A meerkat in beautiful light

One of the most entertaining animals in Africa are the meerkats. I photographed this one in Namibia near the Quiver Tree forest. They are fast and unpredictable, but when they sit up to study the desert looking for danger, beautiful portraits can be made. Low angled sunlight illuminated this scene nicely, and the natural catchlight in the eyes seem to make them sparkle. I used a 500mm telephoto for this picture, and my settings were 1/640, f/6.3, and 200 ISO. I've been hand holding my Canon 1Dx Mark II and a 500mm more and more because it gives me mobility of movement. The combination is heavy, though, and it's especially awkward when taking vertical compositions like this one. The problem, though, is setting up a tripod takes time. In that minute or two, a wildlife subject can be long gone.