Zebra migration

Tanzania, Africa Being on safari is always full of surprises. While the keen photographers and enthusiasts expect I always know what’s going to happen, it all comes down to being as prepared as possible for when the action happens. While being surrounded by a herd of zebra and wildebeest, we were stationed where there was as much action as possible: by the river. These animals would stop to get some much needed water, but they are always nervous as there is an ancient threat that lurks in these waters, the crocodile.

A crocodile was lurking in the water, we wanted to see some action, but at the same time, we didn’t. We were wondering why the crocodile wasn’t paying any attention to the pedantic animals looking for refreshment at the shore, when the crocodile went to a log pulled out a long dead zebra under it and began to snack. Oooh, well he was full because he already had food in his pantry! It’s likely this croc won’t have to eat for months, given that they are cold blooded and thus don’t use food energy to maintain their body temperature, a very efficient way of living.

Nevertheless the zebra would get their fill of water until paranoia set in and one would bolt away from the shore in fear, setting off a chain reaction. The once crowded shore would be instantly vacated as all the zebra and wildebeest fled for their lives. After a few seconds or so one thirsty animal would slowly make it’s way to the shore and drink as more animals came in, and the cycle of spazzing at the shore would begin again. This gave us many opportunities to get these running action shots.

Photographic details: I intentionally used settings that get a lot of motion blur, normally something that people find undesirable. But it’s this sense of motion that makes the viewer feel what it’s like to be there. 1/100th of a second was guaranteed to get a blurry photo, as I followed the motion of these beasts as smoothly as I could. The incredible amount of dust in the air provided or a fantastic backdrop and a beautiful red cast on the image. CANON 7D 1/100s f/16.0 ISO100 330mm

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More on my photo safaris: http://www.kylefoto.com/photographic-african-safaris/

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Digital fisheye Antarctic Vista

Antarctica The views that welcome you when you first arrive along the Antarctic continent is quite the sight to behold. Being surrounded by these tall icy figures rising out of the ocean feels like the mountains are hugging you, and despite the cool the antarctic air I always feel warm and fuzzy. This is one of the images I used to promote my Polar Worlds show.

Click Image for larger version

Photographic Details: Fisheye photos are cool but to use one regularly would be somewhat disorientating. The original shot had a flat horizon but I wanted something a little more dynamic. So instead of going out to get a fisheye I thought I would make the effect myself, turns out it’s possible in photoshop in about 7 clicks of the mouse!

Photoshop:

Open the image and double click your layer to rename it, you need to rename it to anything but “background” to unlock it for editing.

[image size="medium" autoHeight="true"]http://www.kylefoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/layers.jpg[/image]

Then go to Edit>Transform>Warp

[image lightbox="true" size="medium" autoHeight="true"]http://www.kylefoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/edittransform.jpg[/image]

Click on the middle of the image and drag your mouse down to begin warping, try it in other ways to get different results.

[image lightbox="true" size="large" autoHeight="true"]http://www.kylefoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/warp1.jpg[/image]

[image lightbox="true" size="large" autoHeight="true"]http://www.kylefoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/warp2.jpg[/image]

When you are finished, press enter, and you are done!

Canon EOS 5D, 1/100s f/5.0 ISO50 35mm 16-35mm f2.8 L lens.

If you like this, please share. And if you try this technique, post it in the comments and share, let’s see what you can do!

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Sneaky elephants

Serengeti, Tanzania

On our short drive to the airport from our camp in the Serengeti we had to drive through a patch of jungle. Not really thinking about being on safari being our last hours in this wonderful place we were delighted by the sight of a hornbill bird bouncing around on a bunch of fallen trees scattered around the forest floor. That’s where we heard a loud crash behind us. This elephant was meters away this whole time, silently browsing. It looks like he decided he was too lazy to reach for the leaves atop a tree, therefore it was much less exhausting to topple it. This elephant just glanced at us while he gingerly picked a few leaves off his fallen prize then moved on to find something fresher.

It’s destructive habits like these that cause tension between the increasing human populations in Africa; people and elephants are more in need of land than ever, and the amount of it is shrinking.

Photographic Details: In my haste to photograph this I swung my lens around from the bird to the elephant. With no time to waste I pressed the shutter only to get some underexposed images from the previous settings I had. Thank goodness for RAW and lightroom, I was able to recover the details without any image degradation! Canon 7D 1/250s f/6.3 ISO800 400mm

If you like this, do me a favour and please share!

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They called him Macaroni... Penguin

South Georgia, Antarctica Macaroni: A term used in the mid 18th century to describe an unusually fashionable man who cared very much about his appearance with a flamboyant flair. Previous terms such as fashion-monger, ninny and fop were also used for someone overly concerned about their clothing. The Macaroni fashion was a precursor to the “dandies” which were the early 19th century metrosexuals.

Hence once the unusually vibrant crest of the Macaroni penguin was first observed they were given this name. These penguins were sitting on their nest, carefully keeping an eye on us while they tucked their necks in to conserve warmth and rest. Macaroni penguins lay two eggs during the mating season but often toss the first one out to make way for the second. The mother and father will share their responsibility over the egg as it incubates for a month, and raises the chick over another month. In this time the parents may fast for up to 42 days losing 40% of their body weight. Talk about dedicated parents.

Photographic details: I had to be very careful approaching these penguins. Believe it or not there is tall tussok grass growing here, it’s easy to accidentally step on a macaroni nest in a place like this. As we crouched down to their level this guy would keep an eye on me but that was the greatest reaction this bird would give me, and I respected their space as I waited for them to take a brief glance at me. After spending time with these fastidious penguins, I realize they only live up to their namesake in appearance. Canon 5DMarkII ISO400, 400mm, f7,1 1/320sec

Ghosts of South Georgia

Gold Harbour, South Georgia, Antarctica The edge of the harbour that is home to 25,000 breeding pairs of king penguins. The sea is the key to life here, where penguins can bring krill and fish back to the mouths of their hungry chicks. This place was called “Gold Harbour” by whalers given it is full of large elephant seals and numerous king penguins. They were easy to capture and kill to be boiled for their blubber and oil, which was worth a lot of money in this last haven for whalers. In addition a lot of pyrite or “fools gold” had been found by Filchner’s German Antarctic Expedition in 1911.

Photographic details: I wanted to create a ghostly image with a lot of mood and drama, the long exposure technique works very well for this. With the extreme brightness of the mid day sun filtering through the overcast sun the longest exposure I could get was four seconds. In order to get the long exposure I wanted I had to mash 20 four second exposure images together to create a total of 80 seconds.

ISO50, f18, with a 5 stop ND filter, 20 4 second exposures combined into 80 seconds If you like this, do me a favour and please share!

Penguin sledding

Wilhelmina Bay, Antarctica, Christmas Day Imagine yourself laying on your belly in the snow with your arms and feet splayed outwards. Using your belly as a sled you paddle your arms and legs to propel yourself forwards, if you do this, you are now a penguin.

Penguins will lay down on their belly and extend their front flippers while gently kicking with their toes, almost like paddling. Their smooth bellies mostly free of friction allow them to slide with relative ease. I have seen them slide down hills with glee, sometimes taking small tumbles but for the most part executing this move with grace. Should the hill be really steep they err on the side of caution and waddle down on their feet.

The tracks left by Adélie penguins made a rather long S shape in the snow, I find it hilarious as they depict exactly how this penguin gingerly sled across the frozen sea ice of Wilhelmina bay.

Moving in this fashion can be very efficient, important for both conserving energy and preventing themselves from overheating as penguins are very well insulated and overheating is a real problem on warm summer days.

Canon EOS 5D, 16-35mm f 2.8L lens, 1/125s f/8.0 ISO50 35mm

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Fata Morgana by moonlight

Outside Iqaluit, Canadian Arctic

If you look at the horizon you will see what looks like a band of cliffs or land, made of the same texture the sea ice is made of. This is actually the flat ocean but something is distorting it. This is a photograph of the most mysterious optical illusions most commonly observed in the Arctic. Named after the sorceress Morgan Le Fay of merlin lore this phenomenon has been attributed to the flying Dutchman, UFOs, faeries and other unusual things. It’s no surprised, land seems to rise out of the ocean from nothing only to start jiggling and dancing to and fro like a mushroom made of jelly, it’s very entertaining to watch newcomers to the arctic try and process what they are seeing.

This is simply an optical effect created by an inverse mirage. With a layer of cool air by the sea surrounded by a warmer atmosphere, this threshold between cool and warm air bends the light in such a way that even things beyond the curvature of the earth can be seen, causing the seascape to bend into the sky

Photographic Details: This was taken on a ship with a telephoto lens, therefore a tripod was out of the question given that we were moving. I shot this hand held holding my breath at at 1/80 sec, f5.6 ISO 1600 Canon EOS 5D at 400mm, a feat not easily done but slowly mastered with practice. I always surprise myself when I manage “illegally” shooting such slow shutter speeds with long lenses, practice makes perfect! If at first you get a few blurry photos, keep trying, all it takes is one good one and your work will be worth it!

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Kylefoto featured on Baldhiker.com!

Today I guest posted for a super cool guy I met on chime.in  who is constantly travelling, check it out here!  

Polar Bear Tracks

Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic Left on the sea ice from a polar bear that we could just see on the horizon in Svalbard. This is going to be a much rarer sight as the extent of sea ice is diminished every year, which is the important platform polar bears need to hunt for seals.

The fact that the bear has left his prints on the very surface that it depends on creates a very powerful narrative about the problem these animals face today.

Looking for a unique approach to polar bear photography I saw these tracks I knew this would help complete my polar bear portfolio as nobody really shares photos like these. So much about these animals is written in the snow: The long hair around the paws of the bear have brushed the surface of the snow and left streaks in exquisite detail, illustrating how the bear seems to shuffle across the ice. They can walk at great speeds on the ice but have to be careful not to overheat given the relative warmth of the Arctic summer and their great adaptations in conserving heat. The wide spread of the 12 inch paws act like natural snowshoes keeping the bear above the surface for optimal arctic travelling.

Photographic details: Taken with a 400mm lens shooting downwards from the bow of the ship as we parked ourselves in this ice flow. The tracks were actually barely visible with the naked eye given the flat light. I had to open the raw file and darken down the image considerably to get more detail out of the image. The results were far more detailed than I could have ever seen in real life, making for an image that actually captures the drama behind these animals.

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Learning to read icebergs

Antarctic Peninsula Look at this iceberg now, then look at it after reading this and you will actually be able to read this iceberg.

There are so many stories in this photo alone I don’t know where to begin. I should start with the fact that a quick glance at an iceberg can tell us a lot about it’s history; mother nature etches a story in every crack, layer, texture and curve.

First of all this iceberg is in mostly in the same orientation it was when it first broke off the glacier it came from. The horizontal lines are the layers of snow that have been compressed into ice while the glacier was flowing down the mountain, as well the surface had an edge of snow, still built up from high precipitation, this tells us the ice is still mostly upright.

Once this huge chunk of ice was set free into the ocean, it began to melt faster than it would as a glacier. The currents and movement of the salty sea water begin eroding the bottom of the iceberg but in a smooth pattern, turning hard edges into soft curves. The “shoreline” on the iceberg is where the lapping of the waves on the surface erode the iceberg the most, creating the indentation in the middle where the smooth ice ends and the rough untouched ice begins.

As the iceberg melts and chunks fall off, the balance changes. As you can see the lower right portion of the iceberg used to be underwater because it’s smooth, it’s now above water with the new weight distribution.

This iceberg is now peppered with Adele penguins. It may be a lot of penguins who are two years old and younger; essentially spinster penguins not yet mature enough to breed. They have no obligation to be in a colony and get to spend the first two years of their life feeding and enjoying themselves. The cape petrel flying on the top right creates a point of interest in the most perfect spot, further illustrating how icebergs can be mother natures “rest stops”.

But there is more! Ice creates a mini ecosystem that krill and small copepods and crustaceans tend to cling to. Small slivers of grey dot the lower left of the iceberg betraying the presence of Antarctic Terns fishing for these small creatures. These waters are rich with life, and as desolate as an image can seem, a trained eye can see an abundance of wonderful creatures.

Take a look at the ice again, do you see what I see?

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Rainbow whale surprise

Antarctic Ocean Can you guess which species this is? I want to know how many whale watchers there are here, post your answers in the comments! I'll post in the comments later. Hint, it's a species seen often in the Antarctic, and if you've watched whale wars you definitely would have seen them before!

After an uneventful sunset mother nature decided to prove to us she’s always got something hidden up her sleeves. This is where travelling workshops is such an exciting thing. We are winding down for the night, some people have gone to bed, nobody is really expecting anything to happen on a calm evening. But we always have people posted on the bridge, and when something breaks through the waters surface it’s such a thrill to get on the ships loudspeaker and exclaim “There are whales off the starboard bow!”. The calm lull around the ship turns into a feverish buzz as people scramble for their cameras and hurry for the nearest exit to the outer decks.

As the cool evening air washed over me I had never seen such a stimulating canvas of colours painted onto the reflections of the sea. This whale was gingerly swimming around the ship, somewhat curious of what we could be. Talk about a perfect end to an evening.

Photographic Details: It was extremely dim outside given that the sun had already set, so I had to let in as much light as possible with ISO 1600 with a relatively slow shutter speed of 1/400th of a second at f5. This was the best I could do on a moving ship hand held with a telephoto lens. I just kept shooting away while this whale was bobbing in and out of the water.

Survived the sunset on a glacier

Peyto Glacier, Banff National Park, Alberta In continuation of my other photo from Peyto glacier this shows us just reaching the top as the sun sets behind the mountain. Thank goodness we made it! To traverse and avoid crevasses (big cracks in the ice) at night with headlamps would be a risky affair. The possibility of walking in circles in the great white expanse on this glacier while snowshoeing blind would not only be disturbing but would do a number on our morale. We were full of joy at this moment just reaching the edge of the glacier and taking our snowshoes off and unroping for the final small stretch to our warm cozy Peyto hut. Hot soup, delicious food, good company and a toilet with a view would greet us in a few moments!

Photographic Details: Even though I violated my beloved rule of thirds I still love what this image has to offer, I had to keep the horizon in the center in order to show that beautiful portion of sky that was lit by the last moments of daylight, but I had to keep our group in there for context. All of this was taken with one exposure: while the sky was initially blown out, and the foreground dark, I was able to recover those details by shooting in raw and adjusting the image in Lightroom.

The before Photo:

Timing on Mother Zebra’s milk

Masai Mara, Kenya The zebra mother will generally have 1 foal a year, and can have one at any time. Even though the foal may begin eating grass after a few days it generally takes a year to wean them off of mothers milk. Given the similar size of these two and the rarity of twins my local guide said it’s likely this foal is from another mother.

Photographic details: I took many photos of this because I wanted to capture a few things and needed the right timing for everything to line up. The constant swish of the mothers tail often had it flying out of the frame; instead of the tail being flat and facing down I waited for it to swish up to the left to capture that interesting curl. At the same time photographers always want the eyes, here I have not only the mothers eye, but that of both the foals as well. Many photos were taken, but this is the only one that made the cut. I often pay attention to the rule of thirds, but this time with the way the mother and the foal fit in a ying and yang kind of way I have a fair bit of symmetry. Artistically speaking, when you have symmetry like this you have licence to start centering your subjects and you get to throw the rule of thirds away.

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Related: I've got 8 people signed on for my Kenya & Tanzania Photo Safari in January, there is guaranteed window room for everyone and I've got a few spots left! http://www.kylefoto.com/photographic-african-safaris/

Prints are available at smugmug: http://kylefoto.smugmug.com/Animals/Africa/19644918_hpCKDK#1555914888_M42JL7j

Giraffe Silhouette

Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa The dramatic skies of the Masai Mara were surrounding us towards the sunset hours in Kenya. After a day of seeking out cheetahs, elephants and leopards we had time to observe this giraffe browsing along the hilltop amongst the iconic shape of the Euphobia tree.

Photographic Details: Silhouettes are some of the most illustrative and powerful compositional elements in a photographers repertoire. Throwing away the distraction of colour texture and exposure you are simply left with a figure that forces the viewer to concentrate on body language, posture, and shape. With the lack of detail the viewer’s imagination is put to work perhaps causing them to linger a little longer. In addition a silhouette photo like this provides a stark contrast in detail with the perfectly exposed sky (underexposed by two stops) all the textures and beauty in the cloud formation is preserved in a hyper real fashion.

There wasn’t as much colour as I liked so I employed some colour graduated filters. I think of these as “sunglasses for my camera” that provide a colourful gradient that can enhance or even introduce colours much like putting on a pair of rose coloured sunglasses.

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This is also available on my smugmug for print: http://kylefoto.smugmug.com/Animals/Africa/19644918_hpCKDK#1554516357_mBKRfCP

A Critique: Silhouette of a family, BW or colour?

Serengeti, Tanzania, Africa. For todays post I want to do both my regular photo story but I also want a critique. The main question I want to know is do you like the colour or black and white version better? And why?

This was taken in the last few hours of this years photo safari. We were all ecstatic that just a few hundred meters from the airport we were still being greeted by scenic views and tonnes of wildlife, talk about a great send off for our final day!

Photographic Details: This troupe was making their way across the Serengeti and the backlighting isn’t ideal for photography. I began to think “well okay backlighting is tough for detail, so let’s focus on getting a silhouette”.

I like how easy it is to tell by their body language that this herd wasn’t just grazing, they were heading somewhere and on a mission. By working with the silhouette in mind I’ve taken advantage of the pros of this type of lighting instead of fighting against the cons. Canon EOS 7D, 100-400m L lens at 190mm, 1/320 shutter speed f7.1

So let me know, BW or colour?

Click on the thumbnail to open the gallery [gall columns="1" postcount="2" ]

More details on my photo safaris here: http://www.kylefoto.com/photographic-african-safaris/

Update:

I have to share some fantastic comments here that critique these photos better than I ever could!

Out of 31 we have 20 for colour and 9 for bw.

Your comments go beyond just this simple question though, all this talk about the context of the images, how or where someone is displaying these photos change the photos, and how the intention of the photo changes which image is more powerful.

+Kerry L +Brad Ganley and +Louisa Catharine Forsyth mention how the power and impact of the animals is much more pronounced in the BW version, that there is more emotion associated with it. +Jorge henrique Cordeiro hits the nail on the head with the black and white version being art but the colour version being more truthful to what africa actually looks like.

+Shawn Clover highlights that the blue and orange in the colour photographs are complimentary, likely a reason for the favour in the colour image.

More importantly this stellar interaction speaks to the intelligence and engagement of this community, you guys are incredible!

Gazelle Portrait, Laying low

Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa It was an extremely hot day in the Masai Mara of Kenya in early march. This being the dry season the temperature was reaching 35 degrees Celsius, and it was getting close to lunch. We pulled our packed lunches out under the only tree nearby. Standing alone in the plains its sparse shade was still a welcome retreat. Around noon most wildlife seeks the shade and I was surprised we didn’t find anything resting under this tree.

Click for Larger image

We reminisced about how the behaviour of the herd of Zebras earlier that day tipped us off that there was a lion kill nearby, and the incredible sunrise we were witness to. That’s when a Thompson’s gazelle appeared walking purposefully towards us. Oooh we stole his shade! It wasn’t long before he realized his spot was occupied and he just stood a good distance away, stomping every so often to ward off flies. The whole time we were there he just stared at us in hopes that we would disappear and he could get the only shade in sight.

Click for Larger image

Photographic details: This was the perfect opportunity to get a good portrait. There was nothing distracting in the background and this gazelle was practically posing. Usually it’s not safe to be outside the vehicle so I also had a rare chance to shoot this guy from a low angle. I laid flat on my belly with the camera touching the ground and my 400mm lens trained on him. I chose to compose him in the centre of the image because of the symmetry of his figure. This angle allowed me to shoot up at him and causes the ground to become mostly blurred. This creates a simpler image that focuses entirely on the animal itself.

Camera settings: Canon EOS 7D, 100-400mm L IS lens, ISO 100, 400mm, f5.6 1/400sec.

This is also available for print on my smugmug at: http://kylefoto.smugmug.com/Animals/Africa/19644918_hpCKDK#1543609000_tXNpXgN

For more on my photographic safaris see here! http://www.kylefoto.com/photographic-african-safaris/

Speeding Cheetahs, stabilizers and shutter speed

Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa All of these photos were taken in one 13 minute timespan. (with exception of the vehicle shot)

It was a fantastic morning in the Masai Mara, we were photographing mother Cheetah while she was relaxing before the sun even came up, then the golden light lit her magnificently as she looked over her four cubs. Later she stood and walked away with great purpose, indicating she was on the hunt.

Click for Larger image, Mother cheetach watching her cubs

To great protest of my passengers this is where I decided to quit photographing the cubs playing and drive off ahead of mother in hopes of catching her on the hunt, an executive decision I was worried I might regret.

Young Cheetahs still have claws for climbing 

We drove ahead and waited for mother to appear over the crest of a hill where a lone gazelle was grazing. She appeared, but way too far away even for a 600mm lens! She bolted for the gazelle and at blazing speed the two of them ran down the hill past us, the gazelle doing an inertia-defying U-turn running down towards us then right past our vehicle, click-click-click-click, the safari vehicle sounding like a mock barrage of machine guns as the two ripped past us. The gazelle did another quick turn and by then the cheetah had used up her energy burst, the gazelle got away this time. It all happened in the span of 10 seconds, and it felt like they were doing it for show given how they ran past us like that, it was incredible and everyone got such cool shots!

Camera Settings 

Photographic Details: A photographer has two major decisions to make in a situation like this: Either try and freeze the action so that every part of the cheetah is captured perfectly still, or to create a sense of motion so that most of the cheetah is clear except for her legs and background which is blurred with motion. I chose the latter.

You can get very close in Africa!  

It all comes down to shutter speed: I knew the Cheetah is capable of running at 120km/h, and after a lot of practice with moving horses and vehicles I knew that an extremely slow shutter speed of 1/160th of a second would be a great point to start. This is considered a very slow shutter speed while using a 400mm telephoto lens (like the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens I’m using). If you use a setting like shutter priority then all you needed was to set your shutter speed and you’re almost done.

Going after the Gazelle 

I would be tracking the movement of the Cheetah and following her exactly as I panned from right to left. For those with image stabilization a slow shutter speed and panning motion could cause the stabilization system to try and compensate for the panning, resulting in a blurred image. If you have an advanced lens that allows you to go into a secondary stabilization mode use it, in the canons mode 2 is made for panning shots.

Also note how dirty, dented scratched and chipped my lens and camera is, that’s the mark of a dedicated photographer ;) 1/160th of a second, F7.1 shot in RAW, ISO 100.

The final great shot! 

This was taken on my last photo safari, I have two more coming up in 2011 check them out here!

Additionally this print is available on smugmug.

The Monochrome Jackal

On Safari in Africa The jackal is a spritely figure in the Masai Mara of Kenya. Trotting along the game trail this guy was fortunate enough to come across some scraps. Paying little attention to us he kept working away at his prize of the day. Jackals are primarily active at dawn and dusk, a lot like most of the animals we like to see in Africa. Not only is the light fantastic when the sun is close to the horizon, we get the double effect of all the wildlife activity. This is why on safari one often has their down time during mid day. I don’t think one would ever have to be afraid of a jackal in any circumstance as they tend to feed on anything much smaller than them including small reptiles, birds and mammals.

Click for Larger image 

Photographic details: I wanted an interesting shot with a lot of the usual things a photographer is interested in, waiting for him to open his eyes, making sure his face wasn’t in shadow. This little expression he gave was somewhat sinister, even though it’s a brief moment taken while he was putting a lot of effort of gnawing the flesh off the bone.

