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After Bloody Mary


After Bloody Mary
Photo Information
Copyright: Aivar Mikko (metcher) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 513 W: 12 N: 986] (4258)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-07-21
Categories: Mammals
Camera: Canon 350D, Canon 70-200mm f/4 L USM
Exposure: f/6.3, 1/800 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Animals., Mammals of Southern Africa, Wildlife of Africa, Mammals of Africa [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2006-10-29 9:19
Viewed: 1722
Points: 26
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Typically a mature male stands 4 feet at the shoulder and is 8 .5 feet long, plus tail. He'll average 450 pounds. Females are considerable smaller, weighing less than 300 pounds. Adult lions usually have a plain unspotted coat, light brown to dark ochre in color. Cubs are marked with spots which sometimes persist on the legs and belly until they are fully grown. Male lions have a brown mane, which tends to grow darker and fuller as the animal ages. The tail has a black tuft at the end. "White" lions occasionally occur in the Transvaal region of southern Africa, but these are not true albinos.
Thousands of years ago, lions were common throughout southern Europe, southern Asia, eastern and central India and over the whole of the African continent. Today, with the exception of some 300 highly protected animals in the Gir National Park of India, the only naturally-occuring lions are found in Africa. (But even in Africa lions have been wiped out in the north; the last Numidian male was shot as a trophy in the 1930s.) Lions do not live in heavy forests and jungles and they do not inhabit desert areas due to a scarcity of game.
Lions feed on a variety of large and medium-size prey. They prefer wildebeast (or gnu) to all others when the annual migration brings the vast herds through the pride's range. Otherwise they eat buffalo, zebra, antelope, giraffe, and warthogs. They also steal kills and carrion from other predators.
Lions are the only cats that live in large family groups. Each pride differs in size and formation, but a typical pride consists of two males and seven females and a variable number of cubs. Females are usually sisters and/or cousins that have grown up together. When the pride hunts as a group they employ an ambush that forces large prey into the waiting paws of the males. Females have the speed but lack the body weight to knock down large "family size" prey such as the wildebeast. Despite their tremendous power and adaptive efficiency, lions are more likely to fail than succeed in their attempts to kill.
Subadult males are driven out at 2-1/2 to 3 years of age and may go in a group with other males. Females mature in about two years, males a few years later. All big cats are induced ovulators, i.e. release of the ovum is brought about by the act of mating. The period of gestation for the lioness is between 105 and 118 days and usually three or four cubs will be born. Only one in five will survive the first year. When game is scarce the dominance hierarchy based on size and age quickly becomes apparent. The youngest die first.
Life span in the wild is 15-18 years, in captivity 25-30 years.
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This day we saw lions gang what has just killed and finished eating. They were all bloody and were going to drink. They were the only really aggressive looking lions we saw in Serengeti this year.
ISO 200
rufous03, leboistoo, pablominto, horia, dew77, scottevers7, hester, mikou, marhowie, vanderschelden has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Avair,

excellent colors, Bg, POV DOF perfect details, very crisp, nicly composed and capture photo, perefct colors great work,

TFS Kyle

Nice shot, good detail. Perhaps a bit dark in the face as the eyes are just black spots. A little adjustment in PS should help.

Hello Aivar,
Wildlife at its best!
Mrs Lion with a bloody mouth, giving a stare telling... "you're lucky I've just eaten!"...
Nice details, good pose and well framed!
Greetings,
Pablo -

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2233 W: 188 N: 1929] (8127)
  • [2006-10-29 10:02]

Hello Aivar,
very well captured, looks like he had a great appetite. POV, colors and details are great. Very well done.
Sky

  • Great 
  • pvs Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1168 W: 261 N: 3035] (13835)
  • [2006-10-29 13:03]

Hi Aivar,

Yeah,you can really see that he just had his breakfast,well captured and TFS this dessert,

Paul

Beau cette lionne, elle vient de manger, elle est repue, heureusement pour vous. Thomas

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4774 W: 294 N: 4020] (13209)
  • [2006-10-29 16:51]

Hello Aivar,
Wonderful capture.I liked POV,details,eye contact,moment you caught,framing and composition a lot.
TFS...:-)

Hi Aivar,
Dramatic shot. Not the cute and cuddly looking shots we see alot of here. They are cold blooded efficent killers. Harsh light, but you managed the exposure very well. Colors and detail look excellent!
Scott

  • Great 
  • horia Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2174 W: 220 N: 4385] (14908)
  • [2006-10-30 5:30]

Hi Aviar

Splendid capture with this very beautiful lionesse!
Their bloody really adds to the overall mood of the picture!
Super sharp details, well satured colors and very nicely managed exposure. Great POV and DOF, very well framed and composed and completed by a very nice note.
Great work!

Bravo and TFS
horia

  • Great 
  • hester Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1515 W: 18 N: 3165] (11638)
  • [2006-10-30 13:14]

Wow she looks aggressive, Excellent POV and details. Lovely composition and finished off with a great note

TFS

Karan

  • Great 
  • mikou Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 840 W: 67 N: 1311] (5269)
  • [2006-10-30 13:33]

Hi Avair.
Very nice shot.I like the perfect poise.Good POV and sharp details.Very good colours.Well done!
So that truth he said,here Bloody Mary I would yourself no-gave :-)
TFS
Greetings Milos

Hi Aviar..Funny thing, we watched a horror movie last night called "Bloody Mary". I kid you not :)
This an excellent composition with sharp & gory detail ;}
Very nice in-the-wild capture mf.

Hi Aivar,
Great wildlife shot.
Your portfolio is really a diverse one.
TFS
Annick

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