Most photographers do not like to shoot in rainy weather. Keeping your camera gear dry is important even if your camera is weather resistant. Another challenge is keeping the front of your lens dry so that water drops do not mar any of the photos you take. Typically, most photographers wait out the rain and hope that you don't have to wait for a half day or more before that happens. If you are lucky enough to have the rain stop, you are often rewarded with scenes like this where there is a sheen on the landscape. We were pretty lucky on this road shot somewhere on the Icefields Parkway to have a great sheen leading to the mountains in the distance. It was interesting trying to get this shot, as the traffic was pretty regular and we would all run out to the middle of the road to get a shot. It probably was quite comical for any non-photographers to witness us.
Cheetahs on Prowl - De Wildt Cheetah Center, Brits, South Africa
One of the animals that we weren't able to see in the wild on our safari in South Africa were cheetahs. Fortunately, we had taken a side trip from Johannesburg to the De Wildt Cheetah & Wildlife Trust before our safari started. The facility is a captive cheetah breeding center that was started by Ann van Dyk in 1971 on her parents chicken farm. Other animals are also bred there, including wild dogs, brown hyenas, suni, duiker, cape vultures and riverine rabbits. On the tour through the center, we were able to photograph the cheetahs that live there. These two cheetahs were on the prowl waiting to be fed.
Cheetahs and leopards are often confused. Cheetahs have black oval spots, while leopards have more complex spotting that are shaped more like roses both square and round in shape. Cheetahs also have black lines that run from the corner of their eyes down the sides of their nose to their mouth while leopards do not. Leopards are also noticeably bulkier looking than cheetahs. Cheetahs can run up to 75mph over short distances allowing them to catch their prey, while leopards use more surprise attacks. Regardless, both are extremely majestic and are amazing to observe and photograph.
Wildebeest - Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa
Most nature followers have heard of or seen (at least on film) one of the most amazing migrations of wildlife in the world - that of the wildebeest in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is often referred to as one of the "Seven New Wonders of the World", where over two million animals travel about 500 miles on their annual trek looking for grass and water when the Serengeti dries out.
While we were not in Tanzania, we were able to spot quite a number of wildebeest on our safari in South Africa, although not nearly anything close to two million (maybe 100 for the trip). Wildebeest are actually gnus and are strange looking animals. Many of our guides made jokes about how they were made with leftover parts of other animals. While I don't remember all of the parts that supposedly make up a wildebeest, here is what I remember: it's head is from a ox, it's mane is from a horse and it's horns are from a buffalo. In any case, this is one we spotted one evening in Pilanesberg National Park.
Water Hole Drama - Kruger National Park, South Africa
Water holes are the key to survivor in the wild. We had heard that there were lions there, so off we went to check it out. Once we got there, we found the lions off in the distance, sleeping. That isn't a surprise, as lions sleep 18-20 hours a day. After watching to see if they were going anywhere for a while, we repositioned ourselves to another part of the water hole.
There were all kind of animals there and it was interesting to see how cautious they were knowing that the lions were not that far away. Any noise made them skittish. I particularly like that some of the wildlife were reflected in the water as they drank. As we were shooting, we noticed a little drama between this crocodile and a heron. As you can see near the bottom of the photo, the crocodile was looking like it wanted to pounce on the heron for a meal. He would inch up very, very slowly every 15 minutes or so. We waited for quite a while, but it was not likely to happen. We were sure that the heron would easily escape, so we headed out looking for new wildlife sightings.
Nose Horn - Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa
I know that the title of this post seems strange, but it actually is the English translation of rhinoceros. The rhino is one of Africa's "Big Five", so named by big game hunters to reference the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. Weighing in at over 2,000 pounds, I can't imagine hunting these animals on foot or by any other means for that matter. Just spotting this rhino that walked by the back of our truck was frightening enough, especially when he turned toward us to see what we were doing. There have been instances where they have charged safari trucks and cars using their horn as a weapon.
It is somewhat ironic that the rhino's horns make them a target for poachers who will cut off their horns and sell them on the black market. The horns are worth more than $60,000 a pound, making them more valuable than gold, diamonds and cocaine. The demand for the horns is due to the belief that they are an aphrodisiac as well as a medicine. The biggest demand for the horns are from Vietnam and most of the horns poached in South Africa are destined for there. In fact, on one of our days in Kruger National Park, there was a poaching reported and all vehicles leaving the park was searched.
Southern Yellow-Billed Hornbill - Sabi Sands Game Reserve, South Africa
Okay, if Tuesday's post of the Lilac Breasted Roller didn't shock Jeff Clow, I thought that posting another bird photo in the same week would get his attention. I can just picture him acting like Red Foxx in Sanford and Son looking up to the heavens, holding his hand over his heart and saying "This is the big one...".
If this Hornbill looks familiar, you probably have seen its cousin, Zazu in the movie the Lion King. In the movie, Zazu was actually a Red-Billed Hornbill. These birds are relatively common on South Africa and feed on small insects, spiders, seeds and fruit. They also have been known to eat small animals. When courting a female, they will often feed them for month before mating. They tend to be monogamous.
Mother and Child - Kruger National Park, South Africa
Some of the most entertaining animals that we encountered on our recent safari were the primates, primarily the baboons and monkeys. They were usually found along the road, seemingly there to play with one another and put on a show for visitors like us. When there weren't putting on a show for us, they were caring for their young babies like this one. It was fascinating to watch how they cared for their young ones. This baby baboon was feeding on something under the watching eyes of his mom.
Lilac Breasted Roller - Kruger National Park, South Africa
I am sure that my buddy Jeff Clow will fall off his chair when he sees this post. While I am a nature photographer that primarily shoots landscapes, I will shoot wildlife if I come across them. Jeff has been more of a wildlife shooter than me and he has recently been focusing (pun intended) on birds. I don't have much interest in photographing birds and it has been a long running joke between us about his need to shoot birds while I want to move on.
The other reason he might react to this post is that, on our recent safari to South Africa, he was desperate to photograph the Lilac Breasted Roller pictured in this photo. Every time that we spotted one, it seemed to take off or be on the wrong side of the jeep, leaving Jeff frustrated. Near the end of our safari, I called the Roller Jeff's Moby Dick. Well, he finally got a shot of it near the end of trip and I am glad he did. When I saw my shot and saw that it was in focus, I knew I had to post it.
Grief - Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa
When planning our trip to South Africa, we decided to fly into Johannesburg early and do a couple of day trips before our safari. Our first excursion took us to Pilanesberg National Park and Game Reserve. This turned out to be our first experience with predators and their prey in the Circle of Life.
It was late morning and the temperature was approaching scorching. The wildlife typically finds shade and might remain there for the afternoon. Our guide Peter spotted a female lion under a tree and we stopped to see if she would get up and wander. After waiting a few minutes, it was clear that she wasn't moving and he decided to head up the road before we headed to lunch. We spotted a dazzle of zebra with a baby that was one or two days old. It was really cool to see the little guy following and playing with his mother. As we followed the zebra, our guide realized that they were heading in the direction of the lion. He thought that if they continued on their path, the baby zebra would be at risk. Well, he called it exactly as it would happen. We watched in both horror and fascination. As the baby zebra went behind a bush our eyes and camera lenses turned toward the lion, waiting for her to pounce. That's when the action happened. Unbeknownst to us, there was a second lion that none of us saw and she attacked the baby zebra. The rest of the adult zebras took off in a gallop, but it was too late for the baby. I am sort of glad not to have seen it. As soon as it happened, the adult zebra stopped near our truck and looked toward where the lions were. That is when I snapped this photo. While I won't forget this, I think the most haunting memory will be the grief that the mother expressed when she realized what happened.
Fresh Kill - Kruger National Park, South Africa
One of the goals when visiting Africa on safari is to capture photographs of the "Big Five". The term was originally used by big game hunters to reference the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. Included in the Big Five are the elephant, lion, cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. They were chosen to be included due to the difficulty and danger involved in hunting them.
