The Chase

[Mark Wiseman]

I knew that there were cheetah in the Auob River valley and drove more than 100 miles to find them. I was rewarded with seeing 3 cheetah kills on the same day and missed out on a fourth. The mother cheetah disturbed a springbok fawn which ran away and the action of running away set a whole series of events in progrees. The 8 month old cheetah's gave chase, with this male showing greater interest and will. The chase ended when the cheetah chased this springbok fawn into my Landcruiser and then proceeded to chase the fawn into the river bed. It however could not make the kill which was left to its mother to complete. Urikuruus, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa.
The camera details are as follows:
Canon EOS 1Ds MkIII
Canon EF 500mm f4 LUIS
ISO 400
Aperture f5.6
Shutter 1/2000
Exposure compensation of +0.7
The image was taken at 10h14(GMT +2 hours) The light in the Kalahari is magical, but after 7am in the summer becomes very harsh. Any comments welcome and advice.

[Steve Uffman]

Circle of life....very cool image..clearly worth the hunt for you!

[Jason Hurst]

Very nice image. Looks like the 5 FPS of the 1Ds Mk III was plenty fast enough for you to capture the action.

[Morkel Erasmus]

A fantastic opportunity in any kind of light, Mark, and one that most wildlife photographers yearn for when faced with a cheetah sighting...so very well captured!
I like the pano crop here and the harsh light was decently handled. I know full well how harsh the Kalahari sun can seem after 7am (at least in winter/spring when I prefer to go the tipping point is more towards 8h30am, but then again the day starts a bit later ).

[Marc Mol]

Great action captured here Mark in difficult lighting cond's, would back off a little on the sharpening on these two however.
TFS

[DanWalters]

Great action! Like the look of terror on the prey's face

[Tom Graham]

"...cheetah chased this springbok fawn into my Landcruiser..."
Really, the fawn jumped into your Lancruiser, and then back out other side? And cheetah did what? Or what happened?
Like the shot, is there a following one with the cheetah's front legs extended outward?
Tom

[Morkel Erasmus]

I agree on backing down the sharpening just a tad...

"...cheetah chased this springbok fawn into my Landcruiser..."
Really, the fawn jumped into your Lancruiser, and then back out other side? And cheetah did what? Or what happened?

Snide sarcasm comes quite easily to you, eh Tom? Watch the tone .

Bearing in mind Mark was in a self-drive National Park, I could easily figure out for myself that he was in a 'stock-standard' Land Cruiser as opposed to a game viewer, and that the fawn must have run into the side of the door or something. Happens more often than you think with a chase close to the car...

[Mark Wiseman]

I have a repost with one less sharpening pass, what do you guys think, Morkel and Marc? To Tom, the fawn was chased into the ARB bumper of the Landcruiser and was bleating like a sheep. I do have an image with the legs extended, but will leave for another post. Thanks for all the comment and the time taken to post, it is gratefully appreciated.

[Tom Graham]

"Snide sarcasm comes quite easily to you, eh Tom? Watch the tone"
Morkel, please, no sarcasm intended I swear!!
I simply want know what happened. Did the fawn actually -jump- into the Landcruiser as Mark says?? I believe him, I take him at his word. Could that not happen? Was he just kidding?? I wasn't making "fun" of what he said. Would like to know more. Forgive me if it is a very stupid question. You seem to know the answer, the fawn ran into the door side? Ok, I'll accept that.
Tom

[Morkel Erasmus]

Morkel, please, no sarcasm intended I swear!!
I simply want know what happened. Did the fawn actually -jump- into the Landcruiser as Mark says?? I believe him, I take him at his word. Could that not happen? Was he just kidding?? I wasn't making "fun" of what he said. Would like to know more. Forgive me if it is a very stupid question.at.

Fair enough, I will also take you at your word, I believe you. But just realise how easily it can come across like that...

[Ofer Levy]

This is pretty amazing! What a drama! Like the repost.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Great action. I agree that the sharpening is on the higher side. The repost is better. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Steve Kaluski]

Repost is better Mark, I might also suggest moving the Cyan slider to the left in Colour balance, just to remove a little more of the red in the sky, gives a cleaner feel IMHO, but do this as an Adjustment layer.

TFS
Steve

[Dumay de Boulle]

Tom im sure what Mark was saying that he chased him toward the Landcruiser and he bumped or ran into it...Just like when one automobile crashes into another one, it doesn't mean that the one went inside the other...Anyway enough of that...Mark, Nice image in tough light repost looks good re sharpening. Like Steve's suggestion to remove the purple haze from the sky.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mark, great to get both into the frame, especially at a fair speed. A well balanced comp, and your repost does look better. Well captured.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Repost looks very good Mark - agree with Steve on trying out a colour adjustment, see how it affects the overall look?

[Pieter de Waal]

Fantastic action captured Mark, well done with the harsh light. I like the windswept mane on the Cheetah and prefer the repost. Three Cheetah kills in one day, you were very fortunate.

[Mark Wiseman]

Thanks for all your help. I have included in this repost the reduced sharpening and the correction in the colour balance as suggested by Steve. Slider moved to the left, cyan+6. What do you all think? Best wishes to you all, with many thanks, Mark.

[Steve Kaluski]

Mark I think it should be - not +, you need to move the slider to the left.

[Mark Wiseman]

Steve, it was my fault, it was -6 in the cyan part of the colour balance slider. Thanks for your help. What do you think of the change?

[Harshad Barve]

How I wish this was in my files , Terrific shot
TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Mark, to be honest I think -6 is perhaps a little too subtle and can't really see to much difference between the last two posts in relation to the sky. This might be too aggressive, but might help illustrate where I am coming from, this was -20 and a boost in the blue channel too in adjustments.

BTW are you in the Peterborough area, if so I will be heading past that direction at the weekend for a talk I am giving.

Steve

[Mark Wiseman]

Thanks Steve for your help. I agree the image is cleaner and better for the change. I will do some work on the image myself.
PS: If you give me a bel or e-mail, we can meet up over the weekend.

[Rachel Hollander]

Mark - fantastic action, well captured. The sharpening on the repost looks better and good suggestions by Steve with respect to the color.

TFS,
Rachel