Outdoor Camera Bag Review

If you have been following this Blog for a while you might recall that quite a few months ago a few of the contributing photographers received a sponsorship from Singer Photographic which included a range of camera bags and backpacks.

The guys have been using these bags every day when doing game drives and bush walks so you can be sure that they have been thoroughly tested in the great outdoors!

Here are some of the photographers feedback on the different bags that they have been using.

David Guest - Lowepro Flipside 200

The bag has helped me tremendously in avoiding dust on my gear, the last bag I had was a complete embarrassment compared to Lower Pros.

I have done walks with it where sometimes I get a bit attached to the prominent thorns on trees by accident, this however leaves the bag still in one piece, it has good rigidity. Obviously it hasn't rained yet so can't give any feed back on their endurance in rain. All the compartments are a real bonus for anything and everything. I have used it for camera bits and pieces to documents, from stationery to samples from the bush.

The bag works well in this environment. No pics of it on me. You no us we're never in our own photos!

Riaan Kruger - Lowepro Flipside 200


The bag works wonderfully well when one does a walk and take just a few lenses and the body with you. Once you start taking filters and a lens cleaning brush there aren’t really little pockets or sleeves to store smaller accessories (there is one on the side for memory discs etc.) If one travels a lot the chargers and extra batteries need to be put in a separate bag as no storage for that. The charger is actually a minor problem as this does not go our when shooting but rather the smaller accessories.

The zipper is also on back side of the bag where the slings are going over your shoulder. When you on a vehicle and do a lot of driving and you have to take your camera out of the bag more often the camera hooks on to the slings.

The biggest plus about the bag is that it is compact when you are travelling and you only take your selected equipment with you. All of the above is from a very critical point of view and the overall bag is fantastic.

Grant Marcus - Lowepro Vertex AW 300

First I would like to thank singer photographic for the sponsorship by Lowe pro. As wild life photographer you always need a good bag or case to protect your gear against the elements. Singer photographic supplied me with a bag that does that and more. With all equipment there are pros and cons.

Positives:
- The bag is big enough for any camera body with a big lens up to a 70-200 and additional lenses and bodies.
- The bag got enough space inside for all your accessories. Outdoor storage panels provides easy and quick access for my digital accessories like filters.
- Very important are the zips, they are wide and strong YKK zippers with a canvas strip covering the zip to keep the dust and moisture out, I like!! Normally it is the first thing that packs up of a camera backpack. This one looks and feels stronger than any of my other bags.
- Most of the bags you get are not padded enough for heavy equipment, but the 300 are very sturdy on the out and the inside and your camera is very well supported on the bottom, top and sides. That’s the first thing I look for when buying a bag because I am outdoor and in a 4x4 vehicle most of the day, that goes apart with a lot of bumping around.
- All the straps on the bag are very comfortable for when walking long distances with your equipment and they are very supportive to the lower back. Another bonus is that the harness is so lightweight and comfortable.
- The material used for the 200 are excellent and specially for outdoor use well that is what I think and I am sure most wild life photographers will agree!!
- The reason you would get a bag like this is to protect your equipment against the elements. especially in the summer , I do work when it is raining. This bag has its own all weather cover, well tugged away at the bottom of the bag, neatly zipped away. Very important….. it is easy accessible! - There are three areas on the bag where you can fasten your tripod with an adjustable glide lock.

Negatives:
I really don’t have anything negative to say about the bag. The only thing for me is the time it takes to get my camera out of the bag is an issue. I loose that vital first few seconds of the shot. This is where I think a hard case is better, especially for me on the vehicle.

I really can not fault the Vertex 200 I am honestly very happy. It is the best bag I have ever owned. This bag gets a 9/10 from me especially for protection and padding.

Gerry van der Walt - National Geographic Medium Photographic Backpack

Initially I was not quite sure how this bag would measure up against the various Lowepro bags we received from Singer Photographic in Johannesburg. National Geographic is obviously very well known for it's outdoor adventures and I was keen to see whether this bag would live up to these high standards.

To start with, this bags has the looks. It looks good on your back, next to you in the game drive vehicle or even a shopping mall. There are a lot of small, hidden compartments which makes it possible to carry everything from business cards to binoculars and even a 17inch laptop without it getting mixed up with your actual camera gear.

Even though it is a relatively tight fit, I was able to fit the following equipment in the bag:

• Nikon D300 with Sigma 50 to 500mm lens
• Sigma 28 to 200mm lens
• Macro Filter Set
• Nikon SB600 Flash
• Sony T100 Digital Camera

There really was not anything major I could find wrong with this bag. If I had to be picky I would say that it takes a few seconds to get the zip open and your camera out but our circumstances are unusual. For anybody who is looking to get something like this to travel or hike with it would be perfect.

When you walk the bags sits extremely comfortably on your back. I also quite liked the way the bag gets more and more attitude as you use it. The zippers last well and even the small pockets that closes with Velcro has lasted perfectly even after being used every day in very hot and dusty environments.

As the rainy season approaches I will have to relook my options as this bag is not waterproof and when it rains in Africa you know about it! Apart from that I could highly recommend it to anybody looking to get a good looking, rugged and functional camera backpack. Even when I move my camera gear to a Storm Hard Case for the rainy season I will keep this bag for my own personal non-camera use.

