Kudu on Safari / You never know what's in a file

[Mike Buckley]

Three weeks ago I had never heard of a kudu. My spell checker still hasn't heard of it. Now I have made photos of kudus and eaten the meat in a restaurant (it tastes and looks exactly like beef to me except that it's leaner).

For those who like extreme pop and catch light in the eyes, this first photo has neither. However, one of the things that I like most about being in the bush is experiencing the tranquility and elegance of a scene that has the combination of highly diffused light and limited dynamic range. This photo has both.







The next photo is the jawbone of a kudu. Our guide found it when he was looking for evidence that might point the way to a male lion. The jawbone is the evidence that the lion had been there but not of where it had gone.






The next two photos are from the same file of a male kudu. (Only the male has those magnificent antlers.) I posted the second one because even I was surprised to learn how much could be pulled from the image data to improve the photo.


Post-processed



Straight out of the camera except for cropping the top

[Brownbear]

Beautiful... Obviously your exceptional photography skills transferred from glass to wildlife, effortlessly...

Thank you for sharing the post processing of the last photo. Very helpful to see and a good motivation to learn more about post processing.

[Otavio]

Very nice shots, Mike. And an excellent PP on the last one! Cheers,

[FlyingSquirrel]

Excellent work, Mike. I like the first one the best. It is an excellent wildlife photo. You are right, the lighting and colors/tones etc in it are superb and beautiful. The animal, as well, is a sight to behold. Very good processing. If it were mine, I would use photoshop to emphasize the existing catchlight slightly. Anyway, great job and you are making me jealous. Christina was correct, your photographic skills, knowledge, and technique from other areas are shining here as well. I want to see more pics from the safari!!!

[rpcrowe]

I added a small catch light using the clone stamp in Photoshop. I assume that most editing programs have some sort of tool like the clone stamp...

[Ken MT]

Another photo of Kudu and calf taken in Nambia. Scanned from Fuji velvia 100.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

Thanks for adding that catch light, Richard. I don't do enough animal photography to know what would look natural, which explains why I didn't add it myself. I should do some research into that before I bring post-processing to a finish.

Thanks to Ken for posting the pair of kudus. It displays the stripes very nicely (unlike my photos), which are the easiest way for me to quickly distinguish between an impala and a small kudu when the rear of the animal can't be seen and there are no antlers.

[Kaye Leggett]

Beautiful photos, the 'processed' male is especially good. The Kudu is a beautiful creature, we had the priviledge to see some in Tanzania last month, but didn't get as close as you. And unlike in SA and Namibia they don't eat them there.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Kaye!

but didn't get as close as you.

The male with antlers was actually too close. My 180mm prime lens was mounted on a camera with a 1.5 crop factor and the kudu was so close to our car that I had to lean back to include all of the antlers in the frame. I realized after posting the image that I could use a slightly different crop that will allow the face to be a little higher in the frame. I will get to that later today. [EDIT: That photo in the first post has now been changed.] None of that would be an issue if the kudu had accommodated me by being just a meter further away.

[davidedric]

Mike, the photograph of the male kudu is exceptional. As well as being a beautifully executed photo, it is incredibly rare for a male kudu to approach a vehicle so closely, at least in my experience. For me that's what safari photography is all about: having the skill to grab the shot when the opportunity presents itself. You might guess I'm a bit jealous!

[Donald]

.... the tranquility and elegance of a scene that has the combination of highly diffused light and limited dynamic range. This photo has both.

It does indeed and I admire the decision to stick with that and reflect it in the final image, rather than go for pushing up the contrast, which is what, I suggest, a lot of people would do. It's the subtlety of tone that makes this image work so, so well.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, Donald. My approach to the first photo is inspired by your approach to so many scenes.

Dave, to get that close to the kudu was also an exception for me though my experience is very limited. The kudu was eating vegetation on the side of the road. When my wife and I first saw it, we only saw the antlers and mistook them for dead branches of a tree. When we came upon it, I think the kudu was as surprised to see us as we were to see it.