Lion Stalks the Wildebeest

On safari in Tanzania, Africa Anyone who has ever owned or spent time with a cat would feel right at home in the Serengeti of Tanzania while watching the behaviour of this male lion slinking up to it's prey. After hanging around with his brothers he decided to head off towards the herd of wildebeest that had wandered into their midst. Us watching in our vehicle with baited breath, our camera trigger fingers were itching with anticipation as this male expertly crept towards the wildebeest and vultures, keeping his body low to the ground with every deliberate and careful motion. At last the moment we thought had arrived: the big cat revealed his presence to the wildebeest as they scattered away from him, the vultures filling the sky with in an explosion of feathers.

This powerful and successful hunter bolted towards the wildebeest, took one look at them, and proceeded to lap up water in the nearby watering hole hidden by the tall grass. All this work, and all this teasing was just practice and fun on the lions behalf. We looked at each other and laughed as the now quenched lion returned to his resting spot among his brothers.

Photographic Details: Sitting as low to the ground as I could get I was able to make the lion in the foreground visually closer to the wildebeest in the background. More interested in showing what the lion was looking at I decided to focus on the wildebeest to put the viewer more in the lions perspective. I also set the white balance to "cloudy" mode, to add an extra warmth to the image to help convey the extreme heat of this environment. Canon EOS 7D 1/200s f/8.0 ISO100 400mm (35mm eq:640mm)

Serengeti by balloon

Tanzania, Africa On our last morning in Africa we had the privilege of taking a hot air balloon ride above the Serengeti. We head out before the sun rises because the earlier in the morning we go the less turbulent and unpredictable the winds are. Climbing high above the Serengeti we bobbed up and down, while the wildlife below stirred during it’s most active time. The sun began to rise as a gradient of light washed over the land from the east stretching to the west. Seeing the wildlife from this new angle was so different and intriguing. Game paths stretching out like spiderwebs of dirt amidst the parched grasses of the Serengeti. Zebra and wildebeest look like ants as they gallop across the land, their movement reminiscent of a flock of birds: never straying too far and only coming so close if needed.

Photographic Details: With the low morning light I needed a high Iso of 800 to get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the motion. Not only was the balloon moving, it was wiggling with the movements of the passengers and gusts of the wind. Despite the directionless floating on the balloon we seemed to be moving at a pretty fast clip, making it difficult to decide what to shoot with the rapidly changing scenery. I would look for a point of interest, then zoom in with my telephoto, in hopes of capturing some interesting shapes.

Canon EOS 7D 1/250s f/4.5 ISO800 100mm

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