Emergence

The sun has just set after another blissful day in this piece of remote wilderness.

In front of me is a life-giving waterhole in a harsh land, where a myriad of animals came to quench their thirst during the heat of the day...

One animal was still thirsty, though, and for some reason he had waited until everyone was gone and he could have the waterhole to himself.

I first notice him emerging from the treeline behind me...a phantom in the dusk light.
He takes note of the human presence in his path, and swerves slightly to make his way around my position towards the water. He is an experienced old warrior, the signs of many battles etched on his face and in his ears.

He sports a defense weapon that is in high demand by certain misinformed members of my species - and that makes him a constant target. Does he know this?? I doubt it. At least in this remote corner of Africa, he is safe at this particular moment as I am watching him approach, watching him emerge from the shadows...

As he scuffles towards the water, dust kicked up lingers, and all the way he seems to be "emerging" from the dust and the fading light, like a ghostly apparition. He moves very quietly for an animal of his bulk and stature...

The light is gone. I can barely make out his shape. I dial in a very slow shutter speed to limit my ISO to within the 4000-6400 band, which I know my camera can handle with aplomb.

Nikon D3s  |  Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II  |  f4.0  |  1/60 SS  |  ISO-4500

I grab a few photos, being careful to pan lightly with him as he moves (given my slow shutter speed). Then I put the camera down and enjoy the moment. So many wildlife photographers these days forget to merely enjoy the moment, being so caught up in grabbing that "winning photo". 

We need to admire once again what drove us to take cameras on safari in the first place...
We need to maintain our respect for the natural world, instead of pushing too deeply into the natural rhythms and disturbing out subjects for "the shot"...
We need to view our subjects like we first viewed them, through the eyes of awestruck children...

We need to emerge as a driving force in raising awareness for the wildlife we love photographing, and to do that, we need to let go of our narcissism and egos...

Morkel Erasmus

Shake it Off

All is quiet, except for the sound of doves and guinea fowl in the distance.
The sky is bright blue on a winter's morning.
I am sitting in an underground research bunker in +Etosha National Park in Namibia.
He approaches from the southeast, ambling like they usually do. His footfalls are quiet, eerily quiet, like they usually are for these giants.

I see the secretion from his temples and down the inside of his hind legs - he is in musth, an aggravated hormonal state which makes elephant bulls particularly agitated.

The bunker provides protection but you still feel small and powerless when an African Elephant bull gets this close. As he approaches the waterhole he inevitably passes by our bunker.

He sees us, smells us, whatever but he notices us.
An indignant shake of the head, and the dust puffs off him.
A deliberate trip of my shutter.
I have my image.

By the way, I chose the title of this photo long before Taylor Swift had a hit song with that name...

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 @ 36mm
Kenko PRO Circular Polariser
f11  |  1/200 SS  |  ISO-900

This photo is Copyrighted © Morkel Erasmus.  
click on the photo to view at proper resolution and sharpness

I hope you have a fabulous day!

Morkel Erasmus

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)

click on the photo to display properly

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

Morkel Erasmus

Ungainly Runner

Hello there! It's Monday - so why don't we just gallop into the week ahead full force, even if we might look a bit ungainly after the weekend's activities? This lone giraffe was running past a herd of elephants at a remote waterhole in Etosha late one afternoon. In about 5 weeks I will be heading back there with my family - can't wait! I love using other animals in the background to add context to a scene.

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 70mm
f8.0  |  1/800 SS  |  ISO-400

click on the photo to display properly

Chat soon!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Mana Dreaming

I can't believe how time has flied. It's now almost a year since I made the epic journey up to Mana Pools in Zimbabwe with Marlon du Toit. 

I am still working through some images captured there last year. Here's one I thought you would enjoy. It was taken at sunset on our first afternoon in the Zambezi riverbed. I was sitting on the river bank photographing some elephants foraging in the sandy riverbed. There are few things that compare to the light of an African hazy sunset combined with dust and an iconic animal. 

Enjoy!

Morkel Erasmus