Predators!!

The fiery eyes of this female hunter in cold contrast to the dead eyes of the unfortunate Thompson's Gazelle's.

Let's face it. Predators rock! Although we will always aim to find and show as many varieties of creatures ranging from frogs to fungus, it is the big cats and other meat eaters people come to Africa to see. And then of course not only getting pics of them but to get unusual images. Once these are in the bag it opens up the field for showing the rest. Below are a few images from the archives.

Black sky Cheetah

Afternoon thunderstorms in the Masai Mara is a common phenomenon during the migration season. These can be pretty dramatic with "black skies" which, for the uninitiated can looked photoshopped. For this image we wanted to emphasize this and deliberately moves slightly further away from the "normal" position. The cherry top was of course the last glint of sunlight bursting through the clouds at the right moment.

Cheetah Family

This is one of my first trip with C4 Images. We followed this female cheetah and her six cubs around for a week and although we got some great images, the ultimate one still eluded us. That was, as is often the case, the very last morning. Cheetah on the hunt are fairly easy to anticipate as the walk from one elevation to the next scanning for prey. As it was early morning we went for a back-lit shot. Everything fell in place and all seven animals climbed up where I was hoping they would. although by now an "old" image it is still a very popular one with photo clients and images libraries. On another note, it was shot with an old Nikon D200, which is by no stretch a top of the range camera. But it shows something very important - its not about the gear!

Mom on the hunt.

This female had four nearly independent cubs. Again on the hunt we followed her for an entire afternoon and witnessed a few unsucessful hunts. The image we were after was the entire family together in a tight image. For a brief moment all came in line. What I personally like about in this images is that although the cubs are out of focus, enough of their posture is visible to communicate that they themselves are also on the lookout for prey.

King of the Kalahari

Staking out a Kalahari waterhole as the sun crawled over the horizon, all was still except for a pair of ubiquitous Black-backed Jackals. When they all of a sudden perked up and stared across the Nosob river this was the sight that greeted us. A large Kalahari male striding over the dry riverbed leaving a feint cloud of dust in his wake as his paws hit the fine dry earth.

Turbulent times

 The lion prides of Mashatu is facing turbulent times. A coalition of males coming from Zimbabwe arrived in their territory and killed one of these two young brothers siblings. They will face a difficult time from now on as they will have to evade the three large males. Reinforcing bonds as here will strengthen their relationship which will come in handy when they have to secure their own territory in a few years.

Evening drink

 Lions can be notoriously laze creatures sleeping most of the daylight hours away. As soon as the sun (and all chances of good photography) dips below the horizon the become active and able on to the nearest water. Yet a nifty trick is to add a bit of light from the vehicles spotlights on your subject making for some striking images.

Early migration

 We had arrived in the Southern Serengeti before the first herds of wildebeest had. Not only had the wildebeest eluded us but lions were also few on the ground. As if on cue, once the first herds arrived we stumbled on a pride of lions with a wildebeest catch. As the sun started heating up the female moved the carcass. All of a sudden new photographic opportunities presented themselves and we frantically moved the car into the desired position. Knowing that the female will do it again we only had to wait a few seconds before she moved the carcass.

Queen of the forest.

After a week on safari we pretty much photographed most of the predators. Yet a good leopard sighting evaded us. Second last Game Drive through the forests of Nakuru in Kenya we stumbled upon this scene. Again, refraining to go too tight we included the cat in her habitat. Remarkably, the emerald eyes mirrored that of the lichen on the Fever tree.

Siblings

As with the above mentioned lions. Leopards can be equally lazy during daylight hours and only start getting active as night falls, as was the case here. I always keep a small flashlight on me and by adding a small amount of light we were able to balance the last remaining ambient light perfectly with the light from the flashlight when the cats started waking.

Tuli's young prince

Early evening, the light from a nearby Game Drive illuminated this young male leopards profile quite dramatically creating a striking profile shot.

Tufts and Tails

African Wilddogs can be the most rewarding or most frustrating of species to photograph. they always do something yet keeping up with them can be a challenge at the best of times. In this images again we opted for the less obvious angle, shooting straight into the sun. But the dust kicked up by the feeding dogs and the tufts shining in the sun made for a very cool image.

