Curiosity

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 3, 201174 views6 comments

Canon EOS 7D, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM MK II + 1.4x Extender MK III @ 280mm, Aperture Priority @ f/8 (1/500 sec), -2/3 EV, ISO 400, Handheld, JPEG from RAW, Copped about 40% from Full Frame

My recent trip to Africa was rounded off by five days in Madagascar, though I only had four days of actual photography. Being that Madagascar is only about four hour's flying time from Johannesburg (which is nothing compared to the 11 hours of boredom while stuck on a plane between Thailand and South Africa!), I'd decided to take the opportunity to hop over specifically to photograph a few species of Lemur.

By way of my avatar you might have already guessed that I have a special affinity for Lemurs ;^)

This first one I'm posting is of a young Verreaux's Sifaka (Sifaka belong to the Indriidae family of Lemurs) clinging to it's mother while she feeds on leaves of the tree they're in.

Critique and comments always welcome.

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Phil Mclean on October 3, 2011 at 5:59 AM

Well,it obviously has the cute factor but I love the texture to this image.I really like the framing,even the twigs coming in diagonally from the corners.But I keep coming back to the hair,the texture,colours and then those eyes.Wonderful Ashley.
Does the young one have an eye problem or is that different colouration normal?

Phil.

Registered on March 16, 2010, 30 Posts, 153 Comments

Comment posted by David Sewell on October 3, 2011 at 2:16 PM

I also have an affinity with lemurs in general, and sifaka in particular. This is a cracker. Taken at Berenty?

David

Registered on September 10, 2008, 63 Posts, 801 Comments

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on October 3, 2011 at 3:55 PM

And so begins the much awaited lemur series

Curious how the little face and the clinging hand pop out the otherwise shapeless fur

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on October 3, 2011 at 9:08 PM

Love he look on the little one's face Ashley and the eyes of pretty much all Lemurs are awesome! I also love these little guys, but only have my zoo to see them. Happy to see you got to visit Madagascar.

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

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on October 4, 2011 at 12:11 AM

Those eyes are fantastic Ashley, as is the detail and perfect DOF. Honestly I am not too fond of the composition with mom's arm reaching out like that without the hand visible, but the cuteness factor and those strong eyes make that a minor issue.

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

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on October 5, 2011 at 3:14 AM

Thanks for your kind words and thoughtful comments Phil, David, Anand, Kurt, and Vincent :^)

Phil: Well spotted! Yep, there is definitely some kind of peculiarity in the the bottom half of this young one's right eye. No idea what's caused it, but it certainly didn't seem to have any negative impact on it's inquisitive behavior.

David: Yep, taken at Berenty, which I thought would be the best place for to visit and stay for the short amount of time I had in Madagascar. I'll be posting more of our beloved Lemurs in the days and weeks to come; just posted up a Sportive Lemur you might be interested in too ;^)

Anand: While I'm pleased to say I still have a fair amount of shots from South Africa to post up, I couldn't hold off any longer on showing you at least of few from me Lemur series, hope you enjoy :^)

Vincent: If that was the mum's arm I would feel exactly the same way as you about this, however, that limb you see is actually her leg; mum's got her back to us while the young'un is laying in her lap and leaning on her right thigh ;^)

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