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Thomsonīs Fighting


Thomsonīs Fighting
Photo Information
Copyright: Mattias Regnell (MattiasR) Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 25 W: 16 N: 84] (290)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-06-16
Categories: Mammals, Savannah
Camera: Olympus Cameida SP-500 UZ
Exposure: f/3.5, 1/125 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2006-07-12 4:40
Viewed: 2174
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 20
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Hello Everyone!
This is a photo of two Thomson gazelles fighing. We were driving slowley to pass them as they were eating and suddenly they attacked each other.

The Thomson's Gazelle (Gazella thomsoni) is one of the most well known gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson.

Thomson's gazelles live in Africa in savanna and grassland habitats, particularly the Serengeti region of Kenya and Tanzania. They eat low vegetation and grass. Most of the water they need comes from what they eat.

Thomson's gazelles are 60-90 cm tall and weigh 30-35 lbs. They have light brown coats with white underparts and a distinctive black stripe. Their horns are long and pointed with slight curvature. A noticeable behaviour of Thomson's gazelles is their bounding leap, known as stotting or pronking, used to startle predators and display strength.

The social structure of gazelles consists of several types of groups. Male gazelles are territorial throughout their adult lives, though not usually before 2-3 years of age.During the non-territorial periods males usually spend their time in bachelor groups or as part of a mixed herd. Likewise females will form migratory female groups that travel through the males' territory. As the female groups pass through, the territorial males will try to herd them to prevent them from leaving.Adult male bucks with adjoining territories will engage in combat several times a day, fighting with their horns to establish dominance and the boundaries of their territories. In this way, the accepted boundaries of the territory can change on a daily basis. If a lone male, a bachelor group, or in some cases even an adolescent male fawn of a female gazelle should be passing through a territorial male's region, the male will chase the offender out of his territory. Interestingly, this territoriality does not extend to males of other species. The territory of a Thomson's gazelle and several other types of ungulates may overlap with no problem whatsoever. Occasionally, a Thomson's gazelle and a zebra or other ungulate will even appear to enjoy one another's company with great sociability.
Female Thomson's gazelles give birth to single fawns after a 5-6 month gestational period. They are unusual among other ungulates in that they can give birth twice yearly, rather than just once.

In the wild, Thomson's gazelles can live up to 10-15 years, although they are preyed on by most African big cats and hyenas, and are the favorite food for cheetahs. Half of all the fawns born will be lost to predators before reaching adulthood. The cheetah and the Thomson's gazelle are the two fastest animals on land, with cheetahs able to attain higher speeds, but Thomson's gazelles able to outlast the cheetahs in long chases and able to make turns more speedily.
(WIKIPEDIA)

PPWORK
Photoshop Elements 4:
Cropped
Changed highlights 20%
Increased contrast +3

PhotoFiltre:
Reesized
Framed
Named

Enjoy
Mattias
soccer, budzon, scottevers7, Nephrotome2, chouette, thor68 has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To chouette: gazellesMattiasR 1 07-13 04:18
To Nephrotome2: GazellesMattiasR 1 07-12 17:05
To poin_45: GazellesMattiasR 1 07-12 17:04
To elefantino: GazellesMattiasR 1 07-12 17:04
To ddg: gazellesMattiasR 1 07-12 17:03
To scottevers7: gazellesMattiasR 1 07-12 17:02
To budzon: GazellesMattiasR 1 07-12 17:01
To soccer: GazellesMattiasR 1 07-12 17:00
To Xplorator: gazellesMattiasR 1 07-12 17:00
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Critiques [Translate]

Wonderful photo, brilliant composition and POV! TFS - Xplorator Radu

Matthias,

Well composed having the subjects in the foreground. The Detail shown through good DOF is great. The POV is a good one for the pic. TFS,
Sheriff

Hello,
Excellente composition! Bravo: la netteté et la lumičre sont parfaites. Samuel

Hi Matthias,
Excellent shot! Beautiful subtle colors and good sharp detail. Great backround with more gazelles grazing indifferent to the battle. I think the pano crop give it an even great feeling of depth.
Scott

  • Great 
  • ddg Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 855 W: 23 N: 942] (5111)
  • [2006-07-12 9:19]
  • [+]

Bonjour Mattias, excellent shot with these two gazelles fighting. Composition and POV are perfect. Very well done, congratulations, Didier.

Perfect done photo

All nice: colors, composition, moment, format, POV. A masterpiece.
No nits. TFS

Hi Mattias,
Very nice scene you captured! Great POV and well composed. TFS!

Nice moment captured. Good details and panoramic compo.
Pity for the white sky, I think you need a polarizer.
Tomorrow I hope to see the 'crash' !!!

Andrea
(points tomorrow, I finished my smiles)

  • Great 
  • Scott Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 224 W: 0 N: 316] (1540)
  • [2006-07-14 9:30]

Classic shot, well composed.

scott

  • Great 
  • thor68 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 792 W: 138 N: 1312] (5642)
  • [2006-07-16 16:45]

wow, amazing composition, mattias! :-)
just the perfect moment, before the fighting breaks out.
excellent centered front position and the rest of the herd grazing peacefully in the bg.
brilliant job & take care, thorsten.

Hi Matthias.
Is a wonderful shot, wiht a brilliant composition, light and colours, great POV
TFS
Jorge

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