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Cycle of Life
Image Title:  Cycle of Life
 
 By: Doyle D. Chastain  
  Copyright ©2007



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Photographer Doyle D. Chastain {K:99839}
Project #24 The Decisive Moment Camera Model Nikon D200
Categories Wildlife
Film Format Digital RAW
Portfolio No Feathers, No Fur
Lens Nikon  105mm f/2.8D AF Micro
Uploaded 8/20/2007 Film / Memory Type Digital
    ISO / Film Speed 100
Views 182 Shutter 1/80
Favorites Aperture f/4.5
Critiques 29 Rating
6.64
/ 7 Ratings
Location City -  Lawndale
State -  CALIFORNIA
Country - United States   United States
About Nature is not forgiving. For the "Decisive Moment" capture . . . we have here a Savannah Monitor . . . who must kill or die. A true decisive moment. For the squemish . . . after getting a fatal grip, this 2 & 1/2 foot (approx. 1 meter) Monitor will force a neck or back break by bending it's prey on ground, branch . . .whatever . . . which makes it paralyzed and saves wicked bites to the inside of its mouth. Capture to consumption is less than 1 minute.

(105mm; 1/80 sec; f/4.5; natural light; ISO 100)
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There are 29 Comments in 1 Pages
  1
Dave Stacey   {K:117108} 8/20/2007
Excellent wildlife capture, Doyle, even if it's not really wild! Great details and textures.
Dave.


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/20/2007
Got news for you Dave . . . you do NOT domesticate these guys! You can house and feed them . . . but they truly ARE wild. Trust me . . . or come around and pet him! :P

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


fotogr@vi     {K:52576} 8/20/2007
Pretty hits-you-in-the-stomach kinda shot !!!... harsh reality !!!


Nilanjan Mitra   {K:12493} 8/20/2007
stunning... great capture indeed..


Markus Scholz   {K:22809} 8/20/2007
Brrrr! I wouldn't want to be in the mouses situation;)
Cheers, Markus


AJ Miller   {K:44876} 8/20/2007
I'm still looking for the "no animals were harmed in the making of this shot" qualifier, but guess it just slipped your mind on this occasion...

Pretty dramatic stuff. The monitor's head is tack sharp, the mouse's a little less so. Guess that's pretty appropriate, in the circumstances!

Following on from Sally's recent Forum comment, I'm now looking closely at what this lens can do. I guess you might have got a sharper mouse (if you so wanted) by increasing the ISO and decreasing the aperture. I would imagine you had lots of spare ISO to play with (if you get my meaning) before getting an intrusive noise level.

An impressive shot.

AJ


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/20/2007
Ummm . . . yep, Avi. It's amazing how fast both of these creatures can be.

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/20/2007
Thanks Nil . . . not everything in nature is 'pretty' . . . and I thought long and hard about if I should even try to get this shot. While somewhat raw . . . it remains reality . . . hmmmm . . . still wonder about it.

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/20/2007
Thanks Markus . . . ummmm . . . I wouldn't want to be in the Monitor's situation either . . . gotta hate mousey breath, eh?

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/20/2007
Thanks John:

I did actually seek a somewhat shallower DOF . . . ummm . . . in case it was a somewhat more violent capture than I wanted.

Need to follow up in the forum apparently . . . sounds right and, in this case . . . tons of spare ISO just laying all over the place. I haven't noticed intrusive noise at some very high ISO levels . . . seems to be a Nikon plus since even the D50 had (as I recall) some high ISO shots of the Ibyx without noticeable noise issues. -off to the forum with me!

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Todd Weeks   {K:7573} 8/20/2007
Doyle,

EXCELLENT capture of a natural moment. This shouldn't make people squemish if they stop and consider what we put in our mouths' and call food.

Todd


Srna Stankovic   {K:112298} 8/20/2007
Excellent dear Doyle as always, but so harsh reality !!!
Your skills are awsome ... my admiration ;) !!!
7/7 ... what else ?!
Warm hug
Srna


Mehul Chimthankar   {K:18240} 8/20/2007
Hi Doyle,

Wonderful presentation of nature's cycle 7++++++++++++++

Mehul


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/20/2007
Thanks for the support Todd . . . and excellent points. Then again . . . I don't eat mice . . . LoL!

