On the Kill, the Patient Hyenas, and the Aftermath

This image was created with the Todd-pod mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon 2x EF Extender III (Teleconverter), and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/10 in Manual mode. Central sensor (by necessity)/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF on the lion’s nose active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

On the Kill

Mid-morning on our third day at Ngorongoro Crater we came upon two big male lions devouring a full grown Wildebeest. It was a tough situation with lots of grasses between us on the subject. We got lucky for an instant as seen above when this big guy stood up to pull apart its breakfast.

This image was created with the Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS EF USM AF lens hand held at 24mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/125 sec. at f/20. Central sensor/AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the closest hyena and re-compose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

The Patient Hyenas

For this image I reached for the 24-105 in order to create the scene-setting image. Twenty-two Spotted Hyenas waited patiently for the lions to finish their meals. First one lion left. The moment that the second lion left the hyenas charged in to fight over the left-overs. One of the big lions can be see on the kill on the left side of the frame.

This image was created with the Todd-pod mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon 2x EF Extender III (Teleconverter), and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/640 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. Central sensor (by necessity)/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF on the ribs active, of course, at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

The Aftermath

Once the hyenas moved in we were treated to 10 minutes of great action photography as the scavengers ripped and tore and fought and ran off with their prizes. Using the bump the focus techniques that I had learned while editing Jim Neiger’s great new e-Guide, “Flight Plan” helped me make lots of sharp images of the running Spotted Hyenas. Click here to learn more about “Flight Plan.”

2014 Tanzania Summer Safari

If you are interested in joining us in Tanzania next summer please shoot me an e-mail and I will be glad to forward you the PDF with dates, itinerary, and price.

Holland Heating Up

Pending the arrival of promised checks, we now have six folks for the Touch of Holland Tulip IPT. Click here and scroll down for details.

Bosque IPTs

For information on both the 7-Day and the recently announced short version of the 2013 Bosque IPTs please click here and scroll down.

Amazon

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Typos

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