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Hippo Foursome
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Hippo Foursome

by Morkel Erasmus

Gallery: WildlifePosted May 4, 2014139 views8 comments
As we were cruising along the Chobe river that straddles the Chobe National Park in Botswana and the Caprivi strip in Namibia, we came across a pod of Hippopotamus who were out of the river quite late in the morning. Hippo usually come out to graze at night and return to the water as the day breaks.

My guests and I were able to capture a couple of lovely photos of these youngsters lazily standing on the riverbank, not entirely committed to getting wet just yet. Some of them looked like they were standing up sleeping, in fact. We were able to maneuver nicely with our specialised photographic boat for lovely photographic opportunities, even as they eventually stepped into the water.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
1.4x teleconverter
f8.0 | 1/1250 SS | ISO-2500

Comments

8 comments
Comment posted by Brad Hill on May 5, 2014 at 1:55 PM
Hi Morkel,

Always tough working with a group of animals (especially with the thin DoF of a super-telephoto), but this one worked out quite nicely. Nice separation from the background and the soft lighting brings out the colour very well. Nice scene...

When you see these guys out of water like this they seem almost comical - like they're made of rubber! :wink:

Cheers...

Brad
Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments
Comment posted by Genny K. on May 5, 2014 at 5:12 PM
Nice. I have never seen one in real life, but I rarely see a photo of them on land like this. That is a big mass of animals there. :biggrin: The texture of their skin shows up well in this. Neat.
Registered on June 5, 2006, 132 Posts, 2001 Comments
Comment posted by William Bickle on May 5, 2014 at 5:51 PM
Hello Morkel

Great to see these guys really do have legs & not swimming fins :)

The two left seem like having a Siesta while the other two are giving you a very nice look.

As Mr Hill points out... Good separation from the background!
And CONGRATS on the Group Shot.

Well done

Bill
Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments
Comment posted by Rick Cloran on May 5, 2014 at 6:38 PM
Congrats on a nice group shot. The two in the middle definitely look young. :toast:
Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments
Comment posted by Marsel van Oosten on May 6, 2014 at 8:04 AM
This is not something you get every day. Most of the time they're either lying down, or they rush into the water. To have them standing in nice row is a real treat.
Registered on March 9, 2004, 285 Posts, 2277 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on May 6, 2014 at 2:03 PM
Four standing with four slightly different attitudes is cool. In my one African trip years ago, I never saw a hippo out of water, so I know this is unusual. Neat post.
Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments
Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on May 8, 2014 at 5:36 AM
Just to see one hippo out of water in good lighting conditions is great, but to see four.....wow!
Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments
Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on May 8, 2014 at 4:51 PM
Thanks folks - it was indeed a special sighting...
Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments