A mother's devotion

Here we go: my first photographic story after my return to blogging!

In January of 2018, we headed to one of our favourite safari destinations: The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. This is where a great deal of our time in the bush is spent, and we have been making a tradition of returning every summer for the past few years.

This specific sighting unfolded in the perennial Auob riverbed, not too far south of the Mata-Mata campsite. After spending the better part of the morning with a large pride of lions who had occupied the Craig Lockhart waterhole, we came across this sight:

A springbok ewe had given birth, one of the first fawns dropping in this year's summer! Still frail and weak, the fawn was not able to get up yet. The mother was grazing close by, and eventually moved in closer to give some encouragement to get up. My little daughter of nearly 7 years old, who was in the vehicle with us, was very excited by seeing this for the very first time.

The little fawn did not even seem to want to try to get up. There were a couple of black-backed jackals milling about, and they are very opportunistic, eager to grab any easy meal. The next few minutes would determine whether this little springbok had a chance to live.

Mom would meander away and graze to divert attention away from the fawn when she saw the jackals watching from a distance. Every so often she would return to try and nudge it into action.

It did not take long for the jackals to notice that the little fawn was not making much effort to get up and start walking...and so the game of cat and mouse began...

The first jackal approached from behind the mother, and she turned to face him!

She was not going to let these scoundrels take her baby without a valiant fight...

The jackals were very sneaky, though, and it was apparent that they had a strategy to "outfox" (excuse the pun) the mother of the little one. While she was fending off once jackal, another would come from behind and grab the fawn.

But mom was doing her best to fight for her little fawn. She charged in again, and forced this jackal to also drop his bounty and scoot away...

The drama kept unfolding. With mom's attention now on the newest attacker, another subversive scavenger could sneak in from a different angle and try its luck...

Mom noticed, and gave a valiant chase...but alas, this was the end of the line. Just as she was catching up on the newest thief, the jackal dove into a thorny shrub to start consuming his prize. We surmised the fawn had succumbed at the bite of the first jackal already.

Needless to say the vehicle was silent for a while, and then my daughter burst into tears. She is not a fan of black-backed jackals to this day!

Let me know what you think. Not the nicest story, but part of the drama of being on safari for sure.

Morkel Erasmus

Whoa Horsey

I'm a big proponent of working with the opportunities and sightings you have while there is decent light. So often we chase the sightings of the big species and forget to photograph and observe the myriad of other species on offer in the bush.

During our recent trip to the Kalahari, I often played around with some slow shutter speed techniques. While we were sitting among a herd of about 400 Springbok, the fawns started pronking, prancing about, running and being silly in general. I immediately seized the opportunity to dial in a slow shutter speed and pan along with the cajoling little ones. The idea with these kind of shots is normally to have the head/face reasonably sharp or at least the outline nicely defined and the motion enhanced.

Techs:

Nikon D3s

Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II

f22 | 1/50 SS | ISO-200

click on the photo to view properly

I hope this inspires you to try more slow shutter speed shots and also to spend time with whatever comes your way on safari - not just the lions and elephants etc.

Morkel Erasmus

Dawn of the Springboks

Most nature photographers travelling to Africa will tell you that the golden light on our continent just seems richer and sweeter than anywhere else. Let me tell you something else - of all the places in Africa I've visited, there are one or two that stand out above all the others when it comes to the glorious quality of light that it produces. One is definitely the Kalahari. On a cloudless morning the quality of light during the "golden hour" is something that makes me giddy.

This photo was taken early one morning driving south from Mata Mata rest camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa). As I came past the Sitzas waterhole there was a herd of Springbok that were being lit up as if they were angelic. I had to stop and create an image. Dialing in a negative exposure compensation (bias) allowed me to enhance the mood even more.

Techs:

Nikon D7000

Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II

f5.6  |  1/400 SS  |  ISO-100

Exposure Bias -0.7

click on the photo to display properly

Have a great day!

Morkel Erasmus

WORKING THE LIGHT

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.

How to Cheetah your way through the Kalahari...

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...