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Embracing the Sunrise
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Embracing the Sunrise



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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 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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cameraNIKON D800

settings Aperture 56/10 ISO 100 Shutter 1/500 Focal Length 4000/10 

upload_dateAug, 2016

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7127

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Awards

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
Contest Finalist in Call Of The Wild Photo Contest
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Peer Award
JamesHarmon PABLO72 pfitz6354 johnhoward BHurley59 Lightpro300 RetinaEcho +638
Superb Composition
dubophoto Normanthegr8 831John Sensational patticarol casperkerrivan leslie57 +90
Absolute Masterpiece
dwreid68 sidaswal diyideasdiy WestinOz photosue50 Bea1066 Noleezie +78
Top Choice
cristianpostovanu susanhuckins JennymacPhotoAdventures HuntsmanPhoto Thor415 OBRonTyan ppls6 +46
Magnificent Capture
philden BrunoHeeb MG-Photography RachelNiquette KatPagett CathyWithers-Clarke jettahlily008 +46
Outstanding Creativity
shelleytemplelarter Drosera annecrans themysticfluffball eduardocanas Milu_Photography inesgardea +23
All Star
sue-zon MEL1 estercastillo08 sabrinajoseph AnotherDayisNOW Eddieuuu071 noneoftheabove +6
Superior Skill
WildTales Slingerss stephenbraunginn sxsvexen sammcune dannyboyfraser veronikabeyhaut +5
Genius
Confalonieri moanabennett djamesbarr gweneason Stellasview kiwidragonfly
Virtuoso
keb FreshBreezePhotos davidheller angelabranson

Emotions

Impressed
joankleynhans Mikhailan ianrobins SURREALIMAGE EuroBen jdannay calummcdonald +37
Happy
philipdrispin Criswell
Relaxed
Niizart PhotoGraf

Top Ranks

Majestic Species Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Majestic Species Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Capture Minimalism Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Capture Minimalism Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Creators Exhibition ProjectTop 30 rank
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Creators Exhibition ProjectTop 30 rank week 1
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol11Top 30 rank
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol11Top 20 rank week 1
Wild And Untamed Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Wild And Untamed Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Creative Captures Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Creative Captures Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
The Light Behind Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Fantastic Felines Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Fantastic Felines Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Warm Colors Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Warm Colors Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Safari Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Picturing Other Species Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Color Orange Photo ContestTop 30 rank
The Color Orange Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
Low Vantage Points Photo ContestTop 30 rank
Low Vantage Points Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 2
Low Vantage Points Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The African Continent Photo ContestTop 20 rank
The African Continent Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Empty Backgrounds Photo Contest Speed SeriesTop 10 rank
The Minimalist Marketplace ProjectTop 10 rank
Wildlife Photo Contest 2018Top 10 rank
Wildlife Photo Contest 2018Top 10 rank week 1
Explore Africa Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Explore Africa Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Isolated Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Isolated Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Isolated Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The First Light Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Wildlife Photo Contest 2017Top 10 rank
Wildlife Photo Contest 2017Top 10 rank week 1
Amazing Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Amazing Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Wildlife Portraits Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Wildlife Portraits Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Covers Photo Contest Vol 38Top 20 rank
Covers Photo Contest Vol 38Top 10 rank week 1
The Golden Hour Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Faceless Photo ContestTop 30 rank
African Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Faceless Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 2
African Wildlife Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 2
Faceless Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
African Wildlife Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Isolating The Subject Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Animal Kingdom Photo ContestTop 10 rank
We Love Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Silhouettes And Negative Space Photo ContestTop 10 rank
We Love Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Silhouettes And Negative Space Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Powerful Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Call Of The Wild Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Powerful Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Call Of The Wild Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 2Top 20 rank
Powerful Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Visions Of Africa Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Visions Of Africa Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Silhouettes In Nature Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
Dramatic Light In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Dramatic Light In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 2
The Black Color In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Dramatic Light In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
The Black Color In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
The Black Color In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Evocative Wildlife Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Evocative Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
Evocative Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Evocative Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1

Categories

17 Comments |
Forrest_Imagery
 
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.
lish.pics
 
lish.pics April 16, 2017
Wow
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal April 21, 2017
Congratulations on your award!
andrewstephenson
 
andrewstephenson May 29, 2017
Beautiful silhouette photo, and a well deserved win
simonparry
 
simonparry June 10, 2017
Wonderful capture...
FionaWorwood
 
FionaWorwood June 15, 2017
Wonderful!
susanplss-bryant Platinum
 
susanplss-bryant March 13, 2018
Perfect.
angelabranson
 
angelabranson March 24, 2018
Amazing shot!!
AlexKnufPhotoVideo
 
AlexKnufPhotoVideo May 22, 2018
Wow!! Amazing photograph! Awesome shot! Love it!
keepclicking
 
keepclicking December 15, 2019
Fabulous
Borderlinestace
 
Borderlinestace May 16, 2020
wow
StolenMomentsCandz
 
StolenMomentsCandz May 16, 2020
Absolutely stunning!
mleskiw.wildlife_EC5E
 
mleskiw.wildlife_EC5E September 02, 2020
Congrats on the fantastic feline win! Beautiful capture!
samanthahoegler
 
samanthahoegler September 02, 2020
Majestic
joybergeron
 
joybergeron December 30, 2020
This reminds me of "The Lion King" movie! Love it!
maryphippsseward
 
maryphippsseward February 02, 2021
Awesome!!!
RickL PRO+
 
RickL February 28, 2021
Beautiful composition

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#lioness #orange #silhouette #sunrise
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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.

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