An elusive Kingfisher

I haven't shown you a bird in quite a while - so I'll remedy that situation right here and now! Southern Africa is blessed with a lovely variety of Kingfishers, a species that is a firm favourite with avid bird-watchers and photographers in most parts of the world, for sure.

I've had good opportunities in the past to photograph the more commonly found species in our region - the Malachite, Pied and Woodlands Kingfishers (and I've even had some good sightings of the Giant Kingfisher) - but there are 3 that have eluded me thus far in terms of getting a nice usable photo. These are the Half-collared Kingfisher, the African Pygmy Kingfisher and the Brown-hooded Kingfisher.

Well, one of them can now be taken off the "never photographed" list. On the recent Wild Eye Chobe Photographic Safari that I hosted, we were able to get nice and close to a Brown-hooded Kingfisher that had a nest in the bank of the Chobe river. Lighting conditions were challenging as it was at the end of the day in the shade of a large tree, but we all got some portraits we can be pretty pleased with.

Next up - to find the Half-collared and Pygmy!!

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0  |  1/1000 SS  |  ISO-1800

Thanks for looking, and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you. I will be heading to the exciting new photographic reserve called ZIMANGA later in this week, where a number of photographic hides have been built and many more are in planning. Keep your eyes on my blog and social media channels as I share some images (which will surely include many beautiful birds) upon my return.

Morkel Erasmus

The Chobe River in Monochrome

Seeing that I recently returned from leading a photographic safari to the Chobe river, I thought I would post a link to a blog post I wrote early in 2013 for the Wild Eye blog, showing some of my visions of the Chobe in monochrome after our first visit to the Ichobezi houseboat on the river.

You can read the original post HERE.

Morkel Erasmus

Hippo Foursome

Hey everyone! Here's a quick photo to share with you from my recent safari to the Chobe river in Botswana. You can catch up on all the detailed trip reports over on the Wild Eye blog:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

As we were cruising along the Chobe river that straddles the Chobe National Park in Botswana and the Caprivi strip in Namibia, we came across a pod of Hippopotamus who were out of the river quite late in the morning. Hippo usually come out to graze at night and return to the water as the day breaks.

My guests and I were able to capture a couple of lovely photos of these youngsters lazily standing on the riverbank, not entirely committed to getting wet just yet. Some of them looked like they were standing up sleeping, in fact. We were able to maneuver nicely with our specialised photographic boat for lovely photographic opportunities, even as they eventually stepped into the water.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
1.4x teleconverter
f8.0  |  1/1250 SS  |  ISO-2500

click on the photo to view at optimal sharpness and resolution

Morkel Erasmus

Butterfly Hunter

When you are out on safari, one of the biggest pitfalls you can find yourself in is only chasing the "big" sightings and the iconic species, and moving past so many amazing moments of natural history that play themselves out every day in the bush. During the recent photographic safari I led to the Chobe river in Botswana for Wild Eye, we sat watching a herd of elephants drinking from the river one afternoon, when suddenly we noticed a commotion around the nose of the small photographic boat we were sitting in. The boat was banked just on the riverbank, and there were yellow butterflies fluttering all about. A couple of birds had taken an interest in these butterflies, and started hunting them down as they realised this was a quick and easy chance for a snack.

The Whitecrowned Plovers (or Whitecrowned Lapwings, as you please) were particularly entertaining - often striking a pose akin to those of hunting dogs (think Pointers, Golden Retrievers) as they assumed the pre-strike position. You can see it in the photo below...

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f5.6  |  1/1250 SS  |  ISO-140

click on the photo to display at optimal sharpness and resolution

Always keep your eyes open for the opportunities delivered by the smaller critters in the field!

Morkel Erasmus

Crazy Eyes

I wanted to share a quick image from my recent Chobe safari with you. I wonder how many of you have seen this kind of expression from an elephant before?

This young bull was enjoying a good frolic in the water, and came out head swishing and eyes all crazy. Captured from our specialised photographic boat, I was sitting on the floor with my lens resting over the side. In hindsight I should have gone to f8 for more DOF, but I'm happy with the sequence I got.

I was amazed to see how much the Chobe elephants really enjoy goofing off in the river...

