Green season in Kruger

Nature erupts during the wet season. Here a young Black-backed Jackal pup hunts emerging Termite Alates.



So often we, as photographers want the perfect shot. That normally entails the perfect animal, in perfect light with perfect uncluttered background. But what if nature sends you something different? I have just returned from a week in Kruger with Dan Streck, a great photographer from the States and a Kruger regular who have taken some incredible images there( Take a look here: http://streck2012.blogspot.com/ ). November is pretty much one of the greenest months in the Lowveld bush which results in limited visibility, admittedly m aking photography somewhat difficult. And being the rainy season one may spend days (as we did) without seeing the sun. So what now? Well, you pretty much take what is there. The greenery provided spectacular vibrancy to the images and the cloudy weather provided beautiful muted light and allowed us to photograph well into the late morning or early afternoons, time one won’t even think of taking out the camera when the sun is out.

So here are a few pics to show what is possible when many would pack away their gear due to “Bad” light.



Cloudy weather provided us with soft muted light allowing long hours of photography.





The sun did appear every now and again. Here I tried to capture the essence of Kruger as a mig male Lion feeds in thick cover.



A pack of African Wilddogs walked into a pride of feeding lions and having to see over the tall green grass this dog had to get as high a vantage point as possible to see the potential danger. With sightings like this Kruger is certainly one of the best wildlife photography destinations in Africa.



A Red Chested Bustard makes for a very interesting subject as soft rain washed the bush.  



Lowveld Private Safari

This past weekend (7 – 9 Sept) I had the privilege to host a private photographic safari right on my own doorstep in the South African Lowveld. And what a treat. Friday afternoon strarted somewhat wet. Ok we got totally drenched on our first drive and basically made piece with the fact that we will be photographing frogs in the lodge gardens for the remainder of the weekend. It all turned for the better on Saturday morning though and soon we were raking in the sightings which just kept coming right till we had to leave Sunday morning. Four fo the big five plus cheetah and wilddogs put in an appearance as well as the countless other inhabitants if this region. Below a few pics from the weekend

 

Our first sighting was of this female and her large cub. Serendipitously the cub came to lie down right next to mom from where they posed for us photographers.



We found no less than six individual Cheetah, all of which were in very photogenic positions. Here one stalks towards the vehicle.




Remarkably we also found Africas second most endangered carnivore, African Wilddogs and to top that a litter of nine pups.



A portrait of the ubiquitous White Rhino.

Resting the shutter fingers. Manus and Ursula, who made it such a pleasurable weekend. It was a pleasure sharing this all with people not only interested in photography but who also has a keen love for their subject. Looking forward to many more