On Golden Field Photo

Photographer’s Note

At the heart of the Serengeti ecosystem lies an ancient phenomenon that is the largest movement of wildlife on earth. In pursuit of food and water, over a million wildebeest and half a million zebra and antelope migrate north from the Serengeti to the adjoining Maasai Mara reserve in Kenya every year.
During the great migration, plains zebra and wildebeest often intermingle. They are complementary grazers, preferring different parts of the same grass. Zebra, with their superior vision and hearing, serve as an early warning system for the wildebeest. Given the choice, predators prefer wildebeest meat to zebra.

This image is just a tiny little glimpse of the great migration. It was raining slightly to saturate the field yet still enough light for a decent photo. When it rains they will stop to rest and graze. Amazing experience of my life, I’ll go back in a heart beat if I have the time and money.

ISO 400
1/125
f/8
Focal 100.0 mm
White balance Auto

No Tripod, but rest on bean bag on roof of jeep.
Cropped
saturation 10%
Sharpen slightly

lrw1966, isabela_sor, Kielia, Floydian, Jeppo, phwall, Sistercosmo, macondo, avene, trekks, bakes888, patdeph, didemay, PaulVDV, adores, Angshu, jwmunro trouve(nt) cette note utile

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mark_mk (246) 2008-10-24 10:52

Hi Way,
man, almost neighbours today, almost!!!!!
I love that wide view above the field, all the animals, some lonesome tress and nothing but the endless terrain, very lovely! The colors are very nice and so is your composition, your improvised tripod worked very well, a lovely shot, thanks for sharing!

Take care
Mark

isabela_sor (42221) 2008-10-24 10:52 [Comment]

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emka (21865) 2008-10-24 10:53

Wow, Way, splendid photo. So many animals. The sky is fine despite of raining, wonderful colour af the field. Regards

Malgorzata

Burberry1 (6041) 2008-10-24 10:59

Excellent moment and image.
Love these animals and your photo perfectly show how wonderful and rich Africa is.
I like how U devided it onto two parts.

Best regards,
Agnieszka

leo61 (43448) 2008-10-24 11:02

Hi Way!
A good shot with these many animals and the three trees at the high horizon.Good contrast between the Savanne and the sky but I`m missing some saturation and contrast.I tried a workshop to see how it will look.
But anyway,it`s a very good composition and I like your POV.
Have a nice weekend.
regards,Leo

[workshop] [compare] +

Kielia (8611) 2008-10-24 11:06

Hello Way,
another great wildlife shot from your impressing gallery! The contrasts and the colours are stunning, and you have really captured this atmosphere of migration perfectly. Congratulation!
Warm regards
Harriet

Jeppo (11996) 2008-10-24 11:46

hi waylim

this is the Africa we dream about when we read about it.
blue skies, endless savana, warm tones and plenty of wildlife!

you caught what we dream about in the reality and froze it forever!
well done
Silvio

phwall (5677) 2008-10-24 12:45

Hello Way,
Beautiful wide shot of the plains and the wildlife. I like the way you've presented the shot, just enough post to make the image visually interesting. The glow works well, gives the image a dreamy look. Compliments on the composition too, shooting from the top of a vehicle using a shot bag as a rest isn't that easy.
Stunning image.
Regards
Peter

gneufeld (15219) 2008-10-24 13:05

Hi Way,
A plethora of unusual wildlife - and a fine shot without tripid - good you had enough light to work with. Great shot and TFS. Gerald

baba_flies (8035) 2008-10-24 13:09

Hello Way! It was raining in Africa :)))) Reminds me of something ... This is just wonderful and I can see Robert Redford and Meryl Streep flying over the land but I guess my fantasy goes crazy as many times. I find the grey sky helps to get this great contrast between sky and the yellow steppe, what a scene! I love the trees in the distance, the only few things that seem to grow besides the bush grass. What a wonderful world, a planet to be discovered. Have a nice weekend, digging in your archives maybe????????? Barbara.

gabrielpat (6551) 2008-10-24 13:18

hy way;
you put a stong noise filter,but the resuut is nice;patrick.

Sistercosmo (2595) 2008-10-24 13:57

Hi Way,
this is a wonderful shot over the Serengeti. Amazing capture! I really love the animals, the grass and the trees. Great job! I also like Leo's WS. It adds even more contrast.
Thanks and take care!
Linda

MarianneS (14346) 2008-10-24 14:47

Hello Way,
I hope one day you will have time and money to go back there.
Because I guess when you see such a sight, you just want to see it again.
At least, you saw it once :-) and you have beautiful photos to remind you this great trip.
I like your compisition here. So many wild animals, just close to you. I like the contrast between the grey sky and this clear field, made of gold. TFS.
Regards,
Marianne

MarcT (21103) 2008-10-24 23:28

Hi Way,
Very special place, kind of paradise for wildlife.
Your picture shows how many of these animals you can see over there.
Cheers
Marc

macondo (13183) 2008-10-25 1:10

Hi Way.
I was puzzled by the look of this photo, especially in the sky, until I read your note about the rain. It's a wondrous picture of nature in the wild wide space of these great plains. The simplicity of the shot and the well placed horizon make it somehow dramatic, showing the unending drama of life and its journeys.
I think perhaps the saturation is a little too much, but it doesn't spoil the shot for me. I like your note very much, too.
Regards,
Andrew

Floydian (30970) 2008-10-25 3:58

Hi Way,
The view is spectacular over the Serengeti, for sure a place to visit when it come to photographing wildlife and it seems for some landscapes it's also not bad at all. It looks like you did some pp work here, but that's not something that disturbs me, i like the overal result in lifght, colour and composition...
Have a nice weekend, Henk

Greg1949 (8511) 2008-10-25 4:59

Great shot Way, the feeling of it is of a hughe place and the detail that can be seen is awesome. The mixing of the animals is interesting, not something I would have thought happens but your shot has shown otherwise. Superb post.

