SAFFAscapes

My Top 20 for 2011

2012-01-02T15:20:00.001+02:00

It's that time of year again...a time for resolutions and reflection. I think most nature photographers make resolutions about visiting more exotic locations and getting that one elusive image that keeps evading them...and I would be lying if I said I don't have at least some aspirations like that. On the whole I would just like to enjoy my photography this year. It seems like it could be a year with many trips that are 50/50 on whether they would actually happen. There are also family considerations for us and therefore I think that whatever I get to photograph and wherever I do get to travel to, I would just like to take in the "moment" a bit more, and enjoy the images that I do get to capture. The past year was filled with wonderful photographic moments for me. It was also the year I switched brands from Canon to Nikon, and the year in which our first child was born. Lots to reflect on. Lots to look forward to in 2012...

I started my blogging in 2011 by looking back at my trips and best photos for the year (you can see the blog post HERE). This year I want to do the same, though I am going to structure it a bit differently. Last year I started out by wanting to pick a veritable "Top 10", but I ended up with an effective "Top 12" since I just couldn't pick between the last 3 shots.

This year I thought I would try and put together a "Top 20"...mostly because I would like to think I took more "keepers", but also because I thought I would divide it up according to content a bit more distinctly. I also wanted to at least pick something from every trip I undertook - which means that I might have excluded some images from an "absolute" top 20 perspective, but I also want something representative of the entire year and not just one trip where I might have gotten better images on the whole than on another trip.

I decided to structure it as follows:
Top 5 Landscape
Top 5 Avian
Top 10 Wildlife

All of these "lists" will appear in chronological order...thus I can't say which ones I like more than others per se...just posting them in the order of when in the year they were photographed. Due to the pixel width of the blog you will notice that portrait-orientation images will display better than landscape-orientation images. Thus I will often be posting links to higher resolution images of those shot in the landscape orientation. I can recommend clicking through to those as some of them really need to viewed at a higher resolution.

So, without further a due, let's dive right in!

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Top 5 Landscape

# 1 - "Heavenly Cosmos"

I live in an area that is known for its "cosmos season" in autumn when millions of these wildflowers erupt from the soil to colour the otherwise drab grassy plains in an array of pink, white and purple. Every year I try to capture an image of these seemingly endless meadows that do them justice. I'm not entirely happy, but this is one of my best attempts to date (the sunset wasn't too shabby either). I shall be trying again soon...

# 2 - "Endless Lands"

My wife and I (along with our young baby daughter) were taking a road-trip and stopped for a well-deserved few days in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, South Africa. The cabins we stayed in sat high in the Maluti mountains (part of the greater Drakensberg range) and overlooked a marvelous vista beneath. We had rainy weather for most of our stay, but our last morning's sunrise proved useful. (High resolution version HERE)

# 3 - "Starry Starry Karoo Night"

Some of you will know that I love capturing images of the African night sky. I wish I was able to get away from the densely populated area I live in more regularly to escape the light pollution and be able to sit under this expanse more often. This image was captured in the Mountain Zebra National Park, South Africa, which is situated in the Karoo desert of the Eastern Cape.

# 4 -"Chintsa Sunrise"

We were visiting my brother-in-law who lives in East London on South Africa's Wild Coast region in the Eastern Cape when I captured this image. I went out early one morning with my friend Glen Bradshaw (check out his work HERE). It was overcast but we hoped for some good light. In the end, the sun never really showed itself, but I did like the moment I captured here. I hope to shoot more seascapes in the future, but my love for the African bush keeps me from frequenting our wonderful coastline...let's see what 2012 has in store!

# 5 - "The Sunset Rocks"

During a weekend spent with friends on the South African Highveld Meander, a route that includes an array of wonderful fly-fishing locations, I spent one afternoon photographing from a rocky outcrop in overcast weather, once again hoping the light would swing in my favour. For a few brief seconds, it did! I was focusing on some formations to the right and suddenly felt the warmth of sunlight on my cheek. I swung around immediately and had about 2 minutes to compose some shots before the sun faded again.

Top 5 Avian

Time to hit those feathered friends of ours! I did not quite do as much "focused" avian photography during 2011 as I would have hoped to...but then again my time is limited and I had so many wonderful wildlife sightings - but we'll get to that.

# 1 - "Flying Secretary"

Going into the year, my library was in desperate need of some decent images of the iconic and quirky raptor called the Secretary Bird. During our trip to the Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa, I was lucky to capture a pair of them. This one first hunted a snake, then gulped it down, and finally started that awkward running take-off, and I was happy to capture this pose as it took flight. These birds have now been classified as VULNERABLE according to the IUCN Red List (see HERE), with their population rate indicated as "declining". Much research is currently being done on the reasons for this decline, with answers hopefully to come. (High resolution version HERE)

# 2 - "Roller Breakfast"

I was fortunate enough to spend some time in Botswana's Chobe National Park (Savute region) and the Okavango Delta during 2011. This is part of my venture with Orient Express Botswana where I accompany a few photographers to the group's luxury safari camps in these pristine locations for an amazing photographic experience (see HERE). I saw this Lilac-Breasted Roller landing on a perch close by with a grasshopper in its mouth. Previous experience of this behaviour allowed me to prepare for this shot...I just waited for it to flip its meal into the air and pressed the shutter.

# 3 - "Spoonbill Spat"

Since a lot of my avian photography occurs close to home over weekends, I simply had to include an image from our local rookery (set on an island in the local duck pond). Having an image with great interaction and light such as this made the choice easy. These two African Spoonbills were engaged in what looked like a marital tiff. Guess who's the male???
(High resolution version HERE)

# 4 - "Vulture Mayhem"

This sighting from our trip to the Kruger National Park is one I will never forget - not only for the sights and sounds, but also the smell!! An elephant had died in the bush and the vultures were having a blast. The previous day there were apparently lions guarding the carcass, something which I would have loved to see but missed. I still need to work through many images taken at this scene but liked this one the most thus far. It's quite tricky getting an image with structure and composition from this kind of chaos. (High resolution version HERE)

# 5 - "Ebb and Flow"

I shared this image not too long ago here on SAFFAscapes. This was captured in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa, which is set in the Kalahari desert. Flocks of Red-Billed Quelea would move from shrub to shrub in search of food. The way they moved reminded me of a large organism, and once can see that predators can get confused by this. Here I tried to capture the tension between the birds that were still perched and those that had started to fly to the next spot. (High resolution version HERE)

Top 10 Wildlife

This was a really tough call to make, as I really had a Top 20 set of wildlife images alone. In the end, I had to be ruthless and cut out some of my favourites in order to get a good representation of my travels throughout the year.

# 1 - "Mountain Zebra Launch"

Since we visited the Mountain Zebra National Park and since I do love this quaint little reserve a lot, I felt it appropriate to post an image from this location. This Cape Mountain Zebra took off on a trot right as I pointed my lens at it. These animals were saved from the brink of extinction at the turn of the century after this park was proclaimed. Today it's the home of these equine beauties, as well as Cape Buffalo, Black Rhino, Cheetah, Aardwolf (we actually saw 2 of them but no real photo opportunities!), Eland and many more. You can read more about the park HERE.

# 2 -"Savute Lion Cub"

We found a pride of lions in Savute, Chobe National Park, Botswana, doing what they do best - sleeping. We left them and returned in the late afternoon as they started to wake up for the night's hunt. I liked the filtered golden light coming through the acacia trees, and how it hit this proud young cub. (High resolution version HERE)

# 3 - "Glaring Hippo"

One of the perks of my safaris in Botswana with Orient Express is being able to photograph wildlife and birds from a very low angle on small boats afloat the Okavango Delta. This hippopotamus was giving me the eye...(High resolution HERE)

# 4 - "Complete and Otter Mischief"

I stopped by the Marievale Bird Sanctuary early one morning en route to another meeting, and had some of my kit in the car. I popped into one of the hides I wouldn't normally visit and was very surprised to see a family of Spotted-Necked Otters swimming and playing close to the hide, oblivious to my presence. This was a first real sighting for me. Soon one of them emerged with the remains of a catfish it had caught earlier, and started to have at it right in front of me. I had a fixed telephoto lens on my camera and had to stand at the farthest end of the hide to get this full frame image of this intriguing character. Those naughty eyes tell it all...(High resolution version HERE)

# 5 - "Playful Elephant"

Elephants were frequently sighted during our trip to the nothern Kruger National Park...yet few of them delivered quite the image I was hoping for. This youngster was playfully twirling a mopani branch around in the very last light of the day. I love the eyes of elephants and this was a good opportunity to use the eye as a strong focal point in an image that had elephant skin everywhere, even in the background. This is a full frame image, captured at an amazing ISO setting of 6400. (High resolution version HERE)

# 6 - "Super Impala"

This is another image I actually shared as a PhotoPost on this blog earlier in the year. Impalas are very graceful antelopes, especially when they prance and run around. They often get overlooked in the Kruger Park (where this image was taken) due to their sheer numbers and how often one gets to see them. They also move like lightning and needless to say I was absolutely stoked when this image came onto my camera LCD upon reviewing the sequence I shot of this young ram jumping. (High resolution version HERE)

# 7 - "Looking for trouble"

Spotted Hyenas are fascinating subjects to observe and photograph. Their social structure, behaviour and anatomy are unlike any other African mammal. These two were skulking along very early one morning in the northern region of the Kruger National Park in heavily overcast conditions. Once again the Nikon D3s delivered at ISO-6400. I loved the similar poses here, and the B&W conversion added the mood I was looking for.

# 8 - "Leopard Ascent"

The entire story behind this image was documented in a lengthy blog post with many more images of the sighting. You can read all about it HERE. If you don't want to read all that, I'll just let this image speak for itself. Another high ISO capture: ISO-4000.

# 9 - "King of the Dune"

Ever since discovering the magic of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, I wanted to photograph a magnificent black-maned Kalahari lion on a red sand dune. This image became a reality during our recent trip. Captured in the very last light of day (ISO-3600). (High resolution version HERE)

# 10 - "Cheetah Rumble"

The cheetah sightings on our recent trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa, were out of this world. I opted not to duplicate species when posting this Top 10 Wildlife selection...if I did I would probably have filled 5 or 6 of the slots with cheetah images taken during this last trip. This one is my current favourite. These two cubs were playing with each other while their mother was getting ready to stalk and bring down a springbok for brunch. (High resolution version HERE)

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Well, there you have it...I certainly would like to share some more images, but I need to leave some stock on the shelves for the "lean" periods of 2012 when I might not be traveling to obtain new images to share with you, haha. Please feel free to drop me a comment, telling me which was your favourite, and WHY? If you saw any other image during the year on my Facebook page, website or here on SAFFAscapes which you feel should have been here, let me know!

Watch this space in 2012 for many more images from my recent trips, as well as potential images from Zimbabwe, the Masaai Mara and still more from the Kalahari...stay tuned!

Ooooh...wait...how could I exclude my favourite photographic subject of 2011? This is the one subject I took the most individual photos of...have you guessed? It's our little Aimee, our firstborn...

May you all have a wonderfully blessed 2012, filled with good light on good sightings, and with the necessary health of body and mental fortitude to follow through with all your travel plans. Most of all, ENJOY your photography! I know I am planning to...

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Wild Coast Waves

2011-12-19T00:15:00.003+02:00

Since I will not be heading to the beach this summer (work commitments!), I dug up an image from a trip we did last year to the South African Wild Coast.

This morning I hoped for some dramatic sunrise conditions, but a cloud bank hovered on the horizon and kept the sun from breaking through in those first golden moments of light. I still liked the textures of this beach and the motion of the waves.

If you are travelling over this festive season - be safe! If you are planning to do some photography - remember all your gear!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Ebb and Flow

2011-12-08T06:56:00.001+02:00

So, here is an image I captured in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park recently. Given, it's not a clearly recognisable image at first, and it's not going to be everyone's cup-of-tea...but I felt like sharing it anyway.

Most mornings when you drive out from the Twee Rivieren rest camp up the Nossob riverbed, you see flocks of Red-Billed Quelea move to and fro between shrubs and bushes, looking for food. I looks like an orchestrated wave, and almost like a "swarm". I tried to capture something of this behaviour when they perched on a shrub for a moment. I used a slow shutter speed to enable me to capture a blur of birds as they took off, and hoped for some to remain on the shrub (and to be fairly sharp).

The conversion to black-and-white was also logical from the outset, as the colours detracted from the shape of the blurred flying birds. I am curious to know what you think of this one...

(Nikon D3s, Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II) f7.1 | 1/100 SS | ISO-200

Cheers, until next time...

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Gemsbok Symmetry

2011-11-28T22:57:00.001+02:00

We have just returned from one of my favourite places on earth - the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Many of the shots you would have seen from my portfolio were taken there. We had an amazing time and saw cheetahs and lions every day. Obviously some sightings were better than others, but that's the way it goes.

While I dive into the mountain of images I brought back, here's a shot I took during our trip there in June 2010. I just love the symmetrical poses in this herd of Gemsbok (Oryx), and of course the sweet morning light.

Chat soon!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Impala Portrait

2011-11-07T23:34:00.001+02:00

A quick PhotoShare for you, folks!

This image was captured late one afternoon in the northern region of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The sun was on the verge of disappearing over the horizon, and I loved the way the last rays of light kissed the outline of this Impala ram, particularly the horns.