I have mixed feelings on this . . . sort of. You and I do look to nature and realize and see this ongoing reality of life. It IS a part of life . . . after all . . . and necessary too. Then again . . . there are a few things that are 100% natural that I might not care to see photographed. Surprisingly . . . I haven't seen the "Eeeeeeew" comment yet.

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/20/2007
Thanks Srna and how WONDERFUL to see you recovering!!!! Reality can be harsh at times . . . but also very kind to us as you have proven recently.

A BIG warm hug right back at you and a ;) too!
Take care of yourself!!

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/20/2007
Thanks very much Mehul!

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Paolo Corradini   {K:51609} 8/20/2007
stunning!!!!!
you are a master in this natural images
to deserve an award!;)


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/20/2007
Paolo! You are very nice and I appreciate the comment. Mi sono preoccupato questo è troppo violento. Lei pensa che non sia troppo ruvido? È la natura. Amo sentire sempre da lei il mio amico.

Ciao,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Annemette Rosenborg Eriksen   {K:55401} 8/20/2007
What a beautiful reptile!! An amazing creature so pure and strong. We might consider it to be "cruel" to the poor rat(?) but we humans are the most advanced predators of them all fencing, breeding and killing our food without getting our hands dirty. Excellent angle and colours, Doyle!
Warm wishes
Annemette


Paolo Corradini   {K:51609} 8/20/2007
it' only nature!
so unusual to capture with this quality my friend! ;)
ciao!


biljana mitrovic   {K:43917} 8/21/2007
Hi Doyle:)
This is for NG , for sure....Great picture!!

big hug
biljana


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/21/2007
Thanks very much Annemette. While it may seem cruel to some . . . either one or the other must perish. It doesn't surprise me at all that you understand! :)

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/21/2007
Oh Biljana! You are very nice with your comments! Thank you!

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Robin Wickenkamp   {K:16434} 8/22/2007
You know me, the obliging sort I am...Ewwwww...nothing like a bit of mouse with my coffee. (there, it's been said) I'm so, so...so sorry I missed this one...*gak*!

Ok, I'll give you credit for the techincals on this...good comp, great texture and detail on the lizard...not quite understanding the shallow dof in relation to the mouse, but hey, what do I know? ;) Excellent choice for the project...well done Doyle.

Take care...Robin


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/22/2007
Thanks Robin
. . . appreciate the comment as always. As to the DOF . . . I'll try to be . . . uhhhhh . . . well . . . not disgusting. Let me just say this is a very pretty image of the mouse and often there are things I think might be best not shown in graphic detail . . . trust me on this . . . there's more than a few times you wouldn't want to see. Marlyce won't even watch it. So in case this became one of those times, I was hoping to have a little help from the DOF to reduce the "GAK" factor! LoL! I like that word "gak" . . . I may need to borrow it from time to time, it's a new one on me but it seems to be self-defining. I did look it up and the urban dicitionary's 7th definition is my all time fave!!!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gak

PS: Would have loved to get an open mouth strike and a mid-air leaping mouse escape . . . I've seen that too! ( *sigh* ) Stupid wildlife just doesn't stage well. :)

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


Robin Wickenkamp   {K:16434} 8/22/2007
Cripes, who knew? I made it up as I was typing...a sound more than a real word...definately do not like the definitions attached in the urban dictionary...nope, nuh-uh! I like much better as a sound :)

Later...Robin

ps...mid-air leap, open mouth strike...now that would be some photo! I was just funnin' ya with the "I'm grossed out" comment.


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/23/2007
Definition 7 worked well . . . but I agree . . . introducing . . . (drum roll please) . . . the Gak-Meter ! (Patent-pending with Wickenkamp TM)!

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


John Hatz   {K:143808} 8/23/2007
HOLY CRUB!!! and after all I'm proud to take a shot from a spider! THAT IS REALL STUFF!!! Amazing photo, excellent, congratulations for that, that is not something we can...see everyday...even to see a snake doing...nothing...but you catch a snake as it...catching its meal, amazing photo, and exctremely good quality for a fastly snapshot! Excellent job.
Best regards dear Doyle!


Doyle D. Chastain   {K:99839} 8/23/2007
Thanks John . . . this is a monitor lizard . . . very large and very fast when it hunts. And don't kid yourself . . . that spider is still scary stuff!

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~


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