While on safari, a clear blue sky means there is beautiful lighting at sunrise and sunset, but within 45 to 60 minutes after the sun comes up and before it sets means the lighting is very harsh. Shooting in the middle of the day is pointless because the pictures turn so bad due to the incredibly harsh light. This is especially true in Kenya because it straddles the Equator and the sun is directly overhead. The only exception to midday shooting is if the subjects are completely shaded by something in nature -- a large tree, a rock cliff, a thicket of bushes, etc. In this case, the mother cheetah and her two cubs were shaded by a large bush. The diffused light on them is perfect. There are no harsh shadows or blown highlights despite the fact I shot this about 11 o'clock in the morning. I used a 500mm Canon f/4 telephoto, and my settings were 1/500, f/5.6, and 200 ISO. The lens rested on a bean bag in the Land Rover, and because the camera and lens were supported this way, I turned off image stabilization.
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