Phinda Game Reserve

I spent an amazing few days at Phinda recently, and was lucky enough to not only have a fabulous ranger and tracker team to work with, but also got along brilliantly with the other guests on the vehicle.  I have so many photos to go though when I get home; some of the highlights included some of the tiniest babies I have had the pleasure of seeing in the bush (elephant and rhino), spending time with two families of lions, a mother with 3 cheetah cubs, 3 older cheetah brothers, and some really cool eagle sightings.  I’d still rather be outside than on the computer, so here are just a few of the special moments from Phinda.

I asked Dave to find me an owl if possible during my stay - he said give me 15 minutes (at 4 in the afternoon).  About 20 minutes later he and Thoks found this adorable sleeping southern white faced owl.
I asked Dave to find me an owl if possible during my stay – he said give me 15 minutes (at 4 in the afternoon). About 20 minutes later he and Thoks found this adorable sleeping southern white faced owl.
3 cheetah brothers lounging on a termite mound at sunset.
3 cheetah brothers lounging on a termite mound.
Look between the leader’s front legs, and you will see a tiny elephant calf 🙂 Quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen.
I had two opportunities to photograph lions at night with red filters.  I am looking forward to the black and white conversions when I get home.
I had two opportunities to photograph lions at night with red filters. I am looking forward to the black and white conversions when I get home.
We spotted Mom and and the cubs late one evening, and came back in the morning to view.  Sadly, in the night the mom had lost one of the cubs, leaving her with the 3 seen here.
We spotted Mom and the cubs late one evening, and came back in the morning to view. Sadly, in the night the mom had lost one of the cubs, leaving her with the 3 seen here.
The young lions were far more interested in getting up than the adults.
The young lions were far more interested in getting up than the adults.
The resident genet at Phinda, hanging around the dining area at night, hoping someone will drop something tasty.  They call her Genet Jackson.
The resident genet at Phinda, hanging around the dining area at night, hoping someone will drop something tasty. They call her Genet Jackson.

Kalahari Plains

The Kalahari was far, far greener than I anticipated.  I had expected a dry and dusty, somewhat barren landscape.  But we arrived at the end of the rainy season, and the desert had received rain only a day before we arrived, so everything was quite lush and green.  As such, all the animals we saw were very well fed.

Here are a few images from my time at Kalahari Plains.

A pair of lion cubs peek at us from behind their mom.
A pair of lion cubs peek at us from behind their mom.
A Kori bustard searches the grass for his next meal.
A Kori bustard searches the grass for his next meal.
A black backed jackal gives us the eye as the daylight begins to fade.
A black backed jackal gives us the eye as the daylight begins to fade.

A little bit of everything

I’ve just finished a blog post for Londolozi’s guest blog page, and now it is time to get back to keeping up my own page.  Except I’ve got a touch of writer’s block.

A different perspective of an elephant - from on top of his back.  Lovely Danny carried Mom and I for an amazing hour long safari.  April 2013, Livingstone, Zambia. 1/100, f5.3, ISO400, 40mm
A different perspective of an elephant – from on top of his back. Lovely Danny carried Mom and I for an amazing hour long safari. April 2013, Livingstone, Zambia.
1/100, f5.3, ISO400, 40mm
During our transport to Nelsruit Airport, we spotted these lions just as we exited Londolozi's property.  I love that the male is watching the female stalk the impala.  Waiting for someone to get him some lunch! 1/400sec, f11, ISO200, 68mm
During our transport to Nelsruit Airport, we spotted these lions just as we exited Londolozi’s property. I love that the male is watching the female stalk the impala. Waiting for someone to get him some lunch!
1/400sec, f11, ISO200, 68mm

I’ve been trying to think of what angle to take, what animal to highlight, and right now, nothing is coming to me at all.  But these past few weeks, I have been working on a photo book project with my Mom, so I thought I would post a few of the pictures we have selected to include so far.

For some reason, this particular elephant shot makes me think of Dumbo.  Such a soft and gentle face.  At Chobe Park in Botswana. 1/1600sec, f5.6, ISO400, 300mm
For some reason, this particular elephant shot makes me think of Dumbo. Such a soft and gentle face. At Chobe Park in Botswana.
1/1600sec, f5.6, ISO400, 300mm
The antlers on kudo are truly impressive.  Such a beautiful animal.  The timing was perfect as both oxpeckers are looking in the same direction as well. 1/320sec, f5.6, ISO100, 300mm
The antlers on kudo are truly impressive. Such a beautiful animal. The timing was perfect as both oxpeckers are looking in the same direction as well.
1/320sec, f5.6, ISO100, 300mm
We saw 10-12 wild ostrich on the way to and from the Cape of Good Hope.  We even witnessed two members of park staff free a male that was entangled in some wire and had fallen on the rocks.  It was very lucky those men didn't get injured in helping the Ostrich.  Everyone that had pulled over to see what the commotion was started clapping and honking when the Ostrich took off after the rest of his group and the men were safely back in their vehicle. 1/640sec, f8.0, ISO200, 55mm
We saw 10-12 wild ostrich on the way to and from the Cape of Good Hope. We even witnessed two members of park staff free a male that was entangled in some wire and had fallen on the rocks. It was very lucky those men didn’t get injured in helping the Ostrich. Everyone that had pulled over to see what the commotion was started clapping and honking when the Ostrich took off after the rest of his group and the men were safely back in their vehicle.
1/640sec, f8.0, ISO200, 55mm
Sunrise on my last game drive at Londolozi (for now) 1/1250sec, f9.0, ISO200, 55mm
Sunrise on my last game drive at Londolozi (for now)
1/1250sec, f9.0, ISO200, 55mm