Once again, the Nikon D3s has allowed me to capture amazing clarity and detail at a very high ISO setting.

(Nikon D3s & Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II) f5.6 | 1/1000 SS | ISO-4500

I am as busy as ever, and am looking forward to spending some time in the Kalahari at the end of this month...

Keep well!

Morkel Erasmus

Shooting against the light

2011-10-26T23:07:00.000+02:00

We've all been there...you are sitting at an awesome sighting, watching some beautiful animal or bird...but the light is just W-R-O-N-G...

Now you've got 2 options. Either you pack away the camera and just enjoy the sighting...or you try to work with the light you have and create some images that might come out better than you thought, or better yet, might come out a litte 'out-of-the-box'. In this post I will elaborate on some of these situations you might encounter, and also show some of the images I have been able to capture in similar cases which I thought came out okay.

The classic case is the "back-lit" image, where the light comes from directly opposite your viewing position and you have to use it to enhance the contours and outlines of your subject. The key here is to ensure you under-expose significantly to ensure you capture the mood and don't blow the highlights. You can either do this by manually adjusting exposure or exposure compensation bias and checking the histogram, or if you like to use your metering function apart from your focusing function you can meter off the brightest highlights.

Another angle of light we encounter in the field is a case of strong 'side-light'. In this case the light hitting the subject creates a stark contrast between one part of the subject and another. Obviously this is only possible in the early morning and late afternoon...no noon-time shots available here! The ideal exposure for me in cases like this is to obtain enough detail in the shaded parts without making it look unnatural and without blowing out the highlighted areas.

The key to facing a situation where the light is challenging, is to know your equipment well, know how to use your exposure bias setting to achieve an over- or underexposed shot, and think creatively...in the end the best images are formed in your mind's eye before you even trip the shutter.

We all want those moments of "perfect" light, but they seldom are perfect...my advice would be to make the most out of the situations you do find yourself in when you are out in the field. Most of us have so precious little time to spend in the field to begin with!

Here are some more images I have been able to capture in these kinds of light.

Till next time!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Black-Headed Heron

2011-10-10T23:08:00.000+02:00

Nothing fancy for you tonight, folks...just a simple image of an everyday bird (at least in our parts) in great light coming in to roost for the night.

(Nikon D7000 | Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II) f7.1 | 1/2000 SS | ISO-1600

Enjoy the rest of your week!!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Noah's Giraffe

2011-10-03T19:49:00.001+02:00

I know, I know, it's a somewhat weird and quirky title, but the rainbow should give the reason away!

I find giraffe difficult to properly compose photographically at the best of times...and know many wildlife photographers who share that sentiment. Their irregular form and contours and their size make them somewhat of an enigma and easy to do an injustice to on photos.

It's a bit easier for those frequenting the plains of the Masai Mara in Kenya or the Serengeti in Tanzania where they act as great anchors and pillars for wide shots of the landscape...but in the dense bushveld of South Africa it becomes a tad harder to do them justice.

Every now and again, though, the giraffe does all the hard work for you...like stand in the right spot. This one posed perfectly right in front of a beautiful rainbow one summer afternoon in the Sabi-Sands Game Reserve.

(Nikon D3s, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II) f5.6 | 1/1000 SS | ISO-320

Chase the light!

Morkel Erasmus

World Rhino Day 2011

2011-09-21T22:26:00.001+02:00

22 September is the official date for "World Rhino Day 2011". On this day, various NGOs and conservation bodies around the world join forces to create a huge surge in public and government awareness of the danger the world's 5 rhino species are in given the catastrophic rise in poaching.

Check out the information page here:
www.rhinoconservation.org/world-rhino-day/

And the Facebook page here:
www.facebook.com/WorldRhinoDay2011

There's not much a mere individual can do - but maybe, just maybe if we all scream loud enough we can get enough government and official buy-in to engage with the Asian nations to where the horn is illegally trafficked and sold on the black market to do something constructive and decisive about it.

I for one don't want my children to have to resort to viewing my photos or going to the zoo in order to see a real live rhino. I want to be able to show them these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat in a wild and free environment.

Morkel Erasmus

When it all comes together

2011-09-06T01:05:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone.

I promised you a more lengthy blog post after my return from the Kruger National Park. Well, here it is!

I had a wonderful experience one afternoon that sure taught me a lot, and could also prove beneficial to those reading. A lot is said about patience being one of the greatest virtues of nature/wildlife photography...patience, preparation and knowledge of your subject matter. On this occasion, I had a little more patience than I normally have, and my knowledge of the subject matter enabled me to prepare for an amazing photographic experience.

We had come down from the far north of the Kruger Park, having already spent 6 nights in the Park and narrowly missing out on good leopard sightings quite a few times. Those who know these cats will know that they are very secretive and often a good leopard sighting can last only 5 minutes or so. The bush in the Kruger Park can also be quite dense in a lot of places, meaning that if the cat is not in the road or right next to it, the most you are going to see is a few spots anyway.

To give you an idea...at that stage this was our only "legit" leopard sighting to date - a youngster left alone by its mother in a dense mopani thicket while she went hunting:

Nikon D3s | Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II | f4.0 | 1/1000 SS | ISO-560

Now to get back to the story...we booked into the Olifants rest camp for the night (our 7th night of a scheduled 8). This camp is located in the central region of Kruger, and our next night would be spent in Satara which is even more central and a great region for wildlife viewing with open plains, riverine forests and plenty of life around. Our neighbours on this particular evening told us of an impala kill that was tucked into a tree by the side of the main road between the camps (and that the kill was still untouched by the time they went past there that particular afternoon). We had come from the north and were thus oblivious of this development. Knowing that there was a very good chance that the leopard would return during the night to feast on its meal, and also then a very good chance that it would be there early morning, I planned to head down there at first light and hope for the best.

The next morning I did just that...it was a good 30km from Olifants camp so I only got there at about 07h00 after the gates opened at 06h00. The kill was in the tree allright...but no leopard in sight!! I had always dreamed of getting a good photo of a leopard climbing up a tree.

The tree was nicely positioned for a shot of the leopard climbing up the tree. I spent about 30minutes waiting for the leopard to show itself, when someone who was also parked at the kill told me about some male lions further south that were lying next to the road. I decided to go and find them before checking back at the tree on my way back to Olifants camp. It occurred to me that this tree was to the East, meaning that by late afternoon the golden light would hit it dead-on as I was viewing it. I salivated at the thought of the leopard coming back later in the day and scaling the tree

When I returned from the lions I found the kill exactly in the position I had left it in. I went back to the camp to fetch my wife and daughter and our stuff for the move to Satara rest camp which would be our last night in the park. Again, on the way down past the kill it was still as I left it. We headed south, booked into Satara and had a bite to eat. By this time the weather had turned from lovely to pretty murky. It was overcast and starting to drizzle. Still, this was our last 'full day' in the Park and we had to decide where we would head off to for our afternoon drive.

I was haunted by the mental image of that leopard scaling the tree and me not being there to photograph the action...so we decided to stock up on refreshments, load enough toys into the car for our little girl to not get bored quickly, and set off on the 25 odd kilometer drive towards the tree. It was 13h30, and there were no other cars parked there at that stage (also, no leopard yet!). I knew which spot I needed to park in - the only one with a perfect view of the tree at an angle that made it possible to photograph the "climb" and be able to do it regardless of whether the cat decided to ascend from the left, right or front of the tree. Obviously if it decided to scale the trunk from the back I would be screwed - but hey, you have to keep some hope stored up if you want to "bring home the bacon" in nature photography! The kill was in exactly the same position as it had been all day...a good sign? Or not? Was this shy cat even coming back today?

And so the waiting game began...

14h00 came...no leopard...
15h00 came...no leopard...
16h00 came...no leopard...

By now we had accumulated a following. There were quite a few vehicles parked out with us, and many more were coming and staying for a few minutes and then going again...but no leopard...

One of the characteristics of Kruger is the visitors/tourists sharing information with each other on sightings and the whereabouts of animals. Many who stopped at our car inquired as to what we were looking at...most thought it was something on the ground - which was humorous as the kill was quite obvious in the tree about 60m from the road.

One particular man asked me about it, I pointed it out to him, and he proceeded to tell his wife: "There's a buck in that tree, but it's already dead"

doh...to which I had to restrain myself from replying:

"If you drive a further 2 clicks south you will find one who climbed in all by himself and is sitting in the tree drinking a beer!"

hahaha

Anyway...16h30...no leopard...16h45...still no leopard...I knew from the start that this was a "six or nix" venture. It was either going to show, or it wasn't. I was either going to have my dream image...or I was going back to camp with an empty memory card. I knew we had to get out of there by 17h30 at the latest, as it would be a solid 30-minute drive back to camp at the speed limit of 50km/h.

Gear-wise I had to make a decision. Up to this point I was ready to shoot the action with the Nikon D3s and the Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II with the Nikon TC-14E 1.4x teleconverter attached. This gave me some much-needed reach towards the position of the tree on my full frame camera body. The problem I was facing was that with sunset approaching and the weather still heavily overcast, I would need to get as much light as possible to reach my camera's sensor when I tripped the shutter. I decided to remove the teleconverter and shoot the 500mm 'wide open' at an aperture of 4 (I had a maximum aperture of 5.6 with the converter attached).

At around 17h00 one of the vehicles a little behind us flashed its headlights and the driver indicated to his right...the leopard must have arrived back there! We had to look hard since there were a few small shrubby trees next to us which obscured the view to the Southwest. Finally we noticed its white belly through the branches. It was lying down under a shrub some distance into the veld. It was SOOO tempting to try and maneuver in reverse to get a glimpse of it, especially considering it might not even approach the tree at all! In the end we decided to hedge our bets on the hope we had cherished all day, and stayed put (besides, if we did move we would lose our vital positioning for the ascent!).

The view of the leopard initially from where we had been parked all afternoon...would you have moved?

The leopard seemed in NO hurry to get up and come towards the tree. One moment it was lying flat on its side. The next moment lifting its head. The next moment yawning. Then lying down flat again...needless to say it was torture...

After what felt like hours, eventually I could see the signs that it was getting up to move. It stood up and walked slowly towards the tree.

The leopard starts its approach. These images are heavily cropped.

It was a young male, probably kicked out by its mother a few months ago and learning to fend for itself and establishing a territory. He did some scent-marking, then proceeded to walk around behind the tree - and guess what?? He lied down again...

17h15. I went ahead and captured some images. I still had to prepare myself mentally for the possibility that he would not climb the tree before we had to turn around and head back for the night. These images came out much better than I expected and this sighting as a whole turned out to be a great test for my Nikon D3s and its famed low-light performance. I had it set on "auto-ISO" and Manual Exposure mode, meaning that I chose the Shutter Speed and Aperture settings I wanted to use, and the camera would select the ISO sensitivity automatically based on the light meter reading and whether I was opting to adjust the exposure compensation bias up or down.

These images are still very heavily cropped - and I was amazed by the detail retained given the crops and the high ISO settings used.

Nikon D3s | Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II | f4.0 | 1/200 SS | ISO-2800

f4.0 | 1/320 SS | ISO-4500

f4.0 | 1/200 SS | ISO-8000

17h20...I was getting agitated now...why doesn't the leopard want to eat? It hadn't been back at the kill since pre-dawn, and had to be slightly hungry? He even looked longingly up at the impala in the tree at one stage.

17h21...the leopard gets up...adrenaline starts pumping through my veins...this is the moment I had been playing over and over in my mind all day, and all my preparation made and chances taken were now going to culminate in these next few seconds...now to focus on not screwing it up!!

I quickly metered the light with the camera and took another split-second decision. My chosen shutter speed for the action was 1/400 which was quite slow considering I was using a 500mm focal length (the general rule is you need to have a SS of at least 1/focal-length to get a decently sharp image, though having Nikon's Vibration Reduction technology built into my lens meant I could sacrifice some more). These settings were giving me an ISO of 8000. I wanted to be certain of at least ISO-4000, and therefore decided to half my shutter speed to 1/200. It was a risk! Leopards can climb trees very quickly. If the action was going to happen too fast I would get it all blurry. Then again, having some elements (ideally the paws) slightly blurred would add greatly to the mood/story of the photo. The decision was made for me by the poor quality of light available, and I stuck to my guns and hoped my technique in following the leopard up the tree with the focus point would pull me through. I rotated my camera into the vertical shooting position to get the best framing of the action, and pre-focused on the bark of the tree trunk. I knew that at this focusing distance I should get sufficient depth-of-field this way and it would be easier to keep focus locked during the climb. The D3s would fire at 11 frames per second...how many of those frames would even be usable, if any??

He walks towards the tree!! /things seem to happen in slow-motion and fast-forward at once...it approaches the tree from the right...walks around the front of the tree, all the while looking up at the impala. I had anticipated that he would ascend from the right of the tree since that part of the trunk was sloping towards the left, making it an easier climb. I knew I had seconds before he would jump...and I was as ready as I would ever be...

...breath in...
...breath out...
...leopard looks up...
...squats down...
...shuffles hind quarters...
...breath in...

and there he goes!!!

f4.0 | 1/200 SS | ISO-5000

f4.0 | 1/200 SS | ISO-5600

f4.0 | 1/200 SS | ISO-4000

f4.0 | 1/200 SS | ISO-2800

...breath out...!!!

What a rush! A whole day's waiting, hoping, planning came down to 6 or 7 frames of action...

