Hyena standoff

[Stu Bowie]

On one of our mornings in Botswana, we asked our guide that we would like to see a hyena. Well we came across a kill and saw 15 of them. Infront of these hyena was a lioness protecting her kill. These guys were getting together to chase her away, which they eventually did. I have plenty of images of the whole scenario, and thought I would share this one first.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 190mm
1/400
F/8.0
ISO 640

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand held from an open vehicle

[Mark Wiseman]

Stuart, I think you have the makings of a wonderful image here, sounds as though the other images will be interesting. I would defnitely crop and remove the tree trunk at the bottom of the image as it appears distracting. The beautiful detail, positioning of the hyena pack and there eye contact would improve the image, otherwise well done and I can't wait to see the other images. TFS

[Pieter de Waal]

Excellent capture and good use of DOF Stuart, love the posture of these guys - a true standoff. I also like the sense of environment in the scene. Look forward to seeing the follow up.

[Stu Bowie]

Mark, Pieter, thanks for your feedback.

Mark, Yep, your crop certainly looks better. Now why didnt I think of that the first time.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Fantastic sighting and great image Stu...certainly looking forward to this series! Seems like your time in Botswana was well spent...

I fully agree on Mark's crop, but furthermore I find the image a tad yellow (not sure if you shot on cloudy WB?) and their faces a tad dark. Here is a version with a cooling filter applied at 12% and some dodging to the midtones and shadows of their faces. What do you think?

[Marc Mol]

Love the mood & tension in this stand off depicted here Stuart, agree on the crop but for mine prefer a version of WB somewhere between the two.
TFS

[Jay Gould]

I too would vote for Mark's RP. If anything just a tad lighter; Morkman, I think you went a bit too far.

[Dudley Watson]

Well done Stuart. I like the detail and composition together with the sense of impending drama. I like the tighter crop

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for the feedback guys. Much appreciated.

Mork, thanks for your repost too. You are 100% correct - it was overcast, and I was using cloudy WB. I was also aware of the 'yellow' feel to this, but maybe something inbetween.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Very nice to see all the faces...I am looking forward to the post of the action!

[Harshad Barve]

I may go for black & white bhai

Lovely image indeed
TFS

[Grant Atkinson]

Nice gathering of the hyaenas that you have captured here Stuart. It might be an idea during processing to select the hyaeanas as a group, and perhaps change the colour of the background a little more than the hyaenas if that makes any sense. I am guessing that when you were shooting here there was also a fair bit of smoky haze in the air, and I find that tends to make colour casts even stronger. I shoot on Auto WB and when the smoke haze is strong, I invariably end up with strong colour casts throughout my images. In my opinion, by changing the colour/tone of the hyaenas just a little from their background, you will enhance separation from the background, and add strength to what is already a strong shot....
Stuart, I hope you also zoomed in and took some tighter images of that group of four on the right side alone...

Looking forward to more from this interaction
cheers
Grant

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the great feedback. I take in all the points to help me in the future.