Christian Sperka

2014-05-222014-05-22

Ten years for Thanda and two years for me :-)

Lots to celebrate: Thanda its ten year anniversary (see http://wp.me/p43t9J-10s) and me living for the last two years in South Africa!

But the next five weeks I will be back in Europe (28 May to 1 June / 16 June to 26 June) and the USA (3 June to 14 June).

So there will be no messages from the African wild, but I hope to blog a few nice travel pictures/stories. Stay tuned ……

PS: During my stay in Tennessee I will give a few presentation about South Africa. For more information go to http://wp.me/p1rzfb-16r and http://wp.me/p1rzfb-16C

2014-05-18

Back at the First Saturday Nashville Art Crawl

ZULULAND – Wildlife and People in the African South

At the June Nashville First Saturday Art Crawl I will exhibit a few of my recent images, taken around my new home in the Heart of Zululand. Unusally for me, I will also show People images besides Wildlife pictures :-). Come and have a look.

The event at the Nashville Arcade is open to the public. I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the Art Crawl!

When: Saturday – June 7, 2014 – 6:00-9:00pm
Where: Ultraviolet Gallery @ Nashville Arcade, Downtown Nashville

Thanks to Amiee Stubbs, who invited me to her UltraViolet Gallery, I am able to exhibit again in Nashville. Amiee is the Official Photographer and Photography Teacher for the Nashville Zoo and Photojournalist for Animal Rescue Corps. She is a very accomplished professional photographer with a wide portfolio (www.amieestubbs.com). But her passion is definitely animal photography!

PS: I will also give a few presentations about Photography, Wildlife and Conservation – For more information go to https://sperka.info/2014/05/15/two-years-in-the-wild-and-keepers-of-the-wild-presentations-in-tennessee/

2014-05-15

“Two Years in the Wild” and “Keepers of the Wild” – Presentations in Tennessee

I am looking forward to my visit to the USA in June. After another year in the bush it will be great to see my Tennessee friends again. During my stay I will be giving two different presentations about my work in South Africa. All presentations are open to the public and no reservations are required.

I hope to see many of you on either of these occasions 🙂

“Two Years in the Wild” is the first presentation about my experiences in South Africa and my methods to get good wildlife images. This presentation is open to the public. I will be giving this talk in Nashville and in Cookeville.

When: Tuesday – June 3, 2014 – 6:30pm
Where: Brentwood Photography Group Meeting @ Otter Creek Church of Christ, Franklin Road, Brentwood, Tennessee – http://www.brentwoodphotographygroup.org/

When: Wednesday – June 11, 2014 – 7:00pm
Where: Cookeville Camera Club Meeting @ First Presbyterian Church, 20N Dixie, Cookeville, Tennessee – http://www.cookevillecameraclub.com/

“Keepers of the Wild” is the second presentation about the conservation efforts and challenges for a private game reserve in South Africa and about the rising threat to Africa’s Rhino population.

When: Thursday – June 5, 2014 – 6:00pm
Where: Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, Nolensville Road, Nashville, Tennessee – http://www.nashvillezoo.org/events/lecture

See you in Nashville or Cookeville!

2014-05-142014-05-15

Clean-up Crew!

Hyena are one of the most fascinating mammal species to observe . They are an important part of the bush clean-up crew and play a vital role in the circle of life.

With their grinning smiles and their awkward walking style (their very strong front legs are longer than the back legs) they are often disliked by many people.

But in this picture one of Thanda’s Spotted Hyenas shows itself from its “cute side” 🙂

2014-05-08

28mm

Sometimes pictures tell an exciting story. So do these!

They were taken with a 28mm (wide-angle) lens and not cropped.

Our oldest North Pride Lioness had decided to walk up to our vehicle and she had first a good look at me (picture below) and then at the guests behind me (picture above). My instruction to hold still and not move was followed without any discussion :-).

As she was in touching distance I took the picture above without moving the camera and without looking through the viewfinder (hence the funny composition). Nevertheless I thought many of you might enjoy this awesome predator’s look.

If you are interested why we were not in danger during the encounter with this dangerous cat go to https://sperka.info/why/.

2014-05-01

Not only milk!

Our little Lion cubs have graduated to meat dishes 🙂

Their mum – Thanda North Pride’s oldest Lioness – had caught a Warthog for dinner. As the sun set she moved the kill into a thicket not far from one of Thanda’s main roads. And as the light fated she fetched her little ones for dinner.

The image above shows one of the youngsters with a red nose from enjoying one of its first meat meals.

The collage below shows a small Lions’ feeding frenzy, a watchful mum and another on of the cubs showing some interest in my clicking camera.

What a sighting!

And this last collage shows the young Lions two weeks ago venturing very close to the game viewer before their mum led them away into the bush.

Pictures (1-4) by Christian Sperka

Pictures (5-9) by Bheki Ngubane – Senior Tracker – Thanda Private Game Reserve

2014-04-26

The other four …

And these are the other four of the Ugly Five …

…. Warthog, Hyena, Marabou Stork and Vulture. An exclusive and pretty ugly club!

The fifth Ugly One is the Wildebeest (see blog https://sperka.info/2014/04/24/the-ugly-five/)

2014-04-252014-09-07

Fine Dining!

Who knows me well, knows that I love fine dining. This is one of the reasons why I am spending so much of my “off time” at Pakamisa Private Game Reserve – also enjoying their safaris on horseback and the very comfortable surroundings.

All of Pakamisa’s food is excellent and many of the menu items are also a feast for the eyes. So during this month’s visit I did no horse/wildlife photography, but I did a food photo shoot. This is very different photographic discipline. Even so, I think the results are not too bad.

🙂 … and an interesting bit of personal trivia:

My godfather was a very successful food photographer in the 60th and 70th in Switzerland. I even served as a Child model for some of his food shots (see collage at the end of the message). Well, I think he would be happy about these images and my work as a “food photographer”!

A Pakamisa light lunch – a tasty combination – Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad with Beef Fillet

A Pakamisa starter – a feast for the eyes – Avocado Timbale Topped with Prawns

A Pakamisa starter – a surprising combination – Sweet Corn & Tomato Soup

A Pakamisa desert – the ultimate browny and a feast for chocoholics 🙂 – Home-made Chocolate Brownies with Ice Cream

A Pakamisa breakfast – With the rolling hills of Zululand!

I loved “fine dining” already when I was young 🙂

Pictures by Christian Sperka and Werner Knecht

2014-04-24

The Ugly Five :-)

The Big Five are very famous. But there are also the Ugly Five!

For guests it is a bit of harmless fun to guess which of the many animal species on Thanda qualify for that very special honour. The Blue Wildebeest (or Brindled Gnu) is one of the Ugly Five. In most human eyes they would certainly not qualify for a beauty contest :-). Blue Wildebeest are a very common antelope on Thanda. They are also one of the major menu items for our Lions.

Stay tuned over the next few days to meet the other four!

2014-04-20

Happy Easter!

Frohe Ostern Feliz Pascua Joyeuses Pâques Vrolijk Pasen Buona Pasqua Felix Pascha God påske Wesołych Świąt Happy Easter Glad Påsk Maligayang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay hyvää pääsiäistä 复活节快乐復活節快樂 부활절 축복 받으세요 สุขสันต์วันอีสเตอร์ イースター、おめでとう Phasika elithokozayo Geseënde Paasfees

From me and my special Thanda Easter Bunny 🙂

… which is actually a young Scrub Hare.