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Image Description
We happened to discover some jackal cubs. Or rather, they discovered us. We paused briefly to look at some tracks, but that proved a bit too long for the jackals to control their curiosity. Clearly obeying their absent parents, they remained strictly on their rock, only occasionally coming out to peer at those strange boxes containing Martians with large beady eyes
Masai Mara, Kenya
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I can only guess since the description is blurred that this is a Cape fox?? (Edit: it did look like a jackal to me, but your title is definitely misleading )
Cute, of course, and I like how you captured it huddled close to that massive boulder. It really “blankets” the vulnerable subject effectively.
I’d be fine losing the greenery with a crop from the right (possibly bringing the bottom up as well to compensate). I understand that makes it a more extreme composition, but that one patch of green tones hugging the side of the frame is distracting. Evening the composition by cropping from the bottom also loses some of the dark rock, which I think helps the rest of the medium-light-toned upper 2/3 (which is the strongest and most interesting part of the image).
Ingrid: I don’t get over here much but this image did catch my eye just because of the subject. What an endearing little critter! As for the image it would work a bit better for me if the DOF range was biased more to the FG. I find OOF FG more distracting than an OOF BG. Still, this is a fine capture and I certainly envy you the experience. >=))>
This is such a delightful image. I love the baby cradled by the rocks. He looks like he’s going to be brave, but has the option for a quick gettaway. The image gives me the feel that I am intruding on his special place.
I like your compositon. I don’t mind the greenery at all although there could be another version of the image without it just for comparison. I also like the darker rock at the bottom. It grounds the image.
Hi Max, thanks for your feedback. Sorry to have put you on the wrong foot with the title. My titles may be misleading sometimes, because I prefer to take a title that has a ring to it, rather than a descriptive one. Which I then of course put right in the description.
I have changed the composition according to your suggestion. Personally I’m finding it a bit too tight, but otherwise I have to leave some of the grass in (I don’t remove anything from photos).
But very curious of course about what you all think
Ingrid, that’s a bit tighter than I was thinking. I meant cropping just to the left of the green bush, and leaving an equal amount of distance to the edge at the bottom. Sorry, I’m normally very reluctant to grab others’ photos and manipulate them myself, but in this case it’s better to express my thoughts visually, I suppose.
Thanks Bill, it was indeed a very nice experience! I just love working with open aperture to make the subject pop out of the photo. The OOF FG doesn’t disturb me personally, I would have had to go to - I’m guessing - f/16 to have the FG sharp as well without endangering the pup to be OOF.
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