2 lions
Two of a pride hunting Giraffe
Two of a pride hunting Giraffe
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Jun, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image was captured during a trip to the Okavango delta during the flood.Time
Always an early start on these trips and we found this new pride of lion around 8 a.m.Lighting
It was probably just after the golden hour, but the light was still great.Equipment
As usual the image was captured from a truck, handheld using a Canon 1DX with the canon 200-400 f4 telephoto deploying the built in 1.4 extender, so a focal length of 560mm at f 5.6. This is a s wide open as the lens will get with the extender and resulted in a shallow depth of focus that I like and allows me to keep the ISO as low as possible whilst keeping a fast shutter speed to (hopefully) eliminate camera shake. In this case the shutter was 1/640 which is a bit slower than I'd normally like, but I think I got away with it.Inspiration
We'd heard lion interaction the previous night and seen a wounded female from the resident pride earlier that morning. This was a "new" pride moving in and it was lead by a young male with a rather minimal mane. He's the one on the left in the image. We'd watched them making an unsuccessful giraffe hunt and when they returned across the marsh to higher, dryer ground there was good social interaction between the four of them.Editing
Not really, just the usual RAW processing by adding a touch of contrast and clarity, otherwise straight out of the camera.In my camera bag
On these trips I carry 2 bodies, the 1DX and a 5DMkIII. I usually set up the 1DX with the long lens (canon 200-400) and the 5D with a canon 24-105 f4 for closer shots and landscapes. I also take a canon 100mm macro for the interesting little stuff and a good tripod along with a remote shutter release.Feedback
Patience! I get my most satisfying images by waiting for subjects to come to me rather than chasing around in the bush. The it's remembering to check white balance, setting the shutter speed and f stop and then setting the ISO as appropriate - in that order. I always use manual settings to keep that control and have spent quite a lot of time adjusting the auto focus options (including using the back button) to improve my chances of sharp images when shooting moving subjects.