The leopard settled in on top of its quarry and proceeded to start feeding...

f4.0 | 1/200 SS | ISO-2800

f4.0 | 1/200 SS | ISO-3200

After firing off a few frames of the leopard feeding, I needed to just take a moment to enjoy what we were watching. So often we get caught up in the moment of taking the photographs that we forget to "be there" to witness the natural history taking place, to create memories with our loved ones with us out on safari, and to soak up the feeling of being in the bush. This whole afternoon had come to this...and I loved it!

17h30...We turned around and headed back to Satara as the rain started pouring down ever so lightly...what a day!

This sighting will probably end up being one of my most memorable ones. Not just because of what we witnessed and the excitement of having a beautiful leopard like this scale a tree out in the open savannah of Africa, but also because of the nature of the sighting. The planning the night beforehand. The visualisation of the shot from the moment I laid eyes on the tree. The waiting, waiting, and more waiting. The thrill of trying to anticipate the leopard's behaviour. The challenge of working in absolutely horrendous light and pushing my technical skills, knowledge and my gear to the limits. And lastly because this was in Kruger....a place I had been coming to since I can remember. A place with so many special memories, and so many surprises around the corner...anything can happen! There are many luxury safari lodges relatively close to where I took this photo, and they will show you leopard sightings you can only dream about...sometimes multiple individual cats on the same day...and though I love being on safaris like that, there's something about getting images like these in a place like Kruger where you have to "make your own luck" that just proves to be ever-so-much-more satisfying...

In the end, it's experiences like THIS that make me want to get back out there in the bush...and see what's around the next bend in the road...

I hope you were inspired by this account...and I certainly hope it wasn't too long-winded. I probably made up for all those quick blog posts of the past few months here.

Anyway - would love your feedback...and if you have similar stories to share, please do so by dropping a comment on this post.

Happy shooting...

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Impala Leap

2011-08-31T23:47:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone! We are back from a wonderful trip to the Kruger National Park. I am so far behind on working through images of previous trips, but I have managed to work through some images from this recent trip already since there were quite a few special sightings. I will do a lengthy blog post about an awesome leopard sighting we had soon...but for now, here's an image for you to enjoy.

This young impala male was leaping very gracefully at the start of its run, and I was happy to be able to fit him into the frame and also to be at quite a low vantage point relative to the buck's position.

(Nikon D3s | Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II) f5.6 | 1/1600 SS | ISO-800

See you soon with a more lengthy post!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: African Darter Portrait

2011-08-19T00:27:00.000+02:00

I am off to the Kruger National Park tomorrow for a glorious 8 days of quality time with my wife and baby daughter, being in nature, feeling close to the Creator and obviously a little photography.

Before I go, here's a portrait of an African Darter taken in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, earlier this year for you to enjoy.

f7.1 | 1/640 SS | ISO-400 | Focal length 600mm

Expect some new images when I return!
Stay safe...

Morkel Erasmus

First Nikon D3s results

2011-08-08T00:47:00.002+02:00

So, I received my new photographic equipment on Friday...and took it for a test run on Saturday at the Rietvlei Nature Reserve in Pretoria, South Africa.

Let me say right off the bat that I am by no means a technical gear-tester-cum-review-writer...for that there are many fine websites all over the world where they do extensive testing with colour charts, sharpness metrics and fancy lab results. I can only reflect here how I experience the equipment based on my techniques and preferences in real-world shooting.

Anyhow, here are some initial results obtained with the Nikon D3s and the Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II lens (with and without the TC-14E-II teleconverter).

This first image is of a male ostrich walking towards me. This is basically full frame and is chock full of details. The image quality is something else and there is no grain visible at all on this shot (taken at ISO-800).


f4 \| 1/1250 SS \| ISO-800

Here is a close-up of the same ostrich's face. This was cropped from 12 megapixels down to 3.5 megapixels, and have a look at the detail retained.

f4 | 1/2500 SS | ISO-800

This herd of zebra shows how beautifully the 500mm lens renders the out-of-focus background:

f5.6 | 1/1600 SS | ISO-400

It's a well-known fact by now that this camera excels in low-light situations because of its excellent handling of high ISO settings. The benefit for bird/wildlife/sports photographers is not just that it handles poor light well, it's also that the excellent image quality attainable at high ISO settings translates to a much faster shutter speed being possible when the light is decent. Here are a few shots taken on this particular morning with higher ISO settings. These were taken with the 1.4 teleconverter attached.

f5.6 | 1/3200 SS | ISO-1600

f5.6 | 1/1250 SS | ISO-1600

I also went one step further to test the high ISO capabilities of the D3s. I took the camera to church this morning with the aim of doing some low-light photography on our stage. For this purpose I also took along 2 of my new lenses in my bag: the Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8G ED and Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8G ED.

Both these lenses excel in low-light situations...and I was amazed by the overall results. The following photos are directly out-of-camera, I did not even apply slight adjustments in the conversion of the RAW files (NEF files).

Test Shot 1: ISO-3200
Most of you won't know that my other favourite pastime is making music. Before photography came along and completely ruined my budget and time allocation I was a very active touring musician (vocalist/guitarist), now I mostly play and sing at our church and for friends and family. This is my favourite electric guitar, a PRS Custom-22. This was photographed with the ambient light from the stage lights and no camera flash was used.

f2.8 | 1/30 SS | ISO-3200

Test Shot 2: ISO-12800
I photographed our drummer, Mike Botha, on stage using the 14-24mm lens and some fill flash from the Nikon SB-900 speedlight. Again, this is straight out of the camera at a ridiculously high ISO setting...

f22 | 1/60 SS | ISO-12800

Well, there you have my initial images taken with some of my new kit. I might post some sample images of my experience with the Nikon D7000 at a later stage.

Curious to know what you think?

Regards,

Morkel Erasmus

The Big Switch

2011-08-05T00:26:00.003+02:00

The time has finally arrived...after months of planning, contemplating and weighing my options...I am now officially switching photographic brands.

From

I have been shooting with Canon ever since I started out early in 2009. At the time they had the most enticing entry-level offering, and as many of you know, as soon as you start buying lenses you are mostly set onto one brand for the rest of your photographic career.

But something strange happened early in 2010. I was afforded the opportunity to shoot with the acclaimed Nikon D3s and a couple of Nikkor lenses. Needless to say I was impressed...for wildlife photography there simply is no other camera that can perform like the D3s does. Its high ISO files are very clean, even up to commercial usage standards. Its autofocus system simply rocks. And image quality and dynamic range are off the charts. Since using this monster of a camera, I have dreamed of owning one...which of course implied that I would have to change systems sometime.

Yes, yes, I know many will say I am senseless and a new announcement of a possible Nikon D4 is due later this month...but the time is now. I have an opportunity to make this move now...and the D3s will be a magnificent piece of machinery for quite some time still. I also like to give a new piece of photographic equipment some time to 'settle in'...see what others are saying about it and see if there are any glitches that came in during development (that's one thing the Canon 1Dmk3 fiasco taught the photographic community). We should also try to avoid always trying to be on the forefront of developments - it's a dangerous place to be since tomorrow's new technology is obsolete the next day.

So - in the past few weeks I have sold all my Canon gear. Every piece of equipment I have owned has served me very well and you will find it hard to get me to bad-mouth the Canon brand. However, I feel Nikon is better suited to the photographs I want to create, and and am looking forward to getting to know my new toys. I am picking them up tomorrow...now to get the first half of the day to pass quickly!

I will be pairing up my D3s with the D7000, giving me both a full frame and 1.5x field-of-view crop factor camera. The lenses I am going to use are:
14-24mm f2.8
24-70mm f2.8
70-200mm f2.8 VR-II
500mm f4 VR-II

I will also try to convey some of my experiences in using these cameras and lenses in the field during the coming months.

Till next time, keep shooting, no matter what you're shooting with! And remember, in the end it's the monkey behind the viewfinder that's responsible for taking the photo...

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Pied Kingfisher

2011-08-01T00:34:00.000+02:00

Another quick photo! This was taken from the Mankwe Hide in the Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa, sometime last year. I am hoping to go there again soon if time and opportunity allows.

f8.0 | 1/2500 SS | ISO-1000

Cheers!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Cape Mountain Zebra

2011-07-24T22:33:00.000+02:00

It seems like July will slip by without another decent blog post, but here is a quick PhotoShare for you guys.

I captured this image before sunrise in April 2011 in the quaint little Mountain Zebra National Park in the Karoo desert, South Africa. I will do a proper blog post sometime soon about this great underappreciated National Park.

f4.0 | 1/100 SS | ISO-1000 | 420mm focal length

Hope you enjoy this one. Cheers!

Morkel Erasmus

Petition: Stop Rhino poaching in Africa!

2011-07-14T23:35:00.000+02:00

Hi there folks.

This'll be a short post. I was shared this petition by a fellow photographer on Facebook and thought to send it on via my blog too. Many of you might be aware of this issue already, but Rhino poaching has been on a dramatic increase over the last 2 years, especially in my native South Africa.

By June the 3rd 2011, more than 170 rhinos had already been wiped out for their horns, and in the 2010 calendar year the figure amounted to more than 1 per day on average. The ridiculous notion held in the Far East that their horns are worth something medicinally and helpful for sexual arousal is fueling the demand for this "commodity".

Please take a moment to sign this petition HERE, which is due to be sent to high-ranking government officials in Vietnam.

Thanks for your time!

Yours in conservation (in a very small way),
Morkel Erasmus

OVERWHELMING: The power of panoramic presentation

2011-07-03T17:51:00.000+02:00

Hey everyone...

I did a rework this week of an old photo...you know how that goes, right? You progress in your photography and your post-processing skills, and you think: "hey, remember that photo I captured at ______ last ______? (fill in the blanks) Let's see what it looks like now."

In this case it wasn't so much a new processing skill I learned, but that I realised after browsing through the particular shoot's thumbnails that I realised I had taken alternative compositions of this scene. With the advent of digital imaging we tend to sometimes just click the shutter as many times as we can at as many perspectives possible to make sure we make the most of the scene...the problem is we end up forgetting exactly what we shot and why we did so.

The original is of a lonely tree (cliche, right?) overwhelmed by some building cumulus clouds over the South African Highveld. I titled the photo - you guessed it - OVERWHELMING. The original perspective was shot using the Canon 100-400mm zoom lens, at a focal length of 105mm (thus nearly as wide as I could go with this lens).

100mm focal length | single image | slight crop from the top

Just for overall perspective, here is the same scene (albeit with a cooler white balance setting) shot at 22mm. This is close to how the human eye perceives the scene (at 35mm focal length equivalent).

22mm focal length | single image | no crop

Now, going back to the folder I remembered that I had also used the 105mm focal length setting in the first post on this scene and shot a few consecutive frames with the view of stitching them together as a panorama one day. That day came last week. I opened up the 3 consecutive shots in Photoshop in order to stitch them together using the "Photomerge" command. Now it goes without mention that the final stitched image not only provides a "grander sweep" of the scene, but also has a much higher resolution than I could have achieved with a single image...this makes it easy to print it BIG.

I also went for a darker, moodier feel...converting to black and white with a red filter to bring the most out of the blue sky (that tip is for free!). The only crop I applied was to remove the "white edges"...after compiling a panorama the image is usually left with some white edges where the image had to be straightened to fit the next image perfectly.

105mm focal length | 3 images stitched together | crop to remove white edges

This kind of image unfortunately doesn't display well on a blog format where the maximum image width is constrained. You can view a larger version on my 500px profile here

I don't have a larger version than the 500px version online yet...so watch this space.

I would love your feedback. Which one works better for you, and why???

Cheers, till next time...

Morkel Erasmus

My initial impressions of 500px

2011-06-26T22:32:00.000+02:00

So the buzz on the photographic-web is the photo-sharing site 500px. I had seen the tweets flying about for a while but was honestly too busy to really check it out. When I eventually headed over there I was pleasantly surprised...

At first glance it looked a bit like a merge between the better functions of Flickr and the aesthetic appeal (image-wise and layout-wise) of 1X. An interesting rating system keeps the best images of the pack at the front of the display and also keeps them rotating so that older pics eventually fall back in ratings, making way for fresh work to be displayed upfront.

I share some concerns listed by my friend David Lloyd on the "weight" of the "dislike" button (you can either 'like' or 'dislike' a photo). One "like" seems to increase the rating of a particular photo by very little, while one "dislike" greatly reduces the rating so that it takes quite a few more "likes" for the photo to get where it was initially. The obvious effect of this is that people can sort of "manipulate" the system when their photo is just not at the front of the display...they can simply click on a few images which are ahead of theirs and "dislike" them...mmmhmmm...

Anyhow - I have created a profile and uploaded some initial photos. I already linked up with many of my photographic acquaintances worldwide, and it seems like it's a vibrant community with some of the cream of the photographic crop posting there. I am still deciding whether to dive in full-on and upgrade to an "awesome" account (their lingo for a fully privileged user account). They also allow you to build a portfolio site where others can go to your individual portfolio "outside" of the normal 500px system. This can be linked from your own homepage and customised considerably once you go "awesome".

One thing though - don't expect another "photographic critique community". There are many good ones out there (I am a participant in a few and a moderator on Birdphotographers.net) where you can get insightful, invaluable and sometimes harsh critique on your images. Not on 500px...and quite frankly I don't think this was its design function. 500px is all about "eye candy", getting a "visual fix" so to speak. The website design is smooth and aesthetically pleasing (I am no expert on effective and efficient web design so take it where it comes from), activity levels are high and climbing, and the images in general are of a high quality. I can definitely see 500px being a part of my online photographic "presence" in the future.

