Theme Imminent Danger

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Gabriela Plesea

Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator
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Feb 15, 2013
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8,130
Location
South Africa
Cheetah-2018,-100.1.jpg

Hello Friends,

This frame was quite difficult to process and I am not too happy with the outcome for various reasons, nevertheless it does fit in with this month's Theme:w3 I must say despite the amount of time we spent following and observing this young cheetah cub and his mom, my companion and I ended up with very few images from the scene. The main problem was light, still very harsh at H18:30 pm. There were other characters present, a springbok in the distance and two jackals close-by. The latter popped up randomly and in the most unexpected places, like the top of the dune between grasses or behind a tree. Here is an extract from my diary that will tell you a bit more about the scene:


"...Rooiputs, February 2018. We had a very hot day so quite happy to be on our way back to the camp. Don't know what made us glance up the nearby dune, I guess it was the pebbles running down as the cheetahs moved. The sun was heavy and streamed down lingering over the cub's face. He was not too far from mom but kept falling behind and turned to look around from time to time, his face showing discomfort because of the steep path and perhaps exhaustion. Or maybe hunger. Every now and then he stepped into the blue shade of a bush to cool a little and regain strength, to our dismay mom kept going and not looking back. My heart shrank a little when I saw the poor condition he was in and I kept wondering about the secret colour of his fate. Only minutes later, from the perfect line of the dune above two jackals followed, bodies close to the ground, faces intent. They seemed ready to pounce on the cub as soon as the mother decided to chase the unaware springbok grazing nearby... I was tempted to grab another camera with a smaller lens but something told me I had to stick with the cub, he had this expression of suffering on its face and I wished to capture it despite the way it made me feel. My heart was pounding as I saw the jackals getting closer and I was wondering what mom was thinking, following the springbok and ignoring danger...It seemed like forever but eventually she turned around and saw them. We were relieved. I could see her dilemma and almost feel the weight of her hesitation for a moment, but when a faint call resembling a little chirp came from the cub she reached out to him..."

Nikon D5
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 640
F5.6
1/2500s

Thank you so much for taking the time to view and for your patience to read the intro. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions, be it of a technical nature or otherwise.

Kind regards,
 
Last edited:
I like the look on the cub's face here. The composition is nice and the background is great. I enjoyed reading the diary entry. Do you always keep records of what you saw and photographed?
 
Hi Gabriela, nowt much wrong with this one, nicely executed and I like the fact you have the BKG behind the whole subject. The open jaw adds to the inquisitive look.

Have a great weekend, I know it will be fun packed for sure. Look forward to catching up next month, albeit busy.

TFS
Steve
 
Gabriela the face of this lovely little Cheetah almost jumps out of the screen of my monitor.and what a great expression!no nits from me I love it.

Keith.
 
Thank you so much dear John, Steve and Keith,

John, I do keep records and especially in the Kalahari. I do not write long stories due to lack of time but jot down what I saw and how I felt at a particular sighting, nice to go back after a while and relive the moment:w3

And Steve - we had a wonderful time in the wilderness this week-end! Lots of ellies (one big bull made us reverse 400m on a narrow road), pointy noses, giraffe, wildebeest, nyala, dagga boys, baboons, vervet monkeys, one samango monkey, mongooses, and...ha ha, this is going to hurt...WILD DOGS:bg3: Not many photographic opportunities though, the park is green and grass is tall because of the recent rains (looks better than in the summer), will download and see if there's anything worth sharing.

Keith, I felt so sorry for this little cheetah at the time. Good news is, both cub and mom are doing well - a friend sent me pics of them both few weeks after I returned from the park, they were in much better condition.

Kind regards,
 
And Steve - we had a wonderful time in the wilderness this week-end! Lots of ellies (one big bull made us reverse 400m on a narrow road), pointy noses, giraffe, wildebeest, nyala, dagga boys, baboons, vervet monkeys, one samango monkey, mongooses, and...ha ha, this is going to hurt...WILD DOGS. Not many photographic opportunities though, the park is green and grass is tall because of the recent rains (looks better than in the summer), will download and see if there's anything worth sharing.

Very quiet then.:w3
 
Gabriela, this is a wonderful image, great content and I could just gaze at the cheetah for very long and not get bored! The light in the eye adds drama and the frail frame of the little one is cause for concern! must have been real hungry and weak.
TFS.
 
Hi Gabriela - I don't know why you aren't happy with this one. Once again, you are too hard on yourself. This is a lovely and sweet frame. I like the low pov, the pose of the cheetah and your handling of the mixed light hitting the face.

TFS,
Rachel
 
Gabriela I think this shot looks really good, I like the colours and textures you have captured. The look on the cub's face is riveting. I am with Rachel I don't understand why you aren't happy!
 
Many thanks Sanjeev, Rachel and Jon,

I wasn't happy with this because the light was so harsh and it shows. Lifting shadows also shows. Maybe I should have added more punch to the sky, will play around some more when I get a chance. This frame needs something...I will figure it out as soon as I have a chance to do some more PP work:S3:

Hope you all have a lovely evening,

Kind regards,
 

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