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Action or behavior of animals, creatures, (& carnivorous plants), of the wild!

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Challenge, Action, Animals of the Wild, 2006_08 Wildlife Action Your image can have been taken on any date, all the way back to the beginning of the 20th century as long as you shot it!

They have to be of a quality approaching one might expect to be able to sell or show in a gallery.


Asher
 
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Brian Lowe

New member
Wildlife Action 01

Here are my three

Titled: I'll show mama who's boss
66060572-L-1.jpg




Titled: Mama's the boss
66060633-M-3.jpg







Titled: Monkey Business
90508814-M-2.jpg




Enjoy the wildlife action,
Brian







 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Brian, I guess the big cats have to rough up the cubs! What are those chimps doing?

Dierk,

That is a work of art. It transmits to me more than the recorded image. It is tranquil but has risk, a path through life itself. The dead roots in the foreground attest to a cycle that requires death.

Those are my feelings when I look at your picture. Thanks for sharing.

Asher
 
Great shot Don,

I really like the tonalities of the blues and their correlation to the waves of sand. I personally would suggest exploring cropping the right side and bottom to the better balance the negative space of the composition with the action and body language of the bird. It might improve it, it might not, but it is only exploration I susggest.

all the best,

Sean
 

Don Lashier

New member
Sean DeMerchant said:
Great shot Don,

I really like the tonalities of the blues and their correlation to the waves of sand. I personally would suggest exploring cropping the right side and bottom to the better balance the negative space of the composition with the action and body language of the bird. It might improve it, it might not, but it is only exploration I susggest.
Thanks Sean,

I had considered cropping it - although I'm basically a "full frame" shooter this is often difficult with bird shots, particularly with these hyperactive critters where a tripod and careful composition is impossible. The problem cropping this image is the strong diagonal lines which fall reasonably well with the FF shot. If I were willing to vary the aspect ratio this would be easier, but here's a crop try and I think it works pretty well.
030224-009218-1c.jpg

- DL
 

Don Lashier

New member
Asher Kelman said:
Could even be wider! Do have others in the same series?

asher
I had the same thought - wish I had a little more room to the top and left. I have a few others but none have the nice clear diagonals.

Sandpipers have got to be the most frustrating birds to photograph. Gulls and Egrets sit quietly, move slowly, look at you, blink, and even pose. But sandpipers need ritalin - they're constantly on the move, usually a flock in unison, flitting this way and that, landing, digging, running, taking off - down the beach, back, all as one.

I don't understand this unison thing. Gulls do it too - I was down on the bayfront once and a flock of gulls swooped in, reversed direction, dipped, and all in unison shat - twenty splats on the street in front of me at the same time. How do they do this?

- DL
 
Here is my contribution:

Hope this one qualifies as "of the wild", it surely was wild enough to try and eat my lens ;)

Caged.jpg

Caged

and another brief encounter, a crested Carima:

Carima.jpg

Too close

Both are full frame shots, no cropping in post-processing.

Bart
 

John_Nevill

New member
Here's my entry, I initially thought of the title "Caught in action", or "Squeeze me until my .... break" ok a bit provocative, so i'll stick with the former!
CIA.jpg
 
A couple of images from earlier this year - couldn't help but join in the fun here (not for voting).

What A Day I'm Having! - Sculpin vs Pied-billed Grebe (Ding Darling NWR, FL):

1D2_02678.jpg



Osprey Mating - Blue Cypress Lake, FL:

1D2_02584.jpg


Best,
 

Rob.Martin

New member
Africa and Thailand

Wow, I have too many pictures to choose from, so I'll try a couple from this year.
Sorry to bore those that have already seen them.


[
B]AFRICA - Kruger National park[/B]
lions_Mating-BW.jpg

THAILAND
image009.jpg

image007.jpg




Rob
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Mike,

I rarely get jealous, but humming birds are one of my likes and so far, I never have my camera with me when I see one.

I love the iridescent green on the birds back. What lens, distance and speed?

Asher
 

Mike Spinak

pro member
I'm glad you enjoy it. Perhaps I'll get a few other hummingbird shots posted.

The lens was a Canon 600 f/4 IS L with a 2x teleconverter. The distance was exactly at the lens's minimum focusing distance... I think about 17 feet. I think the shutter speed was 1/1,250 second, aperture f/8, ISO 800, with high speed flash.

The clean background comes from shooting 1,200 mm, f/8, from 17 feet away, with the nearest background objects about 75 to 100 feet behind the subject.

I shot this in the Kern Audubon Preserve during the hummingbird migration. This is what I was shooting when I contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

I'm working on getting a bunch of stuff put up on my website, so there should be some fun pics coming over the next few days.

Mike
 

Mary Bull

New member
As near to perfection as one can get in this world. Bravo, Mike!

I have seen this bird, at the feeder just off the porch rail at my aunt's house in Glendale, Oregon, in June, 1989. More than one, and so unafraid from long use of that station, that we could sit on that high porch and watch, morning and evening.

Also observed the Rufous Hummingbird there.

This was out in the country, in a broad clearing two-thirds of the way up an immense hill, ringed round with fine, huge pine trees, a mini-forest owned by my aunt's daughter and her husband.

My mind is so full of bright images from that trip that I sometimes dream them in color, still.

Beautiful picture, Mike.
 
From hummingbird to ugly bird

Mike,

You've made a beautiful picture, of a beautiful bird.

And now for something completely different. One would suppose that a young bird would benefit from inconspicuous coloring, not this young coot as it was climbing back into the nest after a short swim:


Common-EurAsianCoot_Fulica-Atra.jpg


The sad part of it is that none of the 5 chicks made it (probably eaten by a fish), but then the second litter of 6 all seem to have survived, sofar.

Bart
 

Mary Bull

New member
Not ugly, but beautiful!!

Bart_van_der_Wolf said:
Mike,
And now for something completely different. One would suppose that a young bird would benefit from inconspicuous coloring, not this young coot as it was climbing back into the nest after a short swim:
It is beautiful. Lovely coloring about its head.
The sad part of it is that none of the 5 chicks made it (probably eaten by a fish), but then the second litter of 6 all seem to have survived, sofar.
I hope the second set do make it. Would you have further photos of the coots to share?

I have seen coots many a time on the Barren River as it flows through Bowling Green, Kentucky. My husband used to take me fishing on it--or just to float over the shallow gravel bars of a bend of the river south of town. One morning a mother coot with 7 little sooty chicks in a line behind her swam past. Disturbed a small turtle sunning himself on a log, and into the water he went with a splash.

Scenes only in my memory--never recorded with a camera.

That's one of the things that's so great at OPF. Expert photographers show me images that call up others waiting in my head.

Mary
 
Hi Jody,
'Superb' is an understatement. Your timing accuracy is unbelievable. That's the definition for 'action shot', I think. I'm really intrigued how you do it. Does it cost a lot of patience, or do you get lucky all the time?

regi
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Walt,

This is a great way to start! Welcome and kudos on the shots. could you explain how you made the picture? You might also say "Hi" to the folks and introduce yourself in that Introduction forum! We like to really greet you!

Asher
 
Unusual shot, Walt, and welcome! I really like the title as well!

I would also be interested in the details on how this shot came to be (location, gear, settings, etc.). Here at OPF, we stress posting to help the others in the forum learn more about photography, and benefit from each individual's approach, experience, etc.
 
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