WILDpaper - Free Desktop Wallpaper for April 2014

Introducing: WILDpapers (like wallpaper, just wild, get it?)

Given how popular my last two wallpapers have been, I've now decided to post a new downloadable HD resolution desktop wallpaper every month. This month I chose a photo of a beautiful male lion - I mean, who doesn't like having a lion on their computer screen?

This regal male was photographed in the Mara Triangle conservancy in Kenya (part of the Masai Mara ecosystem), and is one of the leaders of the Oloololo pride. I captured this photo while leading a Wild Eye Great Migration Photo Safari - click on the link to see more info on how you can join us this year.

This month's quote is from a very inspirational historic figure - St Augustine of Hippo...

"The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. 

Let it loose; it will defend itself."

You can download the HD resolution (1920 pixels wide) wallpaper HERE

Feel free to share this post with anyone whom you feel would love to download this wallpaper!
Also, take note that you are welcome to contact me for any fine art prints that you desire from my portfolio - you can mail me directly at morkel@morkelerasmus.com!

Thanks, as always, for your support.

Morkel Erasmus

Scenes from the Mara

A little while ago, I wrote a post on the Wild Eye blog about how difficult I found it to photograph the vastness and multitudes of the Great Migration in a way that would communicate it properly to people who would only have the chance to view my photographs and not experience the phenomenon for themselves.

This is another photo I captured during an amazing afternoon of driving through hundreds of thousands of White-bearded Gnu (with some Plains Zebra thrown in) over the rolling hills of the Mara Triangle in Kenya. With so many animals succumbing to the waters of the Mara river, the stampede of their herd-members or the plethora of predators prowling the plains, the vultures of that ecosystem just sit around and bide their time while the next meal is being dished up. I tried to capture a tree that had quite a few of them roosting in it, combined with the trekking herds over the hills. This is the result - well, one of them.

This one needs to be viewed larger - so I am posting an image larger than what I normally post. This one is 1400 pixels wide so do click on it to view properly.

What do you think of it? Does it give you a sense of being there?

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 190mm
f9.0  |  1/200 SS  |  ISO-640

click on the photo to display at a better viewing resolution for great detail

Thanks for viewing! Have a great day!

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

click on the photo to display properly

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

Mahem in the Mara

During the recent Wild Eye photographic safari that I led to the Mara Triangle in Kenya, we had some very nice sightings of (in my mind) Africa's most beautiful crane species - the Southern Crowned Crane (or Mahem Crane). This photo was taken as the early morning light burst through the clouds on the horizon and lit up the outline of this crane as it was performing a mating dance.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0  |  1/320 SS  |  ISO-800

click on the photo to view properly

Ready to roll with this week - bring it on!

Morkel Erasmus

Mara Monster

I've seen many specimens of the famed Nile Crocodile in my life on various trips to various reserves and national parks. I've yet to encounter crocodiles as big as the ones I saw last month in the Mara river in Kenya.

They.
Are.
HUGE!

During the river crossings these massive Mara monsters have a field day among the wildebeest and zebra that cross the Mara and Talek rivers. This photo was captured during a relatively small crossing at a relatively "easy" crossing point in the Mara Triangle. It was quite an adrenaline rush watching the crocs hunt, and anticipating where they will strike next. Many a young animal was cheered on and applauded when it reached the other side without falling victim to these brutes.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0  |  1/1000 SS  |  ISO-400

So that's another epic Mara moment shared! I've got many more photos to work through and not half the time that I need for that mammoth job - so please be patient. 

Cheers...

Morkel Erasmus

Jumpers

I suppose at some point it had to come...the obligatory photo of a wildebeest crossing, stock standard from every person who makes the pilgrimage to see this spectacle. I thought a lot about how to approach these scenes (from the comfort of my office chair) before the trip, but let me tell you - when the moment arrives, you just bore down to base photographic instinct and shoot. There's very little time to really think your composition through, very little time to compensate via settings for a specific mood and feel, and very little time for much more than just looking for an opportunity in this chaos to make an interesting image.

I hope this image is one you find interesting. This particular crossing had some precarious ledges and drops that the wildebeest had to negotiate. My guests and I played around with various shutter speed settings throughout the sighting to ensure good variety and a difference in how the chaos was portrayed. In this one I was using a faster shutter speed. Overcast conditions helped to tame the strong contrast and harsh shadows you normally see in these scenes.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f11  |  1/1250 SS  |  ISO-2000

click on the photo to display properly

If you would like to join us in the Mara Triangle with Wild Eye next year, you can add your name to the waiting list for the dates that go live on 1 November 2013.


Cheers!


Morkel Erasmus

Tails and Horns

If you've ever tried to photograph a cheetah hunt, then you would know that it's over in a flash, and you often just can't track the movement changes of the chase well enough. During our recent Wild Eye Great Migration Photographic Safari in the Mara Triangle (Kenya), we pulled into a cheetah sighting just as the hunt was about to begin. I quickly told the guests with me which settings to dial into their cameras, as I know from past experience that shutter speed and aperture need to be protected in these cases, and ISO should be the one to sacrifice.

As the chase began, the female Cheetah chased the Thomson's Gazelle right past the nose of our customised Toyota Land Cruiser and then the take-down happened exactly 30 meters from our shooting position. Those of you who know me know that I photograph wildlife action primarily with the Nikkor 500mm prime telephoto lens. With it not being a zoom lens, getting the action too close can be a concern...

This photo is one of the sequence I captured last week. It's not perfect - why?
Is it the light? The light is a bit harsh, mid morning actually - but it was slightly overcast so I think it came out nicely, so no.

It's the framing, right? Because the gazelle's one horn is "clipped" on the right of the frame. It's full frame on that end, I actually ended up cropping a wee bit from the left and bottom to frame the overall action better.

Does it still work?
I think it does. Besides my obvious emotional connection to an action image like this which really portrays a split second in a frenetic life-and-death tussle...I think the horn is less of an issue than the cheetah's tail, which is what I often end up "amputating" by poor framing. In this case, the cheetah's grace and power in the final take-down of the gazelle is the focus (not to take anything away from the "oh crap" expression on the prey's face)...so the horn becomes less of an issue.

What do you think? Would you ever delete a photo like this from your library because of the flaw I listed above? Drop me a comment below and share your thoughts!


Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f8.0  |  1/3200 SS  |  ISO-900

click on the photo to display properly...

Until next time...

Morkel Erasmus

Keeping your options open

I'm back from the most incredible experience in the Mara Triangle (Kenya)!! Between a million wildebeest (literally), lion kills and cheetah kills right in front of us and the mind-blowing expanse of the Mara landscape...it'll take me some time to find my bearings again (good luck to me for walking back into that office tomorrow!). I cannot think of a better base to spend a week exploring the Mara ecosystem than the Wild Eye camp set up on the banks of the Mara river and run by Maasai staff.

This is from a crossing we witnessed on our first full day in the field. There's much more drama from this scene to share, but upon importing my photos into Lightroom this one caught my eye. Processed quickly using my basic workflow and some splashes of Nik Color Efex for fun. 

This "monster croc" (they make'em BIG in the Mara) was hunting some of the animals crossing and made a number of kills in the space of 2-3 hours, stashing the victims below the surface before coming back for more hunting. Here he swims right into a bunch of crossing wildebeest...can imagine a number of words that would be uttered by these creatures as they see this guy in their midsts (none of which would be allowed by the forum auto-moderation haha).

I like it when a single image tells a striking story (or even multiple possible stories), like this one...don't you?

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f5.6  | 1/1000 SS  |  ISO-220

Morkel Erasmus