Why don't you head on over there and see for yourself???
My profile within the site is located at:
www.500px.com/morkelerasmus
My portfolio created by 500px for outside viewers is located at:
www.morkelerasmus.500px.com

Until next time...

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Elephants from on high

2011-06-18T00:48:00.000+02:00

Here is another quick photo - I am really swamped with work and personal issues so my lengthy blog post is still not finished (humble apologies).

This herd of elephants was photographed from the air - I was in an open-door helicopter flying low over the magnificent Okavango Delta in Botswana.

Enjoy!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Savute Elephants

2011-06-05T20:10:00.000+02:00

Since returning from Botswana I have not had time to even touch the ground, or so it feels! Apologies for this not being a longer, more detailed blog post...I should be able to concoct one in June at least!

These elephant bulls were marching on the Savute marsh. The marsh is now receiving water for the first time in decades, after the Savute channel started flowing for the first time in over 40 years about 2 years ago. I look forward to returning there later this year!

f7.1 | 1/800 SS | ISO-400

Till we speak again!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Another one bites the dust!

2011-05-16T22:12:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone!! So I am back from an amazing trip to Botswana...with so many photos to work through I don't even know where to start...

Here is a quick one from our first morning on safari. This was the first time in my life I had witnessed this kind of behaviour, which is called "geophagia" (definition thanks to my friend Grant Atkinson, an amazingly talented photographic safari guide in Botswana). This Plains Zebra (Burchell's Zebra) was biting chunks off a termite mound in order to supplement her diet with specific nutrients.

I am in the process of doing a full trip report so hang in there!!


f5.6 \| 1/2000 SS \| ISO-800

Morkel Erasmus

How LOW can you go???

2011-04-29T00:30:00.001+02:00

Everybody who knows anything remotely significant about wildlife and bird photography will tell you how important it is to get eye contact with your subject. In a previous post I expanded on why and when I think there are times when you can break this "rule"...but in most cases the saying rings true.

I want to add to this: eye-contact at the subject's eye level is just as important!

The problem we often have to face, whether we are on a self-drive safari or on a game-viewing vehicle on a guided safari, is that we are just too high to get a real meaningful perspective on smaller subjects. Placing the photo on the subject's eye level adds a lot of impact, poignancy and "relevance" to a photograph...it allows the viewer to really connect with your subject. Because, let's be honest, many photos out there look like they could have been taken in any zoo or animal compound because of the "unnaturally" high angle of the shot. Like I said above, this is not always possible (you wouldn't want to get out and lie down in front of a close approaching lion now would you?)...but when it is at all possible to do so safely and without causing undue distress to the animal or bird...try it!

I'll give you a quick example. Below are 2 photos I captured of ground squirrels in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (albeit not on the same trip). The first one was a very cute baby which I had to snap from the car window at an angle that is not a deal-breaker, but less-than-ideal in any case.

f8.0 | 1/250 SS | ISO-200

In the next photo I was in the Twee Rivieren rest camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park lying flat on my stomach to photograph these ground squirrels who were busy scrounging for a morsel in the unforgiving Kalahari sands. The lower angle really makes a big difference in placing the viewer in the scene, even though the mathematical difference in viewing "angle" here is probably not that much.

f7.1 | 1/640 SS | ISO-400

Many times the topography of the land will actually assist you in getting that ideal angle without you having to go through the extra effort! A case in point: observe the pictures of the following 2 lions. I digress they were photographed in completely different settings, but alas, this is to illustrate the point. This large male was photographed in the Madikwe Game Reserve from a game-viewing vehicle. Most of you who've been on safari in Africa will have a similar shot. It's stock standard. The light wasn't ideal, so I used a bit of flash.

f8.0 | 1/100 SS | ISO-400

The 2nd lion was a lioness we spent some time with in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. She and the rest of her pride were just waking up at dusk after their afternoon nap and were getting ready for the night's hunting. She was lying on an incline of a dune, which made a very unique angle possible, even from the window of the SUV we were driving at the time.

f5.6 | 1/1000 SS | ISO-1600

Also notice how just going that little bit lower helps to separate your subject from the sometimes distracting background just a bit more. I hope this post has at least inspired you to try getting down low more often!

I am leaving early next week for a wonderful safari to the Savute and Okavango Delta regions of Botswana...and I am very excited!

So, until I return with more wonderful stories, photos and tips from the bush - keep well and keep clicking!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Canyon Reflections

2011-04-12T21:54:00.000+02:00

I am almost on my way on another wonderful succession of trips, but before I leave I thought it prudent to dish up at least another PhotoShare blog post.

I was digging into some of my files for a submission for a calendar company, and came across this one from our legendary 2009 Fish River Canyon hike. This canyon in Namibia is the second-largest in the world, and the hike takes you over some arduous terrain in very harsh climates.

Photography down in the canyon can be especially tricky, given that your essentially miss your "golden hours" of light due to the fact that you are walled in by the canyon walls on either side, and it takes a while for the morning sun to get high enough to reach the inside of the canyon, and in the afternoon it "sets" quite quicker than normal.

The only really decent moments as far as light is concerned, are the few minutes that the walls are glowing before the sun climbs too high and starts baking down on you as you trudge across the canyon floor. This shot was from one such moment. The water in the Fish River was actually flowing quite nicely during this hike (which was at the start of the dry season). I managed to squeeze off this shot hand-held while my hiking party was leaving me behind!

f11 | 1/50 SS | ISO-200

Morkel Erasmus

Come on Safari with me!!

2011-04-03T23:22:00.001+02:00

Hey everyone!!

I sincerely hope all my regular SAFFAscapes readers are doing well. It's time to unveil some exciting news which come sort-of as a shameless plug...

Have you ever looked at the photos I post and stories/sightings I share here on my blog and wished you could have been there? Well, now you can!

I have joined forces with the world-renowned luxury hotel/tourism group Orient Express to set up specialist photographic safaris at some of their select safari camps in Botswana. The itinerary for these trips is something special and each one promises to deliver amazing photographic opportunities, plus a chance to engage with like-minded people and interact with me in the field and in processing-workshop-sessions. We will cover wildlife, avian and landscape photography and the trips include a scenic helicopter flight over the Okavango Delta - an opportunity which is sure to deliver excellent photos for your portfolio. We are aptly calling these safari-workshops "Wildlife in Focus".

If you want more information, or to make a booking for one of our intended trips - head on over to the official "journey" page here:

ORIENT EXPRESS JOURNEYS IN AFRICA:
WILDLIFE IN FOCUS

Hope to see you there!!

Morkel Erasmus

Beauty in Simplicity

2011-03-27T21:47:00.000+02:00

One of the things I love about landscape photography is finding beauty in unexpected places. Many times you are in such a hurry to compose as many variations of a scene during the fleeting moments of sweet light available to you, that you don't REALLY get to take all the details and nuances in visually.

As I went into my 2010 archives, I came across this shot. I was capturing the sunrise on a clear morning on the South African "Wild Coast" near a little town called Haga-Haga. I was changing compositions here from the rising sun over the coastline to the interesting rock patterns that ran into the ocean perpendicular to the rising sun. I noticed the light was hitting the rocks nicely, and with only a little cloud cover in the sky on the horizon-line, I decided to compose for majority land and minimal sky.

Only after viewing it on my large screen at home did I notice the lovely nuances of colour and texture in the rocks patterns, and the way the rocks act as converging leading lines with the creases in the rock "floor".

f16 // ISO-100 // Blend of 2 images to tame dynamic range

I blended two exposures here to achieve optimal dynamic range.

Hope you liked this one! Let me know what you think, and if you've had similar experiences.

Morkel Erasmus

Some exposure in the UK newspapers!

2011-03-16T21:39:00.001+02:00

Good news everybody! The online editions of the popular UK newspapers the Daily Mail and the Telegraph picked up a series of photos of mine to publish this week. The photos cover unusual behaviour by an African Tree Squirrel.

Check out these links:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366128/Squirrel-carries-baby-nest-coiled-tiny-ball.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/8380640/Pictures-of-the-day-14-March-2011.html

I am stoked about this exposure, and hope this is the start of more similar opportunities.

Kind regards

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Dumbo's Ears

2011-03-14T20:47:00.001+02:00

Hey folks, time for another quick PhotoShare...

We spent this particular morning in February 2010 on a game drive in the Sabi-Sands Game Reserve, and came across a small herd of African Elephant consisting of cows, calves and this young bull.

At one point he was right next to the vehicle, and something irritated him...causing him to shake is head vigorously from side to side. I loved the way this frame captured the flapping ears.

He was very close (focusing distance 3.98m) and so I used an aperture of 2.8 to ensure only the necessary detail was in focus, placing emphasis on the face and eye.

f2.8 // 1/640 SS // ISO-400

Hope you enjoyed this one.

Keep well

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: African Jacana

2011-03-07T00:06:00.000+02:00

I am swamped at the moment...but thought I just HAD to do a quick blog post, even if it's just to share a photo I processed recently and enjoyed viewing.

This African Jacana adult was photographed from the rim of a small boat on a pond near the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

f5.6 // 1/500 SS // ISO-400

Many die-hard bird photographers will bemoan the "head angle" here (the fact that the head is turned away from the camera ever so slightly), but I do feel the very low angle placing the viewer in the bird's environment is the strong point of this photo, and it actually dominates anything that could be found wanting here (combined with nice golden light of course!).

What do you think? Would love your thoughts...

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: White-fronted Plover Chick

2011-02-19T14:26:00.000+02:00

I thought it was about time for another PhotoShare. I should be able to get to a longer, more informative blog post sometime soon, but with a new baby in the house, you know how it goes!

This cute little white-fronted plover chick was the object of my photographic pursuit one summer morning on the South African west coast town of Dwarskersbos. Unlike the other coastlines of South Africa which are marked by cliffs, rocks, forests and dunes...the west coast is marked by miles and miles of stretching, smooth beaches.

I got down very low for this perspective of this elusive little bird. As you can see from its plumage, it blends in very well with this beach environment which is filled with scattered broken bits of shells. Every time I got close, the chick laid down and got lost to my eyes.

Until next time...

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Cheetah Cub Profile

2011-02-11T12:21:00.000+02:00

Managed to find the time for a quick PhotoShare this morning. This cheetah cub was one of four who were feasting on a springbok lamb their mother had caught in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa.

You can see more about the sighting in my June 2010 blog post "How to Cheetah your way through the Kalahari".

Enjoy!!

f6.3 // 1/500 SS // ISO-500

Morkel Erasmus

Quick Update!!

2011-02-08T19:18:00.000+02:00

Hey everyone...

I apologize upfront for the silence on my side. Things have been quite hectic! First off, our first-born arrived on Thursday, so much of my time has gone into preparing for her arrival and also in starting to learn the ropes of parenthood.

Here is a photo of me holding little Aimee Erasmus in the hospital:

There are some VERY exciting developments on my side of the world. If you have ever read this blog and wondered what it would be like to go on Photographic Safaris with me, then there's some news coming up which will pique your interest! I'll expand more on it later when things have fallen into place.

I should be able to post a new photo sometime later in the week.

Until then - keep well! I probably won't be sleeping much, but the joys of parenthood far outweigh the side-effects!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Ground Hornbill in the Air

2011-01-29T00:28:00.000+02:00

This is going to be an exciting week at the Erasmus house, folks! Our first child is arriving sometime between today and Thursday...so things are bound to change around here! Will keep you updated as things progress. We are very excited and anxious to welcome out daughter Aimee into this world.

In the meantime - here's another PhotoShare for you to enjoy. Those who have been to Africa before will know that the Ground Hornbill is quite a quirky character. They normally walk around on the ground (hence the name) and hunt for anything from locusts to small reptiles. On this occasion we had the rare privilege of seeing a whole family of these interesting birds up in a tree early one morning in the northern Kruger National Park.

The light was sweet and the birds obliged.

f4.0 // 1/1000 SS // ISO-500

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Lion Loving

2011-01-19T21:07:00.001+02:00

Warning - this pose is PG13!! Hahaha...

During a trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa over September of 2009, we came across an amorous lion couple by the side of the road in front of a fallen camelthorn tree.

Those of you who have been fortunate enough to witness their courtship up close and personal would know that it's an unforgettable experience. The noises they make while doing their thing are spine-chilling and they tend to keep at it for a few consecutive days, allowing many safari-goers to enjoy the sighting.

Many photographers have taken photos of lions mating in places like the Serengeti, allowing for smooth, clean backgrounds. What I like about this presentation, is the ferocity of the absolute pinnacle of their act of procreation, depicted against a backdrop of an iconic Kalahari background of a fallen camelthorn acacia.

What do you think?

f5.6 // 1/2000 SS // ISO-400

Enjoy the coming weekend, and don't leave your cameras in their bags!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Hung Over Hyena

2011-01-12T23:34:00.009+02:00

I have been so swamped with work and preparations for the coming of our baby, that I haven't even found time to do a decent first post for 2011.

Here is a quicky: a young Spotted Hyena which we encountered in the Kruger Park in 2009. He was looking VERY groggy, as if he'd had a very late night with a few drinks too many.

Enjoy!!