This bag lives up to National Geographic's spirit of adventure. Great look. Great functionality. Great product!

We are all going to continue using these products and will give periodic feedback. If you have been looking at any of these products and still need more info before purchasing please do not hesitate to contact me. I will be happy to supply you with any hands on info but know that you can use any of these products with confidence!

A great big thanks goes out to the guys at Singer Photographic for supplying these bags!

Will be back soon with more wildlife & nature images as well as an update on all the 'upgrades' done to the various Photo-Africa sites.

As always I look forward to hearing from you.

Until next time.

Gerry

What You Don't Want to See When Walking

In between uploading new images I have been trying to work through some of the ones I have not checked yet and quite liked this little 'sequence'.

This is one of the Batia brothers, the two oldest lions in Madikwe. They were close to our lodge a week or so ago and after drive Grant and I went to get some images. It was overcast which gave us a nice diffused light to work with.

These boys are almost 16 years old and are getting kinda grumpy. As we approached this guys went into stalking mode but decided to get up to go and lay down behind a bush. All the time he kept a very close watch on us.

Here are the images I got as we came close in the vehicle. No, we were not on foot on this occasion just thought it would make a nice title!! :)

As we came closer he lifted his head to have a good look.

As we came closer he went into 'hunting' mode and dropped down.

Not wanting any part of this he moved behind some bushes, all the while keeping a close watch on us.

As we stopped the vehicle he got up once and gave a warning call. Pretty impressive for an old boy but unusual as we were well outside of his personal zone.

Zooming in on the other brother (no scar on left cheek) you can see how old he really is. They are absolute legends in Madikwe and their faces speak of years of experience.

Got some great images during the small time we spent with them!

Will be back soon with more.

As always I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time.

Gerry

The Uploads Continue!

Have you ever heard a song for the first time yet it almost sounded familiar? I heard a track off the new Daniel Powter album yesterday and it felt like it was something I heard a very long time ago. A song that should have some kind of memory attached to it but feels brand new at the same time.

I think that some images can make you feel like that as well. While I have been doing all the uploads of the various photographer's images to the Photo-Africa Stock Library I saw a couple of images that made me feel like that.

You look at the image and it feels strangely familiar yet brand new at the same time. I reckon it might be a good thing when an image makes you feel like that as you feel connected to it somehow yet you are excited about it as it is brand new. Make sense? Anyway, moving on.

I have been uploading images the whole weekend and it seems like the end is finally in sight. I completed all of Riaan and Gavin's images and by the end of tomorrow I will hopefully have all of my work loaded onto the stock site as well. I knew there were a lot of them but damn!!

I am still planning to do a Weekly High Five in the next couple of days but in the meantime here are a few quick images that I uploaded today. I took all of these during the last two weeks before returning to Johannesburg. The idea was to do a Photo Safari post with these images but with the number of photos available I will still be able to do another one later this week as well.

So to keep things rolling, here are a few of my latest images.

This is one sad looking lion. This young male and his sister was hunting at Tlou Dam and this face pretty much tells the resulting story. They just missed the wildebeest. Frustration - no meal on this specific occasion.

Close up of a Praying Mantis. I would still love to do more macro work and with summer approaching there will be a lot of insects around to have a closer look at.

This image was taken at the waterhole at the lodge. I new I liked it when I clicked the shutter. I still like it but cannot exactly put my finger on why. Any ideas?

This young Spotted Hyena crossed the road in front of our vehicle. As I looked through the viewfinder I saw that the white and it looked like it was in a studio with a white background. I like it.

Plain and simple. Taken at midday, this silhouette of an African Hoopoo worked out quite well.

This was also at midday and the light was not the best. Actually it was pretty bad but I still like the result. The trunk makes an interesting line from top to bottom.

I was hoping for a full-on silhouette but the faded orange color worked quite well in the end.

And this is what happens when you get sidetracked in Photoshop! Not something I do a lot of, but every now and then the creative juices flow and images like this 'happen'! :)

Time to upload the next batch of images! I have about 4 more posts I need to get up onto the Blog before Adele and I head back to Tuningi on Wednesday so have to get cracking!

When you have a moment visit the Photo-Africa Stock Library to browse through the more than 300 new African Wildlife and Nature images that has been uploaded during the last two days! Some amazing 'moments'!

As always I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time.

Gerry

Uploads, Images and Questions

I have been uploading images to the Photo-Africa Stock Library for almost the entire day and have not even reached halfway! I am currently uploading a lot of Riaan's images and once done I will upload new images from Gavin and then myself as well.

It is great to have so many unique images to add to Photo-Africa. I have had a helluva time looking through all the images as they get uploaded and have been amazed at the diversity of images and stories being added. You would think that there are only so many ways in which to photograph a lion but I am glad to say that my belief in the variety on Photo-Africa has been justified.

I have decided to do the Weekly High Five as soon as I have uploaded all the images, which will probably be towards Sunday, but in the meantime I will keep on posting some of the 'highlight images' on the Blog.

The idea behind this was triggered when I looked at a few of the images and wondered "How in the world did that happen?" You never know what you are going to get when you head out on safari and the images on Photo-Africa has proved to be the same. You never know...

With that in mind, here are a few of the images I enjoyed or made me 'ask a question' while uploading today.

Whose tail is he carrying? Perhaps wildebeest?

You gotta love the way these dogs form a circle.

I was with Gavin when he spotted this interesting lighting on the zebra in Madikwe.

How did this lioness loose her eye?

Forget how this lion got up there. How is he getting out??

What happened when the approaching buffalo herd got closer?

One of the Sereti males from Madikwe. Still my bet as one of the dominating forces in the future.

The three Sereti brothers. What were they all smelling?

Love this shot. Looks like a classic.

Great leopard silhouette. Think Riaan got this one while still working in the Sabi Sands.

Interesting 'action' capture. Perfect timing.

This was taken at Tlou Dam in Madikwe but not sure who they were. Perhaps the Etali youngsters? Great action capture that shows perfectly how playful these little guys can be.

Not just a great buffalo image, but what is he thinking?

You gotta wonder what happened next.

Great image. I personally love the way the lines and light highlight the tails.

One of the cutest images I have seen in a while. Very tiny little cheetah cub peeking out from behind the tree.

Interesting capture. The water and color creates a great abstract.

Almost like they have been summoned.

Great lines with the big guys walking down the road.

Just the one paying attention. Great shot.

Any thoughts on this one?? :)

The same lion as in the above image as seen in our rear view mirror. Poor guy was looking for shade!

I reckon that apart from composition and technical quality, if a wildlife image can make you ask a question it has that something extra that puts it above the rest. Why? How? What?

Will be back soon with more images as they get uploaded. To view all the newest images that have been added to the Photo-Africa Stock Library you can click here.

As always I look forward to hearing from you.

Until next time.

Gerry

Back Online with Lots of New Images!

Finally. It feels like it has been months since I last posted anything on the blog.

Adele and I are back in Johannesburg. It is still always a strange reality to come to the city when you are on leave. We have the privilege of working in the most amazing natural surroundings and to find yourself in the hustle and bustle of the city where everybody is rushed and worried about the next meeting makes you feel like you are watching a movie in fast forward.

The last few days have been extremely hectic and I am almost over the flu. Luckily just in time as we only have one week in Johannesburg in which we have to finalise all the details for our wedding on 1 November and also complete a helluva 'to do list'.

So far so good.

I have started a lot of the smaller updates and changes to the various Photo-Africa sites and will hopefully be uploading all of these around Monday next week. Will keep you posted on the Blog. One of the things on my list is to upload a huge number of images from the various photographers in Madikwe. As you have probably gathered, we live in the most amazing environment, but the Internet is still a touchy subject.

A number of the guys have given me CD's filled with new images that I will be uploading over the next few days. As I upload each photographer's images I will post a blog with a few of the images that I enjoyed.

I will still post the High Five on Friday but this gives me an excuse to post more great African Wildlife and Nature images on the Blog as well! I noticed that Craig Muller also uploaded a whole bunch of new images that looked very interesting. Pop by the Photo-Africa Stock Library to check them out or visit the Blog again later this week for the High Five.

Today I uploaded more than fifty of Neal Fischer's images. Neal has some interesting close ups of the smaller things in Africa, but here are a few images I liked while I was uploading them.

Very well done abstract. Not exactly sure how he got the background so black out in the field but very well done.

This White Rhino is seriously into marking his territory. They rub their feet in their dung and urine and then walk away while leaving a scent trail all along the borders of their territory. Nice capture.

The Lilac Breasted Roller must be one of the most photographed birds in Africa. This image was slightly different and shows this little guy with a very different facial expression.

A Pied Crow in flight. These guys have been very helpful in showing us a few kills the last few weeks. The scavenge and congregate in huge numbers around any major kills by predators such as lions and leopards.

Giraffe with a very curious look on his face. Always a great attraction on safari.

Exposure is strange in this one, but I love the way the lioness is looking at the male. Their is a story in their somewhere.

Interesting capture that, by the amount of teeth missing, looks like one of the Batia brothers.

Very nice capture. Leopards are still one of the more difficult to find species in Madikwe but the sightings have definitely been picking up over the last few months. The last week in particular was fantastic for leoaprds in the wetsern parts of Madikwe. Hopefully this will lead to more leopard images finding their way to this site.

This image was captured in the middle of the Madikwe Game Reserve. This old chapel can be found Vleishfontein which is where the current Parks Board offices are situated. Great use of sepia tones to compliment the old feel of the image. (Should look at getting more history on this?)

Those are just a few of Neal's images I uploaded today. You can view more than fifty of his new images by visiting the Newest Images on the Photo-Africa Stock Library.

Other than all the changes and uploads my book has been coming along very nicely. I am pretty much done but am struggling to find quotes on lions, rhino and a few other species. If you have any nice websites or quotes on Africa and it's animals I would greatly appreciate it if you could email me!

