Audad Herd

Gallery: WildlifePosted March 31, 2010170 views6 comments

This was taken on a ranch in Texas. This herd was all males and bunched up like this when they saw me. I have never seen them do this, but I found it interesting that they are able to see in all directions, and that the young were at the front with the large males in the center and rear.

50D
1/800
6.3
ISO 1000

Thanks for looking at my picture and for any comment.

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Clinton Bauder on March 31, 2010 at 7:48 PM

Really like the composition here with all the horns arrayed above the herd. Biggest nit is that it seems a bit soft. I'd like the eyes of the animal facing the camera to be a bit sharper. Otherwise well done. I like the contrast between the light foreground and the dark background and the horns stand out nicely against the darker trees in the background.

Clinton

Registered on December 8, 2009, 31 Posts, 231 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on March 31, 2010 at 9:19 PM

Interesting behavior shot Jack, I like the appearance of the horns and how they intertwine, and the habitat. It took me a little bit before I noticed the one lying on the ground, that's probably the reason they are grouped like this to protect it.

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on April 1, 2010 at 1:47 AM

All the horns together make for a very interesting pattern.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on April 1, 2010 at 9:28 AM

Hi Jack,

I like both the interesting behaviour (watching all directions) and the pattern of the overlapping horns - nice mix of documentation and creativity in a single shot. I am in agreement with the comment about the softness - when I look closely at the image it looks to me the focus is a fair bit beyond the lead animal (and it could be argued the most important one to be sharp here is the front-most animal. I'm thinking that focusing on the front subject and stopping down a little (to include the animals further back within your zone of sharpest DOF) might have been a slightly better way to go here. This is being said without knowing the focal length and if you shot off a tripod vs. handheld and so there may have been shutter speed concerns to deal with (i.e., my suggestion may have been impossible given the field situation).

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on April 1, 2010 at 2:56 PM

The mass of horns is visually arresting. I think this might have been a candidate for a close up detail of just the heads! I think the heads/horns have line that makes for a composition.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Subharghya Das on April 4, 2010 at 12:33 AM

For me too the pattern made by overlapped horns makes this image ! I must say it is a well seen and timed image .. all horns are almost perfectly parallel to the focal plane which is wonderful ... softness as others have mentioned is prevalent but I feel this could be overcome to more extent while processing .. Still I love this image for it's uniqueness

Registered on March 18, 2009, 26 Posts, 195 Comments