Early evening, the light from a nearby Game Drive illuminated this young male leopards profile quite dramatically creating a striking profile shot.

Dogs at play

As I say, African Wilddogs always seems to be doing something. These two young and boisterous dogs rear up in a play fight as the pack gets ready for the afternoon hunt.

Serval on the hunt at sunset.

Never forgetting the smaller cats, a serval on the hunt as night falls over the southern Serengeti. The Serengeti- Mara system must be one of the best places to see and photograph these Cats.

Bat eared fox on the Makgadigadi Saltpans

One can be forgiven thinking that the desolate and seemingly lifeless expanse of the Makgadigadi pans in Botswana hosts no wildlife. Yet this area was one of the biggest surprises of my guiding career. Hardly ten minutes into our first game drive we encountered this Fox. The dusty conditions filtered the sunlight providing great light for long periods. 

Wildlife Photography in the Masai Mara.

Cheetah Learning school. An eight month old cheetah hones his hunting skills while mom supervise.

I have just returned from the last of this years Kenyan Migration Safaris. My season this year actually started in May already with a flying Safari through some of Heritage Hotels properties for Africa Geographic magazine. Although this trip took me through Tsavo and Samburu in the North it also brought me to the Mara before the main migration season. Being May, the long rains was in full swing but it did allow me to view the Mara again as I only saw it when I lived there way back in 2004. Wonderfully green with waist high grasses and breeding birds all around. A challenging time to drive a round the Mara’s black cotton soil but also a rare privilege to see the Mara as few see it. Have a look at the article below and if you do not see it in print on the shelves during November click on the image to link to the PDF article online.


Lion Lenses and Little Planes, an Africa Geographic article on flying safaris through Kenya

To quote friend and colleague Greg du Toit, the Mara is a great place to fill up memory cards but a very difficult place to get anything new or unique. It is one of the most photographed parks in the world. With these challenges clearly in mind I set off with guests in tow seeking new and exciting shots.

Although its always very special observing leopards, merely photographing them as a portrait doesn't do the animal much justice. 

A young leopard strolls through the grassland backlit by the setting sun.

In order to capture its true character and although a much trickier shot, opting for a motion blur image is a more accurate reflection of their character in the dense undergrowth where it makes its home. 

A trickier shot but when done well a motion blur image really stands out.

The rising sun illuminating steam from a freshly killed wildebeest carcass provided the perfect backdrop for capturing a familiar scene of feeding lions in a unique manner. Photographing backlit is very rewarding, especially in such dramatic sircumstances, yet I often find that people would rather go for the more conventional front lit shots, even though these have been done millions of times.

A lioness pause momentarily as the rest of her pride devours a wildebeest. The mist in this scene comes from the freshly killed wildebeest.

With its open habitat and clean backgrounds the Mara is a great place to capture action. Having done the “Cheetah on the Termite Mound” images countless times in the past, my personal goal this year was to get some action shots. Throughout the various trips we witnessed a dozen or so kills, ranging from crocs taking wildebeest to lion and the impressive high speed chases of cheetah. Realistically they are often difficult to photograph as it happens too far away or is obscured by grass. A few proved to be in range such as this lioness  below taking a young Topi.

A lioness about to grab a young Topi.

Action wasn’t limited to kills only and playing lions were equally impressive.



Playing Lions are allways very photogenic.

We saw a few servals on the plains, one of which spectacularly killed a young Scrub hare in clear view. Capturing the essence however of a determined Serval hunting through the long grass provided yet another challenge as I wanted to move away from crispy portraits.

Because its allways a rare sight one can be forgiven for doing for the safe crispy portraits of Serval Cats. But Motion Blur captivates the essence of the cat staliking throught its grassy domain.

Also very rewarding is capturing the quieter more pensive moments in the bush and playing with spectacular light allways helps.

Beautifull light and nothing else makes even the misunderstood Hyena look stunning.

We were privileged to follow this mother and her only surviving cub belwo for two weeks. During this time she used our vehicles several times as vantage points to scan for prey and remarkably were were treated to one of nature’s most emotional dramas as she released her kill for the cub to hone its hunting skills (Check out the first pic above). Being such a dramatic event I will post more images in a next post to share the entire event.

