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Proud Father


Proud Father
Photo Information
Copyright: Kath Featherstone (feather) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 7177 W: 285 N: 10500] (36887)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-01-24
Categories: Nature
Camera: Nikon D200, AF Nikkor 70-300 ED, RAW
Exposure: f/9.0, 1/160 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Travelogue: Tanzanian Safaris & Zanzibar R&R
Theme(s): Ostriches [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-03-23 4:10
Viewed: 643
Points: 70
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Easter Chicks with a difference!

On the same day as we saw the vast herds of wildebeest on the Serengeti Plains we also saw this family of ostriches. I was amazed at the numbers of babies in the care of this male. Apparently three females lay their eggs in a communal nest to be incubated by the male and the alpha female. This ostrich Dad certainly seems proud of his brood.

You can see a few wildebeest in the background.

Happy Easter Sunday

More "chicks" in the WS

ISO100, FL200mm,

PaulVDV, besnard, snunney, Floydian, ChrisJ, Wandering_Dan, trekks, noborders, Cricri, Dyerco, Davidwh, josepmarin, dareco, Tue, Gerrit, UlfE, cbrman, Photo65Net, plimrn, ruisc_pt, stego, jaywalker, shevchenko, jusninasirun has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Davidwh: Patiencefeather 1 03-23 13:23
To gilou530: Ngorongoro Craterfeather 1 03-23 13:21
To mesutilgim: rotten ostricht eggsfeather 1 03-23 13:13
To noborders: malefeather 1 03-23 13:11
To PaulVDV: fatherfeather 1 03-23 04:23
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Kath,
Wow ! Very beautiful all these young ostriches.
Good composition and nice with the mountain in the distance.
Are you sure it's the father on the pic ? :)
Happy Easter, Paul

Bonjour Kath
Une belle image de cette autruche et de ses autruchons. J'aime la netteté avec un flou artistique en arrière-plan.
Merci pour le partage et bon week-end pascal.
Nicole

Hello Kath,
I'm not sure what the name is for a group of ostriches but this is a very fine capture of this proud father and offspring. Good framing which puts the scene in its context. Excellent clarity.

Olá Kath,

The Ostrich (Struthio camelus) is a large flightless bird native to Africa. Beautiful image of Ostrich life good POV. I have a dream of one day to go to make a trip for the wild life in Africa.
Very well done my friend,
Filipe

Hi Kath ;-)
Althoutgh the scenery is absolute worth in making a picture from it, it's the dull colours what hurts me most. It's flat without any strong contrasting colours inside. Now i am the first one to admit that photographing on the Equator is one of the hardest things to do when it comes to light and shadow, were that last one is seldom there during the day which makes most picture dull without depth and contrast.
I know how you struggle with the colours, contrast and brightness. So many people here with so many different thoughts. All i can say is do your own thing, that's your only criteria.
Hope you can live with these words ;-)
Have a nice Sunday, Henk

  • Great 
  • ChrisJ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 8440 W: 887 N: 10916] (52869)
  • [2008-03-23 7:26]

Hi Kath

The Serengeti looks amazing. Good capture of the wary ostrich & his chicks. Wonderful colour, lighting & sharpness. Tfs, & Happy Easter!

  • Great 
  • carper Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 9066 W: 442 N: 14043] (49410)
  • [2008-03-23 7:27]

I love it Kath,
marvelous capture of this family, good wild shot again, fine pov and good photojob, I like it, happy easter and have a nice day.
gr. jaap

Hi, Kath -

OK, this is something we never saw in Africa - plenty of ostriches, but never any chicks. TFS! Your WS shot looks a bit like my springbok gang, but technically I think this one is better.

Best,
Dan

hi Kath

Very nicely composed shot to show this pov and wildlife scene. Good work.

TFS, bill

Hi dear Kath,
Great capture with this proud father and his family !
Very good pov and nice compo with great notes.
By the wsay did you know that during the Ottoman Empire ostrich eggs was benn used not only as decoration in the mosques? But people believed that the smell of rotten ostricht eggs kept the spiders away.
TFS and bes regards
MESUT ILGIM

Hi Kath,
This is really a wonderful and funny - I mean, very appropriate photo for today, rather unusual and surprising : I love the WS too !
Your last photos are very varied and great, it's a pleasure to visit your gallery !
(Note is also interesting, so this is a male... I would not have known !)

  • Great 
  • Cricri Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3891 W: 83 N: 5138] (25275)
  • [2008-03-23 9:56]

Hi Kath,
Belle image de cette Autruche et de ces petits, c'est un vrai paradis pour tout les animaux cet endroit...et un plaisir pour le visiteur, sympat celle en WS, trés belle série
Have a nice weekend for you
cricri

  • Great 
  • vincz Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2899 W: 87 N: 4820] (16692)
  • [2008-03-23 10:43]

he he... very funny one! I've seen similar scenes when I was in South Africa a few years ago. I love how all the young ones are mixing together.

