Monday, July 28, 2014

Cape Buffalo

We were just as surprised as this bull cape buffalo when we rounded a bend in the trail while riding in the safari truck one morning.  He had been eating (note the grass in his mouth) and raised his head to stare, presumably pondering whether to run away or charge.  It was early morning with not much light and we weren't yet prepared to take any photos.  The ISO was dialed up and we got a couple of frames before quickly moving on.  The buffalo turned and ran away at the same time.  It's a memorable shot because we were very close to this wary and ornery animal.
100-400 lens at 285mm, 1/200 second at f/5.6, ISO 6400, handheld with image stabilization.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Show Jumping

This is one of our favorites of a horse and rider jumping a fence during a recent horse show because it shows peak action.  The horse is at its highest point in the air with both front legs even with each other.  The back feet are off the ground and the ears are forward and alert.
Most of the time we shoot in the horizontal orientation.  It's more natural and there is more room for framing error when following fast action like this.  But the vertical orientation works nicely when tightly framed.  The slope of the horse's back and rear legs gives a nice diagonal element to the composition.  We certainly don't claim to nail the timing and the framing perfectly every time.  The success rate is lower than we would like but a lot of practice helps immensely.
100-400 lens at 150mm, 1/1600 second at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Impalas at a Waterhole

This photograph of impalas is one of our favorites from the recent trip to South Africa.  We were concealed at a waterhole and were able to watch as this group of antelope came in to drink.  The shoreline was devoid of brush so we had a clear view when the animals came to the edge.  The sunlight was strong but the late afternoon sun was low enough to make the image attractive.  The ram on the right side is a nice specimen and is focused on something in the distance.
100-400 lens at 400mm, 1/1250 at f/5.6, ISO 250.