• Photo-Africa
  • Photo-Africa
  • Photo-Africa
  • Photo-Africa
  • Photo-Africa

Blog

Daily Photo: European Roller

European Roller

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

Madikwe Game Reserve, 6 March 2010, 17h11

Nikon D300, Nikon 80-200 @ 160mm, 1.2000, f/2,8, ISO 200

___________________________

Sometimes when you go on safari you will go hours without seeing one of the sought after photographic subjects.  The last few days has been a bit like that but during times like this you can always look out for and  photograph landscapes, macro images and birds.  Many people don’t even try to photograph birds because ‘I don’t have a good enough camera’ or ‘I don’t have a long enough lens’.  If you cannot make a good image with ‘basic’ camera equipment how do you plan to use the fancy lenses and things to do so?  Isn’t have the fun in photography to push your own visual and creative boundaries and see what images you can create regardless of your equipment?  I shot the above image at a focal length of  160mm which for bird photography is probably considered almost wide angle but it just shows that if you are patient and you keep your eyes open there really are wildlife images everywhere.  I guess the bottom line is that you should never stop looking for subjects or trying to capture those subjects when out in the field.  Regardless of what equipment you are shooting with!

Thursday is, always, guest blogger day on Photo-Africa and I am extremely pleased to have Mitchell Krog share his thoughts and ideas on nature photography with us tomorrow.  Mitchell will be discussing what he looks for in an image when he’s out there photographing nature and how he envisions bringing his views of nature to his audience.   In Mitchell’s own words “It’s a lot more more than clicking a shutter button, it’s about telling a story by capturing the character, expressions and nature of an animal and furthermore stirring an emotion in the viewers of my images. For me photography is an incredibly powerful medium because it allows me to show others how I see the world, not how they see it, and that to me is the most unique gift and not one I ever take for granted.

During the last few years Mitchell has achieved much recognition in the last few years with his images, has had his works published in a number of publications locally and internationally and has received numerous awards for his images.  Mitchell also has a very strong background in environmental and conservation fields and this gives him a solid understanding and appreciation of the threatened ecosystems and environments which he so often has the priveledge to photograph. He has a firm belief that it is difficult to save what cannot be seen and has often used his images for motivating environmental causes.

Make sure to visit Photo-Africa tomorrow for Mitchell’s guest post.

I’ll see ya on Friday! ;)

Gerry

  • Share/Bookmark

Daily Photo: Lion Feeding on Young Zebra

Lion Feeding on Zebra

Lion Feeding on Young Zebra

Madikwe Game Reserve, 26 February 2010, 17h19

Nikon D300, Nikon 80-200 @ 200mm, 1/160, f/5.6, ISO 640

___________________________

If you have ever watched lions feeding you will know that it is a very clinical scene.  The lions go about finishing their meal in a very step-by-step fashion. I am not referring to the actual kill, like what Hilton Kotze described in his great guest post last week, but rather the large cats feeding on the carcass.  A few weeks ago we found a lioness and her two youngsters, around one year of age, in pretty thick bush.  We sat watching the lions moving around in the thickets for a while when one of the youngsters walked down a game path straight past out vehicle carrying the head of their unfortunate prey.

Considering that the lion in the image is only about a year old, you can see how tiny the zebra must have been.  Under normal circumstances most people who come on safari hope to see the actual kill but on this occasion it was pretty unanimous that no one would have liked to see the three lions take down this very young zebra.  I am not too fond of photographing and showing lions on a kill – personal preference – but up until the moment the young lion appeared out of the thickets we were not exactly sure what they were doing and as wildlife photographers we should try and capture every aspect of nature..  Difficult to watch and photograph but a natural part of life in Africa.   That moment, and this image, acts as a reminder that nature can be pretty cruel at times but that every animal has it’s place in the circle of life.  This image, simple as it may be, tells that story.

See ya tomorrow! ;)

Gerry

  • Share/Bookmark

Daily Photo: African Wild Dog

Wild Dog in Madikwe

African Wild Dog

Madikwe Game Reserve, 27 Feb 2010, 06h29

Nikon D300, Nikon 80-200 @ 200mm, 1/640, f/3.5, ISO 800

___________________________

Photographing one of Africa’s most endangered carnivores is definitely a highlight when visiting the Madikwe Game Reserve.  On this specific morning we had just left the lodge when a group of Wild Dogs burst out of the bushes and ran down the road straight towards the rising sun that had barely broken the horizon and apart from a soft golden glow, we did not have to much light to work with.  If you look closely you will see a very small bit of rim lighting around the ears of the three dogs.  Normally photographing Wild Dogs require quite a bit of attention to your metering and exposure settings as it is not all that easy to get the dark eyes to show up properly on the black face, something that can make or break your image, but the above image was a lot simpler.  As there were no harsh shadows and I did not have to worry about the eyes I simply used matrix metering, followed the dogs as they ran down the road and fired away.

With a number of workshops and photographic safaris in the pipeline, let me know if you would be keen to come to Madikwe to photograph the African Wild Dogs!

See ya tomorrow! ;)

Gerry

  • Share/Bookmark

General

African Moments
African Moments

First off a big thanks to Hilton Kotze for his guest post yesterday where apart from a killer sequen

More in General

Daily Photo

Daily Photo:  European Roller
Daily Photo: European Roller

European Roller (Coracias garrulus) Madikwe Game Reserve, 6 March 2010, 17h11 Nikon D300, Nikon 80-

More in Daily Photo

Stock Library

New Images Added:  Hein Welman
New Images Added: Hein Welman

Hein Welman has just added new images to the Photo-Africa Stock Library. Male Lion by Hein Welman

More in Stock Library

Learn

DOF in Wildlife Photography
DOF in Wildlife Photography

Even though photography is a creative craft, a certain amount if technical knowledge is required to

More in Learn

Books & Blogs

Blog:  David Lloyd Wildlife & Travel Photography
Blog: David Lloyd Wildlife & Travel Photography

I originally discovered David Lloyd’s site after ‘meeting’ him on Twitter and I a

More in Books & Blogs
This site is protected by WP-CopyRightPro