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ChrisMinihane
Mr. Grumpy Stripes
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Mr. Grumpy Stripes



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A lone rhino waits for the relief of a storm on the dusty shores of Navasha, Kenya.

A lone rhino waits for the relief of a storm on the dusty shores of Navasha, Kenya.
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cameraNIKON D300

settings Aperture f/4.5 ISO 400 Shutter 10/2000 

upload_dateJun, 2014

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4456

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Contest Finalist in The Art of Wildlife Photography Photo Contest
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13 Comments |
KatieMcKinneyPhotography
 
KatieMcKinneyPhotography December 31, 2014
Wow beautiful capture! Congrats!
aaronmyers
 
aaronmyers December 31, 2014
Nice capture.
joerush
 
joerush January 01, 2015
Love this
tropicala
 
tropicala January 01, 2015
Superb!
michellemeenawong
 
michellemeenawong January 02, 2015
this is just fabulous with a perfect lighting
AlanJakarta
 
AlanJakarta January 02, 2015
Fabulous shot. Congratulations on being the People's Choice Winner.
morriskleyman
 
morriskleyman January 05, 2015
Magnificent composition!!!!!
Shons76
 
Shons76 January 09, 2015
Congratulations!! Well deserved. A stunning photo. Great DOF and POV
sweetpea72
 
sweetpea72 January 09, 2015
amazing shot...Congrats! ")
ADesign
 
ADesign January 10, 2015
Very majestic portrait for a fine looking Rhino.
eddieyoung07
 
eddieyoung07 January 10, 2015
I think this is a very symbolic shot,I'm not sure if it was intentional. The lone Rhino on the plain with a black cloud over it, to me speaks about the struggle facing rhinos in the fight against extinction and the black cloud symbolizing the dark times and their bleak chances of survival. But that's just how I saw this. Either way, great shot!
KatieMcKinneyPhotography
KatieMcKinneyPhotography February 16, 2015
Well said
Robb PRO+
 
Robb February 26, 2015
really, really, really like this..... superb!
calebpeterson
 
calebpeterson December 16, 2016
Awesome shot! Very powerful.

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#rhino #africa #kenya #landscape #white rhino
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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo on the shores of Lake Naivasha in Kenya. There was a terrible drought as you can see from the photo and I waited and baked for several hours in my car waiting for him to wake up.

Time

Afternoon.

Lighting

The lighting was particularly good and diffused as the clouds were moving in for a big storm. A ray of light came down onto the rhino just before I snapped the photo.

Equipment

I used a Nikon D300 with a Nikon 12-24mm lens taken at 24mm. I tend to always have a tripod with me when I'm in the car.

Inspiration

I saw a rhino laying in the distance, a single lone animal in the middle of nowhere. We slowly drove up to him and turned the car off and just sat there for a couple of hours watching him doze. As the clouds approached, the rhino suddenly stood up and I quickly took the photo. There was a moment when we sort of looked at each other and I think we both wondered what he was going to do. I''ll admit to letting out a large breath of air in relief when he decided to slowly lumber off.

Editing

I did do some post processing. Mostly adjusting levels and curves with a bit of sharpening. I also cloned out a couple of flattened plastic water bottles in the foreground of the photograph.

In my camera bag

Normally I carry just my camera with my wide angle lens and a variable neutral density filter. I try not to use anything other than a wide angle lens for wildlife shots because I just love the look of the photographs that much more than with any other lens. It requires more patience but I feel like it's worth it in most cases. I almost always have my camera mounted on a tripod, mostly because it's too difficult to take on and off so I just leave it on except when I hike. This works out well for me when I'm sitting in a car for long hours during wildlife shoots but don't want to be holding my camera up all the time. The tripod allows me to have the camera always at eye level without the constant effort or strain of holding it up all day. You'd be surprised how quick you have to be sometimes. For this shot my camera was on my tripod and I got off one shot with the bird on its back before he left.

Feedback

My advice for anyone wanting to photograph wildlife is to either have, or gain, a great deal of patience. Or just be the type of person who loves the outdoors and doesn't mind sitting outside or on top of a car for several hours even if it means you don't get a great shot that day. Many times when I sit and wait at a chosen spot not much happens, but I always feel that the day was never wasted because I just love being where I'm at, animals or not. It also helps if you don't mind hardship. In Africa, you have to be comfortable waiting in the burning heat of the day not moving or making noise, covered with flies and dust, hoping something wakes up, moves or pops into your field of vision. Bring lots of lens wipes. If you are on the go, be prepared for potholes and endless dust. You also have to have a bit of smarts when it comes to knowing if you need to drive off if a large animal decides it just doesn't like you sitting there. Luckily it's never happened to me but I've seen the remains of vehicles on the wrong side of a rhino or elephant. So being wary and always quiet usually helps. If you don't drive, ask around and get a great guide (there are a lot of them) who understands photography. Give him your parameters, adjust your expectations and enjoy.

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