Techs:

Nikon D3s

Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II

f5.6 | 1/1600 SS | ISO-1100

Full frame except for slight crop due to rotation (to get water level in front of elephant level)

click on the photo to view at optimal sharpness and resolution

Morkel Erasmus

Rowdy Family

Who doesn't love a cute picture of primates? Chacma Baboons nearly always provide for some adorable, funny and interesting moments to be captured on camera, and this was certainly the case recently on the Chobe river. We were able to drift very close with the Wild Eye photographic boat when we were photographing a number of baboon troops along the banks of the river, especially in the early mornings.

This frame really needs no explanation - it was a special moment and my guests and I were able to isolate these four from the rest of the troop using correct framing/composition. Can you think of an apt caption for this? What would the "parents" be thinking? Leave a comment if you have a quirky one...

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0  |  1/200 SS  |  ISO-3200

click on the photo to display at optimal resolution and sharpness

Morkel Erasmus

Regal Eagle

There are many amazing birds of prey in Africa, but there is one that is undoubtedly the "king of the African sky" due to its beauty, splendour and hauntingly evocative, distinctive call. I am talking about the African Fish Eagle, of course.

During our recent Wild Eye photographic safari on the Chobe river that lies between Namibia and Botswana, we had some amazing encounters with these birds. This particular female was sitting on the edge of the river and we were able to glide our specialised photographic boat right up to her and capture some striking portraits. It's not every day you can be this close to a raptor in the wild and capture these images (the ones you normally see are taken of birds in captivity or in rehabilitation centres).

This photo is pretty much full frame at 36 megapixels, and the details are mind-blowing. I particularly love the tuft of feathers blown up by the wind on the crown of her head. I opened the aperture as wide as it can go to smooth out the green riverbank behind her and create a pleasing separation between subject and environnent. I was hand-holding my lens, so I pushed the shutter speed to a high enough value to compensate for possible camera shake.

I used the amazing Nik Color Efex 4 plugin to extract some more detail and contrast from the bird - since the conditions were overcast and the light was flat.

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0  |  1/1250 SS  |  ISO-140

click on the photo to display at optimal sharpness and resolution

I hope you enjoyed this one. Have a superb day, my friends...

Morkel Erasmus

Golden Jaws

If you have been following my blog and/or social media channels for a while, then you would know that I have just returned from leading a Wild Eye photographic safari to the renowned Chobe river ecosystem between Botswana and Namibia. The photo opportunities my guests and I were blessed with were legion - and I've got so many new and interesting images to share.

Though the Chobe National Park boasts the highest density of elephants in southern Africa, I thought I would kick off the sharing of images from this trip with something different - an image I have been wanting in my portfolio for a LOOONG time. It's not anything new or groundbreaking, but it is a classically African image, and I am glad to have added it to my portfolio after this safari.

As we were approaching a pod of hippopotamus in the last light of the day, the sun just broke through the clouds for a moment, and I instructed our guide and boat driver Patrick to position us so that we can photograph silhouettes of the hippos against the backlight of the sunset. Just as we were nearly in position, the dominant bull of the pod reared up and gave a characteristic display of dominance with his mouth open. It was over in 2 seconds, and I was pointing my lens in that direction but not expecting anything. I quickly focused and fired off 4 frames with the boat still rearing to a stop, of which I liked this one the best. The golden glow and rim-light was achieved by dialing in an exposure compensation of -1.3 on my camera. The mood was enhanced by the light also hitting the thousands of insects flying about along the surface of the river.

I hope you like it! I will be posting a full trip report on the safari on the Wild Eye blog soon, so watch this space.

click on the photo to display at the proper sharpness and resolution

Morkel Erasmus

Graceful Wings

There are few birds in Africa that evoke more in us than the African Fish Eagle. It has been my favourite raptor for years, and their haunting calls along Africa's waterways are an amazing reminder of the privilege we have to be on safari.

One of the best places to see and photograph them is on the Chobe river in Botswana. You can join us on a Wild Eye safari to this amazing oasis of wildlife where we will use a specialised photographic boat fitted with rotating chairs and mounted gimbal heads for your long lens, while based on a luxurious houseboat that can moor deep into the Chobe National Park for special access to key parts of the river in good light when other operators need to move out to make the "gate times". There's one date left in 2013 but 2014 dates are already laid out - I will be leading a trip from 12-16 March 2014. You can book and see all the details and info (plus images of the boat and houseboat) HERE.

click on the photo to display properly

This image was taken from the Wild Eye photographic boat. I just love how the light reflected off the water displays on the bird's open wings.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f8.0  |  1/2000 SS  |  ISO-2500
Exposure Bias +0.7

Have a great day, friends!

Morkel Erasmus

My Top 20 for 2011

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