Old kings can still roar

Gallery: WildlifePosted July 1, 2011118 views11 comments

We spent a beautiful African morning in the Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa, with this battle-scarred male lion.

Although he looked a bit worse for wear, he was calling (roaring) out to his brother across the plains like he was still a young male in his prime.

The morning mood just made the steam from his roars pop. Note the flying spittle.

All critique most welcome!

Techs:
Canon 7D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 180mm
f5.0 @ 1/2500 SS @ ISO-400

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on July 1, 2011 at 3:17 PM

Awesome image! It looks like you had some great light to work with. I love his pose, and you have some great detail! It looks like his teeth are getting a little dull (but I'm sure he could still do quite a bit of damage)

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie Baugh on July 1, 2011 at 4:15 PM

Great detail in the spittle but those rounded worn teeth are something I've never seen. I like this wildlife shot alot.

Registered on April 18, 2011, 329 Posts, 1985 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on July 1, 2011 at 5:48 PM

Nice action shot of the lion calling out. From the looks of those teeth, this old boy may not be around much longer. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on July 2, 2011 at 12:29 AM

Love the pose on this one Morkel. I don't really care for the flying spittle, even if it is something natural, I would be tempted to clone it out...find it pretty distracting since my eyes went there immediately and not sure people are going to know what that is without an explanation. Anyhow, love the detail, colors and light.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on July 2, 2011 at 1:28 AM

Glorious lighting you've captured here on this magnificent beast, absolutely wonderful :^)

I love the steam from his breath, really adds another dimension, undecided on the flying spittle, though with or without it I'd love to have an image like this in my collection, so fingers crossed for my August trip ;^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on July 2, 2011 at 8:54 AM

The light here really makes the shot Morkel. Excellent details and POV of the big guy, love the pose..
How about "Call of the Wild" for an alternate title? Just a thought.
I'm on the fence with the spittle..That would be your call

Well done!!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on July 2, 2011 at 1:31 PM

The lovely light and the cool roaring pose alone are already enough ingredients for a solid image, the rounded off canines (incredible btw, what does it eat, spaghetti?) add extra interest as does the spittle. However, I am with others that the spittle does not work without an explanation, perhaps cloning it out would hence make a cleaner and therewith better (in this case) image. A visible eye would have really put this over the top.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on July 2, 2011 at 11:06 PM

One more vote sans spittle.
Nice calling pose of the grand old boy.
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on July 3, 2011 at 6:52 AM

Thanks for the kind feedback folks. I am glad you like the image.

Regarding the spittle. I do like it so will leave it...and even if I didn't I would leave it because I prefer to refrain from using the cloning tool on parts of the image that are naturally there. I only "break" this guideline for myself when processing B&W images for artistic purposes.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Harshad Barve on July 4, 2011 at 3:42 AM

very nice indeed

Registered on July 25, 2010, 39 Posts, 210 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on July 8, 2011 at 7:41 AM

Beautiful golden light! I notice he's been picking his nose as well

I like the spittle, and would leave it as it is, but I am still trying to get an image of a lion roaring in the early cold morning air and capturing the breath as it 'fogs'!

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