A quick shoutout to Zaheer Adam, a regular visitor to Madikwe, who dropped me an email after visiting the Blog. Thanks for the mail - greatly appreciated! There is so much news with regards to all the Madikwe lions you mention and I will do my best to do a Blog with some of the latest updates. Let me know when you visit Madikwe again.

I will be back again tomorrow with more new images form the other Photo-Africa photographers.

As always I look forward to hearing from you.

Gerry

A Short Break

I did not think it would be possible but I have been able to do sixteen Weekly High Five posts without missing a single week. Pretty impressed with myself!

Things have gotten quite hectic the last few days, along with a nice bout of the flu, and I am very much looking forward to heading to Johannesburg next week Wednesday for a couple of days. Adele and I will be finalizing a number of things as it will be the last time we get to any form of civilisation before our wedding on 1 November up in Namibia.

I also have a huge list of exciting updates, along with over 300 new images, that I want to try and get uploaded to all three Photo-Africa sites. New links, new photographer pages, new partnerships and of course a lot of new, authentic African wildlife images.

I have decided to take a few days off from the Blog while I start working on a number of these updates and rebuilding some of the pages on the Photo-Africa Home Page and Photo-Africa Stock Library.

I will be back on the Blog around Thursday next week and then on Friday I will do a special edition Weekly High Five which will feature around 15 of the new images that will have been uploaded by then.

Thanks for all the support thus far and I hope you will visit next week when all the new additions and updates gets uploaded. In the meantime you can still visit the Photo-Africa Stock Library for many new wildlife images.

As always I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next week.

Gerry

Brutal or Amazing. You Decide...

NOTE - I have done a follow up post on this story. To read the update click here! (May 2009)

You never know what's going to happen.

That is the mindset we normally have when we head out on drive or on a walk. That is what keeps it exciting. It's what makes you want to learn more. See more.

The wonders of nature keeps you captivated at the best of times but once in a while you see something that makes you realise that there are no scripts in nature. Things happen that surprise you. Shock you.

I had a moment like this two days ago.

These moments make you realise that no matter how many books you read or how many times you see the same event play out, we can never truly understand what goes through an animals mind as they live out each day in a struggle for survival in the African bush.

On Thursday afternoon we headed down to the southern part of Madikwe to try and pick up on lion tracks that some of the guys had early that morning. We drove around the area for a while but did not find any tracks. As we moved on, a few minutes later we found a dead Red Hartebeest in a dried up pan.

The female antelope has not been opened up yet and upon further investigation we found a female lioness on the opposite wall of the pan. She was still out of breath and must have just finished killing the Hartebeest. Lions kill by strangulation and takes quite a physical toll on them - hence the heavy breathing.

As the lioness got up and moved towards her prey we settled in to watch the scene unfold. Lions are normally quite methodical in how the open and start feeding on a carcass but what followed blew our minds.

As she reached the carcass she started opening the antelope from the stomach area. Nothing unusual so far.

The first goal is normally to open the belly area and pull out the stomach.

So far everything was going pretty much 'by the book'. Adele joined me on the drive and was watching the scene unfolding through the binoculars. My guests were also watching the scene through their video camera and binoculars.

As she continued, the lioness got hold of what we thought was the stomach ans started pulling it out. As she stood up to get a little more leverage Adele said "That is not the stomach!"

The Red Hartebeest that got killed was heavily pregnant!

Now I have seen a lion kill where the prey was pregnant but normally they would just carry on feeding as if nothing was wrong.

This is where the scenes that followed had us all dumbstruck.

Once out of the mother the lioness very gently placed the foetus on the floor and spent quite a bit of time smelling and investigating the unborn Hartebeest.

Her body language was strange for a lioness in her situation and it seemed that she was clearly perturbed by what has just happened and kept on looking around as if to look for help.

After a while she kept on feeding and started removing the stomach contents, all the while seeming to make a concerted effort to stay away from the foetus.

After a while, and not feeding at all, she returned her attention to the foetus and very gently picked it up by the nose.

She stood, with the foetus in her mouth, for quite some time looking around in all directions as if checking for something. After a few minutes she started walking off towards a thicket very close to her kill.

She stopped again and very gently put the foetus on the floor. All the time looking around and looking quite tense and nervous. She then proceeded to nudge the foetus with her nose, gently rolled it over and picked it up on the back of the neck as if it was one of her own cubs.

She continued looking around and slowly moved towards the thicket.

She carefully walked towards the thicket where she proceeded to place the foetus very carefully at the bottom of the thicket. She nudged it a few times with her nose still looking around all the time as if she was expecting either help or danger.

After another few minutes she slowly returned to the carcass where she did not continue feeding but in stead looked around again and then slowly laid down where she fell asleep.

This was definitely one of the most extraordinary moments of lion behavior I have ever witnessed. What was she thinking? Why did she react the way she did?

We always have to be careful of projecting our own emotions onto the animals we are watching but this situation made this extremely difficult. Did her 'mother instincts' kick in? Was there still a heartbeat that she could feel? Was she trying to protect the unborn Hartebeest?

It is questions like this that always make you realize we do not know everything. These questions makes you realise once again the special privilege we have of being able to witness the things we do. You can read as many books or watch as many videos as you want but you never know what will happen when you are out in the field.