Photographing them is a lot easier than hunting them and not very dangerous at all. By the last day of the safari, we had many photographs of four of the five. The leopard had proven elusive, and when we headed out on our last morning, hope was starting to fade. About 15 minutes after entering the park, we got very lucky. A male leopard was spotted that had just made a kill and was dragging it to a culvert along the road. After getting some decent shots, we started driving away. Everyone was quite excited and happy, but the adventure was only half over. I happened to spot some movement to our right, which turned out to be the leopard's female counterpart. I fired off this shot of the female as it approached the culvert. Her eyes were intent on eating, but the male decided that he wasn't going to share his kill and sent her on her way. Quite interesting behavior.
Elephant Bath - Kruger National Park, South Africa
Going on my first safari, I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew it was going to be hot (probably averaged 100 degrees for the duration of the safari) but I wasn't expecting to experience the effects of a two-year long drought. The last two years, rainfall has been 65% and 52% of the long term average year respectively. Wildlife can be found in early mornings and late evenings, but the rest of the day, it can be hit or miss. I think we were reasonably lucky during these off hours.
The day I shot this photo, we had been driving without many wildlife sitings, Our guide Gregg decided to take us to the Lake Panic Bird Blind to see if we could shoot some of the exotic birds that are found in Kruger NP. Once we got there, birds were quickly forgotten as an elephant herd decided to visit the lake to escape the late morning heat. It was quite the sight, as these magnificent animals started to use their long trunks as water hoses, splashing lake water on all sides of their bodies. I happened to catch this elephant in the process of spraying his back.
Peek-a-Boo - Sabi Sands Game Reserve, South Africa
What a great experience I had on our trip to South Africa. After 20 hours on the plane, missing my connection and finally getting home, I am just scratching the surface looking at my photos. I am not a wildlife photographer so this trip was a learning experience for me. The huge benefit to me was shooting with more experienced wildlife photographers so that I could learn some techniques. One of my good friends, James Keith is someone that I learned a lot from. The photos that he captured are amazing. One of the things I learned from him was patience (something that I am not good at) and pre-visualization. Occasionally, I would turn to see what James was shooting and he often was looking in a different direction than the rest of us. In this case, he was looking in the direction of this Steenbuck and realized that he was waiting for it to peek above the branch and look in our direction. So I waited patiently and captured (okay, maybe stole) this composition.
Play Time – Sabi Sands Game Reserve, South Africa
Just got back to Johannesburg last night and headed home on the flight from hell (16 ½ hours) tonight to Atlanta and then on home to Connecticut. What a great trip exploring the wildlife in South Africa with great old friends and brand new ones. Lots of long days in temperatures that averaged around 100 degrees. Despite the long flight and the heat, the wildlife was well worth the inconveniences.
I shot this photo in Sabi Sands Game Reserve. Our guides were amazing and they got us into position to ride beside a herd of more than fifteen elephants. These two young elephants decided to spend some time playing as the herd headed toward the water hole. What a great experience, one that I will never forget.
A Little Fog and Color - Ashcroft, Colorado
Yesterday I posted a photo of the New England colors of autumn. The colors there vary greatly with the diversity of the trees. This photo shows a different type of foliage a couple of thousand miles to the west in Colorado. The colors in Colorado are one-note (at least where I visited), as the dominant tree in the area are aspens, whose leaves turn a bright yellow. Which do I like better? I would say neither. If you are looking for pure color, New England wins, but if you like the backdrop of the majestic Rocky Mountains, Colorado wins. I'll take either one (or both) during the fall season.
I will be away for a couple of weeks and will not be posting on my blog or social media in my absence. I'll see you in November.
Covered Bridge View - Albany, New Hampshire
Well, the colors of fall have arrived in New England and the countryside is beginning to light up here in Connecticut. Fall is my favorite time of year and I hope that I will be able to get out in the next two days to capture the beauty of autumn. After that, I will be heading out of the country and, by the time I get back, the foliage will be a memory. This photo was taken several years ago on the famed Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire from the Albany Covered Bridge. The "Kanc" is a favorite destination for leaf peepers from all around.
Glacier Fog - Glacier National Park, Montana
You never know what you may find in Glacier National Park until you hit the Going to the Sun Road. When you leave the hotel and head onto this winding 50-mile road that traverses the Rocky Mountains and crosses the Continental Divide, you have no idea what the weather will be. That's because the mountains make their own weather-- you can be clear and then turn a corner and the fog has set in. On this morning, we encountered some of that and, as we turned a corner, we saw this scene where the fog was lifting. The early morning light added to the mood.
