Master of his Domain
A young silverback mountain gorilla pauses as the clouds lift to reveal Mt Sabinyo, one of the extinct Virunga volcanoes. It was on the slopes of Sabinyo that v...
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A young silverback mountain gorilla pauses as the clouds lift to reveal Mt Sabinyo, one of the extinct Virunga volcanoes. It was on the slopes of Sabinyo that von Beringe, who eastern gorillas and many other species are named after, first "collected"-shot two gorillas in 1902 and scientifically documented them. The Virunga range and nearby Bwindi forest hold the 4 national parks (3 continuous) of Rwanda, Uganda, and DR Congo that are the last refuge for the two mountain gorilla populations.
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Jul, 2016Views
1744
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Awards
People's Choice in Animals in Nature Photo Challenge
Winner in Endangered Species Photo Challenge
Winner in Wild animals in their habitat Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
Genius
All Star
Emotions
Relaxed
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Top 30 rankTop 10 rank week 1
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Nitka
August 28, 2016
Amazing capture! Congratulations on your well deserved win in a Challenge!..:-)
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ShellyRwanda
September 11, 2016
Spectacular shot. I live in Rwanda and you really luck out with everything light, scenery and a beautiful silverback.
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chriswhittier
September 11, 2016
Thanks Shelly. I miss RW and love seeing especially the Akagera pics so keep those coming!
bridgetrendall
October 20, 2016
Congratulations on winning my challenge 'Endangered Species' I chose your photograph because it is in its natural surround, it is a beautiful photograph and a fantastic detailed account of this amazing creature. Well done Chris :)
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chriswhittier
November 01, 2016
Thanks Carolyn. Your gallery is awesome and I love seeing other real, not over-processed images!
iluv2shoot
December 13, 2016
Hello Chris! Just want to let you know I received my print last night of this awesome photograph, and I love it!!! Africa is on my bucket list :)
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chriswhittier
December 13, 2016
Thanks so much! I hope it looks nice- my first sale here and I'm used to printing myself so hope the quality is up to par!
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fotosnapper
August 19, 2017
Great capture Chris! Your matted and framed photograph looks great in our family room with my wife's African theme. She is very happy that she purchased this shot from you :)
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo as taken in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, one of the last remaining refuges for these critically endangered mountain gorillas. I was fortunate to be working their for many years as a wildlife veterinarian assisting with their care. This image was from the slopes of Mt. Visoke looking towards Mt. Sabinyo behind the rising clouds.Time
I captured this image just before noon- after about 3 hours of hiking up to top of Mt Visoke.Lighting
The lighting is of course all natural and quite somber for being midday. That's because of the thick cloud cover that can be seen starting to break up in the distance.Equipment
This was shot with a Canon 5D and Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens, handheld with no flash.Inspiration
I had hiked to visit this gorilla group to check on a wound- I was working as a field veterinarian at the time. Having verified that the wound wasn't serious I surveyed the rest of the gorilla group who was exploring the unique and magnificent location atop this extinct volcano. I worked with this population of gorillas for ~6 years but only ever saw them in this amazing location this one day (see my other images of the crater lake atop this mountain from the same day). I noticed this young silverback (adult male) pausing to look at Mt Sabinyo in the distance just as the clouds lifted in a near perfect shape around the mountain with some blue sky in the far distance. Between the unique landscape with beautiful plants, the clouds, the volcanoes and of course the gorilla, it was a magic moment.Editing
I cropped quite a bit off just the top of this image and did more post-processing than I normally like to do with my wildlife images in order to really recreate what I saw. To bring the foreground and background in balance, I increased the exposure, decreased the contrast, and brightened the shadows and whites, dulled the highlights, and increased the blacks. I also bumped up the clarity, vibrance and saturation a little. I also had to clean up a number of spots from my lens that were obvious in the sky.In my camera bag
When I took this it was only my 5D (with obligatory battery grip) and single zoom lens along with extra batteries, memory cards.... and a rain cover! I prefer to be that light but now sometimes carry that same 5D as back-up for the newer MarkIII along with one of my much better zooms. When I'm out shooting wildlife I don't always bother to carry a wide angle lens as my pocket Canon Powershot and even my Lumia phone can both shoot raw files. On this day, and most days when was with mountain gorillas, I used my Canon EF 24-70 L lens, which was my best lens, especially for landscapes like this and occasional macro/close-ups. I love my Slik tripod, but rarely have the opportunity to use it. I also toy with a circular polarizer sometimes but otherwise avoid filters.Feedback
The only way to get an image like this is to be out with such amazing creatures in these spectacular places. Visiting Rwanda or any other African or foreign country to see its wildlife is one of the best ways of contributing to conservation. That said, you don't necessarily need to travel to exotic places to find photogenic wildlife and landscapes- as evidenced by the amazing array of gorgeous images we see across this site.