This sighting was something that caught us all off guard and will stay with me for quite some time. I do not know if I will ever understand exactly what happened but in a cruel, beautiful way we witnessed a piece of African magic.

It is moments like this that you truly feel how special nature is. There are no laws or rules in nature that is set in stone. Nature will carry on in it's own way whether we are there to play witness or not.

Let's hope we can have the privilege to share this magic for many years to come.

As always I look forward to hearing from you.

Until next time.

Gerry

PS: I have added a post which links to the video footage that my guests got of this event. Click here. G.

Weekly High Five #16

There have been a lot of new images added to the Photo-Africa Stock Library this week and again featured quite a few images of lions. The 'king of beasts' will always continue to draw the attention of visitors to African Game Reserves and WIldlife Photographers alike. This week I have chosen two lion images along with a landscape, rhino and abstract image.

Here goes with the latest 'Weekly High Five'.

Image 1 - Arguing Lions by Gavin Tonkinson


This image makes great use of framing and solor to highlight the focal area. These two lions where sharing a wildebeest and, as always when the food runs out, had a few 'friendly negotiations' about who is getting the last bits. The females snarling face has been placed perfectly next to the male and the red color of the wildebeest's ribs heightens the emotion of the scene. If you have every seen a scene like this you will now how difficult it is to get great images as there is so much happening and a 'food fight' can start and end in a matter of seconds. Patience and a steady hand can make for great images like this.

* * *

Image 2 - Black Rhino and Calf by Grant Marcus


The very endangered Black Rhino (or more correctly Hooked-Lipped Rhino). Difficult to see and even more difficult to photograph. This image works very well and has a nice contrast of eye contact from the mother staring at you mixed with a dynamic feel of the youngster wanting to move away to the right of the frame. With these dull grey animals you can very easily loose impact but in this case the background has been blurred nicely through a good choice of aperture. Nice image of a rarely seen animal.

* * *

Image 3 - Eating Lion Close Up by Gerry van der Walt


When you see a lion feeding in the wild there are hundreds of different ways you can approach the scene from a photographic poiunt of view. This image shows just another way to capture the brutal beauty of nature at work. By getting in really close to the action you create a more surreal image rather than the full on blood and guts which you are always tempted to shoot during a scene like this (I mean this in a good way). The image works as the teeth and eye have been placed on the power points and creates an invisible diagonal line which make any image more appealing to the viewer. I also quite like the nose twisting very slightly to the centre of the image as the lion bites into the wildebeest. Interesting close up and different way of shooting lions on a kill.

* * *

Image 4 - River Landscape by Craig Muller


Where wildlife photography has a lot to do with being at the right place at the right time, landscape photography demands a bit more planning. You can take your time in finding the right scene, best angle and plan the image out - not always the case with wildlife photography. This image has been planned very nicely. There are two 'entrance points' which both leads you to the other. You can either start from the blue sky and follow the river down or vice versa. The two cliffs has also been placed in the correct position and creates a dynamic feel by your view going from the highest point down and to hte left of the frame. Nicely planned and executed landscape image.

* * *

Image 5 - Baboons in Leadwood by Gavin Tonkinson


I like this image as it is plain and simple. A lot of the times we try and do too much with an image and feel we have to keep on adding more elements to make it interesting. Not always the case. The two baboons in the dead leadwood tree gives the tree a little bit of life and the tree with blue background makes for a very striking image. Difficult choice this week as I like the landscape image a lot as well but I think I am going to go with this this one for my pick of the week.

* * *

As always I look forward to hearing your comments and choices of this week's images. It is always difficult choosing just 5 images from the many that are uploaded each week so for more amazing images make sure to visit the Photo-Africa Stock Library. You can also view more of the photographers work by visiting the Photo-Africa Home Page and then clicking on the link which will take you to their own personal page on Photo-Africa.

Update on Madikwe Fires

As you might have read in a previous post there have been serious wild fires running rampant through Madikwe. The wind has not been any help and has been swirling the fires in various directions.

By last nigh most of the major burns in the north western part of the reserve was under control. As we were sitting outside out house we noticed a orange glow on the horizon due east from the lodge. We jumped in the vehicles and immediately went to check it out. After checking with Parks Board we were told that they were aware of a fire in that area. We drove along one of the main roads where the fire would hopefully stop. Our concern was that if the fire jumped the road it would be heading directly towards our lodge. Luckily this did not happen and so far this morning everything seems under control.

Here are a few images I took with my small Sony T100 last night around 10pm as we drove around to check the wild fires.






It has been quite a stressful few days with all the fires but you have to deal with it and move on. Will keep you posted as the next few days go on and as we receive information on how much damage was caused.

As always I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time.

Gerry

Photo Safari #3

As I am writing this the fires are still raging!

No, not a continuation from yesterday's post but the wild fires in Madikwe. The scenes yesterday was unbelievable as a fire run wild through the north-western parts of Madikwe. During our entire drive we were all more fixated / worried / fascinated / concerned with the smoke, flames and a feeling of complete helplesness that we almost forgot about the three of the Big 5 animals we found during the drive.