Morkel Erasmus

My Top 10 for 2010

2010-12-30T23:34:00.007+02:00

I really can't believe we are at the end of 2010...it seems like only yesterday when we walked into this year all excited about the big things that were set to happen in our famlies, our lives, our cities, our countries and our world. Like any and every year 2010 had its fair share of ups and downs. I'm going to abstain from getting all deep and philosophical in this post (heck, those who know me well know that I do that often enough!)...and focus on one of the things that I can honestly say had only ups for me this year...my photography. Ever since taking up this hobby (read: obsession), I have been privileged to get to know and learn from many great photographers, and looking back over the past year I can really see how my own craft has grown, evolved and morphed into what it is now.

This past year has been filled with wonderful road-trips, safaris and memories that will last a lifetime. I have once again realised what a privilege and honour it is to live in a country as diverse and beautiful as South Africa, and I truly hope I will be able to explore even more of our wonderful continent in the years to come. I was also humbled to be among the winning photographers in the BBC Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards for a photo I captured in 2009.

So I set myself the daunting task of choosing my "Top 10" images for 2010. The title is actually a misnomer - because it is a personal choice of 10 images that were memorable for me during the year. It might be that some of the images were chose because they remind me of the wonderful trip that was taken more than they strike me as being photographically exemplary...yet each one is indeed special to me, and I hope they will be to you.

What also makes this a VERY tricky choice for me is that I am essentially a "photographic all-rounder wannabe" when it comes to nature photography. I have a special affinity for wildlife but I love my landscape shooting and also avian photography. Choosing 10 images from the whole year that represents this wide array of photographic subjects I cover throughout the year is a daunting task!

Here they are, numbered from 1-10 but arranged in chronological order based on when they were captured. It is also worthy to note that there might be "better" images still lying unprocessed on my hard drives...only time will tell!

1. "Welcome to the Rainbow Nation"

I remember so vividly the day this photo was taken. We were out in the Sabi-Sands Game Reserve with Marius Coetzee, and we were trying our best to dodge the on-and-off thundershowers that were prevalent at the time. Just as we came into a clearing - we noticed a herd of buffalo...and as we approached, the sun came out and voila!...a massive double rainbow appeared right over the herd. It was just one of those epic photographic moments. I captured many shots of this scene, but the ultra-wide angle which shows the full rainbow takes the cake for me.

f11 // 1/160 SS // ISO-200

2. "Overwhelming..."

The South African Highveld it notorious for its massive thunderstorms in the summer. It's also particularly notorious for its bland landscape...miles and miles of grassland interrupted only in places by clumps of trees (usually intruder-species at that). Yet, sometimes those 2 notorieties come together very nicely - as was the case on this day in early May 2010. We were away with friends for the weekend to a fly-fishing lodge in the area of Dullstroom, Mpumalanga, when on one afternoon I noticed an ominous bank of cumulus clouds building up over a lone tree on a ridge some distance away. I used a telephoto lens to add some compression to the elements and also make the tree more prominent. Sometimes, less just is more...


f8.0 // 1/1000 SS // ISO-320

3. "Coming Out"

Even though I had a few avian photographs that I am excited about, 2010 was a year in which I slightly neglected the birder in me. I'm hoping to change that in 2011! This wound up being the only bird on the 2010 Top 10 list. At the end of May 2010, myself and 2 friends, fellow photographers Hendri Venter and Mark Dumbleton set off to the Lowveld town of Malelane, to the farm of JC and Suzaan Rousseau. Our mission: photographing a Pied and Malachite Kingfishers from a small boat set adrift on a little pond. This was my best result from our 2 days spent trying to capture these little missiles. We used small bream (a kind of fish) captured in the same pond to bait the birds - thereby optimizing our chances of capturing the diving action where it happened.

f5.0 // 1/3200 SS // ISO-2000

4. "Madikwe Lionscape"

Some of you might remember this photo from a more comprehensive blog post earlier in the year. It was taken in the Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa, on a glorious morning where we had this lion all to ourselves, roaring his lungs out. For much more detail about this particular sighting, check out the previous blog post here. On this particular morning I was fortunate enough to share this moment with my wife, Gerry van der Walt and Kerry de Bruyn.

f4.5 // ISO-400 // Blend of 2 exposures

5. "Kalahari Dawn"
Photography is all about "painting with light"...what you do with the light available at the time and from the vantage point you are looking at. For nature photography in general, it's all about the first hour and last hour of the day...that's when the light is at its best. If the weather plays along and it's not overcast, the next issue you face is actually having something to photograph when the sweet light hits. Early one morning in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in June 2010, we were lucky enough to come across a herd of springbok grazing in the magnificent light that was filtering through the camelthorn acacia leaves.

f5.0 // 1/5000 SS // ISO-1250

6. "Dune Stalker"

When compiling this list of images, I was initially under the impression that I would have a lot of predators in these 10 photos, simply because we have had such a plethora of great predator sightings in National Parks all around South Africa. Yet, when I whent through the images, I could really only pick 2, especially since the collection had to be a holistic look at the year through my lens. This young male cheetah was stalking along a dune in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa, during our trip in June 2010. I love giving animals some "breathing room" in my images, and this was no exception - there were streaky clouds in the sky and the feline was walking on top of a calcrete ridge, a typical landmark in the Kalahari desert.

f8.0 // 1/1600 SS // ISO-400

7. "Karoo Sentinel"

I had to include one "starscape" image, especially as a reminder of the many nights we spent under the magnificent African night sky. This image was captured in the Karoo desert, South Africa, more specifically in the Mountain Zebra National Park. I had the fortune of the rising full moon lighting up the mountain in the distance. I opened the shutter for 25 seconds to enable the sensor to capture as many stars as possible yet prevent it from capturing too much of the earth's rotation. The foreground and aloe were painted with an LED torch bounced off my hand for a warmer glow and to spread the light more evenly around.

f3.5 // 25/1 SS // ISO-1600

8. "Black Rhino"

How could I not include a rhino image in this collection, especially in light of the knock that the rhino population in Africa (and to my shame, in South Africa especially) has taken in 2010? Increased poaching (fueled by a narcissistic and idiotic notion in the Far East that the horn of this wonderful creature is good for your love life) has placed an immense strain on these animals and the commited rangers who have to guard them with their lives. This sighting was special in that it was one of my first close encounters with a black rhino (the more endangered and elusive of the two). I will however NOT disclose where it was taken...such information is detrimental to give out at this time.


f8.0 // 1/640 SS // ISO-400

9. "Sunrise over Goera Pan"

This is one of my favourite landscape photos of 2010. I don't know if I am biased (I probably am), but this shot just oozes a "take me to the Kalahari" feel. This was taken on a farm about 100km south of the entrance to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa. I also shared this photo via a "PhotoShare" blog post earlier, which you can read here. When I look at this shot, I feel like I am standing on that dune again, with the rising sun hitting me full in the face...

f22 // ISO-100 // Blend of 4 exposures

10. "Elusive Feline"

I have not shared this sighting on my blog yet, and I will probably write a thorough blog post about it sometime in the near future. Suffice it to say that in more than 20 years of annual trips to South Africa's nature reserves and National Parks (in most years visiting more than one park more than once) I had never seen a caracal in the wild...until October 2010 when myself and a friend were lucky enough to come across 2 separate caracals in the space of 20 minutes in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park!!! We followed this scruffy-looking female for more than 5km before she approached a nearby waterhole for a cautious drink. This shot was captured on her approach to the water...in typical feline fashion.

f7.1 // 1/800 SS // ISO-400

There you have it.......oh stuff it! Since I'm in a sharing mood and it was such a strenuous task selecting the right variety of shots for this post, I might just as well share my 2 "runners-up", the 2 images that just-just didn't make the cut. They will make the cut now, though, turning this Top 10 into an effective Top 12.

11. "Squirrel Rocket"

First of the "almost-made-it" bunch is this fleet-footed little guy. You might remember seeing him in my post about panning shots. These ground squirrels are real characters in the Kalahari desert. I was lying flat on my stomach in the Two Rivers rest camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, trying specifically to portray the speed of these blokes by panning with a slow shutter speed. This shot came out exactly how I wanted it to...out of hundreds of attempts.

f14 // 1/50 SS // ISO-200

12. "Pinning Mom"

Last, but not least, this super-cute lion cub gave us a very special sighting in the Sabi-Sands Game Reserve. It was the only cub of the litter, and the only cub in the pride. She was playing with its mother and she was getting kind of irritated with her cub. Sadly - "Supercub" didn't survive the year, which makes this image even more special.

f4.0 // 1/400 SS // ISO-1250

There! That officially ends the list...

May you have a very fulfilling 2011. I'm not going to wish that it all goes well and prosperous, because we all know that life just doesn't work that way. I will wish that you learn from the hardships, bask in the joyful moments, grow through the struggles, savour the love and come to the end of 2011, look back on it and not regret a thing.

May your camera also produce wonderful images and memories...

Morkel Erasmus

PS: I'll only blog on this site again next year ;)
PPS: If you enjoyed this post, please do drop a comment on the blog!
PPPS: Also remember to check out my official website and my Facebook page (links on the sidebar as well).

PhotoShare: Farmhouse Ruins

2010-12-23T23:29:00.000+02:00

On this day before Christmas Eve I thought it prudent to share a photo I captured the other evening close to my home. As the sun was setting I noticed that it was going to be a cracker. I decided to make haste to a farm just outside of town where I knew there were some attractive ruins of the ancient farmhouses...problem was that due to another meeting me and the missus had to attend, I had to chase the last vestiges of light...and arrived just too late to get the lovely pink hues on the stacks of Cumulus clouds overhead. I did spend some time though, and was amazed yet again at how much light the camera can capture when the eyes betray you by telling you it's already too dark.

f5.6 // ISO-200 // Blend of 3 exposures

I blended 3 separate exposures here to get the effect I wanted, and had a circular polarising filter screwed onto the front of my ultra-wide-angle lens.

I like this scene because in some way it reminds of a busted-up manger in which something absolutely significant happened roughly 2010 years ago...I wonder what the sunset was like on the day that unto us a Child was born...

Enjoy this Christmas, and make sure you spend it with your loved ones.

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Blyde River Canyon

2010-12-15T21:17:00.001+02:00

Well, as the holiday season is upon us I am reminded of the fact that this December we won't be going on a proper holiday (had a lot of trips during the year though!)...

We are, however, going away for the long weekend to the Mpumalanga escarpment near the town of Graskop. I am hoping to spend some time with my wife before the arrival of our first child early in 2011! We will probably be visiting all the local scenic locations such as the Blyde River Canyon, "God's Window", Bourke's Luck potholes and the likes. I would like to capture some images of these with my camera, as the only real images I have of the Canyon were taken hand-held and in poor light.

Here is a panorama I stitched together from a few shots taken handheld in 2009 while were were briefly in the area for a wedding:

If you are travelling during this festive season, stay safe! Enjoy the rest and for those who will still log into SAFFAscapes from time to time I will probably post some more blog posts since I will be biding my time at home.

Cheers (and don't forget your camera gear at home!)

Morkel Erasmus

The Exhibit...

2010-12-08T00:22:00.000+02:00

So, I am quite excited to leave for Cape Town tomorrow, where I will be attending the opening of the South African leg of the BBC Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010 Exhibit-Roadshow. I couldn't make the London ceremony due to various reasons...so being able to attend this one is a good consolation prize.

I will check back in on Monday with a new blog post or photo or something. Until then - keep safe (especially if you are driving on the roads this holiday season)!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Hold On!!

2010-11-30T22:36:00.001+02:00

It seems the weeks are getting more hectic as the year drags to an end!

Here is a shot I took in December 2009 (almost a year ago) in the northern region of the Greater Kruger Transfrontier Park.

This little chacma baboon was clinging to his mother for all he was worth as she strolled on by early one morning close to the Shingwedzi river. I love framing portraits of animals that sort of break the mold, and this is an example of one. Many people will find many things wrong with this picture in terms of composition and the likes (for example, the mother's feet are too close to the picture's edge)...but somehow this just works for me. This photo is only cropped slightly from the left-hand side and converted to black-and-white to enhance the story.

Would love your thoughts??

f4.0 // 1/200 SS // ISO-800

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Morkel Erasmus

The frustrating magic of panning shots

2010-11-22T23:59:00.003+02:00

Well, as promised, a lengthier, hopefully pithier, blog post...

You've seen them, right? Those blurry shots of birds flying or animals running with just the exact amount of sharpness on the eyes or face or head to make it work beautifully. Those shots which look "Photoshopped" but after investigation you find out it was all achieved using in-camera settings and specific techniques...

"Ground Squirrel Rocket"

f14 // 1/50 SS // ISO-200

I am, of course, talking about panning shots...or as I like to call it: pan-blurring. This is where you use a much slower shutter speed than you normally would when you are attempting to get pin-sharp detail, and you try to track your subject with a single focus point as they speed by you. Keeping up with them is half the trick...keeping the focus point on the exact body part you want to is the other half! Knowing which shutter speed to use...well that's something you'll have to learn through practice (this will differ from subject to subject depending on size and speed!). The background and surroundings of the subject will be visibly blurry...but the idea, as mentioned above, is to get just enough of the subject sharp to convey a real sense of motion and energy while keeping the subject distinguishable.

