Very successful hunters.
Very successful hunters.
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Contest Finalist in Exotic Wildlife Photo Contest
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo on safari in Botswana. We came upon these two Cheetah brothers rolling around and playing with each other. It seemed that they were pretty content after a meal they had just had, because we were able to see blood on the scruff of their necks. When they got up to move, we decided to follow them and see what happened. They were also being followed by a dazzle of Zebra, an animal that we learned would not really be on the brothers' list of animals to hunt. That is because the risk of a cheetah being injured while hunting such a large animal could mean starvation. The Zebra were following the Cheetah because it's always best to know where the predators are.Time
When on safari you usually go out early in the morning until around 9:00am or at dusk, where you head out around 4:30pm until it's too dark to see. Most animals are active and hunting during the afternoon and evening in order to avoid the heat of the day. Dusk and dawn are the best times for photographing wild animals because of their activity and the lighting.Lighting
This was early to late morning light and the sky was cloudy and darker after a night of rain. The good part about it was there were not a lot of shadows being thrown from the trees so there were no dark spots on the animals or on the fallen tree they were on.Equipment
This was taken with my Canon 7D and my Canon 100 to 400 lens. I love them together.Inspiration
I love the big cats of the wild and when we came upon the two brothers I was thinking of all the other photos that I have seen in famous magazines or books. I thought this was the same opportunity that other photographers have had, and that opportunities such as this may have helped them with their art. One of my main goals is the conservation of nature and wildlife and I thought "wow" a photo like this may make a difference.Editing
This was early to late morning light but I need to be honest. I had taken so many photos and realized my other card was full and someone suggested to change my camera to jpeg instead of raw. This advice was given hoping that I would not miss a shot, in case something exciting happened in high speed and I would still have sufficient memory. I am still learning a lot every time I take photos and was hoping they were correct. So as this was shot in jpeg there was very little post processing involved. I darkened it up a bit, sharpened it, and enhanced the color using lightroom. I only missed a few shots from lack of memory so all worked out.In my camera bag
I carry my Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EFS 60mm Macro lens, Canon EFS 18 to 135 lens, and my Canon EF 100 to 400 lens, my tripod, lots of extra Sd cards so I will always have enough space, extra battery, couple of cliff bars and bug spray!!!Feedback
There are always times when you are a little less prepared when an opportunity comes along. Lots of people will give you advice and you don't have time to process it all but take it in and learn from it. I got this shot and many more in jpeg using advice from someone else and even though I would rather I got them in raw for post processing reasons, more than half of the shots came out the way I liked. No matter what happens try everything and keep shooting.