Addo Kudu

Gallery: WildlifePosted August 23, 2011449 views11 comments

Another shot from our South African trip last year. Addo NP is primarily know for Elephants but it also has a lot of Kudu. The guide for one of our night drives said there are about 8,000 Kudu in the park. This was our last morning in Addo as it was time to head back towards Cape Town and our flight home the next day. This was a nice way to leave Addo, with close encounter in nice morning light with one of these beautiful antelope. Of course, there would be a surprise 5-minutes later we weren't expecting.

Comments and suggestions always welcome and thanks for looking!

PS - I don't work for SANPARKS, we just really fell in love with South Africa as some friends warned us we would. Heard the same about Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania as well so they've been added to the "must see" list. Too big a list and too little time (not to mention money).

Canon EOS 7D
Canon 100-400mm @ 190mm
F5, 1/1,250
ISO 640

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on August 24, 2011 at 12:47 AM

Joseph,

Beautiful capture of this magnificent animal always difficult to frame because of those horns, and their preferred habitat of trees!

I agree entirely about SANPARKS so much variety and by comparison to other areas (paticularly Botswana) very cheap.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by John Blumenkamp on August 24, 2011 at 12:56 AM

Amazing Joe!

Registered on February 26, 2011, 58 Posts, 313 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 24, 2011 at 12:57 AM

What a magnificent animal! Incredible horns, and ears!
Nice colours and perspective, with the head-on gaze.
Needs some CCW leveling, though - to straighten the cloud layers and the buck.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on August 24, 2011 at 10:12 PM

Nice eye contact. LIke the dark clouds in the background.

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on August 24, 2011 at 11:19 PM

Nice portrait Joe. I like the low shooting angle and the good detail brought out by the diffused light. The dark BG also helps. I do feel this would suit a vertical format much better though, but then it would need a bit more room on top. That would also get rid of the tip of the horn of another kudu behind this one in the BLC.

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

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on August 24, 2011 at 11:40 PM

What an impressive looking guy ! Love the markings on the face and the crest of fur on the shoulder. Nice as it is, it would be just about perfect with a vertical crop.

Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments

Comment posted by Darren Colello on August 25, 2011 at 12:59 PM

Joseph, Great image. The greater kudu is so stately and magnificent. Nice comp and excellent detail. Well done!

Registered on July 27, 2009, 175 Posts, 1100 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on August 25, 2011 at 1:07 PM

Wonderful capture. Amazing animal.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on August 25, 2011 at 5:55 PM

Cool Looking Guy

Great alert look and I like the raised hair on his back. I think this would make a nice vertical image too. Sweet Photo Joe!!!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on August 25, 2011 at 8:35 PM

Ask and ye shall receive! Thanks everyone for the kind words and suggestions. I never even realized there was another Kudu back there until I looked at the photos. Here is a different shot of the same Kudu in a vertical format and a bit more level. Unfortunately this fellow did not have symmetrical horns, his left horn (from his perspective) is off kilter which you really notice when his head is more level like in the second photo. Thanks again, glad you all are enjoying the mini-safari from some of SA's lesser known parks.

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on August 27, 2011 at 4:29 PM

Very cool looking animal (never seen one before). Those antlers look like they can also open up wine bottles

I liked the original post, but the vertical really does make this much more engaging, so like the re-post even better. Nice work!

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