The best way to handle the technicals in this type of photography, is to shoot on "Shutter Priority" mode - meaning that you set a certain shutter speed you desire, and allow the camera to adjust the other legs of the triangle (those being aperture and ISO). I usually put the ISO on something high such as 200 depending on the available light. This then frees the camera up to adjust the aperture to give you the selected shutter speed every time. In this case you shouldn't be fazed about a selected aperture setting of f18 or f22 for example, as the blurring causes all perceptions of depth-of-field to fall away in any case.

If you've ever attempted doing this, you will know that you get probably one keeper among hundreds of shots (that's if the subject you are photographing is even giving you enough opportunity for repeated takes). And more often than not, that "keeper" is not a real stand-out, either. You will probably try to work with it in processing and end up discarding it anyway because it's just not sharp enough where it needs to be.

The beauty of any type of photography is that every missed opportunity inspires us to work that much harder to make the next opportunity count...and get a better shot. I have deleted countless efforts at perfecting the "pan-blur" shot...and I have neither perfected it or been entirely happy with any of my "keepers"...but I will share them with you nevertheless.

Keep practicing, and keep trying out new ideas when out in the field photographing your favourite subjects! Who knows, you'll probably end up clearing most of the images from your memory card right after shooting them, but you might JUST end up with that winning shot...and that will ultimately be so much more satisfying than shooting the perfectly sharp post-card portraits that every second photographer has in their portfolios.

As promised - here are some of my better efforts at this tricky technique...

Cheers!

Morkel Erasmus

"Red Hartebeest in flight"
f22 // 1/60 SS // ISO-100

"Impala Passenger"
f36 // 1/60 SS // ISO-640

"Cattle Egret"
f5.6 // 1/125 SS // ISO-200

PhotoShare: Sunrise over Goera Pan

2010-11-16T22:50:00.001+02:00

Another insane week on my end has kept me from writing another lengthy blog post...so you will have to be content with another quick PhotoShare. Hopefully I can muster up a properly pithy blog post sometime over the weekend.

This was taken while I was participating in the Spirit of Africa challenge, I was able to do some much-needed Kalahari landscape shooting. Being able to walk around and play with different compositions is a breath of fresh air as far as landscapes in this area goes, as I'm usually bound to my vehicle in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park looking for dangerous predators when I find myself in this area.

The event was held on a local farm, and much of it took place on the "Goera Pan", a large salt pan on the farm which can be seen from the main road between Upington and Askham.

This was taken from a small dune in the middle of the pan, and is a blend of 3 exposures to get the dynamic range of the scene right. I used a fourth exposure with my thumb obscuring the sun to remove distracting lens flare from the shot (more about this technique can be found on the site of Hougaard Malan, an inspiring young South African professional landscape photographer whose work belies his age - he has a few great tutorials on his site).

I set the aperture to f22 in order to get as much of the scene in focus as possible and also to obtain that nice solar star. I also used a circular polariser to obtain the deep blue tone in the sky and eliminate any unwanted reflections of light.

Here is the final image...

f16 // Bracketed Exposures // ISO-100 // Circular Polariser

Hope you liked it...and remember to keep shooting!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Double Leopard on the Rocks, please

2010-11-10T19:32:00.000+02:00

Hey folks...

I don't know about you but I've had a HECTIC week thus far. I was planning a lengthier blog post for this week but, alas, I am not going to get round to it.

Here is another quick PhotoShare to keep the blog and the images rolling. This leopard mother and daughter (named Mambirri and Mantwane) gave us an amazing few sightings during a short trip in February 2010 to the Sabi-Sands Game Reserve in South Africa. Here the cub, Mantwane, was sitting on a large riverine rock as mom Mambirri passed by. I deliberately used shallow depth-of-field (DOF) by setting the camera's aperture to f4.0 in order to get the mother pin sharp and the cub slightly out-of-focus.

Enjoy, and till next time...

f4.0 // 1/1000 SS // ISO-500

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Backlit Meerkats

2010-11-01T23:20:00.000+02:00

Time for a quick PhotoShare everyone...

This troop of Meerkats (Suricates) were taking in the early morning sun in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (Kalahari desert) during our last trip in October 2010.

With the sun coming from directly in front of me, I used the light direction to create a rim-lit effect, with the sun nicely enhancing their outlines by shining through their fur. When doing this, it is necessary to underexpose considerably by dialing down your exposure compensation.

f8.0 // 1/2500 SS // ISO-640 // Exposure bias -1

Enjoy the week ahead!

Morkel Erasmus

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010

2010-10-24T08:29:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone!!

I am back from a short trip to the Kalahari during which I had some amazing sightings, amongst others my first caracal in the wild...but more on that later as I start to work through the photos.

I have the immense honour to have a photo among the winning images in this year's BBC Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition! A photo I took last year in the Kalahari of a lone blue wildebeest on a dune against a dramatic backdrop of cirrus clouds has been "Highly Commended" in the "Nature in Black and White" category.

This achievement evokes in me a plethora of emotions. It is humbling to be included among such amazing examples of photographic art whilst still being relatively new to nature photography, and it is overwhelming to know that I am able to take photos that are able to compete on such a stage.

You can check out my image here (and please also take some time to work through the other winning galleries and check out the inspiring photos on display):

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/photo.do?photo=2647&category=49&group=1

I've seen a few more people have started subscribing to this blog - and for this I am very thankful! Please let me know what you think of the content I publish here by posting comments on the them (I moderate these comments just to prevent spambots).

Until next time!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Kalahari Tree

2010-10-15T08:11:00.001+02:00

Seeing as I'm off to the Kalahari again for the next 8-9 days, I thought I would share an image I captured during our previous trip in June 2010...

This is a typical Kalahari scene...camelthorn acacia, red dunes, vast expanse and (if you are lucky) a stunning sky.

f16 // 1/80 SS // ISO-200

Enjoy the week ahead everyone - I will see you on the flip-side! If you want to you can do me a favour and refer your buddies to my website and blog, hehe...

Morkel Erasmus

The Coucal vs The Chameleon

2010-10-08T13:34:00.001+02:00

Before the weekend kicks off officially, I wanted to share with you a very dramatic bird sighting we had in July 2009 while on a trip to the Kruger National Park (these days called the Greater Kruger Transfrontier Park) in South Africa.

We were travelling from the Lower Sabie rest camp north-west towards the Skukuza rest camp on which is probably one of the best tar roads in the park for game viewing. It winds along next to the Sabie river and offers a myriad of opportunities. After a great lion sighting further down-river, we came across this peculiar sighting:

A Burchell's Coucal was busy trying to best a stubborn chameleon in order to have it for brunch! The chameleon clung tenaciously to anything he could find...with all the parts of his anatomy he could muster...first a foot, then another, and then the tip of its tail...and every now and again the coucal would get one of the chameleon's feet wrested free from its grip, which would result in just another foot grabbing another twig.

I will try to share as many of the usable images I captured of this encounter. Unfortunately the setting with them amongst the lush foliage of a tree and the already harsh late-morning light didn't provide for striking award-winning photos, but it was exciting being able to witness and capture it nonetheless.

This struggle continued for the better part of 40 minutes, with neither the predator nor prey willing to concede defeat. The chameleon was by this time bruised and must have had aching limbs from clinging for dear life to the branches of the tree.

When the Coucal seemed to need to take a breather, it flew down to the ground to regather momentum and probably plan a new attack strategy. Then the strangest thing happened - as it launched off the ground up towards the tree for its final assault...it seemed to have lost the chameleon amongst the leaves of the tree! The chameleon had by this time decided to change colour and assume a stationary position (the only defence it really could offer when not clinging for all it was worth). The Coucal then proceeded to search for the chameleon deeper into the foliage for a few minutes, and just seemed unable to locate its prey again! I don't know why or if the bird couldn't use its sense of smell to locate the chameleon, but alas, we had to move on towards our destination and we had a long way yet to drive for the day.

One this this experience taught me is to stop looking around for the big things when on safari...and to take notice of and appreciate the little things, the small sightings which seem insignificant at first glance but, if you take a minute to observe them, could end up being the most exciting part of your day on safari.

I would like to believe that the chameleon made it in the end...don't you?

Enjoy the weekend!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Amongst Giants

2010-10-04T10:53:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone...

I thought I'd kick off October 2010 with an endearing PhotoShare moment. I photographed this herd of African Elephants earlier in August in the Addo Elephant National Park. The little one seemed to get lost among the bulky adults around him, and I also liked that he was the only one facing me.

f8.0 // 1/500 SS // ISO-400

I hope you enjoyed this one. There are many more photos on my new WEBSITE (which I launched last week in case you missed it). Go check it out - and remember you need to have the latest version of Flash installed to enhance your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Morkel Erasmus

Birthdays and Websites

2010-09-28T06:57:00.001+02:00

Okay so here it is - my 28th birthday! Not that it's really a big enough deal to blog about, but I decided to give myself a different kind of present today...

I am indeed happy to announce the launch of my new "OFFICIAL" website!

It has taken me some time to select the best format and layout and put everything together, and I would love for you to pop on over and have a look. I have added a link on the right-hand-side of the main blog page as well, but here it is officially:

http://MORKELERASMUS.com

Please be kind enough to drop me a comment on this post and letting me know what you think.

Cheers!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Kalahari Lion

2010-09-21T13:51:00.001+02:00

Hi there everyone!

Here's today's "PhotoShare"...an imposing male lion on morning dune patrol in the Kalahari desert.

This photo was taken in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. Enjoy!

f7.1 // 1/1000 SS // ISO-500 // Exposure bias +0.3

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Steppe Buzzard

2010-09-16T17:26:00.000+02:00

So here's my first attempt at a mid-week random blog post with very little of me babbling and a nice photo attached. Rather than calling it "Photo of the Day" (because I can't guarantee that I'll find time to select and post one every single day), I will label it "PhotoShare"...(patent pending! hehe)

This was my very first sighting of a Steppe Buzzard, a summer migrant to South Africa. I photographed this beautiful raptor very early one overcast morning in the Kruger National Park on the road between the Orpen and Satara rest camps.

You will have noticed from my previous post that I started sharing my technical settings as captions underneath my photographs - this is for all you fellow photographers to either learn from or challenge my settings...with the low light here I had to rest the lens on a beanbag draped over the car window to ensure a sharp shot at the 400mm focal length.

Enjoy!


f4.0 // 1/125 SS // ISO-800 // Exposure bias -0.3 // Focal Length 400mm

Morkel Erasmus

The Amazing African Night Sky

2010-09-12T19:00:00.003+02:00

Well, good afternoon. I don't really know where you are when reading this, or what the time is...but right now it is about 17h40 on a lazy Sunday afternoon in South Africa.

I am aiming to now post at least one blog post per week, if not more, but in a more "photo-of-the-day" style, with intermittent longer, more thoughtful posts. That way I can keep everyone updated on my photos as I process them from previous travels, and keep the site a little more active.

Those of you who've been to Africa before will know that there is just nothing like the night sky of Africa. In the USA I know they speak of Montana as "Big Sky Country", but in Africa it just seems that everywhere is "Big Sky Country". And if the daytime clouds and expanse don't convince you, the stars at night surely will. In general Africa has many places that are still quite devoid of serious "light pollution", which enables a much clearer view of the Milky Way and Southern Hemisphere "starscape".

The Milky Way as seen in the Kalahari desert, South Africa
f3.5 // 30s // ISO-6400

I have started dabbling in night-time photography, especially pertaining to landscapes, since investing in a camera that can handle higher ISO values with aplomb (partly due to being inspired by my friend Mark Dumbleton and his exceptional nocturnal photographs). This opens up a whole new world to the budding nature photographer, and for those lucky enough to visit places like Africa (or live in them), can have plenty of opportunities to explore this photographic genre.

Many people will have seen examples of "Star Trails" where the photographer set up the camera to take a very long exposure to depict the rotation of the Earth around its axis, and how that changes the appearance of the night sky. Recently, with cameras being able to handle ISO-values of 1600, 2000, 2500 and even 3200-6400 with excellent retention of detail, another variation on the theme has emerged...so-called "starscapes". In short, the ISO value on the digital SLR camera translates to what old-school SLR users called "film speed", and is the actual sensitivity of the DSLR sensor to the intake of light. The higher this value, the more light can be absorbed, however this also results in higher-than-desired noise levels. With the increase in highly capable noise reduction software and the quality of newer cameras' images at higher ISO values, it has become possible to actually record great detail in the night sky. Coupled with selective painting of the foreground elements it can translate into enchanting images.

"Road to the stars" - a dirt road on a moonless night in the Kalahari desert, Botswana
f3.5 // 30s // ISO-2500

For these "starscapes" you need to be able to set your camera on ISO values of 1600+, oftentimes in the range of 2000-3200. You also need a lens which has a very wide aperture - typically 2.8, 3.5 or 4. This enables all the elements to work together to allow as much light as possible onto the sensor. Keep in mind that you need to try and keep your shutter speed to below 30 seconds in order to minimise the effect of Earth's rotation on the stars in your image. I typically use a flashlight to help the camera focus on something not too close in the foreground, and during the exposure I will selectively paint the areas of the foreground I want to illuminate with a flashlight. To get a warmer tone out of the light you are using, you can either cover it with an orange gel or cellophane paper, or like me just reflect the light from the palm of your hand. Make sure you aren't standing directly behind the tripod, rather illuminate from either side of the camera. Also bear in mind that having a fullish moon will inhibit the amount of stars that are visible. For the image below I was fortunate to have the full moon just rising and illuminate the kopje behind the aloe, providing a bit more depth to the landscape.

