Kalahari Sentries

Gallery: WildlifePosted January 23, 2012228 views11 comments

We found these 2 young male cheetahs north of the Nossob Rest Camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park recently. They had failed in chasing down a steenbok and were watching out for a new target. The morning light was magic.

Self-nit: I rue clipping the white fur on their necks. Tricky exposure situation given the direction of the light and I probably could have dialled back from the +0.3EV I was using.

Techs:
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II + 1.4xTC @ 700mm
f8.0 @ 1/500 SS @ ISO-1000

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on January 23, 2012 at 5:47 AM

As you have said yourself, glorious lighting indeed. It is good that you chose f8 because both of them are in sharp focus even though they are not on the same plane. Like the intense look on their faces and the dry bushes give a feel of the terrain in which they have to operate.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on January 23, 2012 at 6:52 AM

Great setting, light n similar poses are very appealing.
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Cristina Strudthof on January 23, 2012 at 8:44 AM

Nice capture. You did the best you could given the light and direction you were given. Wonderful.

Registered on January 14, 2011, 53 Posts, 363 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on January 23, 2012 at 9:36 AM

Hello Morkel

Sweet Image. Beautiful light...

TFS

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Neil Rossmiller on January 23, 2012 at 11:27 AM

Hi Morkel,
I like this a lot. The highlight issue is unfortunate as you point out. The other small nit I have, being from a people portrait background, is the dark background band bisecting the heads. Minor overall, but distracting to my eye.
Cool Shot.
Neil

Registered on October 30, 2009, 156 Posts, 749 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on January 23, 2012 at 12:58 PM

Exquisite light, nice poses, and a good look at the eye-level brush that so often injures the cheetah's eyes as they crash through.
The hot necks are very minor -

Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on January 23, 2012 at 4:54 PM

Thanks for the kind comments, folks...it was a super sighting in great light and I was happy to get some images from this.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on January 24, 2012 at 8:18 AM

Hi Morkel,

Definitely sweet light and the repeating pattern of poses (say that three times fast!) is excellent. Always tough to work with multiple subjects but you did a good job on this one. I understand you feelings on the whites of the neck, but not a huge deal or deal-breaker. My only nit is even less significant than the whites - the tree just above the cheetah on the right distracted me just a bit - in a perfect world it would have positioned itself near the left side of the frame (or at least not jumped right above the cheetah just as you were shooting the image!

Cheers...thanks for sharing this one...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Mario Moreno on January 28, 2012 at 3:12 PM

I like the setting and the composition and specially the focused stare of the two cheetahs. Given the light conditions, the exposure is great. The tree does distract but only because Brad pointed it out and now I keep seeing it

Registered on January 24, 2012, 163 Posts, 369 Comments

Comment posted by James Campbell on January 31, 2012 at 4:24 AM

Awesome setting and gorgeous light - the whites don't bother me much but I know it can be frustrating when you know you could have handled it!

Registered on January 12, 2009, 48 Posts, 377 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on March 14, 2012 at 3:43 PM

Thanks for all the kind and constructive comments, folks!

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments