Dec
26
Here were two young lions grooming each other within a pride of about twelve, then one distant one looked up and wandered over and put his own head right between those of these two. And those two duly obliged and carried on grooming the new arrival. All I really wanted now was this one to look up, ideally right at me, and at the split second he did, I took their picture.
This fell at number six just outside my own top five pictures of 2010, which I’m posting later this week on the 29th of December.
Taken using a Nikon D700 with 200-400 zoom lens at 400mm, f/4.0, 1/250th, and ISO 400.
Dec
19
A red robin from yesterday’s excursion down to the front garden. Different from the usual fare I normally post, but equally rewarding.
There were three of these litttle guys flitting about, and robins being robins, did stay still long enough to have their pictures taken. Which was just as well because I was stuck with 1/100 to 1/250 of a second all the while handholding a 400mm lens.
In January, I posted a similar picture here.
Taken using a Nikon D700 with 200-400 zoom lens at 310mm, f/4.8, 1/180th, and ISO 1600.
Dec
12
This month’s Digital Photographer magazine has a nice twelve page spread on wildlife photography called Life In The Wild featuring four wildlife photographers including myself over three of the pages. It’s a privilege to share some space there with Uwe Skrzypczak, Chris Weston and James Silverthorne.
It’s edition 103 and it’s on sale this month throughout the UK.
Read More»Dec
05
This is one more elephant shot from quite low down (two inches off the turf) recently in the Masai Mara in Kenya, similar to the one I posted last week here.
The sky was very kind too, in colour it represented a gun metal grey, and the light played out nicely over this large female elephant and the plain too. The colour version of this is impressive (if I can say that) but I felt this also renders strongly in monochrome. In fact, It’s one of the few that works equally well in both treatments.
Taken using a Nikon D300 with 12-24 zoom lens at 20mm, f/11.0, 1/180th, and ISO 500.
Nov
28
We’d seen three cheetahs (the quite famous three cheetah brothers) reclining under a tree in the late afternoon, and when it was clear not a lot would happen (they’d just eaten) we moved on, to a nearby leopard which we witnessed hauling a fresh kill up a tree. Then leopard became obscured and went out of view, so given it was near sunset we decided to revisit the three cheetahs.
Only if we could place the cheetahs between ourselves and the setting sun, and if one were to stand, even for a minute, I might have a picture.
This one stood for some twenty seconds before he wandered off to lie down again, near his brothers, just enough for a few pictures.
Taken using a Nikon D700 with 200-400 zoom lens at 400mm, f/4.0, 1/250th, and ISO 400.
Nov
27
Here’s one of series of low wide angle views of a elephants I caught on Paradise Plain, in the Masai Mara Kenya last week.
I found myself taking more pictures of elephants than I’d expected last week. And It was fun too, they got close, and I got low. They proved mostly inquisitive of the camera, some coming to within a few feet. One or two elephant mothers became a little nervous with their young calves present, so we left them alone.
The camera was set very low to the ground as they passed, and the shutter tripped with a remote release. It was hit and miss initially, but eventually I learnt where to place the camera in relation to the subject, where to manual focus, whether higher or lower to the ground, all the while watching out for nearby obscuring grass and twigs too.
Taken using a Nikon D300 with 12-24 zoom lens at 16mm, f/11.0, 1/350th, and ISO 200.
Nov
06
From one side, out of frame, I could see this guy about to enter the frame so while waited for him, I composed this view and focussed on her. Then, right at this point of his passing, I took their picture. At the same time she kept looking away from him, showing no apparent interest. Keeping the aperture wide kept the depth of field to a minimum isolating the background behind her.
The blood on his muzzle is a result of a brief fight with another male, just moments earlier.
Taken using a Nikon D700 with 200-400 zoom lens at 400mm, f/4.0, 1/250th,and ISO 220.
Oct
16
Well, not quite face to face, my camera was wearing a 400mm lens. We headed of this male lion to see if we could catch a picture head-on. He was one of two, and we pictured this just after both fought briefly drawing blood around the muzzle of this one. I think a lot of people who visit Africa for lions like to have their own picture of a lion head-on as did I, and this is my take.
I think I’ve said this before, but there’s nothing in Africa so intense as a lion looking right at you. Believe me, zoo lions can’t do this.
I wish you could see this picture even bigger than you can here, because it stares at you no matter where you view it from. This is one I’m considering releasing as a print soon.
Taken using a Nikon D700 with a 200-400mm f/4.0 lens at 380mm, f/4.0, 1/250 and ISO 320.