For this portrait I wanted to reach back into my darkroom days and process this like a black and white negative. Spending hours dodging and burning in the lab I always felt such a connection with my photos. Dodging and burning is the process of selectively darkening and brightening certain areas of the image, it’s a practice that has been used in necessity since the dawn of film. Taking a photo is one thing, but preparing a print is another. By brightening my subject I bring more focus to him, and allow him to pop out of the uniform background instead of blending in.

This was taken on my photographic Safari this year, I have two more next year find out more at: http://www.kylefoto.com/category/workshops/

Thirsty baby elephant orphans

Hooray it’s #thirstythursdayDavid Sheldrick Animal Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa

Many animals including Rhinoceros and Elephants may become orphaned by poachers or loss of habitat. People have tried to raise elephant orphans and in doing so become a mother figure to the elephants. Some of the first attempts at raising these extremely social animals ended in tragedy as the need for love from a family had not been accounted for. This was unfortunately discovered when one of the pioneers of raising these animals Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick left for a week for wedding arrangements, only to return to baby “Aisha” in such a state of despair that she died in her arms.

Click for Larger image 

The Sheldrick animal orphanage now employs a large “family” of caretakers, each one loving and caring but the elephants are discouraged from becoming too attached to any single person. Instead the elephant is attached to the family as a whole to replace the orphans lost mother, which prevents any grief that the elephant may feel should a single caretaker be absent. This among other discoveries has led the orphanage to successfully raise over 80 elephants and return them to their community in Tsavo National park.

All these growing elephants are very hungry and require a lot of nourishment, the thirst for milk is palpable when caretakers bring out the jugs. The cows milk is not enough, and additional supplements of coconut is given to them to provide them with the correct fats that they need.

I took two photos of this, once with the bottle full and the other with it empty. My camera records the time each photo is taken, I want you to guess how many seconds it takes for this guy to chug the milk down and write your response in the comments. The answer the question is at the bottom of this post in white text, highlight the bottom of this post to see.

I will be returning here again on my next photo safaris in february and september next year! http://www.civilizedadv.com/trip_pages/trips/2012/KT120907.html

http://www.civilizedadv.com/trip_pages/trips/2012/KT120202.html

See also my african gallery here.

Please check out the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust website to find out more about what they are doing, and share this to get the word out! It’s my hope that I have inspired you a little bit! http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

Highlight between here for the answer: [ This guy drank 5 litres in 9 seconds! What a machine!]

Sometimes photographers talk to the penguins

Falkland Islands, Southern OceanThank goodness it's my favourite day #wildlifewednesday !

These Rockhoppers have a lot of character. Not only do they live up to their namesake by hopping around the beach in the most comical way, they have a bright yellow flourish on their crest and piercing red eyes. The beach is littered with the dark bouncing figures of these guys, the only thing to do is take a seat and watch the show.

Photographic Details: Sitting amongst these guys I enter “spy mode” with my telephoto lens. Waiting for the right penguin to look in the right direction while also facing the sun so I can get those bright red eyes illuminated. These guys are busy so they aren’t all that interested in me, saying “Hey there, nice yellow crest” or “I saw you on the Fleetwood Mac album cover can I have your autograph?” didn’t really work, however screeching like they did got me a head turn and a few looks.

Yes I have learned to call to penguins now. They really don’t care what sound you make, but as soon as you start sounding like them they start paying attention. I look like a complete idiot hunching down taking photos and making penguin noises, but I’ve learned for a long time that if you don’t look like an idiot doing it, you probably don’t have an interesting photo.

I wanted the profile to focus in on the eyes and crest, and since their heads are symmetrical I thought I would take a different approach and get half the face, this makes for a more unique photo than the typical full face penguin portrait.

To see more or get a print see my smugmug here: http://kylefoto.smugmug.com/Antarctica/Antarctic-Worlds/19589737_M4DwLg#1538623730_9pjmrFs

I put a lot of work into my photography if you like this do me a favour and share this with your friends!

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