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Mulita (Dasypus Hybridus)



Comments made by the photographer

Submitter's name: Fernando Gonzalez Gentile
Title: Mulita (Dasypus Hybridus)
Film used: Fuji Provia 100F
Exposure: Up and close to 1/250.
Diaphragm: wide open.
Gear used: Tripod mounted Olympus 2X-A, using the Olympus tripod collar attached to a Manfrotto QR plate. Zuiko 200/4, Olympus OM-2 on Auto mode, eyecup 1, winder 2, 1-8 focusing screen, Hoya HMC UV(0). But forgot the 'ad hoc' bean bag in the car !!
Subject information: This is the smallest member of the Armadillo family, measuring some ~50 cm including its tail.
Seldom had I found an animal with such fine hearing. I'd bet it's more sensitive than a cat or a dog's hearing. And he's very fearful too. But he wasn't afraid of me, but rather of the camera's shutter noise.
I took several pictures at 1/250 and all resulted blurred until he became confident the noise meant him no harm. Then he let me get as close as 4 meters, perhaps less, and let me shoot the last two frames. But look carefully: his nose is trembling, perhaps smelling something to eat while keeping an eye and an ear on me.
I found him grazing calmly under the springtime noon sun in the middle of the countryside near the Brazilian border, slowly strolling amongst the short bushes.
Last year I tried to photograph one of these for the first time but failed. Thought a couple of T-32s would be of help, had all the gear in the car, BG2 and all, but had to act quickly so as not to loose him. No time to mount anything else and I like it better this way.
You will find more info here.
 

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Comments made by others

Comment left by: Andrew McPhee (macca@maccastuff.com) Very nice, hard to fault. You're right about the natural lighting, I think it's better than using flash.

Comment left by: Carlos Santisteban (no e-mail specified) Well done! This seems to be a rather difficult creature (sp?) to photograph. The 200/4 performed as great as usual, too. And I see no need for the T32s... Now, it makes me want to listen to 'Tarkus' again ;-)

Comment left by: Daniel Fleitas (dfleitas@adinet.com.uy) Gorgeous photo!

Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified) Ever when reading the Dune novels I have always imagined a spice harvester to look something like this.

I like the low view point you used for this shot to put yourself on the same level with the armadillo.



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