botswana On The Lookout

I'm proud to announce that this image has been awarded 3rd Prize inthe Nature category of the 2009 International Photography Awards(IPA). This year's competition received nearly 18,000 submissions from104 countries across the globe and is considered one of the mostprestigious photography competitions in the world.

The winning image was shot in Botswana, Africa, and features a meerkatsilhouetted against the setting sun.

The meerkat or suricate (Suricata suricatta) is a small mammal and amember of the mongoose family. It inhabits all parts of the KalahariDesert in Botswana and South Africa. Meerkats forage in a group withone "sentry" on guard watching for predators while the others searchfor food. Sentry duty is usually approximately an hour long. Themeerkat standing guard makes peeping sounds when all is well. If themeerkat spots danger, it barks loudly or whistles.

Some of you may recall a similar shot I posted here a while ago (stillin my Botswana gallery), featuring a meerkat positioned next to asetting sun, but that was not the shot I had in mind when I startedthe project. What I really wanted to photograph, was a meerkatsilhouetted against a big ball of fire in the background, because myresearch had shown that no such image existed yet. In order to getthis result I needed specific weather conditions (i.e. dust and haze)to get the highly saturated colors of the sun. I therefore had to trymy luck several days in a row before everything finally came together.The image I posted earlier shows a bright white sun with no color, asthe sky on that day was fresh and clear and the sun remained verybright and powerful even when it was touching the horizon.

In order to be at the right spot at the right time, I had to followthese little fellows on foot, constantly trying to anticipate wherethey would stand. During the day they stay for longer periods in onespot, but around sunset they're in a hurry to get back to theirburrows and they only occasionally stop for a few seconds to check outthe surroundings for potential danger. After a few misses, Ieventually managed to pick the right spot to set up my tripod and ameerkat appeared in my frame.

Hope you like it!

D2Xs, AF-S VR 200-400 @ 400mm, 1/500 @ f/4, ISO 800, tripod

I like it!

Phenomenal and well worth your trudging around for the right spot. Congratulations on the well deserved award... Mike

 

 

fabulous! and congrats on the award. I watch Meerkat Manor alot, and I know how hard it probably was to get this shot. its well worth the work.

Maar om hier je verdiende aantal ratings te krijgen moet je meer P.net vrienden hebben. Geweldige foto!

Congrats,

 

it is a very good shot of these comical creatures.

Brilliant timing Marsel! Congrats on the award...well deserved! Regards from Greece

Great shot, all your footwork paid off with a well deserved award. Congratulations, Erik

I like the handling of the sun, a near ball, with consistent coloring. the pastel pink in the background is pleasing. the meerkat is not in complete silhouette, creates a good balance foreground to background for viewing,

Congratulation. Beautiful image. Regards, Jean-Marc

Congrats Marsel, well deserved recognition on a stunning realization of your vision. Excellent image!

Very nice composition and execution. But considering some other amazing shots in your gallery, this is (relatively speaking) less outstanding.

I would say that some one has it out for you.There is in no way this can be a 3 anything.10/10 from me