PhilipYale

Kudu Photobomb

On safari in Kariega Game reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape, we were returning from an afternoon game drive when we came across some female kudu. As ...
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On safari in Kariega Game reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape, we were returning from an afternoon game drive when we came across some female kudu. As we eased past them, I happened to look out of the back of the jeep, and noticed two other females amongst the bushes. Without thinking I grabbed two shots of the first one, and it was only on reviewing the images I realised that the one in the background had performed a perfectly placed photobomb!

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Canon EOS 5D Mark III

settings

Aperture f/2.8 ISO 800 Shutter 1/350 Focal Length 400/1

upload_date

Aug, 2018

Views

4773

Likes

+2k

Awards

Chatter Award

Zenith Award

Top Shot Award 21

Featured

Community Choice Award

Peer Award

+864

Absolute Masterpiece

+138

Superb Composition

+111

Top Choice

+84

Magnificent Capture

+69

Outstanding Creativity

+51

Superior Skill

All Star

Genius

Virtuoso

Emotions

Impressed

+182

Happy

+19

Relaxed

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank

Categories

PRO+

Beautiful captire...nice DOF..

Beautiful! Perfect moment,....

Looks like he posed and smiled for you. Great Shot!

Platinum

Stunning shot on many levels!

Platinum

Stunning shot on many levels!

Platinum

Stunning shot on many levels!

Outstanding...

Oh My Gosh this is amazing!!!

Love the symmetry!

What a gorgeous photo The colours ,natural state so sharp and clear . Beautiful love their expressions!:-)

PRO+

Exceptional composition

stunning shot at the right moment

Brilliant!

PRO

Beautiful photo!!!!

Awesome!!!

Beautiful capture!

Amazing shot

This is beautiful xxx

Ultimate

Beautiful

great capture/composition!

Stunning wildlife

Beautiful shot!

Very nice

Nice shot!

😍😍😍😍

Get out!! Such a great capture, and awesome effect!

Beautiful shot!!

Super

Awesome shot

i love this photo

So cute!

Cool picture

So cute

PRO+

Beautiful photo

Absolutely Beautiful

Excellent

Simply beautiful

Magnificent

Cute!

Fantastic job

AMazing picture!

Very nice!

Visual echo!

Awesome photo

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Behind The Lens

Location

Kariega Game Reserve, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Time

I was so pleased with this image! It was taken mid-afternoon, as we were heading back to our lodge after a game drive. I was sat in the back seat of our open-top jeep, and as we rounded a corner we had to slow down to pass a kudu standing on the track. As we passed it, I happened to look behind me and noticed another kudu down a small side track. Without thinking, I swung my camera around and fired off 2 shots before it disappeared from view. When we got back to the lodge and I reviewed the images, I was thrilled to see that not only was it wonderfully sharp, but that there had been a second kudu stood beyond it and perfectly-framed between the ears of the first! I hadn't noticed this at the time, so this image was a complete fluke. 15th May 2018 15:00

Lighting

Despite being mid-afternoon the South African sun was shielded by the surrounding dense undergrowth. This gave a much more even lighting and avoided harsh contrast and strong shadows that were often a problem photographing in that area.

Equipment

Shot using a Canon EOS 5D mk3 Lens: Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L II The lens was a hired one (specially for the safari), and is probably the best lens I have ever come across. The image stabilisation is astounding, as is the image quality. This was taken hand-held at 1/350 and f2.8 from the back of a moving jeep whilst twisting backwards and looking over my left shoulder! (I have another shot of a lion at dusk taken hand-held at 1/25 (1 twenty-fifth) of a second at f2.8 and the quality of that is stunning too) . I just wish I could afford to own one outright!

Inspiration

This was a spur-of-the-moment shot. We were on safari, so obviously taking photos was the main goal, but I never saw this shot coming. It was an instant reaction to a photo opportunity, and I didn't realise exactly what I'd captured (with the distant kudu) until I reviewed the images later.

Editing

Fairly minimal processing. There has been a very slight crop at the top, and I've deepened the blacks and increased the overall contrast because the lighting in that shaded area was very flat indeed. A subtle dark vignette to lead the eye to the centre of the shot, and that was it.

In my camera bag

Canon EOS 5Dmk4, and 5Dmk3 as a backup. Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L II Canon EF 24-105mm f4 L Canon EF 50mm f1.4 Canon EF 2x Extender III Manfrotto 190B tripod Manfrotto 681B monopod Waterproof camera cover, spare batteries, memory card wallet, battery charger, iPad, notebook, lens cleaning kit, photo halter (for horses - I'm an equine photographer mainly)

Feedback

Be familiar with your equipment. This was, literally, a snapshot, but if I had had to think about settings or focusing before taking it then I'd have missed the shot.

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PhilipYale

PhilipYale

Kudu Photobomb

On safari in Kariega Game reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape, we were returning from an afternoon game drive when we came across some female kudu. As ... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow PhilipYale

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On safari in Kariega Game reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape, we were returning from an afternoon game drive when we came across some female kudu. As ...
Read more

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