Butch Mazzuca  

Morning Romp by Butch Mazzuca

March 2025 - Morning Romp

About the Image(s)

Canon 50D (crop frame) Canon 100-400 @ 260mm (416mm equivalent) ISO 640 - f8 - 1/90th second.

This shot taken on the Masai Mara in Kenya - we had stopped for our morning breakfast in the bush when I saw these three brothers off in the distance and I was hoping they’d come our way - they were about 200-250 yards away but they turned and started running in our general direction so I exchanged my coffee cup for a camera. Trying to shoot cheetahs in a sprint is REALLY difficult; and unless you’ve witnessed it, cheetahs are unbelievably fast. There was a Big Cat Diary vehicle in the area and they CHEAT! :-) - they had a sidecar attached to their safari vehicle where they had the cameras set up. Fortunately for me, these brothers weren’t hunting, and were just loping across the Mara. When I saw them start moving I guessed at 1/90th second TV - but even on high speed automatic I only got four shots off (they were still pretty fast) - and again fortunately, one of the four shots had the heads and tails separated - looking forward to the comments.

6 comments posted

Larry Treadwell   Larry Treadwell
Monochrome, because it eliminates the distraction of color, shows structure and shape to their greatest advantage This choice really adds drama the image. I feel the 1/90 shutter speed and your panning action was enough to keep the heads sharp yet allows the foreground, an background to show motion blur which in turn communicates the story of speed. In my opinion, to further the concept of speed I would crop a very small amount from the left side. This would move the cheetahs from the center of the image thus providing the illusion of more space in front of then into which they can run. Additionally I feel the conversion is just a bit flat and perhaps pushing the blacks just a bit will give the i mage a greater tonal range and thus add moire drama.. Have you considered processing this in Silver Efexs? Overall, a most exciting image to look at. I think you captured the right moment.   Posted: 03/08/2025 14:12:07
Butch Mazzuca   Butch Mazzuca
Thanks Larry, I'll reprocess, good thought   Posted: 03/16/2025 22:29:42
Cindy Marple   Cindy Marple
Yes going B&W was a good choice for this image. So great that you managed to capture them with separation in the heads and tails, which is what really matters here. Going for the pan-blur was also a good choice here to help convey the speed of these cats. Opportunities can be fleeting and you definitely made the most of this one.
For me the image is a bit flat, increasing the contrast will give it more punch that fits with the story. I did that with the levels tool- just bringing in the black and white points. A surprise benefit of that ended up being that it emphasizes the light on their faces, which I didn't really notice to start with.
  Posted: 03/16/2025 14:40:36
Comment Image
Butch Mazzuca   Butch Mazzuca
I guess great minds think alike - thank you Cindy   Posted: 03/16/2025 22:30:17
Bud Ralston   Bud Ralston
Butch - tough capture. I agree that unless you've been on the Maasai Mara and tried to capture cheetahs on the run, you cannot fully appreciate how fast these animals are. I like your original image. Bringing up the contrast over-sharpens the photo, giving it an artificial look. If anything, I might consider a light Gaussian blur to communicate the motion reflected in the shot. I think sometimes an image can be more powerful if it's not razor sharp.   Posted: 03/18/2025 15:29:23
Susan Cifaldi   Susan Cifaldi
Yikes! I can feel the excitement in this capture, and the panning is the perfect way to keep the attention on these magnificent animals, who give the impression that they will soon be out of eyesight.

I like Cindy's crop and how she brightened the animals. The background is brightened a bit, too, but not to a distractive degree, just enough to appreciate the horizontal lines in the panning.



  Posted: 03/20/2025 22:16:19

 

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