The only large mammal that roams the beautiful dunes in Namibia is the oryx, and sometimes you get lucky where everything comes together -- the light, the graphic design, and the body language of the animal. If the low angled sun hasn't been weakened by atmospheric dust, contrast is such that when you expose correctly for the sunlit portions of the dunes, the shadows become very dark or black. That adds to the drama and embellishes the S-curves formed by the sand. I used a 400mm focal length for this shot, and the settings were 1/200, f/25 (to insure the immediate foreground as well as the furthest crest in the dune were tack sharp), and 800 ISO. When shooting wildlife and using relatively fast shutter speeds, I turn off the image stabilization feature in the camera. It's not necessary because the pictures will be sharp simply due to the speed of the shutter, it drains the battery, and it increases, slightly, the lag time between the pushing of the shutter button and taking the picture.
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