really, they are usuall seen alone. Dingo packs are often just a mated pair, and various pups I belive, although this varies by region. I they do, on occasion, hunt in packs for bigger prey like larger Kangaroo's.

The Dingo is the largest land Predator Australia.

One interesting tidbit, the Dingo is the cause of one of the longest 'structures' in the world. The Australia Dingo(or Dog) Fence. which is some 5,600km (3450 miles) long and 6ft high, stretching from the Queensland coast, To western part of south Australia.

Regards

Mark

[Robert Amoruso]

Nice background (clean and w/o distractions) and good action. i would suggest a minor crop from the bottom to remove the much more OOF area. And if you have it a looser crop at the hind feet as it is too tight there.

[Mark Farnan]

Nice background (clean and w/o distractions) and good action. i would suggest a minor crop from the bottom to remove the much more OOF area. And if you have it a looser crop at the hind feet as it is too tight there.

Adjusted as suggested. Take 2!. I also went a bit wider on the front.
I've actually struggled cropping this shot for the right 'feel' vs size of the dingo in the frame. So all suggestions welcome.



Regards

Mark
www.markfarnan.com

[Rachel Hollander]

Mark - welcome. I prefer the comp of the repost. I like that 3 of the 4 paws are off the ground conveying movement.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Mark, I like the rich reds of the image and the Dingo in movement. The repost is better, but I think you can still get more out of the image which would give more structure and form to the animal.

Not sure if this helps, but applied a little in Levels, Contrast in Curves, added some NR to the BG only and added some selective USM to the Dingo?

TFS
Steve

[Hilary Hann]

An interesting image which really shows how harsh life is in the desert for these animals. Perhaps a bit easier now after all the rain. Like the colours of the image and think that Steve has managed to get a bit more out of it although I prefer your re-post for composition.

[Mark Farnan]

It IS very harsh out there, and I'm not even sure how they survive. We were maybe 200km from the nearest water source (Purni bore to the West), and far more from any kind of lake or river.

Thanks for the feedback folks. I'll play around with it some more with the adjustments you suggest.

Appreciated.

Regards

Mark