silver-backed jackal pup

You can go on safari to Africa many times, and each time it will be a completely different experience. You'll see things not seen on previous trips. Such was the case when my photo tour group and I came upon the den of a silver-backed jackal. We were lucky to capture a pup with its head out. The mother was just to the right of the den, so I zoomed in to fill the frame with that curious little face. Our Land Rover was fairly close and I only needed a 400mm focal length. The settings were 1/640, f/9, and 1600 ISO. When the sky is clear and the sun is direct, early morning game drives are short -- maybe an hour and a half. The best photography is the first 30 minutes after sunrise. If the sky is overcast, like it was here, there is no limit on how much time you can spend because diffused light is beautiful.