Here are a few images of the weeks drives along with a few that I took yesterday - The Day that Madikwe Burned.

Sunrise at Tlou Dam. Always magic and we have been lucky to get quite a few chances to get there early and wait for the shots.

The view from Nik's view, one of our regular drink stops, yesterday afternoon as the Inselbergs burned.

A view from Tlou Dam towards the burning bushveld. Made for very moody, almost disturbing images. We do not ave details on how much of Madikwe has burnt but I will keep you posted as we find out more.

Back to the wildlife...

One of the Tsola-Mateya males. Awesome specimen and shows how every lion has a different look thanks to ths scars on the face. These guys are in the process of taking over from the South. Lots of stories to come.

I reckon I should do a book on 'funny lion faces' - must have a 100 of them! Whenever you are aiming to get that perfect lion yawn you inevitably end up with a few of these. Never the same but always entartaining!

The Dipelo female restring in the late afternoon heat. I quite like the focus on her paw.

A close up of a young elep[hant 'playing' with his tusk. This was right next to the vehicle and I had to zoom out quite a bit to get this shot.

Winter time is always dry in Africa and creates images like this as all the animals congregate at the watering holes. The lions seen above were just out of view to the left.

Nothing cuter than a baby ellie! This little guys wanted to come and investigate but did not dare leave his mother's side. Great scene!

This is 'Bob', the Tree Agama that lives in the tree outside our house at Tuningi. Since Gizmo is not around anymore Adele, Grant, Monique and I have decided he is our new 'pet'. Interesting to watch but not as much fun! :)

Another magical African sunset.

Game viewing has been slightly quiet but as you can see we still get the 'moments'. Once the fires all die down it will be interesting to see how the animals change their behaviour and feeding grounds according to water availibility and the burnt areas. Will keep you posted.

Make sure to check back soon for this week's High Five.

As always I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time.

Gerry

Where is it all going?

Have you ever wondered why? Nothing specific, just why?

Where is it all leading?

I am sure that everybody reaches a point in their life where they question what they are doing. Why am I doing this? Will I still be doing this in 5 years time? If not, what will I be doing?
Perhaps this is normal but I find my head going in that direction more and more. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love what I do and the people with whom I get to share a fantastic lifestyle is amazing but I still find myself asking. Why?

Are we all so conditioned by society to always look ahead at plan for 'one day' or is it that come of us are just always thinking about what else we can do? Is it wrong to want more from life? Experience more? Give more? Live more?

I could get quite deep on this one but will wait for a week or so until I get home and reassess quite a few things and plan for the remainder of the year and after that.

Photo-Africa is another of the things that I question every now and then as well. You see,originally I started it purely as my own little showcase for my images which, I am glad to say, has gotten better since those early days. One thing led to another and now the three websites plays host to more than twenty wildlife photographers and gets in excess of 14 000 hits every month. Pretty good for something that only got up and running towards the end of February this year.

Why? Where is it going?

There those questions pop up again. I have absolutely relished the entire ride up until now and am also looking forward to where things are going. I would like nothing more to throw myself into the site 100% and only do this but as with many photographers this is not always possible. Luckily I am in the position to spend a lot of time on Photo-Africa. It has at times turned out to be quite a nice distraction from all the other 'issues' that this year as presented.

One of the exciting things that I am planning is a Birding Photo Competition with pretty nice prizes that will run later this year. More details on this as I finalize prizes and other details soon. I have also started working on my second book - "Wildlife. Photography. And everything in between."

This book will feature a lot of my work from the last four years and also act as a 'wildlife photography manual' of sorts which will include a lot of practical tips and advise. I have completed about 60% of the work and am expecting to have it ready to go by mid-October. As they say watch this space! (I also thought of publishing the Blog as a seperate book. Anybody tried this yet?)

Anyway, time to go. This chain of thought is not finished yet - just put on pause for now! A lot of these kind of questions don't get answered for quite some time and in a way is a good thing. I guess it is up to each of us to find those answer for yourself.

Make sure you check back later this week for the Weekly High Five!

As always I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time.

Gerry

Weekly High Five #15

"It was the Africa I had read of in books of travel. All the menageries in the world turned loose would not have compared to the sight I saw that day!"

~ Gerald Mckiernan, 1876

Some days when we head out on morning game drive this is what comes to mind. Even if you have the privilege of doing it every single day, like we do, the magic never disappears. You never get blase about it. You never stop appreciating the natural world around you. There is always something new and exciting. More mysteries to unravel and more beauty to behold.

The Weekly High Five reflects this and this week's selection is no exception and features images that shows but a glimpse of all the wonders you can see in the African bush.

So with that, here goes with this weeks High Five.

Image 1 - Kudu Fight by Craig Muller

Any interaction between animals normally make for a great image. A story gets told and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy. By looking at this image it does not look as if the two male Kudus have gotten completely entangled but it is something that often leads to the death of both sides. One male might get his neck broken and this then leads to the other ultimately starving to death as he cannot feed or move around. Brutal but a part of nature. In the Kruger National Park there is a statue of an event like this. The statue which is located at the Skukuza rest camp is entitled 'Beaten Victor'. Great name, great image.

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Image 2 - Angry Lion by Gerry van der Walt

This image was featured in a previous Blog but I still feel it is strong enough to be included in this week's High Five. This image shows that when filling the frame with your subject you can create a lot more impact than if the image had a lot of background to it. The eyes, which is always a focal point, also creates a 'silent' triangle with the open mouth which keeps your attention jumping betwene the mouth and eyes - success - something that makes this image work. Powerful animal. Powerful image.

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Image 3 - Food Fight by Gavin Tonkinson

This is the same lion, and his brother, as in the previous image. The two males are arguing about the last bit of wildebeest (who wouldn't?). It is difficult getting images like this and I believe that is where it helps to have a guide who can help you to predict the animal behaviour. This situation however did not give much notice and that is why it is an impressive capture - as with any action image in wildlife photography. Considering this was about 2 'o clock in the afternoon with harsh light I reckon the exposure was handled pretty well. Another thing that I really like in the image is the placement of the lion's open mouth. You can almost mistake the mouth as belonging to either one of the two. Any images which gets you to look at it twice, for whatever reason, is on the way to being a winner. Nice action shot of the two Sereti males from Madikwe!

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Image 4 - Blue Waxbill by Craig Muller

In my mind this could almost go through as an action image. These little guys are always moving and you very rarely find them sitting still for long enough to get an image like this. Great work on Craig getting it sharp like this. The background which could very easily have thrown the image a bit has been dealt with very well and is sufficiently blurred not too distract from the finer features on the little Waxbill. Bird photography is difficult but this is very well done.

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Image 5 - 'Podile' by Gerry van der Walt

Poetry in motion. The leopard is truly one of Africa and the worlds most beautiful animals. This is Podile, one of the females in Madikwe. She keeps a territory in the south-western parts of Madikwe and is always a very 'in-demand' photographic subject. Thanks largely to wildlife photographers people have been given the impression that they spend the majority of their time up in trees but contrary to popular belief, leopards spend around 80% of their time on the ground. No one can however argue about the impact of an image of a leopard up a tree. The above image has been framed very nicely with the branches and Podile has a lot of empty space to stare into. What is she looking at? I personally also like the little flick of the tail at the bottom of the frame. Stunning image of an African icon and my choice of the week.

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I quite like this weeks selection and look forward to see what gets uploaded to the Photo-Africa Stock Library during the next week. Leave a comment or email me and let me know which of the above is your favourite and why. Love hearing all your opinions.

This has also been the 99th post on the Photo-Africa Blog. I will probably be uploading the next post on either Sunday evening or sometime during Monday. Not sure if there is anything specific I should write about or focus on. One thought was to do a focus on Podile, the leopard in Image 5, as we spent almost an hour with her this morning. Another thought was to do another Day at Tuningi or possibly an overview of Photo-Africa and some of the best images I feel we have on the site. If you have any ideas or request please email me!!

As always I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time.

Gerry

In the Lion's Eye

Just a quick one.

This is another image of the day when Gavin and I sat with the Sereti males. I was playing around with Fast Stone Image Viewer, which is a free program but definitely worth a look, when I saw something in some of the images I did not notice before.

Here is another of the Sereti's 'angry' faces.


And then when you zoom in on the eye...


If you look closely at the reflection in the eye you can see the outline of our Game Drive vehicle and the tree we were parked under!! Small things... :)

Until next time.

Gerry

Random Thoughts

The last year has truly been remarkable.

Just when you think things are kind of on track and going according to plan Murphy arrives to pass one of his laws. Go figure...

I guess we all need to escape from thing in our daily life that irritate us. Frustrate us. Sadden us. For me photography is that escape. Not only the actual process of capturing the images but looking through all the images afterwards as well. Looking from an objective point of view, if that is at all possible, at your own work. Deciding which images to delete. Which to work on. Which to recognise as 'exactly what you had in mind' and save it as is.

The whole process gives me time to 'switch off' and let my mind work it's own way through whatever needs working on. People who promise something for a long time and then do not deliver. Dreams that do not seem to work out as vividly as you hoped they would. Having your life change in a matter of days due to a single phone call. Planning something for the future and having the afore-mentioned Murphy come in and get involved. This list I suppose could go on and on.

What can you do? For me the answer right now is photograph. The way everything stops when you look through the camera helps put things in perspective. The way you plan your composition makes you see how things fit together - what aspects to include and what to ignore. Trying to get the perfect balance of blacks and whites.

Everybody has some sort of meditation or escape form whatever life throws at them, or I hope so at least. Some days it feels like you just cannot get the right shot - the same as in life. Other days you are pleasantly surprised by what you thought was not actually going to work when you clicked the shutter - can't wait for one of those again.

This year so far has been 'interesting' and I use the word very lightly. At some point the shots need to start working. The exposure needs to be perfect. The composition must all fall together. I could keep going here but I suppose you get my drift.

Anyway, with that off the chest moving on. Here are a few of the images I went through today, all from the last two days, that I liked for various reasons and, I suppose, is a result of my own personal 'meditation'. (I am not always this philosophical so just to clarify... it helps me think about stuff!!)

