Endangered Black Rhino
One of the three thousand black rhino remaining alive in the wild, photo captured on the Eastern Cape of South Africa in a guarded wildlife reserve....
Read more
One of the three thousand black rhino remaining alive in the wild, photo captured on the Eastern Cape of South Africa in a guarded wildlife reserve.
Read less
Read less
Aug, 2018Views
462
Likes
Awards
Contest Finalist in Endangered Species Photo Contest
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Top Choice
Top Ranks
Top 30 rankTop 30 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2
Top 20 rank
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken on safari in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.Time
It was day four of our safari trip, during the late afternoon, with the sun approaching the horizon.Lighting
As always the best light is attained during the golden hour, animals take on a different feature full appearance. Though the weakening sun does mean reducing speed or raising the ISO. To my mind the focal length needs to capture the animal irrespective of the conditions so this remained fixed, I think at 5.6f.Equipment
The shot was taken hand held with the setting sun behind. My camera was a Nikon D5 with 200-70 f2.8 Nikkor lense, speed 2500th second at f5.6 ISO 560.Inspiration
The game ranger was literally jaw open ????, saying this is the only black rhino on the eastern cape, this is a very endangered species with only 3000 remaining in the wild. In fact he begged me to email copies of my photos. Which I of course have since done.Editing
Only basic post-processing using Adobe Camera Raw and Photo Shop, comprising crop and light adjustments, the image was very clean and required very little in the way of sharpening.In my camera bag
I always try to avoid carrying to much equipment only to regret this later. However on this occasion I had two cameras, Nikon D5 fitted with Nikkor 200-70mm f2.8 lense; the other being a Nikon D810 fitted with a 300mm 2.8f prime. The main reason for carrying two cameras being these lenses cover 90% of photo opportunities. The prime takes fantastic images when the opportunity exist, though the fixed length is the limitation, I prefer not to crop images when ever possible as this maximises image quality.Feedback
The most important thing is to be prepared, I shoot in manual to facilitate keeping the ISO as low as I dare, without sacrificing speed and ensuring the correct depth of field. This means constantly adjusting cameras in readiness for the next opportunity. Offend the best shots can be taken in the first two seconds of seeing the game!
