Photo of the Day - Lion at Mombo

Lion, near Mombo Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana. July 2011

Nikon D3, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/800 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 1600

Photo of the Day - Lion on a Hood

Lion on a Hood (with a point and shoot behind her head)

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, 2007

Every now and then I look through my past raw files from years past to see if I have forgotten about any worthwhile photographs for posting. I am typically looking for interesting images, images that have something of value from a teaching standpoint or ones that just make me laugh. Well, this one just makes me laugh. Enough said.

Photo of the Day - Elephants in the Okavango

Elephant Family in the Okavango Delta. July 2011

Nikon D3, 28-300mm f/3.4-5.6, 1/2000 @ f/5.6, ISO 1250

Photo of the Day - Elephant in the Savute Channel

Elephant in the Savute Channel

Linyanti Concession, near Savuti Camp, Botswana. July 2011

Nikon D3x, 28-300mm, 1/2000 @ f/5.6, ISO 800. Processed in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Viveza 2

This was a very tricky image to process, I must say. I was shooting with my Nikon D3x that afternoon, and the camera isn’t well known for its high ISO capabilities. I needed to keep the ISO down, possibly 1600 or lower, but the main challenge was trying to balance blowing out the details in the sky with the deep shadows of my subject. I could only minimally process this image in Lightroom, and the bulk of the work was done in Nik Software’s Viveza 2. In Lightroom I only adjusted the white balance, exposure, black point and a small gradient on the sky. I brought the image into Photoshop as a smart object, which allowed me to go back to the original raw file to tweak some of those settings. In Viveza 2 I worked on tonal relationships, and the main thing I needed to work on was the exposure on the elephant. There was simply no way of getting detail in the sky with enough exposure on the elephant, at least from a global processing point of view. Viveza saves the day.

Tip: If you are interested in learning more about Nik Software’s tools, you can use my code ABIGGS during checkout for a 15% discount. www.niksoftware.com

Photo of the Day - Cape Buffalo

Cape Buffalo and Oxpecker

Nikon D7000, 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/320 @ f/5.6, ISO 800

Photo of the Day - Legadema

Legadema

Mombo Camp, Botswana. July 2011

Nikon D3x, 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/640 @ f/4, ISO 800

Photo of the Day - Lion Pride Crossing

Lion Pride Crossing The Okavango Waters

near Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana. July 2011

Nikon D3x, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/250 sec @ f/8, ISO 640

We waited and watched patiently for a pride of lions, sans adult males, to cross some open water in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, and our patience paid off. I have about 50 different images of them walking towards the vehicle, but the one that I like the most is this one, as I had most of the eyes visible. I also like the gentle curve of the lions from right to left. I do wish that I had used a 2nd camera with a wide angle lens, as my 70mm was barely enough to fit them all into the scene.

Photo of the Day - Elephant Family at Savuti

Elephant Family

near Savuti Camp, Botswana. July 2011

Nikon D3x, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6, 1/320 sec @ f/9, ISO 400