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Beauty in Death



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After spending 7 days searching in the Kruger National Park for the infamous Leopard, it would be my first trip not seeing one, I had become so despondent. I t...
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After spending 7 days searching in the Kruger National Park for the infamous Leopard, it would be my first trip not seeing one, I had become so despondent. I think the thrill of searching for a Leopard and finding one is what drives me to get up at 4am in the morning. Anyway, this was a fresh Lion kill that we stumbled upon where the vultures had just moved in on. I love the amazing power of these birds in flight so a fantastic find to see them this close up.
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Awards

Top Shot Award
Winner in African Wildlife Photo Challenge
Runner Up in African Wildlife Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in African Wildlife Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Wings in Motion Photo Contest
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Contest Finalist in The Food Chain Photo Contest
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Peer Award
Superb Composition
James-Evans KasaiNazo dacross roediezandberg gordylindgren bonniebear leoserton +54
Absolute Masterpiece
andrevondeling RobynC Onisimo Loekie RLP073 JeanieLovesPhotography isabeldevito +37
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Jaspa BabZz jasonpilgrim CURUTCHET RioIgnatius Remraf Princenitesh96 +25
Magnificent Capture
Muffin05 Kitvonnip Niqueki KristinaOers texaaronpueschel Storyofmylyfe fotosnapper +19
Superior Skill
Tommyshot candiscamera PAULRAFIEI sobaurs352 ellisonrblair jamiesarkett CJPark4991 +1
Outstanding Creativity
wendyroske_9600 MarlyssB StasysZakas cohooper ewill andreadievernich thwold
All Star
Tanners Tara_Diepenhorst anreuys alicecooper
Virtuoso
magikalalpha

Emotions

Impressed
Edgargo

Top Ranks

Anything Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Anything Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Unique Sceneries Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Unique Sceneries Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Wildlife Photo Contest 2018Top 10 rank
Wildlife Photo Contest 2018Top 10 rank week 1
The Talent AwardsTop 10 rank
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 3Top 10 rank
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 3Top 10 rank week 2
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 3Top 10 rank week 1
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 3Top 10 rank
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My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 3Top 10 rank week 1
Wildlife Photo Contest 2017Top 10 rank
Wildlife Photo Contest 2017Top 10 rank week 1
World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank
World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v2Top 10 rank
Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v2Top 10 rank week 2
Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v2Top 10 rank week 1
Covers Photo Contest Vol 38Top 20 rank
Covers Photo Contest Vol 38Top 10 rank week 1
Earth Day 2017 Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Earth Day 2017 Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Earth Day 2017 Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 7Top 10 rank
Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 7Top 10 rank week 1
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 2Top 10 rank
African Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank
African Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 2Top 10 rank week 2
African Wildlife Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 2Top 10 rank week 1
Isolating The Subject Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Wings in Motion Photo ContestTop 20 rank
We Love Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank
We Love Animals Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 2Top 20 rank
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 2Top 20 rank week 1
Monthly Pro Vol 28 Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Monthly Pro Vol 28 Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The Food Chain Photo ContestTop 10 rank
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 1Top 30 rank week 2
Living Creatures Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 2
9 Comments | Report
p_eileenbaltz Platinum
 
p_eileenbaltz April 19, 2017
Wow.......extraordinary work! As good as any I've seen in National Geographic.
Madikwed
Madikwed April 19, 2017
Thank you so much fro such kind words. :)
SulaimanAlkubaisi
 
SulaimanAlkubaisi April 29, 2017
???? ????? ??????
FredBlundell
 
FredBlundell May 08, 2017
Superb artistry!
Madikwed
Madikwed May 10, 2017
Thank you so much :)
Charlene-Shelby
 
Charlene-Shelby May 24, 2017
This is an amazing wildlife shot!
Madikwed
Madikwed July 19, 2017
Thank you so much for the comment :)
jlappen
 
jlappen July 08, 2017
Absolutely amazing.
Madikwed
Madikwed July 19, 2017
Thank you so much ;)
isabeldevito
 
isabeldevito October 23, 2017
this is absolutely incredible, it feels like a Nat Geo magazine pullout. I love that the lion, top predator, is prey here.
Alfredo_Jose
 
Alfredo_Jose January 30, 2018
Outstanding capture!
wildpainter PRO+
 
wildpainter May 24, 2018
Congratulations! Great shot!
BabZz
 
BabZz September 14, 2018
Lucky you fantastic shot
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Behind The Lens

Location

This photograph was taken near the Thokwani Picnic Site in the Kruger National Park.

Time

We had spent a week in the park further up North. Due to the drought I struggled to find any great action scenes to shoot. On the last full day in the park we came across a Hyena running away from 'something' which alerted us to stop and watch. What we saw was vultures circling and dropping down from the sky so we decided to investigate by driving down a dirt road and came across this scene. It was the first time I had seen so many of these magnificent birds in the wild so close and was enthralled to spend some time photographing them swooping down to the carcass. This photograph was taken at around 1pm on the 15th of January 2016.

Lighting

It was a cloudy day so I was constantly adjusting to compensate for the ever changing light.

Equipment

I used a Canon 5D Markiii, 70mm-200mm 2.8 IS lens, and was hand held.

Inspiration

I love the African Bush and what it has to offer. Because finding 'bigger' animals to shoot was so difficult this was one of those moment I would struggle to get again, at least this close to the road.

Editing

Yes, I used photoshop to enhance the birds and bring back some of the sky. I have edited it in layers through camera raw to assist with the process. The background in particular seemed incredibly dull because it was a little bit washed out.

In my camera bag

I usually carry with me, a 5D Markiii, a 60D backup, a 70mm-200mm 2.8 IS Canon Lens, a 100mm Prime Canon Lens, a 24mm-105mm Canon Lens, a Tokina 11mm-18mm 2.8 Lens, my bottom of the range flash (as I do not use flash often but nice to have one), a trigger, chargers and batteries, a tripod, a small chair, cleaning equipment and a Kinder Joy Toy I have named 'Delilah'.

Feedback

You have to have a lot of patience for this. If you are not used to Africa, a guide would be a good idea as they will know the good spots to go to depending on what you would like to photograph. Tracking the movements of animals in the Kruger National Park really helps and going in low season is a must if you are a photographer. Far less cars and people to contend with. Keep your shutter speed as high as possible and work on an F-stop of about 5.6-8 if you would like to keep the image crisp with some depth of field. I prefer to keep an ISO of about 500 too and not go higher than that. Africa is undoubtably my favourite place on earth and anyone who has the opportunity to come and photograph here is privileged.

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