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Waiting Line
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Waiting Line

by Max Waugh

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 12, 2014168 views6 comments
Another image from our fun encounter with African wild dogs in South Africa's Sabi Sands. We were fortunate to find a pack of fourteen, with five adults and nine pups.

As our ranger predicted, the pack went into a bit of a frenzy before the evening hunt. Once the adults roused themselves, they began sniffling, tackling, licking and biting each other. In the meantime, the pups got up with a series of excited squeaks, but instead of instantly joining the melee, they hung back, watched and seemed to wait for parent permission before getting in on the fun. Here, several of them line up in anticipation of their party invitation.

Canon 1DX
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 800
1/800th
f/5

Max

Comments

6 comments
Comment posted by Jerry Austin on October 13, 2014 at 9:52 AM
The pups are great. The OOF adults are a bit of a distraction for me. Regardless, great behavioral shot.
Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments
Comment posted by Ken Watkins on October 13, 2014 at 11:19 AM
Max,
I love the pups but find the OOF adults quite distracting, perhaps take a little from the left?
Wild Dogs rarely cooperate, especially during the greeting ceremony.
Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments
Comment posted by Max Waugh on October 13, 2014 at 11:43 AM
I appreciate the feedback, guys. I knew when I posted this that folks would find the adults distracting, so the criticism has merit, but I feel the inclusion of the adults is absolutely necessary to tell the story of what's going on here. This is certainly not a pretty "fine art" image, but one that I felt successfully documents some interesting behavior for this species.

Max
Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on October 13, 2014 at 2:05 PM
I agree with both of you! :biggrin: This is a great example of how the purpose/use of the photo dictates what is "right." If this were for nature "art" the adult is a significant eye distraction, but as a story line documentary it is essential. Thanks for posting such an example!
Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments
Comment posted by Nate Chappell on October 15, 2014 at 10:30 PM
The pups are adorable. I too would crop most of the adults from the right. If the goal was to tell the story of what was going here and document the behavior then a shorter focal length to enable you to get the whole scene in reasonable focus would have been the way to go. :toast:
Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments
Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on October 16, 2014 at 2:50 PM
I actually like it a lot as is. The OOF adults are part of the story and there's enough of the pups visible to carry it further.
Special moments!
Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments