Instagram
Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 09:26AM
Cape Buffalo Stare, Singita Sabi Sand, South Africa. June 2012
Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/250 @ f/8, ISO 400. Hand held
Buffalo, Sabi Sands, Singita, South Africa, safari in Photo of the Day Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 04:47AM Ok. All I want to talk about today was our experience with a mother leopard and her two four-month old cubs. Nothing else even came close to that kind of quality of sighting, well, except the mother/daughter rhinos that walked up to the edge of our vehicle in the afternoon. J
We had heard of the Ravenscourt female leopard and her two young cubs, and there had been a sighting of hear earlier in the morning on a fresh impala kill in the grass. We made our way to the edge of the Sand River where she had been seen, and it took some time to figure out where she might be. We were successful locating the impala kill, but initially we didn’t find any signs of the three leopards. We found them playing in a very thick area of the bush, and for the next 90 minutes we had one of the most wonderful viewings of a young family at play. The 4-month old brother and sister cubs ran circles around their mother, they played in the low branches of the trees and chased each other around our vehicle. The dappled light made for difficult exposures, as well as the erratic movement, but I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time.
Leopard Cub In A Tree
Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/800 @ f/5.6, ISO 3200. Hand Held
From a technique standpoint, I had to rely on autofocus with manual focus tweaks. The foreground grass was often in the way, and I just couldn’t rely on autofocus to do everything for me. I also tried to stop down to get more depth of field as a precaution, as I would have hated to shoot at f/2.8 or f/4 and not have their eyes sharp.
I have been on many many safaris in the past 10 years, and this sighting was difficult to top. Leopards are incredible. Leopard cubs are incredible times ten. Or one thousand. Or more. Yes, I have seen leopard cubs in the past, as in last week, but this one stands on top of all others, due to the length of time, the behaviors witnessed and our ability to see it all clearly only a few feet from us.
Leopard Cubs Playing
Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/400 @ f/4.5, ISO 1000
Leopard Cub
Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/500 @/f4.5, ISO 1600
Wade With A Smile (Leopard Cubs Will Do that To A Person)
Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/500 @ f/5.6, ISO 2500
Ok, I will talk about another great sighting today: rhinos next to our vehicle. Not just rhinos, but a mother and her young calf. At one point the calf came up and sniffed the edge of our rear tire, and when we lightly giggled he got started and walked off.
One must always remember that a slow day in the bush beats the best day in an office, and the best day in the bush has no equal. Today has no equal.
Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.
Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.
Sabi Sands, Singita, South Africa, africa, safari in Safari Reports Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 04:41AM Ok, let’s talk a little bit about camera gear and techie nerdy stuff. I have following gear with me:
I have the D800 on the 300mm f/2.8 and the D4 on the 70-200mm. The reasoning is that things that move quickly will be more likely to be closer and thus need better autofocus and more frames per second with the shutter. It’s not like the D800 is a piece of junk, but the D4 really is a more professional wildlife camera. When I am reviewing my images I am emotionally responding to the D800 more favorably, primarily because of the humongous file sizes. If I need to crop I don’t feel bad about losing some pixels. Let’s be frank: cropping a 36mp raw file to a ‘puny’ 25mp isn’t a big deal at all. I love the D4, but I would be more likely to come here again with a pair of D800/D800e bodies than to have a D800/D800e and a D4. My print sales business does better when I am able to feel comfortable about printing off 20x30, 24x36 and 40x60 canvas. It’s the 40x60 canvas prints that make up much of my print sales these days.
As far as today went, we had awesome leopard sightings of the Kashane male leopard, as we picked him up three times in the same day. We had a surprise bush breakfast that completely came as a surprise to the group, and it was great to see huge smiles on their faces from the unexpected treat.
A Bush Breakfast
Nikon D4, 24-70mm f/2.8, 1/250 @ f/8, ISO 320
Kashane Male Leopard In The Tall Grass
Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/500 @ f/4.5, ISO 200
Kashane Male Leopard
Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/320 @ f/4.5, ISO 800
Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.
Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.
Sabi Sands, Singita, South Africa, africa, safari in Safari Reports Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 04:30AM I think this morning was probably the coldest morning so far on the trip, and I suspect it hovered around 40F just after sunrise. It wasn’t extremely cold, but it does get chilly in an open Land Rover when driving 30mph down a remote road. Our best sighting / experience for the morning had to be a mother rhino and her month-old calf. The little guy had more attitude than anything else. He would eat, challenge our vehicle, go back to eating and then challenge us yet again. When I say challenge I really mean that he would run towards the vehicle with grass in his mouth, stick his head up and turn around quickly to go back to grazing with his mother. It was the cutest darned thing one could ask for.
Since they were grazing in an open field away from a nearby road, we were obviously driving offroad. The problem was that the field was littered with large rocks and boulders, and eventually one ended up underneath our axel. That rock prevented us from moving forward, and took a while to get unstuck. Well, the rhinos were close by and we ended up shooting from outside of the vehicle, hand-held. It’s a cool experience to photograph rhinos from on foot, however this wasn’t what I had in mind this time around. Perhaps we will do a proper on-foot rhino tracking outing before this safari ends. I think my guests would really enjoy it.
Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/320 @ f/8, ISO 320
I continued my fascination with oxpeckers, and we took the time to stop at a large herd of buffalo to photograph them and their constant companions, the oxpeckers. Oxpeckers have a fun personality to watch and photograph, and when one waits to see these unique behaviors one can be rewarded with interesting interaction.
Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/160 @ f/5.6, ISO 320
I feel like today we hit our stride, and had some great sightings to be happy with. It’s always a difficult thing for me and the guides who help us out, because we sort of live and die by the quality of sightings that we have. If the sightings are good we are patted on the back and if they don’t live up to expectations we are on the losing end of the stick. What I have to do as a safari leader is to shape expectations on what we can and might see and try to instill in people a realization that nature is beautiful in more ways than how the BBC, National Geographic and Discovery channels portray. In other words a successful game drive doesn’t always have to be about big cats. I hope that my guests go away from each game drive with an experience and knowledge of something they didn’t know about beforehand. It could be about a species of tree, unique mating behavior of a small-ish mammal or a survival strategy of a social weaver bird. Nature is awesome if we take the time to notice.
Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/1000 @ f/6.3, ISO 320
Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.
Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.
Sabi Sands, South Africa, africa, safari in Safari Reports Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 05:29AM I am on a tight schedule today, so this post will be on the short side.
May through October are my favorite months to be in the Sabi Sands, primarily due to the combination of cool weather and lack of rain. Right now it is early June and the vegetation is beginning to dry out a bit and the weather is cooling down as we approach winter. Another reason why I enjoy this time of the year here is also that the days are shorter, and that means that the warm light is longer at the beginning and end of each day, due to the angle of sun in the sky. This is great for photographers, as we need all of the help we can get with regards to warm light.
We photographed a beautiful female leopard on south and north sides of the Sabi River, and some of us captured her jumping over rocks to get from the south bank to the north bank. We could tell that she was hunting, as her behavior on the north side was indicating that she needed and wanted food. We lost her for a bit in the dense brush, but we picked her up again after 30 minutes of heavy tracking. My preference is to photograph leopards walking towards the vehicle, and we only had one opportunity to do this before we disengaged to head back towards camp. The afternoon was filled with many sightings, and the one we spent the most time with was a pride of sleeping lions. They were in the tall grass, asleep, and never lifted up their heads during our two hours of sitting and waiting. After the sun had set we decided to leave.
Female Leopard On The Hunt
Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/2000 @ f/4.5, ISO 400
Close Encounter
Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/1000 @ f/5.6, ISO 400, Hand Held
Betty, Barry and Leon
Nikon D4, 24-70mm f/2.8, 1/250 @ f/7.1, ISO 250
Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.
Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.
Elephant, Sabi Sands, South Africa, africa, safari in Safari Reports Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 05:20AM We were up at 5:30, a quick coffee and tea at 6 and we were out before sunrise. I loved the cool morning, as it is hot back at home and I am already tired of 70+F temps at night. We had some amazing sightings of elephant and giraffe this morning, and we took the time to try and get the best shots possible. Drive-by photography rarely pays off in the safari world, and the best photographs take time to unfold. I love photographing anything that is in front of me, and giraffes and elephants are actually my favorite subjects. They can be the most challenging for me, and think that is part of the fun.
Giraffes are difficult from a composition standpoint. What to include? Head? Head and neck? Whole body? Vertical or horizontal? So many options and my choices rarely seem to have me happy in the end. I put my camera down for much of the day, as I wanted to spend time working with people on the rear autofocus button on their cameras, as well as discussions about composition, metering and storytelling.
We did get a report of an often-not-seen animal in the Sabi Sands, and that was of a cheetah out on the southern open planes. We hoofed it to the area and tracked the cheetah to a place where he was resting underneath a tree. The light was harsh, but our time with him was enjoyable because of the rarity of the sighting. One of the vehicles did get a great opportunity to photograph him later on as he jumped up onto a very narrow top of a termite mound. Very very cool.
We broke for a late brunch back at camp, and the staff had set up a really nice table for us out underneath a shade tree. Cold cereals, fruit, breads, cheese and eggs to order from the kitchen. It’s nice not to have to worry about my guests when we have such wonderful staff around.
We had tea at 2:30 and promptly left for our afternoon drive, and headed towards the Sand River in the northern part of Singita. We had a great sighting of a dominant male leopard of the area, and we followed him on one of the roads for quite some time. We drove behind him at a distance, as well as drove offroad to the side of him to capture him walking. The goal was to get some tall grass in the foreground as to make the road less obvious in the shots. He was walking more quickly than we could drive, as the terrain offroad was littered with large stones. Eventually he went off into the thick bush, and the rest of the afternoon was spent trying to intercept him on the other side of the thick bush. We lost him and never found him again, but we did get a great sighting nonetheless.
I feel like today was one of the better days I have had in a while, as a cheetah in the morning and a glorious male leopard in the afternoon is tough to beat.
Male Leopard
Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/400 @ f/8, ISO 250, Hand Held
Male Leopard, as seen from a moving vehicle
Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/10 @ f/22, ISO 100
Chris, Barry and Scot
Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/250 @ f/7.1, ISO 400
Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.
Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.
Leopard, Sabi Sands, Singita, South Africa, Workshop, safari in Safari Reports Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 05:08AM Today was the last day of my pre-safari at Mala Mala, and we did things a little differently than the past few days. We wanted as much as possible to see the wild dogs at the den, so we knew we wouldn’t benefit by arriving first thing in the morning with the cold temperatures. We had our bags packed before sunrise, we ate breakfast and then we headed out for the long drive down to Charleston and the southern end of the reserve. This allowed the dogs to hopefully wake up and let the air warm up a bit before coming out. We had to transfer to Singita at 10am, so we only had about 30 minutes total at the den when we arrived there. I am glad that we planned the morning this way, because we had yet another chance to see these magnificent predators one last time. When we arrived we had either 5 or 6 adult dogs running around the vehicle, and it was difficult for me to count just how many unique individuals we had amongst us due to the dense brush. We head some fascinating vocalizations and when things died down we had to rush back to check out and head over to Singita.
I always have a great time at Mala Mala, and this short stay was no exception. I will be leading a private safari group to Mala Mala in 2013, and it might be on my public safari schedule as well. I am not sure, as my 2013 safaris aren’t set in stone yet.
At 10am we grabbed a vehicle and drove an hour west to Singita Castleton, where I will be spending the next 16 nights. Castleton is a small and comfortable camp in the Singita area of the Sabi Sands. Castleton has only 6 bedrooms and can accommodate up to 12 people, and that is the maximum. I like to take sole use of camps when I can, because this allows me and my safari groups to have flexible dining schedules based on what we are seeing out on game drives. If we are 2 hours late for lunch nobody will care. I love that kind of care-free feeling that my game drives are not based on set dining schedules. Wildlife photography comes first, and it’s not like we are going to starve if we adjust our dining schedule around a little bit.
We arrived at camp about 30 minutes before the bulk of my travelers arrived at the airstrip, so I had time to throw my bags into my room and book it to the airstrip. I chartered a Beech 1900 private airplane to bring in the rest of the safari group, which allowed for an extreme amount of weight allowance per person. The typical allowance is 44 pounds in southern Africa, which would include everything inclusive of camera equipment. Heck, my camera bags (A Gura Gear Kiboko and a Gura Gear Chobe) weigh close to that amount without even into my duffel bag with my clothing.
We said hello to everybody as they exited the plane, had cold water and wet towels for people to freshen up with, and we took off for Castleton. Everybody got settled in, had a nice lunch out in the garden and took off around 3pm for our afternoon game drive. The first game drive on any safari typically involves short distances, as we don’t want to miss all of the things that are new to people if it is their first time on safari. Zebras, rhino, giraffe, elephant, kudu, impala, countless bird species and wildebeest were on tap for the afternoon, followed by a stop for sundowner cocktails after the sun had set.
El Grupo
Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/400 @ f/8, ISO 400
Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.
Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.
Mala Mala, Photography, Report, Sabi Sands, Singita, South Africa, Workshop, safari in Safari Reports Monday, June 4, 2012 at 06:40AM Today we decided to try and track/visit the Kikilezi female leopard with her two cubs, but we knew we needed to wait to visit the den until they had a chance to warm up after the sun came up. We drove the roads towards Clarendon dam in hopes of picking up signs of cheetah, but that turned out to not yield what we had hoped. That gave us some time for the day to heat up a bit, and when we arrived at the leopards the two cubs were racing around and as active as I have ever seen. The cubs were about 8 weeks old, and as a result have a schedule of playing, sleeping and nursing with their mother. So our time was filled with playing, and after they settled down after an hour we decided to move on. We did revisit the cubs in the late afternoon, however we had better memories than photographs due to the dense vegetation that was in the way.
Ok, let’s chat about cameras for a few moments. I have the new Nikon D4 and D800 cameras with me, and there are some major differences between the two that should be noticed. Since I only have a few minutes to write this entry between game drives, I am going to use a bullet point format to explain.
D800
D4
It was a fantastic day, filled with leopard cubs as well as general game! Until tomorrow…..
Cubs of the Kikilezi Female Leopard
Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8, 1/500 @ f/5, ISO 400
Breakfast In The Bush
Nikon D4, 16-35mm, 1/800 @ f/5.6, ISO 400
Matt, Terry and Jim
Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/160 @ f/8, ISO 250
Elephant and the Sand River
Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/640 @ f/5.6, ISO 250
Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.
Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.
Mala Mala, Sabi Sands, South Africa, Workshop, safari in Safari Reports