Spotted Hyena

Seeing Spotted Hyena is a common sighting at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, however, being able to maintain a regular amount of time within that sighting can be quite difficult. In this case, we found one Spotted Hyena potentially trying to hunt an impala male. The outcome was successful and we watched as it started eating the recent kill that was made. After a while the Spotted Hyena dragged the carcass to the shade of a Magic Guarrie where the visual become slightly more difficult, although a great sighting was seen and efficient time was spent. Spotted Hyenas are not only scavengers but can also be great hunters; usually hunting in parties, they will run their prey to exhaustion and disembowel or eat their prey alive. With this being said, it is not out of the ordinary to see them hunt alone.

Equipment used

Camera – Canon 600D

Lens and Focal length – Canon-EF100-400mm f-4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 250mm

Settings I used in order to capture this image

ISO – 400 as the light was intense due to the time period being after mid-morning and the light increasing, however I over-exposed for a decent black and white image.

Aperture of 5.0 in order to create great detail on the subject (Spotted Hyena) and try to minimise the detail of the background and the vegetation/grass stalks that reach the height of the torso.

1/200 shutter speed, which is a low shutter speed for an action moving shot, but allows the perfect capture of light as the Spotted Hyena was in a very shaded area.

Editing used on this image

The editing I carried out for this image was the increasing of the exposure, increasing of the highlights for the image, adding small amounts of contrast, as well as contrast in the form of adding small percentages of shadows and blacks to the image. I however didn’t have to add a bit of clarity to the image as the subject was relatively close. These editing methods all came together and allowed for a decent black and white photograph of an action moving shot within a darker area of shade.