Cape Buffalo

This is a superb composition Bill. These can be such mean creatures and this image really shows how intimidating they can be!!

Excellent crop (my sort of image!!) and wonderful dramatic picture with just one eye and horn.

Great shot!! Congrats!

Excellent shot, Bill -- a unique and perfectly executed composition, with great sharpness throughout and a nice job on the exposure.

Great shot. Let me second the remark about F16, way to go, sharp throughout! Comp is powerful.

I can see a couple of different crops in this one Bill, and each one of them including this one you have shown is simply awesome!!!
Thanks for posting!

Mike

Carol C wrote:These can be such mean creatures and this image really shows how intimidating they can be!!

Yes, while we were at Kusini Camp the camp manager warned us repeatly about not venturing out at night without an escort. About 0200 hours one morning, I was awakened by the sound of a rather large animal munching grass outside my tent, about four-feet from my sleepy head. Next morning, my son, John, said he was also awakened during the night by a beast snoring outside the tent. I laughed and told him it was most likely me that was snoring.

Excellent tight portrait. I like the comp.

I, too, like the tight crop!! Well done

Bill, I like the graphic qualities of this image. I bet it would also look nice in B/W. Nice shot.

Bill, I really like your unconventional composition here that shows just enough to be intimidating but enough to leave a bit of mystery. Looking forward to more of your African posts!

Superb shot Bill, your choice of crop is excellent.
Sleeping in the bush can be quite entertaining, I had a hippo grazing one night and a lion lay down ten feet from the front of the cabin in Zambia a couple of years ago. Last year a couple of ele's tried to demolish our tent in the middle of the night Can't wait for this years trip

Great shot Bill. Nice composition.

Hey Bill,

I just droped by here, hadn't visited this forum in a while .. I'm glad I did .. this is a really nice shot .. very well done, it conveys a lot. The crop offers some tension, which adds to the mystery .. Really cool.

Cheers

Carl

Great shot for all the reasons already mentioned!

DC wrote:Superb shot Bill, your choice of crop is excellent.
Sleeping in the bush can be quite entertaining, I had a hippo grazing one night and a lion lay down ten feet from the front of the cabin in Zambia a couple of years ago. Last year a couple of ele's tried to demolish our tent in the middle of the night Can't wait for this years trip

LOL. I wondered about the idea of sleeping in a tent in the middle of a wildlife wonderland. Actually, it was quite entertaining. It really is interesting to be awakened by the sound of a male Leopard crying in the night. It took me back to the start of the human experiment. Now I know why early man built fires and told stories and painted on walls with magical colors. As you know, to go to the heart of our creation is to live. I miss it alreay and cannot wait to return. For me, the experience of Africa, was an awakening. It was as spiritual as I have encountered in my lifetime.

Having an old "dugger boy" chase me up a tree has given me a healthy respect for these guys...

Having been there, I really like the artistic composition. Well done in what looks like pretty tough light...

Cheers,

Bill Lockhart wrote:

DC wrote:Superb shot Bill, your choice of crop is excellent.
Sleeping in the bush can be quite entertaining, I had a hippo grazing one night and a lion lay down ten feet from the front of the cabin in Zambia a couple of years ago. Last year a couple of ele's tried to demolish our tent in the middle of the night Can't wait for this years trip

LOL. I wondered about the idea of sleeping in a tent in the middle of a wildlife wonderland. Actually, it was quite entertaining. It really is interesting to be awakened by the sound of a male Leopard crying in the night. It took me back to the start of the human experiment. Now I know why early man built fires and told stories and painted on walls with magical colors. As you know, to go to the heart of our creation is to live. I miss it alreay and cannot wait to return. For me, the experience of Africa, was an awakening. It was as spiritual as I have encountered in my lifetime.[/quote]

I second that Bill, As Dave said, we were almost demolished by two Bull Elephants just after midnight in the pitch blackness last year, but so many experiences and awakening of the senses occurred. That is the first time my tears have flowed on leaving a country,and that was down to the spiritual experience that is Africa!

One of the best shots I've seen of these guys, really made by the composition. They're so difficult to capture well in a photograph and you've done well to capture the understated menace.

I'm looking forward to returning to Tanzania this summer. However, leopards and elephants outside the tent I can do without. Last time there, my son was "concerned" when our tent was surrounded by hyenas, some within just a couple of feet. He was concerned when he was looking at them with night vision glasses and could tell that they were looking right back at him. (At that point, he turned the goggles off rather quickly.) I was concerned when the hyenas left, chased off by a leopard who in turn came within a couple of feet of the tent. While I love going, I also know I want to live someplace where I'm at the top of the food chain.

Rich

Rich S wrote:While I love going, I also know I want to live someplace where I'm at the top of the food chain.

Rich

LOL. LOL. LOL. At Kusini Camp I listened to the "camp Leopard" growl at 0500 hours while having a nicely brewed cup of coffee. At Swala Camp, each morning was a whole different experience, there the Impala (Swala) would bed down throughout the camp. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. But, I sure understand why you want to be on top of the food chain.

[/quote] LOL. LOL. LOL. At Kusini Camp I listened to the "camp Leopard" growl at 0500 hours while having a nicely brewed cup of coffee. At Swala Camp, each morning was a whole different experience, there the Impala (Swala) would bed down throughout the camp. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. But, I sure understand why you want to be on top of the food chain. [/quote]

Haven't been to Kusini but I think that's on this summer's itinerary. Swala was something else. The herd of impala was there for one night. Otherwise, the lions were more than a little "friendly." Had to drive the Land Rover to the front of the tent, get in the Rover and then get driven virtually into the dining room tent. Walking in camp was simply out of the question. Great experience, but I don't need a constant reminder of my mortality! (Camp manager had a "turn your pants brown" run in with a lion while on foot between her tent and the dining tent but got out without a scratch.)

Rich