November 25, 2013
Slender Mongoose in Imfolozi Game Reserve, South Africa

I love photographing mongoose because they're such interesting-looking animals. This slender mongoose in Imfolozi Game Reserve was quite cooperative as long as I was in my vehicle. It would come out of the grass along the road and come up to my vehicle, see what I was doing and pose for a while, then dash away into the brush. It did this for about an hour. In the image above, it had made one of its closest approaches, and the shallow depth of field of the effective 700mm lens at f5.6 near minimum focus distance wasn't even enough to get its nose and ears in focus. But those tack-sharp eyes really stand out. Here's a side view of the same slender mongoose to give you an overall look and an idea of the distance between its nose and ears. I would have preferred to shoot it from near ground level, but it wasn't interested in coming close to me unless I was in my vehicle.