A herd of wildebeest crossing the Mara River in Kenya provided a memorably chaotic photo opportunity for wildlife shooter Karen Lunney.
This image was captured on the Mara River in the Masai Mara National Park, Kenya. It was taken in the last hours of our visit to the area as part of a self-funded project, Tropics to Poles, which looks at the fragility of various ecosystems across the globe. Getting the shot was no easy feat. Despite the best efforts of our guide and driver, we had been thwarted in our attempts to get a close-up view of a mass animal crossings. The wildebeest were just not crossing at the locations known to our guide.
Finally, our guide took us on a 90-minute drive to the far side of the Mara River where he noticed a large group heading away from a well-used crossing towards a more secluded location near a bend in the river.
From our closest approach, a clear view was impossible, even standing on the roof of our van, so we grabbed our cameras and made our way through the bush to the river’s edge. As this was a new crossing point we hoped that predators wouldn’t be waiting, but there is always that possibility and if they were there we would be vulnerable.
In such a constantly changing scene, one which is also emotionally charged, focusing manually is challenging, as is taking your time in order to plan your shot and not just react to the situation. I used a wide aperture to try to separate the central animal from its surroundings and allow for a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action.
To me, the thing that makes the shot stand out is the terror in the eye of the central struggling wildebeest.
It’s haunting; an animal allegory of the medieval Dante’s inferno. In processing this image, I tried to be faithful to the feelings of that moment. The colour image showed some distracting green foliage at the top of the bank. The emotive resonance of the image was much stronger in black and white. I also wanted to emphasise the graphic shape of the image around the central figures.
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Leica M240, 80-200mm lens with adapter, 1/500s @ f/4.8, ISO 200. Photo: Karen Lunney