Out in the rolling hills of Samburu the hum of crickets fill the air like a morning chorus punctuated by a sharp snapping sound. Scanning the scene before me some flits of bright green and blue make their way to a tree near me. No time to register what I’m shooting the bee eater stops and poses on the tree, looks in the perfect direction to allow a spark of sunlight to bring life to it’s eye then flits off to another tree. “Bee eater!” my local guide says “And do you hear that snapping sound? It’s the bee eaters knocking the stingers off the insects until all the venom is released”

A pretty remarkable experience to not only see these birds snatch bees right out of the air, but also hear them preparing their breakfast.

Photographic details: I had not choice but to just fire at the thing that was moving in front of me, no time for a change of settings, I just had to hope what I was using to photograph the Guineafowl previously was good enough to shoot the bee eater. The time it took to realize the birds were there, aim my camera and squeeze out a shot must have been 1 second, my next shot was a blur of yellow and green, I’ll upload that for a laugh, it goes to show how quickly an opportunity can turn into an empty branch.

1/400s f/7.1 ISO320 400mm

The flurry of feathers just 1 second later:

P.S. Bonus points if you can tell me exactly which Bee-eater this is!

As this family of elephants walked past us we were ever aware of the impending sunset. I took many photos of the elephants but what stood out were the ones with the leading elephant giving himself a dust bath as the sunset backlit the puff of serengeti ash. It’s these moments that I get very excited, the low golden light is paramount in photographing anything from wildlife and landscapes to portraits. This is where I knew I could get a stunning environmental portrait of this family, scenery and a sunset scene all in one. The major technical problem is the wide tonal range I was trying to capture: the bright highlights of the sun, clouds and landscape to the dark shadows of the elephants and foreground. This would be too much for my camera to take in all at once. I turned on the auto bracketing and multi burst shooting mode on my camera, holding down my shutter I rapidly fired off three exposures, one over exposed by two stops, one with normal exposure and he last under exposed. The three images combined provided me with an extra wide tonal range that captured everything I was looking at, this is what’s known as HDR, or High Dynamic Range. After firing off a few shots I thought, “I just +Trey Ratcliff ed it”.

Manual HDR version, click to enlarge:

Even before this I have already accepted HDR images as a legitimate photographic technique. A lot of people currently consider it “cheating” or “fake” the irony is that the images come out with a tonal range that more accurately reflects what a person would see in real life.
To me, the fact that I use this technique is personal validation that HDR is here to stay and that this technique is just as good as any other a photographer keeps in their arsenal. This scene begged to be captured in a full range and this was the only way to do it with the available light. My first impression of HDR years ago appalled me, but no more than bad photography might appall me. These days there are plenty of great examples of masterfully processed HDR photos, and these photographers and the community in general is getting better every day. People tend to dislike images that are highly processed on a computer but then don’t complain about techniques that can be employed in camera. New cameras coming out will focus more on performance and image quality including doing HDR in camera, some with specialized sensors do it all the time. What will HDR dissenters think about that? When it becomes more about how the photo is taken it becomes a game, for me photography is about capturing truth and beauty, truly expressing the emotional power of being there, I couldn’t care less if the photography did headstands while doing it, it’s the photo that matters.

HDR Technique: I initially processed this in Photomatix, the de facto HDR processing software as far as I can tell. I like what it does but I don’t love the way it treats all the textures, coming out with too much contrast in unusual places, the software not being aware of the elephants natural smoothness it treats their skin like a texture that needs to be brought out, and it was too much. Other unusual artifacts produced by photomatix cause flaring on highlight edges and the images come out a little softer than I like, losing a bit of resolution.
For this reason my final image was an HDR photo that I manually combined in photoshop. I layered each exposure on top of each other and kept each portion that was properly exposed for the final result. It ended up looking just the way I saw it without unusual artifacts and a more subdued contrast change. It will be interesting to see which image appeals most to people, so comment and let me know.

Photomatix HDR version:

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The word “safari” literally means “long journey” in swahili and “to travel” in arabic. I could spend forever trying to describe the day to you with all sorts of other colourful words but I don’t think I could find anything as poignant as that.

After being out all day seeing many thousands of wildebeest, buffalo and zebra, obsessing over lions lounging on kopjes (unique granite outcroppings shown in the photo) we finally got to a point where we could slow down. The previous hours we were desperately trying to absorb and photograph every new little thing we saw, exclaiming “wildebeest! Oooh no baby wildebeest! ooh no baby wildebeest with an egret standing on it!… No I have a better one with egrets AND oxpeckers on it and it’s in better light!”. We were so tuned into looking for wildlife that every rock and stump in the distance had to be an elephant, rhino, or a baboon standing on a hyena on an elephant. Somehow the shame of the misidentification didn’t stop us from pointing these imaginary animals out.

The golden grass of the Serengeti rolled in the breeze personifying our collective deep breath of relaxation as this sight rolled into view. We took a photograph, then dropped our cameras in awe as we simply watched, taking it in without pointing out every little thing we saw and just being present.

Photographic Details: This was a very cut and dry easy decision to make for me. I don’t like having horizons in the middle unless I’m somehow forced to by my subject or some other circumstance. Instead I like to choose an emphasis and ask myself what’s more important or more beautiful, the sky or the foreground? Here the dramatic clouds above had so much texture with a touch of blue sky, but below the wildebeest there was nothing but bare grass. With this in mind I let the Serengeti foreground anchor the photo on the bottom third, and the sky above take up the two thirds, following the aesthetic rule of thirds and making it easier for the viewer to understand what they should be looking at. The rocky outcroppings of the Moru Kopjes were then kept on the left so the eye could follow the formations into the image. All of this is designed to keep the viewers eyes inside the photo, so they don’t stray off and lose interest.

