Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010

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

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

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:

PhotoShare: Amongst Giants

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