 

 

Photographic Failures (Lion cubs on a fallen tree)

I look forward each week to the Londolozi photo blog. It brings me back to a place I loved and whets my appetite for a return trip. This week James mentioned two things that got me thinking. The first was a computer problem causing photo access issues – a great reminder to hook up my portable harddrive and do another backup (plus a secondary backup in case of a serious meltdown). The second was a photo he included that he noted was a photographic failure, but the story of the sighting was amazing (check out the week in photos #80 on the Londolozi site). Had I not had the explanation, I wouldn’t have gotten the full impact of the photo. Which got me thinking about the lion cubs we saw while at Londolozi.

The photos I have of the cubs include some of the most shockingly poor photos I have taken. Out of focus, odd colour, motion blur when there shouldn’t be, depth of field that was inappropriate for the situation, highly grainy & filled with noise… Honestly without the story behind the photos, people would probably think one of two things:

1) “That is the first time this person held a camera… and it didn’t go well.”

2) “The photographer was drunk.”

I can assure you that this gem was taken by someone, who although is in perpetual learning mode when it comes to photography, has definitely held a camera before, and was also stone cold sober (in fact, I’m quite certain I have managed far more in focus photos than this after a glass or three of wine. (I have no idea how I managed to cut her feet off and make her float.)

A floating lion, otherwise known as a photo fail, April 2013
A floating lion, otherwise known as a photo fail, April 2013

So why, out of 98 photos, did only a handful turn out?

The weather was poor when we headed out for our afternoon game drive – the ponchos went on right away, and I actually took my iPhone with me in case I couldn’t get my Nikon out (note to self, I need to get rain gear for my camera for the next trip). We found tracks of a lion pride, and followed them up through the trees and a dried riverbed, and eventually found the pride – with four adults and 7 cubs. As we had been driving, the weather got steadily worse. Lead gray skies, pouring with rain as well as cold and windy. Perhaps Mother Nature just wanted to ensure that the people from BC felt right at home in South Africa! I finally extracted my camera from beneath my poncho and instead of trying to coordinate manual settings, I just put it on auto – and the camera couldn’t focus (the joyous “Subject too dark” message – and wanting to us the flash on a subject 20+ feet away). Back to manual mode, I found that to get a correctly exposed photo,I would need to use an exposure time of around 2 seconds. Long exposures are great – with stationary objects and a tripod. Playful lion cubs? Not so much. So I snapped away using the slowest time I thought I could manage, and mostly just watched. Because when Talley and Freddy started saying things like “This is special – we don’t see this everyday” it was all about the experience. The camera was definitely a secondary consideration, and not something that would take my focus off the scene.

Four cubs on a fallen tree
Four cubs on a fallen tree, April 2013

The lion cubs played in the rain on a fallen tree – they climbed, wrestled a bit – they entertained us immensely, and the rain and cold didn’t matter at all. They stayed in the area a good 20-30 minutes before setting off. We were also lucky enough that day to see an old female lion, who has since passed on.

Two Lionesses, April 2013
Two Lionesses, April 2013

The lions gave us great viewing opportunities at Londolozi, from the mating pair on night one, to the beautiful male I wrote about earlier, to the playful cubs, and rounding out with a male and female stalking impala as we drove off in the transport on route to the airport (actually a male watching a female stalk impala). Not to mention the calls we heard throughout the night each night we spent at Londolozi.

Lioness with added watercolour effect, April 2013
Lioness with added watercolour effect, April 2013

Below are a couple of the shots I managed to salvage. The nice clear shots will have to live on only in my head – unless I’m lucky enough to see such a sight on my next trip, with far more favourable lighting conditions.

Cub in focus!!!, April 2013
Cub in focus!!!, April 2013

Three cubs on a tree, April 2013
Three cubs on a tree, April 2013

 

Lion at Londolozi

Now that I am FINALLY finished my Bachelor of Commerce degree, I have been able to start taking photography courses.  Learning more about photography technique is something that I have wanted to do for awhile, I just never had the time.  I was so excited to be finished my degree; to have more free time to pursue other interests, but in the end, I lasted a measly 7 weeks without any school.  I just enjoy learning new things.

In Saturday’s class, we were working on an editing process and asked to bring in a minimum of 100 shots, and they could be recent or something that we did previously, as long as it was shot in RAW.  So I packed up about 800 pictures from two days at Londolozi, and headed off to class.  At the end of our editing exercise, we had to submit the 8 best edited shots we had.

The woman that sits next to me described it as “Sick!” – I was pretty sure that was good, but I actually double checked on urban dictionary to be certain (and then I felt old….)  I think this photo falls into my top ten shots taken at Londolozi and probably in my top ten shots of the entire trip.

DSC_0173-Edit.jpg

This beautiful Lion (I believe he is referred to as Hip-Scar Majingilane, but I could be mistaken) provided us with wonderful photo opportunities.  He was located right at the entrance to the property, and was very casual around us, and went about his business grooming, snoozing and staying very still for great shots.

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I could have spent the whole day watching this fella, and I imagine if I had the opportunity to see him daily, I would never grow tired of it.

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***November 30, 2015: Note I’ve had to update this post as I had to reload the original images that I included with this post.

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