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.
Continuing on from yesterday, here is another elephant image showing little and large. Take a look at this tiny tike out in the open on the road while Mom and another guardian browse in the bushes. This one was probably still small enough to get tucked under Mom’s belly if needed.
I’m carrying on with the sunset images from yesterday, but this time with a monochrome twist. I think the texture of the clouds comes out really nice in a black and white image.
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’ve had a lovely five days off of work (and school) which has given me a great opportunity to dig into a bit of editing. I found a few images that I had shot with my infrared filter to work on, which has been a lot of fun. These were taken on different days, and I didn’t try to make things consistent between the images, but instead just edit them how they felt right to me.
I was so fortunate to see loads of rhino during my last trip to South Africa, including numerous youngsters alongside their Moms. One of the best sightings, which I didn’t get any photo or video of, was a young calf at dusk whining and crying at its mother trying to get milk, but she was laying down having a rest and wasn’t giving in. Everyone on the vehicle was having a good laugh listening to the antics as it quickly grew dark.
This pair was incredibly relaxed with our vehicle nearby, peacefully grazing and gong about their business.
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!)
This image was shot with an infrared filter as a long exposure while staying at Lion Sands Tinga Lodge in South Africa last year. I hadn’t experimented with the filter too much before that, and it was a fun project to do during the middle of the day. I personally love how the fluffy clouds pop against the inky sky.
I felt a strong desire to create something different today, and was drawn to inverting the colours on some images, and then converting to black and white. The result isn’t quite the same as shooting with an infrared filter, and then converting to black and white, but there are some similarities in the ghostly white trees and vegetation.
These images were all shot during my time in Kenya, and they definitely inspire the hope that I will get back there one day and can play around with some infrared long exposure work. Till then, I can have some fun in Photoshop.