Happy Hour Rush

Elephants love water. You know that by now (at least some of you do). I love watching breeding herds rush to the water as they start to smell the nourishment. One of the best places to do this is around the waterholes of Etosha National Park in Namibia, which is exactly where I am headed from tomorrow...

This photo is from an earlier visit to this magical place. The dust, the dusk sky (past sunset already) and the rushing herd in an open setting made for fantastic viewing and photography. With the sun already set, I needed to push the ISO and drop the shutter speed a bit to get a sharp shot and keep the ISO from rocketing to the 50,000s. This photo is best viewed against a darker background to pick up on all the subtle detail.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0 | 1/250 SS | ISO-4500
Exposure Bias -1 EV (to accentuate mood/dust and also get ISO a bit lower)

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 You can look forward to more images from Etosha when I return!

Morkel Erasmus

Death under the Stars

Few things in the African bush evoke such awe and nostalgia as standing under a moonless clear sky at night and gazing up at the starry expanse above. How many other explorers and adventurers before us have done the same at night (while shuddering involuntarily at the roar of a lion that sounds closer than it is). 

This image was photographed in Etosha (Namibia) at a private research waterhole where I was privileged to spend some time earlier this year with my friend Hans Rack. Needless to say, this shoot was kind of interesting as elephants and rhinos would move ultra-silently and walk past us within a few meters (and the lions weren't too far by the sound of it). We remained within a reasonably safe radius from our sleeping structure...but it remained a bit unnerving and exciting at the same time. Gotta love these adventures!

On this flat featureless terrain there wasn't much I could use as a foreground anchor in this shot - but luckily some Kudu remains helped to give this an ominous feel. What do you think?

Techs:

Nikon D800

Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8

f2.8  |  30 seconds  |  ISO-3200

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I am off to Etosha with my family on Friday - and though I won't be able to repeat this excursion I am looking forward to another trip to the African wilderness!

Morkel Erasmus

Lady of the Dunes

It's almost Kalahari time for me and my family again. By now you already know that I love the place. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park takes a bit of your heart every time you visit - and you return to try and get it back, but you leave even more behind every time. Where else can you see a lion in this setting, right beside your vehicle?

Getting a low angle perspective is critical to increase the impact of your wildlife photos. So much of wildlife photography is done shooting "down" from your position in a vehicle, and in most places getting out isn't really allowed, so being able to position yourself to get this kind of perspective on your subject is first prize!

Techs:

Canon 7D

Canon 100-400mm L IS USM @ 340mm

f5.6  |  1/1000 SS  |  ISO-1600

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To find out more about booking your own trip to the Kgalagadi one day, check out these links:
South African National Parks
Ta Shebube Lodges

Until I write again - keep clicking!

Morkel Erasmus

Black Crake Dubstep

Bird photography is quite challenging in many aspects. I am about to start a series of short posts on the Wild Eye blog concerning bird photography basics and principles, so keep your eyes peeled for that if you are interested in our feathered friends at all. 

One of the key aspects of creating interesting photos of waterbirds is to try and get on "their level", i.e. shoot from as low an angle over the water as possible. This photo of the normally elusive and secretive black crake was taken by lying down on the deck of a small boat and resting my lens over the side. The bird was strangely unperturbed by our presence, and as you should know, having a relaxed subject makes for great photography.

Techs:
Canon 7D
Canon 100-400mm L IS USM @ 275mm
f5.6  |  1/3200 SS  |  ISO-1000

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What would you like to know about successful bird photography? Drop me a comment and perhaps I can address your question in an upcoming post!

Morkel Erasmus

Excited Elephant

Well, to call this elephant "excited" would be to apply gross euphemism to the situation. This cow was AN-GHU-RYYYY...and we were just standing in the road minding our own business. My wife and I were taking a leisurely afternoon drive close to Punda Maria in the Kruger National Park, when this herd of elephants appeared from the bushes next to the road, and the matriarch gave us a piece of her ear, I mean mind.

Whenever you do find yourself up close and personal with a breeding her of African Elephants - give them space...they are extremely protective of their young ones!

Techs:
Nikon D7000
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 110mm
f4.0  |  1/400 SS  |  ISO-800

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Keep it real!

Morkel Erasmus

 

Drakensberg Serenity

It's been a while since I posted a landscape photo, so I might as well do it today. I enjoy landscape photography a lot...it's just that those darn animals take up so much of my photographic attention, okay?

This was taken earlier this year during a lovely family breakaway to the southern Drakensberg region - more precisely to the Castleburn resort close to Underberg. It's a beautiful area and I will definitely be back there someday to explore some more. This photo shows the Castleburn lake (which is a good spot for some fly fishing) after a thunderstorm had passed through one afternoon. I love the dynamic range of my Nikon D800! This photo is a SINGLE exposure, where I was able to bring up shadow detail by more than a whole stop without introducing a real semblance of noise. Normally I would have had to blend two exposures to get this kind of detail in the entire range of tones.

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 @ 14mm
f5.6  |  1/200 SS  |  ISO-64
Shot handheld

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Let me know what you think of this one...

Morkel Erasmus

Mara Mayhem

This photo was taken on a morning where we witnessed our first proper (and by that I mean sheer numbers) wildebeest crossing of the Mara river in Kenya. The herds were building on the Mara Triangle side and we knew that crossings were imminent. We had to drive around to the Masai Mara Reserve side to get them coming towards us, unfortunately. By the time we got to the opposite side one of the groups had already crossed halfway. Fortunately, we were in for 3 more crossings from these precarious banks.

Capturing this event on camera is nothing new. Many people have done so. We reminded our guests to also take in the scene without cameras - the sights, the smells, the sounds - so as not to get glued to the camera and miss the forest for the trees so to speak. Taking a "unique" photo of this dramatic event is hard, as so many great photographers have been here through the years. I merely tried to capture what I saw well. In this shot, I framed vertically to get the "lines" of wildebeest coming down to cross. I also used a very slow shutter speed to blur some of the movement and hopefully get other wildebeests still sharp enough. I think it worked - do you?

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f16  |  1/80 SS  |  ISO-360

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If you would like to join me in photographing this madness next year, you can check out our 2014 Wild Eye Migration packages HERE.

Thanks for viewing and reading! If you like my posts, please share my blog with your friends.

Morkel Erasmus