Tag: Photography

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2016-03-11: Impala Rut

If you’re in Southern Africa in the autumn (April/May) you’ll be there during the impala rut.  And believe me, you’ll find yourself uttering the same phrase I did repeatedly “What on earth was that noise?”

I still don’t understand how a creature like this, can make a sound like that.  To hear it for yourself, check out sound number two on this website.

Both in Botswana and South Africa, we heard a lot of noise and commotion, and saw a few different groups of bachelors going crazy, running and jumping and locking horns.

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That’s the face that goes along with the noise.  So attractive!
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Is this what the ladies do when they hear that sound and see that face??? 🙂 I was in the right place at the right time to watch a herd of impala bounce through the bushes. This is a composite of 5 different photos.
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A clash of horns.
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Racing around, making noise, fighting about who is the manlier man.

 

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Unfortunately, the guys kind of lose their minds during this time, and throw their normal caution and vigilance to the wind.  The result…

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They end up as a snack for a hungry pride of lions (or leopards, cheetah, wild dog, hyaena).    This was actually a very interesting sighting in itself, you can see more about it here.
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2016-03-07: Monochrome Monday & WPC Muse

I decided to combine my usual Monochrome Monday with a WPC topic of the week: Muse.  What topic do I return to time and time again?  What subject inspires me?  What am I ALWAYS excited to photograph?

If you’ve read this blog for more than a week, you’ll know the answer, it’s easy:

Elephants 🙂

I’d happily spend a day, a week, a lifetime in the presence of elephants.  Photographing them of course, but more importantly just being in their presence, enjoying their rumbles and trumpeting, feeling the vibrations of their communications at levels we can’t hear, revealing in their beautiful, peaceful nature.

Here are a couple photos that popped out at me this time for editing and posting.

Enjoy, and have a wonderful week.

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A bull elephant grazing at breakfast time. The sun was at the perfect angle for a lovely shadow of his trunk on the ground behind him. Timbavati, May 2015
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The perfect fly swatter.
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Shade is in short supply in the Damaraland desert. A family of elephants take turns under the shade of a small tree. Damaraland Camp, April 2015

 

Note – this isn’t the current WPC topic of the week… not even close.  But when I was looking for the current one, this spoke one spoke to me.  Onto Harmony later in the week.

WPC Muse

 

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2016-02-06: WPC Wall

I’m a bit behind with selecting and editing for photo challenges, but I thought immediately of the time I spent at Robben Island when I saw the topic Wall.

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The grim reality of daily life. I can’t even imagine.
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A breakwater near the docks at Robben Island. I thought it fitting the position of the gull on the far right; like it’s trying to escape. Cape Town, April 2015
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A reminder of the past, a lesson for the future.

WPC: Wall

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2016-03-06: What I’ve seen this week

I took my camera with me everywhere this past week, but just didn’t have any inspiration to use it.  It happens sometimes!  Last night though was brilliantly clear, so I headed outside for a couple shots of the stars.  I was too tired to head anywhere more exciting then my front yard though.

Here are a couple shots from last night.

Have a great week everyone!

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I do love that I can walk outside to inky blackness like this. I wish I would have had the foresight to see what stars I was photographing last night.
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I put the Tamron on my D5100 to get an effective 900mm lens. I had read and heard before that the movement of the stars is exaggerated by longer lens. Is it ever. This is Jupiter at 20sec, f6.3, ISO 800
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The best I could do with frozen fingers – Jupiter and one of it’s moons. 1.6sec, f6.3, ISO 2000
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2016-03-03: world Wildlife Day

A few photos of my favourites, the elephants, on this World Wildlife Day.

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Peeking out from the safety of Mom’s legs.
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Pausing for nourishment in the hills of the Damaraland desert.
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Afternoon drinks break in the Sabi Sands.
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2016-02-28: What I’ve seen this week

This week has flown by, as most of them seem to do lately.  Rather than ramble on and on, I’ll get straight to the pictures.

I hope you enjoy, and wishing everyone a wonderful week 🙂

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A pileated woodpecker that I spotted at the top of my road Tuesday morning. 1/640sec, f4.0, ISO125
(Taken with my new Panasonic camera. I’m pretty impressed with it, and it certainly is nice and light to take on walks)
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I glanced out the window while in my office, and noticed the pileated woodpecker in the forest behind my house. This one was shot through the window with my Nikon / Tamron combo.
1/500sec, f6.3, ISO640 @ 600mm
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I ventured outside to get a few shots, keeping a safe distance so I wouldn’t startle the woodpecker.
1/640sec, f6.3, ISO 2200
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Not a classic bird photo, but I love the contrast of the blurry branches and the nicely lit eye.
1/640sec, f6.3, ISO 2500 @600mm
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I ventured out to West Lake yesterday, because as you can see, it was just too nice to be indoors. There was quite a brisk breeze, and the place was deserted save for one other car. Spencer had a great time sniffing along the edge of the frozen lake.
1/640sec, f8, ISO 125
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An eagle’s nest high in the treetops. I imagine once the tree is in full leaf, many people sitting at the benches below wouldn’t even realize that it is there.
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I noticed movement in the nest, but was having a hard time seeing what it was. On full zoom, I finally caught sight of an eagle 🙂 1/640sec, f4.0, ISO 160
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An explosion of movement that I wasn’t prepared for at all. I had no idea there were two eagles in the nest until they decided quite suddenly to vacate it and head for another nearby tree. Given the proximity to my house, I wonder if this is the pair I saw a few weeks ago at the deer kill site?
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Eagles always look quite fierce to me, so it’s hard to tell if this is a dirty look, or just a normal one.
1/1250sec, f4.0, ISO200
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A bit of preening in the sun.
1/1250sec, f4.0, ISO 160
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One final shot before it was time to head home.
1/1250sec, f3.8, ISO 125
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