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Three Sleepy Hippos
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Three Sleepy Hippos

by Morkel Erasmus

Gallery: WildlifePosted April 29, 2015105 views8 comments

Photographing a hippopotamus out of the water in broad daylight is an opportunity that comes around rarely enough...but coming across 3 of them standing and sleeping on the banks of the Chobe midway through the morning's cruise on the river is pure gold! I am looking forward to showing my guests how to make the most of their time in this paradise again in May. 

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
1.4x teleconverter
f11 | 1/1250 SS | ISO-1100

Comments

8 comments
Comment posted by Jim Erhardt on April 29, 2015 at 7:11 PM

Morkel, this is magnificent.  Above and beyond the three hippos (which by themselves make the photo), I like the five distict horizontal "layers" starting with water at the bottom and ending with the sky at the top.

Thanks for sharing!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 245 Posts, 2421 Comments
Comment posted by Betty-Lou Luyken on April 30, 2015 at 11:13 AM

Really nice image, Morkel. I completely agree with Jim and I think it is great that you took this in portrait.

Registered on July 9, 2007, 17 Posts, 82 Comments
Comment posted by Brad Hill on April 30, 2015 at 1:23 PM

Hi Morkel,

I agree whole-heartedly with Jim's comment - just an excellent shot from so many perspectives (documentary nature of it, compositional principles, and techical aspects). You probably know I'm beyond anal when it comes to DoF and how OOF zones are used - in my mind this is a textbook example of how to do it exactly right. I think many photographers would have opened up more (throwing more of background OOF and - critically - the foreground more OOF) which, in my opinion, would have been a huge error. I think a horizontal format could have worked as well, but with that aspect ratio you may have needed a bit more focal length (or a little cropping)...but perhaps if you went horizontal you might not have been able to include quite enough sky (thinking out loud).

Really well done!

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments
Comment posted by Neil Rossmiller on May 1, 2015 at 3:09 PM

This is really nice, Morkel

I really can't add anything more to the oberservations already posted except to say well done. Thanks for sharing!

 

Registered on October 30, 2009, 156 Posts, 749 Comments
Comment posted by John Launstein on May 2, 2015 at 1:19 AM

Absolutely classic, Morkel! To be honest, this one came together so perfectly it looks like you were doing a commercial shoot with paid animal models. Love the look of the grass and sky as well...really the tonality throughout is wonderful along with the fantastic graphic balance. I also noted and appreciated the layers. Just fantastic.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments
Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on May 2, 2015 at 6:34 AM

devildevildevil

Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments
Comment posted by William Bickle on May 4, 2015 at 1:04 PM

LOOKIN Very Good !:)

 

Cheers

 

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on May 4, 2015 at 2:21 PM

Really excellent!   I love the line-up effect.
 

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments