Bontebok

What a lovely pose in a beautiful setting with all of the flowers.

Great to see you posting some four-legged wildlife for us Nate. Beautiful setting, subject and pose. The photos has an almost fairy-tale feel compliments the fanciful pink flowers and this strange animal resembling a horse/antelope cross. Based on what I'm seeing on my brand-new out of the box monitor I might increase the exposure a little, it might show the eye a little better. Alternatively, I would just try a bit of selective shadows adjustment for the eye. I would be curious to hear if others find this photo slightly dark, or if it is just my monitor.

Great pose and habitat. I had never seen one before. The shot is a little dark on my monitor as well, so Gary isn't alone in that. I'd second the slight boost, if only in the near side of the face to have the eye show better.

Thanks guys, I will have a go at reprocessing this at some point. I had already selectively enhanced the eye, it was shot in overcast conditions. The larger version looks brighter to me than the smaller which does seem a bit dark.

Nate, this is very nice. I love the background and the crop is perfect. I agree with Gary and Rick. The antelope, especially the head and neck region, is a little dark. What a magnificent antelope. I'm glad we figured out they were worth saving before it was too late.

Nate, I've always liked these guys (and blesbok). I think the setting here among the colorful flowers is fantastic.

Max

Hello Nate & welcome aboard!:)

Impressive specimen ! Lovely Setting ! I feel the Eye closest to the viewer is lacking detail with the darkness. Seems to have a natural catchlight but maybe some brightening here would bring out the expressive eye even more! For me the most powerful part of this capture is the Head area. Those Antlers with Length and Curl have amazing appeal ! The Ears are amazing with their unique colourization and sharpness. So I think more Emphasis to Enhance the Beautiful features and bring up more detail to that particular area(Head,Eye, Antlers) would make this capture even more Powerful.

The Flowers are beautiful but I feel because of their height they hide his lower leg and feet, I know nothing could be done with that though! The back area just behind his withers is quite light and my eye is drawn to it too.

This stance reminds me of how I sometimes used,.. to hide the back & rear legs of a Horse with weak legs etc.

I like the Crop , What is the Crop ?

Looking forward to many more Africa images from you!

Bill

Thanks everyone, Bill, this is a full frame image, no crop!

Great alert pose you captured of this cool looking Bontebok Nate. Can't imagine a better environment for him to pose in for you. I think the soft light is perfect for this situation.

A Beauty Nate!!!

Bontebok never heard of it, what a beautiful antelope and the condition of the animal is top's, the pose is lovely and the surrounding landscape outstanding, great, great image.

Nate,
Once the most endangered antelope in Africa, nowhappily back to reasonable levels.

A true beauty, which I presume you took in Bontebok National Park, jist down the road (well 1.5 hours from me). Thanks to the farmers and then San Parks for saving this animal for the rest of us!

Thanks Ken, this was actually taken in West Coast National Park.

Wow, that field of flowers makes this feel almost surreal! Lovely. I find no problems with lighting on shadow side of face and eye. It is hard to tell at this size, but possibly the depth of field is a smidgeon thin on the nose, which could probably be remedied with a touch of selective sharpening. I would love to have found this subject in such a regal pose in such perfect floral surroundings!

I don't think the pose could get any better from this very handsome animal and also a beautiful wildflower BG. Excellent shot!

Really nice one you have here Nate! I just love these antelope and the fact you managed to get this one in a field of wildflowers just makes it that much more special.

Hi Nate,

The one thing that bugs me about this shot is that there's some big dark thing in the way of the flowers!

Well - you couldn't get a better pose - or a better setting. Just super nice! If I was forced to find a nit, I'd make a wish for that band of out-of-focus flowers at the very bottom to not be there - but I know that's completely a "in a perfect world" kind of thing and incredibly hard to avoid.

RE: Gary's comment about the image possibly being a bit dark on his new monitor: I quite like the exposure and don't find it dark on my monitors, but I tend to like subdued lighting and find many shots a bit too bright for my taste.

Well done and thanks for venturing over here!

Cheers...

Brad

Great setting n beautiful frame!
Jagdeep Rajput