Buffalo

[Hilary Hann]

Photographed at Meru National Park, Kenya. Late afternoon. Full Frame
7D; 400mm; ISO200; f7.1; 1/640
The Buffaloes we saw in Meru all seemed to have mange or some other skin disease, this being one of the more healthy looking individuals. I have a few photos of him and his left eye appears semi closed in all of them.

[Grant Atkinson]

Hilary, I very much like the symmetry (hope you spell it like that) of the ears and horns, and the angle of the buffalo's head shows good interest. The oxpeckers really add to the shot for me though. Image quality looks very good and dof choice was spot on. I would be tempted to crop this one tight for the forum, concentrating on the head and back of the buffalo...
cheers
Grant

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice one Hilary...I see that droopy eye and 'raise you one' . The oxpeckers are a nice touch, and I can see where Grant is headed with a tight crop of the head, horns and back arch with birds on.
Could perhaps do with a touch of shadow recovery on the buff but I like it as is...

[Hilary Hann]

Thank you Grant for the feedback. I don't seem to get the quality I'd like out of my 7D to crop hard which is due to operator not hardware so cropping hard may not be an option. But I wanted to post something here as I've been absent for a while and it will be the last here for sometime.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Hilary, I agree with Morkel, a little bit of H/S with a slight adjustment in selective colour just brings more detail out, plus another round of USM would help at this size. The shrub to the right intersecting the ear/horn is a bit annoying

Sorry to hear you are not getting the most out of the 7D, otherwise I might have suggested a tighter crop, head & back with the Ox P's. He certainly has an arrogant look about him.

But I wanted to post something here as I've been absent for a while and it will be the last here for sometime.

Traveling I trust?

TFS
Steve

[Robert Amoruso]

Hilary,

Good comments above and I agree that the bush below the head is distracting. If possible moving left would have cleaned up the BG perhaps.

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Morkel, Steve and Robert … good points.

Steve, my issues with the 7D are all down to the operator. It feels like when I was shooting trannie film … very unforgiving if the exposure isn't spot on. At least that is what I've found. Reason for not posting much now in wildlife is all down to not feeling entirely happy with IQ on the more interesting images I have left and so I end up posting boring stuff, like buffaloes! I've spent my MkIV money on conservation stuff, c'est la vie. Like Arnie says "I'll be back" ..........

[Morkel Erasmus]

my issues with the 7D are all down to the operator. It feels like when I was shooting trannie film … very unforgiving if the exposure isn't spot on. At least that is what I've found.

Sorry to hear that Hilary...but I do concur it can be a very unforgiving camera...I used to almost permanently be on +0.3 to +0.7 EV .
It's also important to work up the RAW files properly. If you are having issues you can PM me and I'll be happy to give you my workflow for that camera.

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Morkel, I'll do that, when I've stopped grizzling about it!!

[Dumay de Boulle]

Hi Hillary...I like the pose and the oxpeckers( Love seeing the yellow billed OP's). I loved and miss my 7D. I wish I still had the mega pixels and the crop factor. I was always happy with the IQ. I suppose you just need to work at it and once you start getting what you want you will love it too. As Morkel says always over expose and you will find noise will be less of an issue. If I could help in any way give me a shout!

[Hilary Hann]

Dumay thanks for the good advice. I have started to overexpose in images I'm making locally so hopefully things will improve. I'll get in touch closer to my next safari if the camera and I are still fighting!!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hilary - the oxpeckers really add to the image. I'm sorry to hear about your feelings about the 7D but I too have had a learning curve with it. I've found that noise can be a problem if exposure isn't spot on and at higher ISOs. Hopefully, you're experiencing just a temporary frustrating period. Unfortunately, I think we all go through them.

TFS and good luck,
Rachel

[DanWalters]

Like the birds on the back and the surrounding vegetation. Maybe just a little more detail in the left eye.

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Rachel and Dan.

Rachel, maybe I need the PhaseOne IQ180 (80 megapixel back), that should fix it!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Thanks Rachel and Dan.

Rachel, maybe I need the PhaseOne IQ180 (80 megapixel back), that should fix it!

And a 500mm plus a heavy tripod. :D

Nice scene with oxpeckers. Pulling up the highlights a bit with a slight crop will strengthen the image.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Hilary Hann]

And a 500mm plus a heavy tripod. :D

Nice scene with oxpeckers. Pulling up the highlights a bit with a slight crop will strengthen the image.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

And a porter .........

[Sabyasachi Patra]

And a porter .........

I fully agree.

With my OConnor fluid head and Sachtler tripod weighing in at around 8 kgs, I am now in the same porter category. I had never imagined hiking in the mountains to be so tough. :(

[Steve Canuel]

Hi Hilary,
Like the angle of the buff and the light on this one. Birds add some interest and I really like seeing the sweeping curves of the horns of these guys. Also like the shadow of the horn paralleling the real thing. And I hope not everyone considers buffs and other grazers boring, if so I'm in trouble !

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Steve, I love antelope but am not so keen on buffalo I have to admit. It isn't that the animal is boring but sometimes I feel that my method of photographing them is boring! I don't find your photography boring at all and I loooove those pronghorns!! And I have to remind you Northerners that we are coming out of a very cold, wet and gloomy winter which makes us unhappy campers (to use Artie's words) although I was just discussing storage capacity for Tanzania in January and also adding a couple of days to the trip so all is not lost and I'm feeling enthusiastic about even the much maligned buffs.