As many of you know I live close to the San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido and take full advantage of shooting both the captive and natural wildlife that live there. This last weekend I had the special treat of being able to observe the running of one of the Cheetahs. As usual, shooting was a tradeoff. The morning was completely overcast so that the light was marginal for shooting animals in action. Because of the speed of the cheetah I had to shoot with pretty fast shutter speed (>1/1000) which required that I shoot at ISO800 and f5.6. However, because it was rather cold and gray, the cheetah did not overheat on the first pass and I got to shoot a second run.
Anyway this was an awesome display of speed and I was really impressed. Cheetahs can get up to 30+ mph in about 10 meters and on these runs they get to about 50. Here are a few of the better images I was able to get.
Quote: George, I didn't know that they Lure Coursed Cheetahs!!! That'll put those Sight Hounds in their place .
Jim
Jim,
I don't think you'll see this anytime soon as a national event.
Speaking of hounds, I would be remiss if I didn't show the warmup act for the Cheetah run. Each Cheetah that performs at the park is brought up with a comapanion dog that stays with the Cheetah during it's life. Here is a shot of this Cheetah's companion, a rescue dog named Bear. Needless to say he was much easier to shoot with regard to his overall speed on the course.
George, great series of shots -- I especially like the one of Bear. Those are the hardest shots to capture -- the animals coming at you at a 45-degree angle. Exceptionally well done.
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