NOVEMBER 2011 – A red-billed oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) sits on the horns of a giraffe at Kruger National Park, South Africa. Photo © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
When we visited Kruger National Park in South Africa we had rain during the first couple of days in the park. Which was not exactly what we had in mind when visiting southern Africa during (their) summer. We were quite happy when the sun finally came out more often, allowing for some awesome wildlife shots. (I’ve also shot during the heavy rain and will share these shots in due time as well.)
The tele lens, my trusted Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, turns into a 520 mm lens (compared to full frame sensor) when at 400mm and mounted to the 1D Mark III body. That’s thanks to the APS-H sensor that picks just the sweet middle portion of the image. So, you can get really close to the animals.
In this shot, we see a giraffe chewing on leafs of a tree while a red-billed oxpecker watches the surroundings (and expecially us in our 4×4) from the head of the giraffe. And the lens did some miracles, again: When looking at the high-resolution image at 100%, you can even see the tiny beard hairs of the giraffe. Awesome.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date & Time | 26-NOV-2011, 12:04 |
| Location | Kruger National Park, South Africa |
| Camera | Canon EOS-1D Mark III |
| Lens | Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM |
| ISO | 250 |
| Exposure | 1/200 sec at f/9 |
| Digital Image Source Format | Canon Camera RAW (CR2) |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 2592 x 3888 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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