Last Moments

Quite a photo, Ken. Looks like you had harsh mid day light, which you handled well, although it appears the Chetah color is a bit washed out. I note a bit of action here in the dust stirred up by the Gnu's hind feet in what is probably its last struggles in the not so pretty part of nature. At the same time the Chetah has to eat. I am a bit curious why there is no shadow under the Chetah while there is a definite shadow cast by the Gnu. Overall, a great photo IMO.

Welcome back Ken. I trust Ruaha was excellent.

For me this is not one of your best shots and does not really reflect what must have been an exciting moment on safari.
The colours are a bit washed out and I think we need a slightly more frontal pov, or perhaps a head turn.

Good question about the shadow. This had to be late morning or early afternoon. I see part of the shadow of the hindquarters and the shadow of the right foreleg on the left, but nothing of the body? I'm sure there is an explanation. Perhaps it is obscured behind the raised clump of grass in the middle and the dust kicked up by the gnu.

Solid capture and a strong nature story. This looks like almost noon lighting, hence the positioning of the shadow. Looking closely at the larger version I believe Phil hit the nail on the head. I seem to see the tracings of the shadow coming out from behind the clump of grass and moving over to the gnu's back foot. The kicked up dust is obscuring it. The lighting isn't going to help the colors any, but have you tried shifting over to the Landscape profile for the camera in LR or ACR? I find that it often brings back the natural coloration in fur when the lighting is flat.

Certainly exciting to see this, Ken. Agree with Martin on his assessment - do you have any of the "Snatch"?

I agree with the light comments, it was indeed very harsh. This is always a problem close to the equator where the sun is mostly overhead.
I think I need to revisit this one.

I was a bit far away for the "snatch" and the vehicle was moving, I have yet to have a good look at these, but unlikely to be OK?

Hey Ken, glad to see you got in a a chase or two. It's always a dilemma: keep the vehicle moving for a prime position - or shoot from where you are. Nice capture of what I know to be a very cool experience. Jim

The encounter would be special and I agree with other observations about light and understand fully the constraints of bright over-head sunlight. I think this would have been much stronger with a simple head turn.