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

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Morkel Erasmus

The Poser

You'll notice I'm posting more photos locally on my blog...I'm moving more of the stories I share on my Facebook Page here so that traffic to my blog can be increased, and that I have my stuff hosted on my blog rather than a Facebook Page that can be taken away if the powers that be so choose.

This is a baby Chacma Baboon photographed in the Kruger National Park in South Africa. These little guys are photographic gems and always provide fun, interaction and quirky poses like this. This guy was part of a troop which hangs around the Shingwedzi river close to Shingwedzi rest camp. Their whole area has changed due to the recent floods there, so I'm not sure if the troop has moved on. 

Overcast, rainy weather evened out the shadows and created a nice exposure with soft light. You always need to be mindful for great poses with primates, especially ones which can seem anthropomorphic. The smaller the subject, the more important the shooting angle also becomes. I was able to get a decent low perspective here, even though I was shooting from my vehicle parked on the road. 

Techs:

Canon 1000D

Canon 100-400mm L IS USM

f6.3  |  1/500 SS  |  ISO-800

Exposure Bias +0.3 

This photo is Copyrighted © Morkel Erasmus Photography.

You may share this image as presented here under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 licence (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

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Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Hold On!!

It seems the weeks are getting more hectic as the year drags to an end!


Here is a shot I took in December 2009 (almost a year ago) in the northern region of the Greater Kruger Transfrontier Park.


This little chacma baboon was clinging to his mother for all he was worth as she strolled on by early one morning close to the Shingwedzi river. I love framing portraits of animals that sort of break the mold, and this is an example of one. Many people will find many things wrong with this picture in terms of composition and the likes (for example, the mother's feet are too close to the picture's edge)...but somehow this just works for me. This photo is only cropped slightly from the left-hand side and converted to black-and-white to enhance the story.


Would love your thoughts??

f4.0  //  1/200 SS  //  ISO-800

Enjoy the rest of the week!


Morkel Erasmus