Driving on the coastal road between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, I spotted this Blackbacked Jackal in the dunes. I only had a 70-210 zoom lens with me, so I could not get nearly as close as I wanted to. But, at it turned out, the result pleased me more than yet another shot of a jackal.
Any and all feedback is welcome. I am here to learn.
Nikon f5, Kodak Ektachrome 200, 1/250 sec at f/8.
Perfect entry for this week’s WC! It’s nicely done - the texture in the sand and the curve of the dune does the negative space justice.
Nikon F5 and Ektachrome? What are those? 
" Driving on the coastal road between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay… "
One of my favorite places! Gottta dig up some of the dunes and flamingo images…
This is a stunning image! The pose of the jackal, the curving lines of the dune, the brighter vs darker area - all just excellent! Perfect for the WC!
Thank you, Sandy! It’s been too long since I have been there. Much too long.
Thank you, Jim, for your kind words.
Great image showing the vastness of the desert Pieter. This is indeed perfect to show negative space for this week’s challenge too.
This is very cool. Love the sense of scale you’re revealing here. A wildlife image that shows its environment is one of my favorite styles.
Thank you, Ed. That’s what I thought.
Indeed, Paul. One has to sometimes resist the temptation to zoom in close.
I find a lot that I love in this image. The light and shadow along the sand crest and jackal are repeated. There is a sense of endurance, timelessness in that tracks from the jackal are not apparent. As mentioned already the scale is striking and composition impactful with the jackal positioned as it is. Very nice!
Thank you for your very kind words, Marlin!
Pieter: My immediate reaction was, “What is he doing there?” In such a bleak environment one would think that there would be no reason for the jackal to be hanging out like this. Perhaps he was just hoping to be a model for your camera. If so he succeeded spectacularly. This is such a good comp of a compelling subject and place. Superbly crafted image. >=))>
Thank you, Bill. You give me too much credit.
As for what is he doing there? Jackals are scavengers. It is close to the road, so there is always road kill. It is only a few hundred yards from the Atlantic coastline, so there are sometime fish or even seal carcasses. Plenty of seabirds, rodents, lizards and insects in a pinch.
