Nikon D700, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, 15 sec, f/5, ISO 3200

Ingredients:

• DSRL Camera
• Tripod
• Clear, starry night sky
• Large tree
• Elephant minding his own business
• Two torches

Making a Scene

Nikon D3s, Nikon 300mm VR II, 1/2000, f/4, ISO 640

Madikwe Game Reserve

Until next time.

Gerry van der Walt

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Reaching Out

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35mm @16mm, 1/160, f/8, ISO 200

Ingredients:

• One very relaxed, inquisitive elephant
• DSLR with wide angle lens
• Lots of luck

Recipe:

This is one of the images you just can not plan for.  Luck plays a part!

Firstly, you need a very relaxed, inquisitive elephant pretty damn close to your vehicle.  Then you need the elephant to reach out towards you with his trunk to create an awesome leading line from the tip all the way up to his face.

As the large guy reaches out, you should be snapping away with a wide angle lens.  For this image I had my camera hanging out the side of the vehicle as the ellie approached and kept on clicking away with a focal length of 16mm.  A wide angle will make sure that you leave some room for error as you will be shooting blind.

Keep on clicking as you keep aiming and then just hope for the best as the rest is up to your subject!

Now, I hope it goes without saying that you should not go and hang your camera out of the vehicle for any and all subjects you find out on safari.  Listen to your guide and use common sense and remember that you are photographing wild animals.

That being said, you can create some amazing images by trying different angles, shooting blind and getting lucky.  Yes, luck does play a part but you still have to ‘see’ the shot before and then go for it.  Give it a try.

Yes, the horizon is not straight and yes, the ellies foot is too close to the side of the frame but let’s face it… the image works!

Until next time.

Gerry van der Walt

* * *

When you look at the image below, what do you see?

Yeah, it’s an elephant.  But there’s more.

It’s an African scene with an African wildlife subject.

It’s Africa, or at least a small part thereof.

You see, all too often, when we are our photographing wildlife, we only look for the winners.  The image that people will look at and think damn, that’s amazing!

The reality is that you are not always going to get those amazing shots.  For that to happen you are completely reliant on your wildlife subject’s behavior.  If you have spent any time out in the wild places of Africa you will know that they normally do not play along like you would like them to!

So?  What does that mean?

Don’t let the normal African scenes pass you by.  Don’t overlook the beauty and magic of Africa when you are out on safari.

I know of many photographers who will only reach for their camera when they ‘see’ a possible winning shot.  What then follows is 1,000 clicks of the shutter and quite often, nothing comes from it.  For me this raises a few questions.

• Does firing 1,000 shots and then choosing a single winner make you a good photographer?
• If you only look for the winning shots all the time, aren’t you missing the real Africa
• In between your photography do you actually ever stop to look at, enjoy and experience the real Africa?

Make no mistake, I love the winning image as much as the next photographer but I also feel that too often people don’t ‘see’ past the images they are looking for.

I reckon  that by sitting back, enjoying your African experience and having your camera ready at all times to capture Africa as it unfolds you will be in a way better position to create compelling and real images of Africa.

When you look at the above image, what do you see?

When you head out into nature with your camera, what do you see?

Until next time.

Gerry van der Walt

* * *

Gray Ghosts

Nikon D3s, Nikon 300mm f/2.8, 1/1250, f/4, ISO 400

Madikwe Game Reserve

Until next time.

Gerry van der Walt

* * *

This year has started very productively for me and if things can keep on like this… exciting times ahead!

As promised last year, the free Photo-Africa desktop wallpapers are back!  This month sees three very different images that you can download to beautify your desktop.  It’s like a bit of Africa on your pc.

Each of the wallpapers are available in a large (2560 x 1600) and small (1280 x 800) size which you can download by clicking on the appropriate link below the image of your choice.  I have also added the calendar back onto the image as the feedback was pretty unanimous – you like the calendar!

So to kick off a brand new year, here goes with the first wallpapers of 2011! Enjoy!

Wallpaper 1 – January 2011

Ellies on the Move

All too often I find that people are too critical of a scene and wait too long before clicking the shutter.  The reality is that when you are out in the wild, nature will not wait for you and normally you will not get the shot you want.  I got this image when we were photographing a massive herd of elephants at a watering hole in the Madikwe Game Reserve.  The herd was on the move and with elephants everywhere it was difficult to either isolate an individual or get the whole group in the frame.  As I was looking through my viewfinder this little group of youngsters moved into my frame, thereby helping me compose the image and I clicked the shutter.  The scene, along with soft diffused light, makes for an interesting wildlife image.

To download the large version of this image click here.  To download the smaller version of this image click here.

* * *

Wallpaper 2 – January 2011

Southern Masked Weaver

I pulled this image from my archives.  This bright little guys was building a nest right above a small watering hole.  I knew that he was going to be busy for quite some time so I settled in and waited for the harsh afternoon light to fade a bit.  Eventually he stop for a second to give me a look.  The piece of nest-building-material was a nice bonus.  Click.  Done.  Initially the little branch across his tail concerned me but, and this is something I wish more wildlife photographers would realize, it does not matter.  This was a part of the scene and, to me, it does not detract from the image.  It’s nature after all and in nature you cannot always plan your shot 100%.

To download the large version of this image click here.  To download the smaller version of this image click here.

* * *

Wallpaper 3 – January 2011

Lovely Lioness

I photographed this good looking cat this morning as she was relaxing in a meadow like area with her sister .  Soft light, direct eye contact, stunning.  I only clicked the shutter twice during this particular sighting.  You see, there was not a lot happening so I had the time to look, plan and capture my image.  To me there is no point in firing away at 9 frames per seconds if your subject is static like this.  Yeah, you might get a great shot but you missed the sighting.  In between all the photography we have to take a moment to truly look and appreciate our subjects as well.  Appreciation is a very big part of wildlife photography.  By appreciating your subjects you will be able to create more emotional, more striking images.