  • Great 
  • Dyerco Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1056 W: 7 N: 994] (4395)
  • [2008-03-23 10:46]

Hi Kath
Well composed showing the birds in their surroundings. Its sharp where it's supposed to be. BTW I don't agree with Henk on this one. There is too much over saturation these days. I'm probably as guilty as most but this to me looks natural which is what a nature shot should be.
Cheers. Happy Easter.
Phil

Hi Kath,
Wow, he certainly does have his hands full there! Well done in managing to get them all together like that....you must have been patient. Clever use of the DOF to give a taste of the environment but not so as to impose on the subject.Good detail of the chicks and their pattern of feathers.
Regards, David

salut kath
your photographs really rappelent me of good memories at the time of the safari which I made with the gorongoro, I saw the same animals exactly but I thus did not have all the photo material I could not like making you photograph brought closer like here or the preceding one, beautiful series on the sérengueti
amitiés
gilbert

Hello Kath,
A paternal scene, very tender and very interesting at the same time, I had not seen so many babies of ostrich simultaneously.
I like the sensation of wild life and of nature that we can notice in your work, in an excellent composition.
Nice picture.
Best wishes, and Happy Easter,
Josep

  • Great 
  • dareco Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1149 W: 22 N: 410] (6088)
  • [2008-03-23 13:38]

I have enjoyed this series so much!!! Another excellent picture! So nice to see these in their natural environment. TFS

  • Great 
  • Tue Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4952 W: 56 N: 6822] (21933)
  • [2008-03-23 14:35]

Hi Kath,
That is really a large family of ostriches. And the father indeed looks very proud, guarding his children, while they eat. Nice to see the WS too, where they all were looking at you. Good composition too with dad positioned on the left. Thanks for sharing!
Regards,
Lars

  • Great 
  • danyy Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 6915 W: 366 N: 9137] (46984)
  • [2008-03-23 16:40]

Bonjour Kath,
je dois t'avouer que c'est la première fois que je vois une aussi belle photo de jeunes autruches. C'est cocasse et j'aime beaucoup.
Vraiment de belles choses à voir là-bas.
Beaucoup de profondeur même si le fond de l'image attire peu le regard au vu de l'intérêt de l'avant plan.
Best regards.
Daniel.

  • Great 
  • Gerrit Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3773 W: 80 N: 4522] (22043)
  • [2008-03-23 18:32]

Hi Kath,
He looks like father on an old stately family portrait indeed. A great capture in a fantastic composition.
Regards, Gerrit

  • Great 
  • UlfE Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1295 W: 14 N: 1237] (5119)
  • [2008-03-23 23:08]

Hi Kath,

A wonderful scene with all the chicks and their proud father. The picture is really well-composed and I really like the natural colours. You have spoiled us with absolutely fantastic pictures from Serengeti, this is perhaps not of the same class but still a very,very good picture.

Cheers,

Ulf

  • Great 
  • cbrman Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2459 W: 273 N: 3105] (11684)
  • [2008-03-24 2:42]

Hello Kath,

Impressionnante famille. Les petits donnent un contrast saississant avec l'herbe verte. La profondeur de champ est parfaite pour isoler cette famille et lui donner toute l'importance dans l'image.
Bravo !

A+

Dominique

Kath,
Another great one from this amazing nature !
Beautiful catch, with very pleasant DOF control.
I like these animal series.
Regards,
JB.

  • Great 
  • plimrn Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3507 W: 217 N: 4584] (14573)
  • [2008-03-24 8:16]

Hi Kath,
I quite agree with your comments; I notice that, like me, many people didn't know this info about the Ostrich breeding habits. It's also very instructional to see the HUGE difference between the adult and those chicks. I am glad you also posted the WS because I love seeing the detail of the dancing chicks. I do think this is the best trip I've ever followed; both in terms of quality of the photos and new learning.
HLJ, Pat

Hi Kath
Really impressive the position of the subject(s) in your frame.
Well THE subject seems to "keep" the eyes on you...seriously.
Great colours from the savana ...
TFS
Rui

  • Great 
  • stego Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3200 W: 556 N: 4020] (12352)
  • [2008-03-24 10:38]

Hi Kath,
Hummm... The little ducks I saw yesterday at the parks were much less numerous and much more gracious. :D Like on the others, you show very effectively the wild life using a compo very achieved layered compo.
Regards, José.

Hi Kath, Some farther, I would not like to look after that many kids, I love the view across the plains here, another superb nature photo &, I think he looks angry, probably because he would prefer to be down the pub, great shot, kind regards Wilson.

Hi Kath,
Good shoot to show a group of ostriches without disturb them, all of them are busy looking for their meals except these older ostrich attracted by your camera, thanks always sharing the natural habitat and daily life of wild animals from Africa, nice color, well done.
Ally

Hello Kath,
An another superb view of animals. Very nice composition with the family ostriches and, in the background, the mountains. Very intersting.
A good father.....

Good day,
Roger

to morrow ..

Hello Kath. You have maintained some very nice family shots in your gallery and thanks for sharing them here. I never knew such a big bird have so many youngs in the family. Good perspective and interesting composition. Well done and best regards. Jusni

  • Great 
  • coco Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3976 W: 136 N: 4551] (21806)
  • [2008-03-26 14:13]

And hi again, Kath.

Again the photo and the WS are really worth photos.
They show us these animals in their wild life in Africa and technically all these photos are amazing.

Well done.

Kath
I did get to see any young ostriches when I was there. They are amazing creatures. They really got legs. This is spectacular shot with so many youngs. Great sharpness and details. Great composition with the adult to the left looking to the right and the landscape in back provide a sense of the backdrop and DOF. I love it.
Way

  • Great 
  • Angshu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4473 W: 152 N: 6712] (21936)
  • [2008-03-29 22:02]

Hello Kath
Never seen a herd like this before...the light seems to be rather harsh. I had no idea how to differentiate between a male & a female ostrich till I went thru the thread with Cath. The BG is also excellent & we can see some wildebeests there as well. Good work!
Regards
Angshu

  • Great 
  • Stepan Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4684 W: 83 N: 3654] (23596)
  • [2008-04-03 23:29]

What could I say I didn't already ?? It's so amazing you saw all the animals you usually see in a zoo, one after each other, like your gallery suggests it... An incredible serie...
Stéphane

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