Saw this floating piece of Datura on the water at Tlou Dam and quite liked the abstract relfection it created. Perhaps I could puch the blue a little but still quite nice.

This is the other end of the Sereti lions - without the sharp teeth. Plain and simple. Not much else to say really.

A female ellie throwing mud on herself at Tlou Dam. This has been one of the better sightings and photographic opportunities of the week. Did a lot of 'meditation' with this breeding herd!

This was early this morning at Tlou Dam in Madikwe. Always a beautiful time, we walked to the edge of the water to get a few images. The plane passed over the scene as we arrived at the dam and ended up being the perfect 'frame' for this image.

I suppose that's about it for now. I will upload the Weekly High Five later tomorrow otherwise sometime during Saturday. Make sure to check back for that one. At this stage I might have a few days off at the beginning of next week which means I can really get stuck into the ever growing number of raw files and get more of them up onto the Blog!

As always I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time.

Gerry

An Afternoon with the Sereti Males

If you read books on Wildlife Photography you almost always get told to not photograph during the hours around midday as your images will not work. Also, if you read books on Animal Behavior you get told that lions are nocturnal and sleep during the day.

Do not always believe what you read!!

After our guests checked out Gavin and I got a call from our electrician to say that he saw a large male lion on a wildebeest kill up on the North Western fence line earlier that day. On a whim we decided to get in the cruiser to go and check it out. On the way we passed our guests who were stuck behind a herd of ellies. Ellis, if you and your mom are still wondering - no... we did not go to the pub. Here is what happened just after we left you.

As we arrived we found the Masu male, a single walking lion in Madikwe, on a wildebeest kill. The funny thing was that the dead wildebeest must have been chased into the reserve fence as it was half stuck. With the temperature pushing 30 degree Celsius the four year old male decided to use out vehicle as cover and almost crawled completely under the vehicle. I was able to get a few short video clips on my Sony T100 and will look at getting these on YouTube and link them to the Blog.

Long story short - after trying to get rid of the lion under our Land Cruiser Matt, also a contributing photographer on Photo-Africa, arrived to try and get the dead animal off the fence. It caused a dander to the lion, possible damage to the fence and with the afternoon game drives coming up the kill would have been better off away from the fence and the lion would probably be way happier guarding his kill in a bit of shade.

I will probably do a Blog with video clips later on but after hooking a tow-rope on the kill and dragging the kill away from the fence line the Masu male decided he is not going to let anybody take his kill from him without a fight.


Keep in mind this is a wild lion!! It was amazing to see the strength of one male lion as he pulled against a Land Drover Defender. After stopping the vehicle for a while the lion fed and the kill was finally pulled underneath a thicket where the lion was now quite happy to go and crash in the shade and get up for the occasional bite.

While all of this was happening a very interested male lion popped his head up not 200 meters from all the action. It turned out to be two of the three Sereti males. These young males, who you will have read about on previous posts, were on a wildebeest kill of their own and made for quite an interesting array of possibilities? Will they accept the Masu male so close to them? Will they risk getting into a fight with the older male? Will they possibly accept him?

Gavin and I decided to stay with the Seretis for a while to see if any answers to these questions pop up. None did, but we were in for quite a show of intimidation and fighting.

These guys might have been a bit more tense than usual due to the presence of another male lion and they were quick to show us how the felt as we moved closer to them. A lot of their aggression was aimed at each other and you could see clearly that the only times a coalition of males will argue is about the last scraps of food and mating rights. They caught us off guard the first time but we were ready when they flew into each other for a second time.

Both Gavin and I were able to get amazing images of these two going at each other and will hopefully get these up onto the Photo-Africa Stock Library towards the end of the month. (Yes - Internet still an issue!)

We spent the next three hours with these large cats. They did not ease up on the aggression and here are a few of the 'faces' they pulled at us during our afternoon with them. For those of you reading for the first time remember - all the images in the Blog have been taken in the wild!



You can see they were pretty tense but it made for the most amazing photography! Gavin and I had a blast capturing these guys on camera. Between the two of us we filled 4 memory cards so still a lot of images to go through!

You might recall a Blog where I mentioned that the Seretis have the most amazing eyes of any lion I have ever seen. We were parked about 3 meters from them so while they were feeding on the wildebeest I was able to get a few close up images of their eyes.


I still think these guys are going to play a very big role in Madikwe and will be one of the dominating coalitions in the reserve. They are very large for their age and seem to have an aggressive streak which will give them the edge when they start competing for territory.

These two have been away from their brother for a few days as he has been very busy with the Etali female.


Three years is very young for a male to be mating with a female of around 7 years and shows that even she can recognise that these guys might be the future.

It is also interesting too note that a few days before the above images were taken the Etali female was seen mating with the Masu male. She is obviously keeping her options open and it is going to be very interesting to see how things develop over the next couple of months.

Will she back the three young brothers or will she hook up with the single walking Masu male?

It was an amazing afternoon and one that reminded me why we do what we do - both from a Field Guiding and Wildlife Photography point of view.

I will keep you posted as things develop and will hopefully get more images onto the blog in the next couple of days!

As always I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time.

Gerry