To download the large version of this image click here.  To download the smaller version of this image click here.

* * *

And that, as they say, is that.

Hope you enjoy and please feel free to share these images with your friends and family.  Before you leave, why not take a few seconds to leave a comment as to which of these images is your favorite and why?

I hope you all have a fantastic 2011 with awesome sightings and great light.

Until next time!

Gerry

Elephant Scene

Nikon D300, Nikon 80-400 VR @ 230mm, 1/200, f/5.6, ISO 500

Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa

___________________________

We all try and push the boundaries.

We try new things.  We try to take better images.  We keep on trying.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, and it is this drive that keeps us improving, but there is a lot to be said about the basics.  About keeping it simple.

Choose a subject, place it in the right position in the frame, check your background and snap away.  The result?  A nice and clean wildlife photograph.

Absolutely keep on trying the new things, but don’t forget the basics.  There are a lot of great wildlife images to be made!

Until next time.

Gerry

Wildlife photography is great in that it demands so much from us.

Apart from the technical challenges of low light, camera settings and composing your images you also need to rely on your content to make a good image great.  On the flip side, there are time when the content is the only focus of the image, or series of images.

Last week I had a sighting where I shot a series of images that falls in this ‘content only’ category.

A few day old ellie was hanging around it’s mom as she was drinking from a waterhole.  She was quite obviously keeping him away from the playful chaos that was taking place a small distance away where the herd was having a helluva time around the water.

The youngster was still very wobbly on his feet.

There were quite a few moments where the youngster almost went tumbling down the steep bank of the waterhole…

… but mom was keeping a very good watch.

As the youngster walked closer to the water’s edge we knew what was coming next…

As mom was drinking, in we go!

Splash!!

The female elephant’s reaction was immediate.  After brief scream of surprise / stress she immediately tried to get the youngster out of the water.

Mom gets into the water to help the youngster.

Luckily the water was not very deep and the female ellie was able to guide the youngster back to dry ground.

Now while all of this was happening another youngster got caught underneath some of the larger elephants as they all tried to get to the water inlet.

This moment caused a lot of very loud screaming, shoving and young elephants being pushed out of the way but in the end this little guys also got away completely unharmed.

What’s the point of this post?  To show a few images from a very interesting sighting and to remind us all to not get so caught up in the technical side of photography that we forget our content.  Getting both perfect is the ideal, but don’t let special moments pass you by!

Look around when you are out in the field.  Look around and photograph the stories of the wild!

Until next time.

Gerry

Elephants are one of the most amazing animals to photograph, because they are always doing something, and yesterday we did so for an entire afternoon!

The bush is still very dry, so to sit at a waterhole watching a massive herd of elephants, around 70 strong, with 5 other photographers is absolute photographic bliss.  On top of this the light went from golden sunlight to bright and overcast so we really could not have asked for more.  The ellies were busy, very busy, and we had the most phenomenal time photographing the largest member of Africa’s Big 5.  The youngsters were play fighting, the young males were wrestling and the general mood was playful, at times bordering on silly!

It’s always difficult explaining a wildlife sighting to anyone so let’s rather do it with a number of image, all created within a 45 minute period.  I shot more than 300 frames, most of which are usable so I am pretty damn chuffed with the afternoon’s efforts!  All images, excecpt for the first one, was shot with a Nikon D300 and a Nikon 80-400mm VR lens.  The first image was shot with a Nikon D80 and a Sigma 10-20mm lens.  This young male thought about giving us a tough time as we arrived at the dam but his bravado didn’t last long and he moved off to join the herd at the water.

Enjoy!

A great afternoon of pure wildlife photography!

If you are keen to join me on a photographic safari and share moments like these, contact me so that I can send you all my workshop and photo safari dates for 2011.  With destinations such as Kenya, Namibia and the Okavango Delta there is a lot of photo opportunities waiting to be taken!

Time to go but before I do.  We went back to the same waterhole earlier today and we had another great afternoon of photography.  One particular moment stood out as a few day old baby elephant stumbled and fell into the water.  His mom was in the water in a flash to get him out.  I was able to et a great sequence of images of the little guy and his water escapade so will try and get it on the blog later this week!

Until next time!

Gerry

Doesn’t this old boy just pop out of the frame?

When I took this photograph I clicked the shutter because I liked the composition of the old guy next to the tree.  I was not too happy with the overly bright light coming through the branches but in wildlife photography you normally cannot have it all.

So, as I sat down to write this blog I was not quite sure where to start.  You see, it has been quite a hectic few days so I started flipping through some older images and found this one.

With a lack of anything better to do (or stalling from doing some real work) I started playing around with with the image.  I am sure you must have done it in the past!

Choose am image.

Start playing around in Lightroom.

Play a bit more in Photoshop.

And then, after a lot of processing, undoing and redoing you sit back and think – damn, that’s actually not bad!  Definitely more on the ‘arty’ side but still not bad!

I have no idea how I got to this result but I know that the slight bit of desaturation makes the image feel old, like the elephant.  I also know that I like it more than the original.  Out of interest, the thumbnail at the top of this post will give you an idea of the original image.  Nice, but not quite.

Is there a lesson in all of this?

How about don’t write off your old images.  In time we all get better.  We get better at photography and we get better at processing our images.

Hey, our entire vision and photographic outlook changes and when you go back to your old RAW files you will be surprised at what you can come up with.

See ya tomorrow!

Gerry