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Want to take great photos in the greatest places? Check out my next photo safari!

See my photography safari here!

Spending the previous weeks watching vultures circling lazily on the thermals above us, I would casually photograph their figures against the sky knowing some day I will see these creatures up close and personal. Sure enough, as we drove across the Serengeti we spotted a writhing ball of feathers and dust, the vultures were on a carcass. Upon arrival we were greeted with the sight of 20 or so vultures and Marabou Storks frenetically feeding on what was left of a zebra, it was not a civil affair. The air was full of the sounds of squabbling. Nearby vultures were standing still on the ground with their wings out, a behavior that is good for either drying off the wings or thermoregulation in the hot african sun.

Photographic Details: I’m always looking for something unique and stunning, and when I saw the repetition of shape with these vultures lined up I could not keep my camera off this sudden order that developed spontaneously in the chaos. This order and simplicity is extremely attractive to me. I would wait for the birds to line up and turn their heads to face the right direction and squeezed the trigger at the right moment. In addition to the shapes in this image I was enthralled with the texture and detail in the wings, choosing to focus on the wings of the closer bird in order to also keep the focus of the bird and it’s eye.
1/400s f/7.1 ISO100 400mm (35mm eq:640mm)

#birdpoker #birding #africa #tanzania #serengeti #wildlife

The chimpanzee is the closest living relative to humans, capable of using tools, deception, planning ahead and hunting with sophisticated tactics. These chimps however are not native to Kenya, as they have been brought to the sanctuary for refuge as orphans from abusive situations and war torn area from west and central africa. The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee sanctuary allied with the Jane Goodall Institute was thus created as a permanent residence to our expressive and vibrant cousins.

Photographic Details: Humans and chimps are both able to establish a connection visually. I wanted to express this with a detail shot of the chimpanzee’s eyes, since they are such a telling and powerful part of this apes expressions. In addition the chimps were behind a fence, as these are wild chimps who’s own private space needs to be respected. The best way to get a shot without having wires in the way was zooming in for detail between gaps in the fence. In addition I only wanted the eyes to be in focus, using an aperture of f2.8 there is no denying the eyes are the focal point of this image. I also waited for this chimp to pose with her arm on her shoulder, as I watched her do this before. This just barely showing her fingers in the background provides a little more visual evidence that these apes are so much like us.

1/160s f/2.8 ISO160 200mm

More on the sanctuary here:
http://olpejetaconservancy.org/why/chimpanzees

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)

The aptly named superb starling impresses his mate with an offering of a juicy insect while the iridescent colours shine off his back in a beautiful flash of blue and green. The tree branch he is standing on is of the iconic acacia tree, the thorns meant to protect the tree make these trees a safe haven; a suitable place for the many thousands of species of birds that call africa home.

photographic details:This bird was standing here for quite a while, normally I would prefer sunset or sunrise conditions but the overhead light by the mid day sun was perfect to light up the back of this bird, who would look mostly black in the wrong light. I could not ignore this opportunity despite it not being the golden hour. I don’t like to place my subjects in the centre, nor do I want to loose myself too much in the details of the animal. With this in mind I left the bird on the right side of the image, looking into the frame, I made sure I could include the acacia tree to create a sense of context also illustrating the incredible thorns on this famous tree. One picture, two subjects, my kind of photo.

I’m currently on Safari in Africa, here is my latest story:

The Samburu people of Northern Kenya are the traditionalists of Kenya, one of 42 different tribes or cultures that make up the origins of many people here. This is one of the few tribes that hasn’t adopted a more western lifestyle.

The man depicted here is doing a traditional dance, jumping straight up and down high in the air. One after the other the men display their prowess, impressing the ladies by the heights they can reach.

Photographic Details:Laying on the ground I was able to get low enough to properly show the space between the dancers feet, given that the men do the same thing over and over again, it’s somewhat easy to predict where they are going to be. Instead of using a sepia filter, I simply increased the white balance on my camera to give my photo a warm tone, combining this with decreased colour (saturation) I get a warm old fashioned look the image without losing the colour completely. This look gives an impression the heat and dryness of Samburu and the rich and ancient history of the Samburu people.

This subspecies of giraffe is known for it’s dark spots separated by cream coloured lines. As we drove up in our safari vehicle this giraffe stared at us blinking with her huge eyelashes then continued browsing on the acacia tree after determining we were of little importance.

Photographic Details: I wanted to get a more unique photo of this giraffe while still expressing the daily life of this graceful animal. I liked the curve of the neck while she reached out parallel to her body on the top of the small tree, the open mouth and purple tongue clearly illustrating she was munching away.

I cropped the bottom of the image and kept the sky in the top third of the image, the giraffe in the middle and the green foliage in the bottom, conforming with the rule of thirds for this composition.

Canon EOS 7D 1/320s f/7.1 ISO100 400mm (35mm eq:640mm)

This photo just taken hours ago is of a baby Elephant who lost his mother. Elephants are prone to sunburn too, and as a result the caretaker follows this little guy around with an umbrella on top of the sunscreen applied to him. In the wild elephants use mud to help prevent sunburn, but the young ones haven’t learned how to properly slather on some wild mud sunblock yet. In addition a baby elephant is used to being in the shadow of his mother, being orphaned a caretaker with an umbrella is the next best thing to the sun protection his mother can provide.

To watch this little pachyderm bumble around while his caretaker hastily chases after him with an umbrella is hilarious, but entirely necessary to emulate the loving family environment that an elephant needs to survive. Without love and attention the elephants will to live wains eventually leading to death. It’s this formula of creating a family of caretakers that created the first successful rearing of an orphaned african elephant, a program that has rescued over a hundred elephants from the loss of their families due to poaching.

For more on the animal orphanage see http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/