2022.09.19.03.D850 Mara Triangle Panorama (Explored No. 57, Oct. 24, 2022)

            Thanks for the 151st photo of 500 today in Explore! 

Indulge me while I deliver an explanation of East African geography and geology.  The Masai Mara region, with its national reserve as well as several privately administered conservancies, is in southern Kenya and is part of the vast Serengeti-Mara ecosystem that begins in the south in Tanzania (in the far left of this panorama). Rising in the distance is the 400-meter (1,300-foot) Oloololo Escarpment that comes up from the Serengeti and forms the western boundary of the Mara. The Serengeti and the Mara are part of  the Great African Rift that extends north-to-south for thousands of kilometers from northern Sudan to Mozambique. The region in many places is geologically active, with volcanic and geothermal hot zones as East Africa ever-so-slowly splits from the rest of the continent. It was the rift's volcanoes that millions of years ago formed the slowly rising and flattening savanna known by the nomadic Maasai people in their Maa language as "Serengit," or "endless plain," and "Mara," meaning "spotted" and describing a landscape dotted with acacia trees, craters and volcanic rocks (some visible in the right foreground). The hillocks visible in the left and right of the panorama are called kopjes (Dutch) or inselbergs (German), and are remaining tops of mountains after their lower slopes were buried in the lava that slowly formed the savanna. The kopjes serve as dens and lookout posts for the predatory big cats that await the passing prey. The volcanic soil on the plain is rich and helps supply the grass that feeds the famous Great Migration of wildebeests and zebras in the millions that for eons have made the annual 1,300-km (800-mile) clockwise trek around the ecosystem. This 15-exposure panorama was composed in the Mara Triangle Conservancy in Kenya, looking roughly west. The panorama was made with a handheld Nikon D850 and a 24-70mm Nikkor lens at 24mm, f/16, 1/3000th sec. and ISO 2200. Exposure priority was manual; auto ISO was set with a 64-6400 range. Topaz Denoise was used to smooth the composite after Photoshopping. I left the border ragged because I could not crop the edges minimally without having to proportionally downscale the composite.   ©2022 John M. Hudson | jmhudson1.com

Taken in: Kenya / Narok / Oloolaimutia (show map)

Taken on: September 19, 2022

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Camera: Nikon D850, f/16.0, 1/3000 sec, 24mm, ISO 2200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D850
Lens:	24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/16.0
Exposure Time:	1/3000 sec
Focal Length:	24mm
ISO:	2200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 22.5 (Macintosh)
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