Her breath condensates in the cold mornuing air. We followed this mother cheetah and her cub for a few weeks.

Then the Mara is nothing without the dramatic and well known wildebeest crossings. Sitting in the heat of the day with 30 other cars only to get harshly lit images is certainly not my way of having fun on safari. Only a handful of places offer you the ultimate experience and C4 Safaris’ location provided the perfect platform to view our “own” crossings. Yet how does one capture this well photographed phenomenon in a unique way. Here is my latest take on it.

A nice new angle of a familiar scene

The most difficult large animal to see and photograph is Black Rhino. The first two weeks produced not a single sighting and only on the last morning of guests stay they were fortunate so see this animal out on the open plains. 

The highly threatened and endangered Black Rhino

So thats it for now. For those interested in joining us on Safari next year, contact us by clicking on the below links for a wide variety of trips. Cheers Albie 

Private Photographic Safaris throughout East and Southern Africa



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

Serengeti

We witnessed this entire Cheetah kill from the stalk, the high speed chase over hundreds of metres to the actual kill. Here she catches her breath minutes after her prey expired. 

After our very eventful predator Safari in the Mara we hopped across the border into Tanzania to go and catch up with the Migration which we met in the Seronera region.

 It really doesn’t matter how many times one has seen this spectacle it still remains an incredible sight.

Six week old Cheetah Cubs. 

After the migration it was across to the shortgrass plains and woodlands of Ndutu where the predators put up a spectacular show for us. From the first evening being kept awake by lions roaring though camp to the last morning following four playfull cheetah cubs the action never stopped. Highlights included a female Cheetah killing a Thompson’s gazelle in full view of everyone with four cubs in tow while for me sighting such as Golden Jackal (regular in the Serengeti) and a remarkably relaxed Striped Hyena mom and cub at a den was real treats. 

Although common in the Serengeti it was a highlight for me to get to eye level with this Golden Jackal. 

After keeping us awake for the entire night we caught up with this pride on lions on our first morning. Still wet with dew it was amazing to see steam escape from their bodies as the sun warmed their pelts.

The last stop and very fitting end to our wonderful Safari was the legendary Ngorongoro Crater. 

More of the Mara

Some pictures just have Mara written all over them!



Birding the Mara.

One may be forgiven to think that when you are in one of the world’s wildlife hotspots why take the time to look at birds. Well even when looking at the feathered variety the big game is never too far.




Quintessential Cat
One wouldn’t like to be caught one the wrong side of this glare. For the most part of its life an average lion remains inactive for the major part of its day. However when hunger awakens them they mean business and it all start with a determined stare.



On the hoof.

In single file the herds move past on a journeys that never actually starts or ends anywhere. Mating only occurs on the day when female wildebesst comes into oestrus.
When the herds reach the northern limit of their march male wildebeest joust and jostle amongst one another in order to secure dominance and their access to mate. In a march stretching thousands of miles much of the rutting takes place on the hoof. Even at a gallop one male takes the opportunity to ascertain his dominance over another.




Thief

Probably not even properly cold this fresh Thompson’s gazelle carcass is stolen from a Cheetah by a Spotted Hyena.

Karongwe Sightings

Some of the latest images from Karongwe. In just over two weeks we encountered five different Leopards, one of which was during a Game Walk.

Portrait of a male Leopard in prime condition.

This scruffy looking female gave us a most indignant stare as we unknowingly disturbed her attempt at hunting Impala.

Hyena visited camp every night and even the activities at the sleepout in the bush got the better of this cubs curiosity who came to investigate.

One of the Hippo dams. A great spot for sundowners.

And curiosity even gets these behemoths to pop around for a closer look.

As allways, striking birds such as this woodland Kingfisher are never far.

A Yellow Billed Stork in interesting pose.

A Magnificant male Lion obligingly becoming active just as the sun filters through the clouds and grants us wonderfull photograhic opportunities

And just to round off the predator sightings, two male Cheetah decided to hunt down a young Wtaerbuck around camp only to settle for Impala later that afternoon.