Showcasing the beauty of Mother Nature
I’ve just got a single image today as I try to ease my way back into editing, posting etc. etc. after holidays.
I took along my tripod and my new infrared filter, and played around a bit during the down time in the middle of the day. This was taken from the back deck of my room at Lion Sands River Lodge. There were often nyalas grazing in the tall grass, but here, just a few trees and the river in the background.
Have a great week everyone!
First off, I must apologize for not posting for the last couple of week. I had the best of intentions while away to keep up with my regular posting schedule, but that fell by the wayside pretty quickly as I relaxed fully into holiday mode. I’ve been back a little over a week and am just now getting into organizing photos.
It may surprise some that the first images I am posting are pretty crappy photos, but I was so excited about the sighting that I had to share them. This was my 6th trip to Africa, and after hoping and wishing that one day it would happen, I finally saw honey badgers. Not only that, I saw them on my very first game drive of the trip!
We were in quite a dark, tree lined area near Lion Sands River Lodge, and these two honey badgers shot out of the bushes onto the road, ran in front of the vehicle chattering amongst themselves, and then disappeared back in to the bush. All told, we probably had a view of them for 30 seconds or so. The images that I captured were only in a 6 second window. So while the images aren’t great, at least they are proof that I finally saw the elusive honey badger. We actually had one run across the road in daylight while at another camp towards the end of the trip, but that was literally a blink and you miss it moment, and I didn’t even have time to get my camera up to my eye before it was gone.
I edited these images using both On1 Photo Raw (for basic corrections) and then using Topaz Studio and the new Topaz Denoise AI program. The Denoise AI was able to get the best out the image that I could. These won’t be featured images printed for display around my house, but they are a wonderful reminder of an amazing game drive filled with interesting sightings (I’ll share some of the other interesting creatures at a later date, as for now, duty calls and I have a lawn to mow).
During my travels it has been heartwarming to see several different rhinos cows with their calves. I did have one sighting that turned out to be quite a missed opportunity though. The Mom was busy having a drink at a watering hole, and the baby began to whine, wanting access to milk. Mom wasn’t interested at that time, and the whining from the baby got louder and more insistent. This went on for a good couple of minutes, and I didn’t even think to switch into video, and kept capturing still images instead. The only time I have heard rhinos before is on nature programs, so it was definitely a wonderful moment in the bush for me.
Here are some images from the past week of my travels, staying at two properties; Lions Sands River and Tinga Lodges. I have had a wonderful time being back in the bush again! It’s tea time shortly and then off to see what the afternoon has in store, so I will keep this brief.
I hope you enjoy my selections!
Greetings from South Africa! I’m so happy to be back in one of my favourite places.
I did a trip along the Panorama Route today, and explored Lisbon Falls, Berlin Falls, the Potholes, God’s Window and the Three Rondavels.
A relaxing glass of wine is calling my name, so I have just edited a single image for now.
I’m heading into the bush tomorrow, so I won’t have a lot of time to post, but I will try my best to keep up my normal Sunday, Monday and Wednesday schedule.
Just a quick post today as I am running a little short on time at the moment!
I loved watching these elephants greet each other as they all congregated around a dam. Different family groups joined up, took their time with greetings, getting refreshing drinks, and eventually, heading off in their separate ways.
It’s always a joy for me to spend time amongst elephants.
Here we are at Monday again. I felt like editing some elephant images recently, so that is what I have decided to share today. Elephants, with their amazingly textured skin, look fantastic in monochrome images (at least I think so!)
I hope you enjoy my selections. Have a great week!
While this leopard sighting was almost two years ago, it feels both like a lifetime ago, and also like it was yesterday. I find it interesting how the same experience can occupy those different spaces, seemingly at the same time.
This was the second to last day of my last safari, and the photos don’t need too much commentary. Our ranger took us to a leopard and her two cubs that were deep in a ravine, and while we perched, parked on the side of a rather steep slope, the cubs went about their day, playing, chasing, exploring and occasionally, snuggling up with their Mom.
I hope you enjoy my selections for today. Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.