"Karoo Night Watchman" - a solitary aloe keeps wake over the Milky Way in the Karoo desert
f3.5 // 25s // ISO-1600

As demonstrated above, the moon can be a helpful ally, and even at times when it inhibits visibility of the stars, it can transform the intended photo into something better. In the image demonstrated below (which was captured on the South African "Wild Coast"), I only hoped to get the little acacia tree lit with some stars in the background, but the full moon added so much light to the scene that I was able to capture the Indian Ocean in the distance along with the rolling bank of clouds that was coming in on the horizon.

"Wild Coast Morning" - a small acacia tree on the South African Wild Coast
f5.6 // 30s // ISO-1600

As you can see, I actually started dabbling into night-time photography backwards...and it was only on our recent cross-country trip that I was able to attempt my first "star-trail" image. This image was taken in the Karoo desert, and I made sure my camera was set up pointed towards the Celestial South Pole. My dad taught me when I was very young how to determine the position of "South" when lost in the wilderness - you can find more information on the web, but Wikipedia explains it thoroughly. If the "Southern Cross" is visible, I normally take the distance between the furthest points, multiply it by 4.5 in the direction it's pointing and draw a straight line down from where this imaginary line ends. During this specific shoot I knew the full moon would rise by about 9pm so I had to get 9 exposures of 15 minutes each fired off before that (it had only gotten dark by about 6h30pm). The beauty of having a digital wireless remote is that I could set up my shot, prepare the focus point and settings and leave it to fire away.

For this shot I used an ISO setting of 400 to minimise the noise and because I wasn't too concerned with "star movements" (actually - that was the point, capturing the movement). My selected foreground was an old termite mound. I captured the 9 exposures, making sure I illuminate the foreground sufficiently during one of the exposures, and proceeded to blend them in Photoshop. You can actually create one uber-long exposure, but that would greatly increase your noise-levels since the sensor heats up considerably during such a long exposure. Many people use the built-in long-exposure noise reduction of their cameras, but the problem then is that after taking e.g. a 90 minute exposure, your camera will proceed with noise reduction for 90 minutes (it actually takes another shot with the sensor closed and subtracts the differences).

Here is the end-result...I am certainly going to play around with this a lot more in my future travels.

"Termite Startrails" - Karoo desert, South Africa
f4.0 // 9x 15m // ISO-400

There you have it. There are people a lot more proficient at this than I am - have a look at Mark's site as a start (link provided at the start of the article).

It's the start of another week...give it all you have!

Morkel Erasmus

An Article About Addo

2010-09-05T00:22:00.003+02:00

And so enters the month of September 2010...is it just me or has this year just gone faster than the previous one? Things are really steamrolling along this year. The much anticipated Soccer World Cup 2010 has come and gone, and I think our country has done itself proud. Unfortunately there are now a few things in the aftermath that could unsettle all the momentum our wonderful nation has built up.

But enough of that before I change this blog into a socio-political one..

We have just returned from an amazing (albeit short) road trip which took us to areas we had not visited in quite a while. As a big fan of South Africa's National Parks and a big fan of the self-drive safari (maybe it's because of budgetary constraints as well hehe, but I DO so love finding my own sightings and making the most of them photographically), I was happy to make my first real trip to the Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape province. I had only been there once in the past for a quick drive-through en route to elsewhere, and this time we managed to book a 2-night stay in one of the safari tents of the Main Rest Camp.

f8.0 // 1/640 SS // ISO-800

This park has done much to conserve the Cape elephant population, and of late has also reintroduced many species occuring here historically, like lions, buffalo and black rhino. It is situated not too far from Port Elizabeth and has become a popular stop-over for tourists who want a quick wildlife fix while exploring this area of the country. The park actually comprises a few areas that are spread throughout intermittent farmland and towns, and protects an area that includes 5 of South Africa's 7 unique biomes. The park is also home to the Flightless Dung Beetle, found nowhere else in the world. As you drive through the park, there are actually numerous road-signs indicating that these dung beetles have right of way!

When taken collectively - the Park's separate areas are home to what the management refers to as the "Big 7"...which includes the traditional "Big 5" as well as Great White Sharks and Southern Right Whales in the marine sections.

During our 2-day stay we were lucky enough to get to see 3 of the 7...elephants, buffalo and lion. The lions were re-introduced by translocating Kalahari Lions which are genetically the closest relative to the extinct Cape Lion which occured in the Sundays River Valley.

f8.0 // 1/1000 SS // ISO-400

From a photographic point of view Addo provides many opportunities to capture the enigmatic shots of elephants against the stunning backdrops of the Eastern Cape bushveld and the mountains surrounding the Sundays River Valley. There are of course sections of the main game area that are very dense and you will only have a decent sighting if the animals are in or next to the road, but the open plains in other parts make up for that, as do the well-placed waterholes.

f7.1 // 1/500 SS // ISO-400 // Exposure bias +0.3

Addo is home to one of the densest elephant populations on earth, so that means that sightings of elephants during any given day are obvious and plentiful. That doesn't mean that you won't get your fill of some of Africa's other wonderful wildlife. Besides the "Big 7" mentioned, there are also many kudus, black-backed jackals, warthogs and other entertaining members of the animal kingdom. I would highly recommend overnighting in the safari tents as they overlook a floodlit waterhole and we had a plethora of visitors at night which we could view from the comfort of our porch - these include porcupine, bush-pigs and a herd of buffalo which grazed in front of our tent all night long. The "underground" hide at the main camp waterhole is also very nice, allowing you an eye-level view with the game coming to drink there.

f7.1 // 1/800 SS // ISO-800

f8.0 // 1/2000 SS // ISO-400 // Exposure Bias -1

f7.1 // 1/1000 SS // ISO-800

As a regular visitor to Kruger and the Kgalagadi, the type of terrain and the way to look for wildlife was something I wasn't accustomed to, but it soon fell into rhythm and on the last day we were lucky to come across 3 of the 10 resident lions lazily soaking up the sun with full bellies. Taking into consideration that a few days prior to our arrival, South African National Parks had taken down the fence between the main Addo game area and an adjacent area and that a few of the lions had already moved South into the new area, we were very happy to come across these felines.

f5.6 // 1/250 SS // ISO-400

f8.0 // 1/200 SS // ISO-800

I was amazed at the adaptability of these animals...imagine being a Kalahari lion, used to surviving in an arid desert with little real vegetation to speak of except for grass, a few shrubs and the odd camel-thorn tree...and then being relocated to an area with dense vegetation that is evergreen, suddenly amongst a whole crowd of animals larger than you've ever set eyes on, yet still being able to adapt and come up trumps. Some of the lions bred in Addo are now even being prepped for translocation to other parks such as the Karoo National Park.

I will definitely visit Addo again when I am in the area...why don't you do the same? Even if you see nothing during the day - the sounds of the jackals howling at night and the buffaloes scrunching around your tent are enough to make me forget all about the hustle and bustle of everyday life...

Here is the view we had on our last evening - 3 images merged as an HDR to bring out all the colours of the sky and the details in the buffalo that my eyes saw at once, but which is so difficult to capture using only a single metered exposure (you'll need to click on this one to get a better view).

3 exposures (1/6; 1/25; 1/100) @ f6.3 // ISO-400

For more information on the park and to make online bookings, check out the SANParks website and forums.

Until next time...

Morkel Erasmus
PS: I am in the final stages of preparing my official website...you can be sure I will announce the "go-live" date here on SAFFAscapes pretty soon!

Hartebeest Derby!!

2010-08-20T11:43:00.001+02:00

Hello to all the SAFFAscapes readers. Are you liking the new look of my blog? I am also in the process of setting up my official website, which should be live within the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted on that!

Well, lucky me to be leaving on another road-trip tomorrow...my time does fly. We are doing a round-trip to the Central Drakensberg, the Wild Coast near the old Transkei and then on to the Addo Elephant National Park and the Mountain Zebra National Park. Basically, we will be travelling right around the mountain country of Lesotho in a sense.

Before I leave, here is a photo of a Red Hartebeest in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park...this is what our car will look like as we rocket out of the city towards the clear skies of the Drakensberg!

Keep well until I return with MANY more photos...

Morkel Erasmus

WORKING THE LIGHT

2010-08-05T23:38:00.002+02:00

Hello again everyone...

I thought it was time for a new post since we're already a few days into August. My, how this year is just rocketing past!!

Sometimes we find ourselves in that "sweet spot" for photography. You know - the golden morning/evening light from the sun teetering on the brink of the horizon falling over your shoulder and straight onto whatever animal or bird happens to be caught in your viewfinder at that moment. Everything just comes together...like these giraffe I found the other day in the Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa:

More often than not, however, we find ourselves in a situation where it's just not possible to get into that "sweet spot". In many cases it's an insurmountable task to get ourselves in that position due to terrain constraints or the fact that you might not be allowed to go off-road in certain reserves (at least that's the case for most of the places I go on safari to), but at other times there's just not enough T-I-M-E to do so...these "truly" golden minutes only last for a few fleeting moments after all.

So what to do???

The answer is quite simple - and yet so easy to forget once we're in that situation: WORK THE LIGHT, or otherwise put, let the light work for you. Whether you are in a position to capture the light from the side...

or from right in front of you...

...there are ways to still utilise this dramatic twilight light to good effect. By tweaking your camera's exposure bias you can use this light to drastically alter the mood of the image you are capturing. Instead of getting a "stock-standard" shot with the light fully on the subject, you can depict the creature in a very different way and, depending on the surrounding, get some added bonus (like the "grass-on-fire" in the springbok portrait above). When the sun is directly behind the subject, it will create a wondeful "rim-lighting" effect, enhancing the outlines and distinct features.

Whether you are using full manual mode or one of the semi-manual modes like Shutter Priority or Aperture Priority, play around with your exposure settings so that you deliberately underexpose the shot by 1/3, 2/3 or even a full stop or two (depending on the brightness of the light). It will help if you have a bit of luck on your side and your subject is cooperative while you play around with the settings until you find what works for the scene.

Tomorrow marks the start of a long weekend in South Africa (Monday being a public holiday), so I hope I have encouraged you to go seek out something to try this out on!

Keep well, and until next time, keep the shutters firing...

Morkel Erasmus

Continuous Improvement

2010-07-23T14:47:00.001+02:00

Many of you will have noticed that I have been making a few changes on the look, layout and overall content of my blog. It's just the natural progression of being new to blogging and also the progression I am seeing in the development of my art as a photographer.

1. I have changed the look to be more streamlined, increase connectivity across social platforms and look more "professional" (hopefully)...

2. I have changed the overall title to "SAFFAscapes - Exploring the beauty of Southern Africa" since I feel that I want to blog more about my photography in general than about HDR (which is what this blog was about when I started). You will have seen the changed direction in the content of my recent posts since May. In keeping with this I have uploaded a new header banner, and I hope you like the direction I am taking with this. The aim of the blog will therefore be to give you, the viewer, a look at the beauty of the part of the world I am fortunate enough to live in through the viewfinder of my camera, in whichever format I can.

3. I am VERY close to launching my very own homepage which will link with the blog as well, will keep you posted on that!

Please give me feedback on what you like and/or don't like on the blog, would love to hear from you!

Enjoy the weekend...

Morkel Erasmus

My second time being featured on Earthshots!

2010-07-19T16:10:00.000+02:00

What an honour...

Check it out HERE!

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Morkel Erasmus

The obsession with eye contact

2010-07-14T12:55:00.002+02:00

The last time I blogged, I spoke about "seeing the bigger picture" when you are out taking photos. In the meantime I was privileged to do a guest post for Photo-Africa about the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park as a safari destination (check it out here)

I thought it prudent to share more of my thoughts on alternative approaches to wildlife photography. If you frequent various online photography forums (like I do), you will often find the critiques given lamenting the lack of better eye contact and/or a glint in the eye (catchlight). Now while this may be valid in many of the cases, this doesn't mean you should pack away your camera in situations when you're not getting that golden eye contact from your subject. Often while on safari we will be faced with a situation where the most gorgeous animal presents itself, only to spitefully shy away from eye contact with the tourists/photographers.

Many times there's nothing you can do about it but just sit back, relax and enjoy the sighting for what it is. But there are times when there is a specific REASON for the animal not looking your way or even moving away from you. Have you ever tried to capture the story behind the "lack of eye contact"? Given, it might not be possible in all of the cases, but it would be prudent of us to keep our eyes open and let our artistic leanings take over in so-called "less-than-ideal" situations.

One such a situation occurred during our recent trip to the Madikwe Game Reserve. The light had all but faded and we were hasting to get to a decent lookout point to shoot sunset landscapes, when we found a beautiful young female leopard in the road and started following her, forgetting all about our sundowner plans...

She barely gave us eye contact, and at the moments she did, her face was hidden by long blades of grass. I managed to look beyond that and try and capture her elusive behaviour. She was slinking away through the grass ever watchful for something. At last we found out that she had a kill in a tree and was making sure the coast was clear before continuing. This image portrays something of the story behind the sighting.

An yet another occasion, we came across the "Mapogo" clan, a vicious group of male lions who obliterate any insurgence into their territory and have become famous for wiping out entire lion prides. In this case, however, they were enjoying a VERY relaxed morning. This individual was particularly enjoying his time off and despite the lack of "eye contact", an image is still able to capture this relaxed killer.

I will indulge you with one last example...

