drink with care

Good exposure and sharpness on the subjects. Their body language definitely says "wary". Having three impala in the scene is a nice organic number to work with, esthetically pleasing.

Nice shot, Luca. Good composition. I agree: the body language is really very expressive!
Mauro

Hi Luca,

Very interesting behavioural shot - it DOES look like the impalas are almost afraid of the water! Well seen and captured. Although this is always hard to judge without seeing the original, I think your crop is well supported by the water line and the fact that the impalas are lined up so well. I suppose it would add nice symmetry if the impalas were all non-overlapping and spaced more evenly, but that's one heck of a tall order (and something you weren't "given" to work with).

Another aspect of the image I find interesting is how the right-most impala appears to still be scanning the area for threats while drinking. I've seen studies (using elk) that show how head-down time (foraging or drinking) vs. head-up time (presumably scanning for predators) varies with group size - the larger the group the more each individual can spend with their head down acquiring food or water. Interesting stuff...and nicely illustrated by your image!

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

Oooh yes, always very weary when drinking and this image shows that very well. And you know what, I have observed prey animals like impala and giraffe drinking with the same caution in small reserves that lack any predator pecies! In other words, this caution is in their genes, not just a way of life.

Overall a good documentary image Luca with good techs.

I like this very much. The only suggestion I can offer is to perhaps raise the brightness levels, just a touch.

Wonderful image and story, a pleasure to view the larger image, well done.

Indeed excellent behavioural shot, I would go with Lon concerning the brightness levels that could be brought up a little bit.
Kindest, Ingrid.