It was a lot of fun photographing these cheetah cubs as they chased each other all over the place in Samburu National Reserve. There were four of them and we saw them on three different occasions. This was early morning as the sun was starting to make its way into the sky. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1100, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
I love it! I’m a big fan of your work. Can I ask how you got the low angle? I’ll be visiting Botswana next October and I’m contemplating using the approach of hanging the camera on an upside down tripod outside the safari vehicle to achieve similar results. Did you use that technique for this image? If so do you have any advice on how to get the most keepers that way? Thanks and keep the images coming. I look forward to starting each day with them.
Thanks Honora. Really appreciate it. For this image, I did not use the camera-over-the-side-of vehicle technique. These guys were running all over the place and there were several higher areas that gave a bit more of an eye level perspective. I think this would be difficult because of the action. And also because I was using my 500mm lens. That technique works best when the animals are relatively still, relatively close and you can use a wider angle.. It’s just hard to look down on the camera screen and know which way to move the tripod/monopod. It’s all kind of counter intuitive so big animals that aren’t moving much, if at all, works best. You also have to have a situation where there isn’t much vegetation to get in the way. I had three really good moments for the technique. Once with a mother elephant and her calf. The grass was low, they were close to the vehicle and they were slowly grazing. Then I had a rhino mother and calf. Same sort of situation. And finally a couple of warthogs. I also used it for some Cape buffalo and a few other attempts. Enjoy Botswana. I’ve been there a few times and almost just booked a trip back for April. My wife and I lead tours to Africa a few times a year and we’re taking a group to Kenya in April. We’ll likely also try to pull off a trip later in the year as well. Looking forward to seeing what you’re able to capture. Hope the above tips helped. It is a lot of fun to try and get that ground level perspective when he conditions are right.
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It was a lot of fun photographing these cheetah cubs as they chased each other all over the place in Samburu National Reserve. There were four of them and we saw them on three different occasions. This was early morning as the sun was starting to make its way into the sky. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1100, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
Love 💕 the cheetahs! They’re such beautiful animals and they seem to really have a good time playing together’!
Thanks Mom. They were the highlight of this last trip.
I love it! I’m a big fan of your work. Can I ask how you got the low angle? I’ll be visiting Botswana next October and I’m contemplating using the approach of hanging the camera on an upside down tripod outside the safari vehicle to achieve similar results. Did you use that technique for this image? If so do you have any advice on how to get the most keepers that way? Thanks and keep the images coming. I look forward to starting each day with them.
Thanks Honora. Really appreciate it. For this image, I did not use the camera-over-the-side-of vehicle technique. These guys were running all over the place and there were several higher areas that gave a bit more of an eye level perspective. I think this would be difficult because of the action. And also because I was using my 500mm lens. That technique works best when the animals are relatively still, relatively close and you can use a wider angle.. It’s just hard to look down on the camera screen and know which way to move the tripod/monopod. It’s all kind of counter intuitive so big animals that aren’t moving much, if at all, works best. You also have to have a situation where there isn’t much vegetation to get in the way. I had three really good moments for the technique. Once with a mother elephant and her calf. The grass was low, they were close to the vehicle and they were slowly grazing. Then I had a rhino mother and calf. Same sort of situation. And finally a couple of warthogs. I also used it for some Cape buffalo and a few other attempts. Enjoy Botswana. I’ve been there a few times and almost just booked a trip back for April. My wife and I lead tours to Africa a few times a year and we’re taking a group to Kenya in April. We’ll likely also try to pull off a trip later in the year as well. Looking forward to seeing what you’re able to capture. Hope the above tips helped. It is a lot of fun to try and get that ground level perspective when he conditions are right.
Cheetah games are so much better than Reindeer games. Reindeer games suck. There’s no scoring. It’s all just defense.
Wow!
Spectacular capture, Sean!