We recently spent a wonderful morning with a family of relaxed cheetahs in the Kalahari. The female had 2 adolescent sons and one of them was lying on the crest of a calcrete ridge some distance away from his mother and brother.

After basking in the morning sun, waiting for a chance to take on a hunt, the mother and brother relented and walked up the ridge to lie down on it. The other brother promptly got up to join them, and with potential prey still hanging around close by he actually stalked across the ridge to go and lay down with his mother. Here I got no "eye contact", but I believe it resulted in a poignant image portraying this timeless African speedster stalking against a deep blue Kalahari sky.

So I leave you with this encouragement...always keep your eyes (and mind) open for the unexpected shot which might just be a lot better than the normal "candy floss" picture perfect portrait.

Cheers

Morkel Erasmus

Guest Post: ‘The Kgalagadi – Space, Sand, Silence, Serenity’ by Morkel Erasmus

2010-07-09T16:24:00.000+02:00

Guest Post: ‘The Kgalagadi – Space, Sand, Silence, Serenity’ by Morkel Erasmus

I had the great honour of writing another guest-blogger post on the amazing Photo-Africa blog run by Gerry van der Walt...check it out!

Seeing the BIGGER picture...

2010-07-01T00:43:00.001+02:00

When I first made the switch from "point-and-shoot" snapper to a bona fide DSLR photographer, I couldn't wait to get my first close-up shots of my favourite animals. But alas, it didn't take me very long to get bored with getting standard close-up shots. Why? Mainly because everyone with a half-decent lens has them. You see, for me it was never going to be about just "getting" the photo. It was always going to be about creating art. Now don't get me wrong, for many people getting the photo is enough and it's the only reason they lug around a camera and some lenses on their safaris...and each to his own indeed. I've just always been artistically wired and on top of that I always throw myself 200% at something I'm passionate about (something which can be frustrating for people around me!).

So it didn't take very long for me to start becoming very aware of the myriad of possibilities that exist with every photographic opportunity that I encounter. Not that I recognise ALL the possible compositions and variations - oh no! Often I have come home and looked at the photos I created, only to realise then that I could have done something differently and it would have made all the difference in the world! In those moments, I try and file the mistake as a lesson learnt to tap from when faced with a similar opportunity.

Often we need to look at the bigger (or smaller for that matter) picture in order to turn a bleak photographic opportunity into a promising one - and if not a promising one, at least one that makes us feel we didn't drag all the gear along for nothing. Viewing an animal in a wider perspective also goes a long way in showing its behaviour, environment and the context in which you saw it.

A case in point is a recent sighting we had in the Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa. We had spent a glorious morning with a battered male lion on the open plains (see the post "The narrow escape with the Lionscape"), and he was exchanging roars with his brother who was on the other side of the plains by the sound of it. We drove away in the direction where we'd heard him roar from. We found him lying flat on the ground (isn't that what lions do best during daylight?) next to a waterhole. He was so aware of his status as king of the beasts that he didn't even bother to look up or give us the time of day.

The standard photo of this sighting will probably look like this:

After a few minutes if became clear this fellow was not going to get up soon, and by now I'd taken a few shots of this lazy male lying there...and I started exploring other options. I thought about going closer, zooming in on those huge paws:

Right before coming on this trip I had invested in an ultra-wide angle lens with a polarising filter - so I changed lenses quickly and started playing around with the polarising filter until I got the sky nicely polarised by adjusting the filter to compensate for the direction the sunlight was coming from, and snapped away at some ultra-wide angle shots to show this typical behaviour by the king of beasts.

Oftentimes it's not even necessary to screw on a wider lens. If your telephoto zoom lens has quite a large zoom range, the difference between the shortest and longest focal length can really make a huge difference.

Another situation where one would be inclined to view the scene from a wider perspective is when there's a blatantly obvious reason to do so. Earlier this year while on safari in the Sabi-Sands Game Reserve in South Africa, we came across an immensely photogenic scene. We'd driven out in the rain on our afternoon game drive, hoping for it to clear up along the way...which it did! As the rain started to clear, we noticed a small herd of buffalo in a clearing - our first sighting of the afternoon. Upon our approach, something delightful happened: a large rainbow appeared in the sky!! Photographic heaven, but I'm sure you've experienced for yourself that in situations like this when the light is magical and you know you've got a few minutes or even seconds to make the most of it, you start panicking! It's actually quite funny - all of a sudden you don't know what the heck all the buttons on your camera are for, and it feels like a lead weight in your hands.

So - the first obvious shot was of the buffalo herd - with the rainbow touching down behind them.

Then I started looking at the bigger picture - where did the rainbow's ends touch down? Could I fit them into a wide-angle shot from the place where we were parked? Turns out I could. You will have to click on this photo to view it at a larger resolution...blog-size just doesn't cut it here.

I hope this little piece of prose has inspired you to look beyond the "cliche" shots and the "happy-snapper" moments, and to start thinking of what you can portray about the subject you are photographing by framing it a bit wider (or closer) (whether it be an animal, a child playing in the sprinkler or a couple getting married).

Let me know what you think by dropping a comment below this post...I've now made it possible to comment even though you're not a registered user (didn't even know the site did that!).

Below are some more of my wide-angle wildlife shots.

Keep well, and keep clicking!

Morkel Erasmus

How to Cheetah your way through the Kalahari...

2010-06-21T21:34:00.002+02:00

You've got to love the unpredictability of a day on safari. I've had so many experiences where you go through an entire day without seeing anything of note...without seeing anything dramatic or unique. On those days you have to focus on other things - like the privilege of actually BEING in an unspoiled piece of wilderness instead of a bustling city office. Yet so often the very next day can yield more drama than you can handle...

When we visited the Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa recently, we had such an experience. We only stayed for 3 days, in which case you are hopeful for something amazing around every corner. On our first day we saw little besides a few grazing elephants - the bush was eerily quiet. The following day, however, started off with a lion roaring right beside us in a glorious sunrise, and continued on in epic fashion to deliver a herd of elephants with young ones, another lion sighting, wild dogs on patrol and later in the evening a leopard with a kill in a tree.

What does it teach us? To be patient...to expect the unexpected...and to value the little privileges such as the smell of the bush, the sound of a francolin waking the world and the colour of the clear unpolluted sky.

On our recent trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park we had such an experience as well. Having visited this amazing place in September 2009 we arranged a return visit as soon as possible. We arrived on the first afternoon, and saw very little on our first game drive, although I had fished out some information later that evening about a female cheetah who had reared an astonishing 4 cubs to near-adulthood. Me and my wife made it our mission to track them down. So, on our second morning, we left the Twee Rivieren rest camp at sunrise in search of cheetah...and found this young male cheetah approaching the Samevloeiing waterhole in first light! He walked straight to us and passed in front of our vehicle.

He ended up not taking a drink, but continued up along the dry Auob riverbed, no doubt looking for breakfast. We were unable to follow him, and therefore decided to go ahead and look for the cheetah mother with the 4 cubs in the area they had last been seen in.

We drove up and down the stretch of dry riverbed looking for them, and ended up missing them by minutes as they came down from the dunes and crossed the Nossob riverbed, heading into another field of dunes. Other tourists had seen them, and we weren't ready to give up on them. We headed back to our chalet to rest a while after lunch before trying to locate them again.

We left for our afternoon drive a little earlier than usual - at about 14h15. A short distance away on the Nossob road we found an odd sighting - 2 young springbok lambs carelessly wandering about, without a herd of springbok in sight! I noted to my wife that this is strange, but seeing as we weren't yet to the point where we calculated the cheetah to have gone to lie down in the dunes, I wanted to push ahead and come back to these springbok lambs as I expected things could get interesting here.

We went ahead to the Leeudril waterhole, and turned around to head back towards the springboks, with no sign of cheetah anywhere...

I will never forget the moment we came around that bend in the road...and the sighting that greeted us. There were the 5 cheetahs!! Busy choking one of the springbok lambs!! We had missed the kill by mere SECONDS! I was torn between utter elation at our hard work paying off and utter despair that I had not followed my gut and stuck with the springboks - I salivated at the photos I had missed the opportunity to create...

Nevertheless, I quickly dismissed the "what ifs" and focused my attention on the situation at hand - they were about to start feasting on their lunch, and we had the sighting all to ourselves!! Needless to say I tried my best to make the most of it photographically, yet still enjoy it for what it was. There were times when I frantically took photos, and times when I just sat back and watched it with my eyes as it was something I had not had the opportunity to witness in more than 20 years of going to the bush.

Eventually other visitors joined us, but by this time the majority of the buck was gobbled up by the hungry cheetah family. They ate at a speed that astounded me - mostly because cheetahs often get kicked off their own kills by larger predators. A cheetah will also not fight for its food as any injury will impede its ability to hunt and survive.

Here are a few more shots from the feast. They were very relaxed around us...

(If you have a sensitive nature, you might not want to look further!)

We spent more than 90 minutes with this awesome family of cheetahs. After the meal they started grooming each other and then went looking for a place to settle down for the night. All that remained of the poor springbok was a dark patch of bloodied mud and some stomach contents. Africa is harsh but fair, and the circle of life is something majestic to witness. Many cheetahs have died in the Kalahari at the hands of starvation and other predators, so it was good to watch this family prosper for a change.

We headed back to Twee Rivieren - and lo and behold - something was sitting in the road... Another cheetah!! I presume it was the same male that we had seen earlier that day - but it would still make our 3rd amazing cheetah sighting of the day!! Like I said - some days it all just comes together...

This bloke tried to stalk a steenbok that was standing on top of a dune, but he failed and his quarry became aware of his presence a bit too soon. The light was all but gone and I had to push my camera up to ISO-3200 to capture as much of the available light as possible.

We drove back to our chalet in silence...drinking in what the Kalahari had showed us on this day. The following day would be a bit blander, but such is the ebb and flow of life on safari. These sightings were enough to make our 1000+ km trip more than worth it, though.

Needless to say I am absolutely stoked with how these images came out - it was pretty hard to choose which ones to quickly process for this blog post. I hope you enjoyed them too - let me know what you think!

Until next time...keep well!

Morkel Erasmus

A dark future??

2010-05-19T12:02:00.000+02:00

This blog post has been coming for a while now, since finding out more of the shocking statistics about the increase in Rhino poaching in South Africa and Africa in general of late, and since reading an article by world-famous widllife filmmakers/photographers/conservationists Dereck and Beverly Joubert about how lions, once thought the least endangered predator in Africa, are now facing extinction in the long run.

Recent blog posts by Shem Compion and Gerry van der Walt (click on their names to go and read their posts) have also served as catalysts for my thoughts in this blog post.

For me, the privilege of being able to capture forever moments of natural history in the wild places of Africa really boils down to leaving a legacy...something tangible that might still be able to be enjoyed long after all that we've seen and all that we've come to love in Africa (and other wonderful locations around the world) has passed away and been replaced by garbage dumps and concrete living quarters. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those "tree-huggers" who will chain themselves to whaling ships or despise all technological advancement (although I do think whaling is disgusting and that some technology cripples us more than it enables us to better conserve our planet)...in fact I do drive an SUV (maybe not as big a gas-guzzler as a Hummvee but one that at least gets me where I need to be in Africa, potholes in the roads being more dangerous than the wildlife these days), and I do live in a bustling town of industry and I do in fact work in a field that creates a bit of pollution. But one thing I know...I love Africa. I love her vibe, her cadence, her charisma, her unbridled energy and most of all, her natural beauty.

I find myself longing for days long gone when explorers such as Livingstone and Hemingway stood atop the kopjes of the African plains, and looking out in all directions all they saw was a mass of animal life as far as the eye could see. Large herds of elephants with tusks thrice as long as a man...buffalo herds that made the great wildebeest migration look like a flea circus...clans of wild dog that roamed vast grasslands and outnumbered even large predators like lions. These men could only but capture their fascination with Africa in their writing, and boy do these tales excite...grand sweeping prose that makes you yearn for times gone by with a thick lump in your throat. These days we have the tools to make those memoirs even more vivid...our cameras. The majesty and elegance and beauty of this continent of ours is now in our hands to portray to all who would perhaps stop by our blogs, read our books or stumble upon our images on a calendar or in a magazine, and if I can evoke those same feelings in at least one other person, I would be ecstatic.

The fact that poaching of rhinos (for the supposed medicinal value of their horns) is rising at an alarming rate all over Africa, and more specifically in the national parks and wildlife reserves of South Africa, has sparked these ideas into another direction. What if the only rhino/cheetah/leopard (fill in the blanks) that my children will ever get to see, are the ones that I have had the privilege of taking photos of during my lifetime??? What if I can never take them to the places I've been and show them the things I've seen, save for showing them a large print of a photo that tries in some meager way to capture the essence of the animal/bird?

This rhino bull was captured in stunning morning sidelight, and I deliberately underexposed with a moody black-and-white photo in mind to convey my concern over this species and others. I hope with all my heart to show this one to my own children one day, and then get into the car, drive to a nearby reserve and show them the real thing...

As Gerry rightly put - we need to take action on a grander scale than merely joining a Facebook group or signing up for a newsletter at Conservation organisation. How and what that involvement will be is up to each of us to determine, decide, and put into action. Until I have the funds to invest in conservation efforts and sponsor large-scale projects, I will continue to try and share the images I have the honour of taking with whoever wants to see. And I do hope we all desire very much to SEE...

Morkel Erasmus