Mountain Zebra Vista

[Morkel Erasmus]

I was booked off for 2 days due to flu, during which time I could catch up on some overdue 2011 image processing and archive cleanup (when I wasn't sleeping off the sinusitis).

This is from a trip in April 2011 to the Mountain Zebra National Park, in the Karoo desert of South Africa. This park has been instrumental in saving the Cape Mountain Zebra from extinction, and also provides a safe harbour for other species whose numbers are dwindling, like the White-tailed Gnu. Cheetahs have also been re-introduced (from the Kalahari) to the park with great success.

This was taken at dawn on top of the Rooiplaat Plateau. The park is surrounded by mountains and valleys which provide lovely backdrops for wildlife photography.

Techs:
Canon 7D with 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM @ 90mm
f2.8 @ 1/160 SS @ ISO-1600
taken before sunrise
I was purposefully light on applying noise reduction as I wanted to retain detail in the BG mountains and the clouds in the sky...

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Morkel, like the colours and % split of the various elements, ie sky, mountains, FG. Good call on the NR, but I guess you are not going to get the depth & clarity of the mountain range at f/2.8? An arresting image, like the mood of the image.

TFS
Steve

PS Hope you feel better.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks Steve.

Hi Morkel, like the colours and % split of the various elements, ie sky, mountains, FG. Good call on the NR, but I guess you are not going to get the depth & clarity of the mountain range at f/2.8? An arresting image, like the mood of the image.

TFS
Steve

PS Hope you feel better.

Yes, re f2.8 light was at a premium and I didn't want to push ISO any further here. In hindsight I could've gambled with slower SS (eg 1/80)...

I am feeling a tad better, thanks...

[Steve Kaluski]

A fine balance indeed, obviously no time to pop it on a tripod. Would be interesting to have taken the same shot with the Nikon & compared, I think the noise would be better and the file cleaner in appearance.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Would be interesting to have taken the same shot with the Nikon & compared, I think the noise would be better and the file cleaner in appearance.

I know it would be...

[Markus Jais]

Beautiful shot with great light and colors in the clouds. Noise is visible but not a serious problem IMO.

Markus

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel,
love the move of the colors in here from warm colors to cooler colors leading into some kind of mix of both.It looks almost seamlessly shift in the colors.
The zebra `s adding a nice contrast to it.

Cheers Andreas

[Steve Canuel]

Beautiful animalscape Morkel. Nice colors and I love the separation of layers and the fact the zebras' heads are in the yellow. Curious about the distant peak on the horizon toward the right side. A famous landmark for the region?