Greg

delkoo (34550) 2008-10-25 5:08

bonjour way
very pleasant scene, seeing all these animals grazing in peace means that the lions are not far......

well seen
didier

estan (1279) 2008-10-25 12:29

Hi,

What an amazing landscape! You did a great shot with nice colours. It is a pleasure to look at. Thanks for sharing.
See you
Pascal

maximage (13496) 2008-10-25 13:29

Bonjour Way,
Très bel instantané, avec une concentration d'animaux incroyable! Très belle image d'Afrique.
Amitiés.
max

avene (11066) 2008-10-25 19:10

hello Way,
it must be quite something - to see all these animals in their jorney, and not on TV, but with your own eyes. I really hope I'll see it too.
the photo does feel a little soft, or as if you added gaussian blurr, but I quite like the result, the photo seems so luminous now. but what I like best is the feeling of great distance that seems to be filled with animals. the Cradle of Life :)

regards,
Kristine

trekks (14324) 2008-10-25 22:07

hi Way

Kilimanjaro and Tanzania - that is a dream place for safari and wildlife. I hope this stirs a little more enthusiasm about a future plan.

Superb light management of the golden field with the darker tone of the animals scattered all over the place. A stormy sky helps to focus the attention on the FG. I also like your treatment of the element of 3 trees at the right in choosing this POV.

My 1st impression of this color balance looks odd and wonder if pp work causes the effect. Overall, the view is very pleasant. I like the WS too.

tfs, bill

bakes888 (18257) 2008-10-26 0:38

Hi Way. I love this shot, very painterly. Colours and textures blend in a very appealing mix. Nicely balanced composition also. Thanks for sharing.
Have a good week, Paul.

Kris_Luxenhofer (752) 2008-10-26 4:17

Hello my friend,
very nice shot, warm colors and good view. Althought there is no single cloud in the sky, it looks ver dramatic. These animals look very beautiful and I can see zebras :-)
Take care,
Kris

dvlazar (6488) 2008-10-26 4:35

GOod to see a return to your wildlife shots from Africa. This is a spectacular scene - with all teh beasts spread all around the frame.
Dramatic sky, too!

Dave.

patdeph (18086) 2008-10-27 1:12

hello Way
how I like this photo!This is really impressive to see such a numerous of wild animals!I like the contrast between the yellow grasses ans the dark blue sky!But,what I like the most is this incredible softness of the picture!I really prefer your version than the leo's WS!Don't change anything,this is wonderful!
Best regards
Pascale

didemay (2435) 2008-10-27 1:41

Way Hello,
Beautiful contrast that emphasizes the proportions and balance of this wild nature photo.
Well another touch of Way Ne Lim.
Best Regards,
D:)

PaulVDV (5290) 2008-10-27 12:24

Hello Way,
The picture looks a little like a painting with that bluegrey sky and specially with all those golden tones of the savannah where lots of animals are placed in with a paintbrush.
It must be very special to see this scene in reality.
Well captured.
Best regards, Paul

jmdias (19567) 2008-10-27 16:15

way

the mood here is so interesting like a painting, very nice colors, light and compo, the amount of different animals are aMAZING inside the landscape
..well done

hugs

jorge

vascao (192) 2008-10-29 15:36

Hi, Way
Another impressive wildlife image. The vastness of this field seems endless and the myriad of diferent species makes the image unique. Splendid colors as well.
[]'s
Sergio

adores (15671) 2008-10-30 17:28

Hi Way!
They are really too many:)! This is what I call Africa. I've never been in this area but i feel I must go there someday. I like the composition with all these wild animals and you managed to get a good light in spite of the weather. Good work!I also like Leo's suggestion.

rolling_stone (58) 2008-11-01 12:11

Until now, I've been thinking of savannah photos as of kind of classic with all the composition settings set a century ago. That kind of classic with a zebra leaning down to eat some of the grass below or a sunset scene with the huge sun and everything red around.
This one makes my recent thoughts of photos from Africa senseless.
This one represents my ideal of a photo, with magic colours, with part of the living world, that something which can't be seen in a blimp of an eye. Something that makes people love to watch photos, even these ones who do not love to watch the world.
Something positively unterrestial.

foozi (4733) 2008-12-24 19:14

Hi Way,
splendid ans superbs
wonderful and brilliant.
Only words to express this breathtaking shot of yours.

Regards,
Foozi

Angshu (33891) 2009-07-02 1:14

Sabaidie Way
Africa..Serengeti..savannah...migration...zebras...wildebeests, all seem to be synonymous thanks to numerous programs on TV & articles in magazines. This is a true picture of what we have in our mind when we think Serengeti. Fine contrast between the dry grass & the leaden sky. The three trees in the BG also add to the compo. Good work!
Regards
Angshu

jwmunro (6355) 2009-08-21 9:31

Hello Way -

This reminds me so much of my safari last year to Kenya. One year ago today we arrived in Nairobi for one of the greatest trips my wife and had even been on. Excellent image! The saturated grass makes this scene shine.

Thank you for sharing.

John