Modern-day Dinosaurs, a photo from Gauteng, Est

Photographer's Note

Two rhinoceroses standing back-to-back while eating. Shot at the Lion and Rhino Reserve near Muldersdrift, which is close to Johannesburg.

What struck me about them is how much they remind me of dinosaurs we see in movies and books. This is as close to seeing real dinosaurs as we will get. It is difficult to get an idea of their actual size from this picture, but believe me -- they are HUGE!

Note: The rhinoceroses' orange color is not their normal color. It's due to the mud they rolled in earlier.

Additional comments:
1. At first I wanted to crop much closer to the rhinos, but I also wanted to show something of the environment they live in, so I ended up with this crop.
2. I agree that fill-in flash would have been perfect to highlight more of the details on the animals, but how do you approach 1 ton of rhino and ask it to stand still while you flash a light in his face...? :-)

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cdewet (0) 2003-09-25 5:43

Hi Henry, Hierdie manne bly darem maar mooi.
Sal maar Engels skryf, dan verstaan almal. This is a strong leading composition, their backsides drawing the eye into the picture. However, one needs some fill flash to provide that highlight in the eyes, to draw and hold the attention on the faces. It will also fix the shadow area on the mouth side of the RHS rhino. Baie goeie foto. The dark blob is dung, something we live with in the wild.

orme (7205) 2003-09-25 6:03

Great shot. The nice 'mud' colour on the rhinoceroses makes the photo more unique. Good notes. I think you could have cropped a little bit off both sides, so that the rhinoceroses area could have been enlarged. Also there is a pile of 'dirt' on the right that is quite dark, compared to the lighter coloured ground, and catches the eye too much.

PLD_images (7149) 2003-09-25 10:56

This a very nice photo. Interesting comment as well. I think this shot is very well composed with the two "dino's" back to back. The lighting is good also.

Since you and others mentioned a tighter cropping, I did a WS to see what could come from that.

[workshop] [compare]

yesterday (9833) 2004-05-05 2:53

Great capture, vell compoced, good light and color in the photo, good nature photo.