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Cheeta in the Snow

A Cheeta in the snow. Made in Burgers Zoo in the Netherlands

A Cheeta in the snow. Made in Burgers Zoo in the Netherlands
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SONY ILCA-77M2

settings

Aperture 45/10 ISO 800 Shutter 1/100 Focal Length 2000/10

upload_date

Sep, 2016

Views

2876

Likes

+646

Awards

Contest Finalist in Show Snowflakes Photo Contest

Member Selection Award

Winner in Animals with Expression Photo Challenge

Peer Award

+237

Absolute Masterpiece

+55

Superb Composition

+55

Top Choice

+42

Magnificent Capture

+24

Outstanding Creativity

All Star

Superior Skill

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in 'Burgers Zoo' in Arnhem, The Netherlands.

Time

It was at the end of the day. The zoo was already shutting off some parts of the park and luckily, after some talking, we were allowed to go to Cheetah area. After 5-10 minutes or so they politely asked us to move on

Lighting

As said, it was the end of the day and it was a cloudy winters day (valentines day to be exact) and it was snowing so there wasn't much natural light, but the light that was available was nice and soft as you would expect from a cloud covered sky!

Equipment

I used my always faithful Sony A77II and my Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 SSM. I stopped down the lens to f4.5 to get some more depth of field and used ISO800 to gain enough light to get to an acceptable shutterspeed of 1/100sec. Of course the in body stabilization was turned on ;)

Inspiration

I think the greatest thing about this photo is that a Cheetah normally never would encounter snow in their natural habitat. They like a warm and dry climate. Still this one decided to sit outside and show off to his brothers and sisters who were relaxing in their warmed shelter. The contrast between the Cheetah and the cold snow is just great!

Editing

In post processing (Lightroom) I cropped the photo a little to get the proportions right. Further I did some minor contrast, highlight, shadow, sharpening and color corrections also I darkened the background a little to make the Cheetah come out better. Finally I did some noise reduction in Photoshop.

In my camera bag

Normally my bag contains this: Camera: Sony A77II Lens1: Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 SSM Lens2: Sigma 35mm f1.4 ART Lens3: Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 ART Lens4: Minolta 35-70mm f3.5-4.5 Remote: Simple wired shutter release Tripod: Velbon Sherpa 5370D Filters: Genustech 77mm Eclipse ND Fader + various size adapters to fit it to every lens I have.

Feedback

The best advise? Go to a zoo! Be patient, wild animals will never do the thing you want them to do at the moment you want them to do it. Try to look for a zoo where they have no glass or dense fence around the living area. Last weekend I was in the Kölner Zoo in Cologne, Germany and there they have some small hills where the animals like to sit on. Also they have large parts where there is no high glass or a high and dense fence. That way you can get eye to eye with the animals. If there is glass or a fence, use a large aperture (small f number) so you have as little distortion as possible. Also try to predict what the animals are doing, mostly they have a fixed routine or a favorite spot they like, find the best angle to make the photo you like. But above all, be patient!

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Cheeta in the Snow