As noted yesterday, my computer is dismantled for the time being while I work through some office reconfigurations, so today I’m sharing a few images that I have shared before. It’s just what caught my eye when looking through my media library, rather than a specific theme.
We spent time viewing these siblings after a rather lengthy search, and couldn’t have found them in a nicer spot, next to a dam in the late afternoon. There was a giraffe watching them wearily from the other side as it awkwardly bent over to get a drink.
The body language here is interesting to me, with the lying down lion obviously not too pleased at the affectionate head bump from the young male. He had obviously been in a few scuffles already, judging by the healed gashes on his flank. One thing I have learned from all the guides I have met, and all the nature programs that I have watched, is life as a lion definitely is not an easy affair. Young males get ousted from a pride; from the small size of his mane, this one still had a bit of time left with his family, though I am sure by now, more than 1 1/2 years on, if he is still alive, he would not be with the pride any longer.
I found a few more images that were similar to do some side by side editing between Lightroom and Capture One Express for raw processing. I continue to be impressed with the colour and detail that Capture One brings out of my Fuji files.
I edited these photos on different days and didn’t cross check to try to make them look the same, but just to bring out the best in them. I think the colour rendering is nicer on the Capture One version as it has less of a magenta cast, and generally it feels to me a bit richer with more depth.
Because I need to keep the file sizes manageable for the webpage, some of the differences that I see when looking at the images within the editing programs doesn’t reflect in the versions I post online, but, I think these give a good example of what I am experiencing with this new (to me ) software.
Such a majestic creature!!! Words really can’t describe how it feels to be close to a big lion like this, or to have them walk by the vehicle so close you could reach out and touch their mane (but you don’t of course, because that would be amazingly foolish!)
Being on safari in the dark is quite a magical experience. Some people find it scary, I am sure, as predators are more active after dark, but I find the experience exhilarating, even if the photo opportunities are more limited.
We came across this particular pride of lions on the way to a bush supper, and our spotlight was busted. Another vehicle came along and we had their spotlight for a minute to get a look at the cats, and then we were both off. This was the lead lioness, and the rest of her pride was a few paces behind her on the road and in the bushes. I’m sure my supper was far more easy to come by that evening than the lion’s was!
I’ve shared other lion at night images, if you missed them the first time around check here.