Deposition and Erosion - Badlands National Park, South Dakota
There are very few terrains that look so different from one another depending on where you are than in the Badlands of South Dakota. Driving the 31 mile road that traverses this rugged park, the landscape changes many time from jagged rock formations to mounds of rocks. They vary in forms of mountains, mesas, canyons, buttes and hoodoos. These formations also have very different layers of rock, often having very different and unusual color.
To explain the formation of the badlands as simply erosion would be a mistake although it is a major contributor to its development. The process of deposition was prominent in the building of the different layers of mineral material such as clay and sand. Each layer solidified and was then covered with the next one over a period of almost 50 million years. When the layers solidified, erosion from wind and water created the many different landscapes that are found there today.
This photo, taken at the extreme eastern end of the park, shows the jaggedness of the peaks. If you at the foreground, you can see how the erosion created these short rock formations that extend well behind and to either side of where I am standing. I have only visited this place once and am really hopeful that I can get back there soon.
Hello Old Friends - Monument Valley, Navajo Nation
Do you have a specific location that, when you get there, you say to yourself, "Hello, old friends?" Well I do, and that is Monument Valley, located on Navajo land on the Utah/Arizona border. I have visited this place quite a number of times and I can't seem to get enough. This visit was even more special, as I was shooting there with my great friends, Jeff Clow and Jaki Good Miller. Jaki had never visited the Valley before and it is always something special to me to share it with "newbies", knowing that they would love it as much as I do. Jaki and I had landed in Albuquerque and had a five hour drive to the valley. I had always driven there from the north, stopping at the 13 mile marker to get the iconic road shot leading to the magnificent buttes in the distance. While this approach was not as dramatic, it was still memorable. I stopped about five miles from the turn into the valley and captured this view just before the darkness blanketed the sandstone buttes.
Pemaquid Sunrise - Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Bristol, Maine
I am so far behind in reviewing the photos that I have taken this year, its not even funny. I conservatively estimate that there are close to 8,000 that I have not reviewed and cull out. It is hard for me to have an exact number as I bracket a lot. With two more trips scheduled for the rest of the year, that number will be well in excess of 10,000. I will be spending much of the winter getting through this backlog, but it is a problem that's nice to have. This is especially true when I come across a favorite subject like this one in great light.
This photo was taken in April on Jeff Clow's Maine Lighthouse tour, which I co-host. Everyone who visits the Maine Coast's lighthouses seems to have a favorite one. Pemaquid Point Lighthouse has always been and always will be my favorite. It can be photographed from four distinct vantage points and, if you look at all four, you might not think they are of the same place. This vantage point is the easiest to capture (two of the others require some scrambling over rocks) and, when the light is right like this sunrise, it is hard not to get a great shot.
Red on Green - Moscow, Idaho
Okay, I know this title is lame. After over a thousand blog posts, it sometimes is difficult to come up with a catchy title. I stared at this photo for about ten minutes and this was the best that I could do. In any case, this photo was not from my recent scouting trip to the Palouse, but rather from my very first visit there. The Palouse extends into the western part of Idaho and this was our only sojourn there. This "salt box" barn sits all alone in this little valley and stands out primarily due to its bright red color. It contrasts quite well with the surrounding green farmland and blue sky (maybe I should have titled it "Red, Green and Blue"). It is also a great contrast to some of the abandoned and dilapidated barns that I have been posting over the past month or so.
For those of you who follow me regularly, you know that I often wonder how things got their names. So here are a couple of useless tidbits. The term "salt box" is a reference to the old wooden boxes that were used to store salt (no, I am not old enough to remember them). This style of barns and houses originated in New England, and were built that way so that snow would slide down the steep roofs. The other arcane tidbit is the name of the town that this barn is located in, Moscow. It turns out that one of the original traders was born in Moscow, Russia, and he opened the first trading post in the area. I had never heard of the town before my visit, but was surprised to also find out that it is the home of the University of Idaho.