kathrynsklenakdannay
FollowThe sun was just rising on the Maasai Mara as I watched this lioness hop up on the fallen tree and look off to the sunrise. In the distance a herd of zebra graz...
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The sun was just rising on the Maasai Mara as I watched this lioness hop up on the fallen tree and look off to the sunrise. In the distance a herd of zebra grazed. It was as if she was choosing between enjoying the first rays of sunshine or pursuing breakfast.
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Top Shot Award 21
People's Choice in Warm Colors Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Safari Wildlife Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in The African Continent Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in The Minimalist Marketplace Project
Contest Finalist in Explore Africa Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in The Golden Hour Photo Contest
Winner in Your best Wild Mammal Photo Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Isolating The Subject Photo Contest
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Forrest_Imagery
February 15, 2017
There are not enough adjectives to describe what you have so masterly achieved is this image !
idk?... This may beat your African sunrise tree silhouette. Too difficult of a decision to make.
idk?... This may beat your African sunrise tree silhouette. Too difficult of a decision to make.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
Embracing the Sunrise was taken in the Maasai Mara in Kenya.Time
This shot was taken shortly after sunrise in early August.Lighting
As typical on safari, when there are lions there are often multiple safari vehicles in the area. Contrary to the other vehicles, who chose to move on the other side of the lions so that the lions would be lit by the rising sun, our photographer guide chose to have us shoot into the sun. This provided me the opportunity for a very unique silhouette shot. It was also interesting that to note that a few minutes later, I shot the same lion from a bit higher up so that no sky showed in the shot. In doing so, there was not as much contrast and the lion was bathed in soft light and the fields beyond reflected a rose-gold hue. So shooting into the sun, provided some very unique opportunities to capture the subject in different light.Equipment
I shot this with my Nikon D800 and a rented 80-400mm / f4.5-5.6 lens. Tripods weren't practical in the safari vehicle. I did use a beanbag to stabilize the camera as much as possible.Inspiration
The golden light with the lioness on the log made a great silhouette shot. However, I was too high in the vehicle to get the whole silhouette. The horizon line was midway up her legs and made them dark. So I literally laid on the floor of the vehicle to be able to shoot up at her with the goal of it looking as if her feet were resting on the horizon. It also took a lot of patience and "clicks" to capture her posed just so, and the tail upright. It lasted only a moment and I was ready.Editing
I use Lightroom to organize my photos and do a majority of mypost processing. Since I shoot in raw, some post processing is needed. For this photo, the post processing was minimal. It was limited to removing sensor dust spots, and bringing up the shadows just a bit to show some of the glow on the edge of her fur.In my camera bag
My camera bag now contains an Nikon D800E, Nikon 24-70 / f2.8, 70-200 / f2.8, wide angle 18-35mm / f3.5, and a 2x tele-converter to be able to go in tight with the 70-200mm. Depending on where I'm shooting, I may include my 60mm / f2.8 Macro. For filters, I always carry a circular polarizer, and a set of Lee filters: a soft graduated ND, a hard ND and a big stopper. I also have several sets of memory cards 64G and 32G, several extra batteries, lens clothes, a small air blower and Allen wrenches for my tripod and tripod brackets.Feedback
It's amazing how the light can change in just minutes. My recommendations would be to first be patient, and second, be creative with what you have. Changing the angle of the camera and / or the background can make a huge difference in the final photo.