May month’s Photo Critic photography competition goes to Pietman Muller for his image “Klikbek”. This image wins him a free 1-Day workshop. View Pietman’s image on Photo Critic by clicking HERE…
Photographer’s Comments:
The Shingwedzi area in the Kruger National Park is home to lots of Squirrels that like the many hollows in the Mopani- and Leadwood trees that are abundant in the area. I love them as they always provide photographic opportunities, especially in winter when they can be seen warming themselves in the early morning- and late afternoon sun. On a day visit on the 14th of October 2010, I heard a squirrel’s alarm call while driving along the Shingwedzi river, downstream from the Kanniedood dam. I noticed a Gymnogene plundering bird nests across the road and the squirrel looking at him and making alarm and I immediately started photographing it. I did not see the bee at first but noticed it cut in half at the edge of the picture when I checked my exposure on the LCD. As the bee was hovering in front of the squirrel as if communicating something to him I did get the opportunity to get off a few more, better-framed shots. I normally use a pool noodle cut to the length of the car window with a slit to fit over the window for support as I find it more stable than a beanbag and I rested the Sigma on this for support. I used the lowest possible f-stop of 6.3 to throw the background out of focus and a shutter speed of 1/800s to freeze any action. It is always difficult for me to evaluate my photos on the camera LCD and therefore take as many shots possible, using the Histogram to evaluate my exposure. Back home, after downloading to my computer I found one decent shot, cropped it, adjusted levels and contrast a bit and cloned out a small branch to get a clean background.
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