CHRISTIAN SPERKA PHOTOGRAPHY – Page 127 – Christian Sperka Photography

2014-06-06

Great response!

About hundred people showed up for yesterday evening’s presentation at the Nashville Zoo. I did not expect such a turnout for my Keppers of the Wild talk. I also held the same presentation earlier in the day for the zoo staff, which was also very well attended.

Tomorrow I will be exhibiting at the Nashville First Saturday Art Crawl (Details at http://wp.me/p1rzfb-16C) – ZULULAND – WILDLIFE AND PEOPLE IN THE AFRICAN SOUTH …

… and next Wednesday I will give another talk TWO YEARS IN THE WILD at the Cookeville Camera Club (Details at http://wp.me/p1rzfb-16r).

Today’s image is of a Clouded Leopard at the Nashville Zoo. Drupada, a young male, was giving me “the look”!

2014-06-05

Back in Nashville!

It is great to be back in Nashville and seeing a lot of my friends in the Music City USA. Yesterday’s talk at the Brentwood Photography Group went very well and I am looking forward to being at the Nashville Zoo all day tomorrow.

In the evening I will be giving a presentation called “Keepers of the Wild” at the Zoo (The event is free to the public – http://www.nashvillezoo.org/events/lecture).

2014-06-01

A new home for Zuerich’s Elephants

Yesterday I briefly visited the Zuerich Zoo in Switzerland. And I got my first glimpse of the new Elephant enclosure, a fascinating building within impressive grounds.

It will open in six days. After my return from the USA I will have a good look at this new exhibit, housing Zuerich’s Asian Elephants.

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!

2014-04-252014-09-07

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

2014-04-20

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.

2014-04-15

Fun memories :-)

During my recent visit to Pakamisa, in between riding and eating (very well I might say!), I was doing a little work on my image library.

So I came across this shot of me with a Clouded Leopard cub climbing on my head. That stirred some fun memories of my time at the Nashville Zoo, which I will be visiting again in June.

The picture was taken by my good friend Heather Robertson, the head veterinarian at the zoo.

2014-04-08

An Elderly Lady!

This elderly Giraffe lady had a good look at this “noisy animal” before she decided to move off into the bush following the rest of her Journey (Journey is the proper term for a group of Giraffe).

Giraffes are one of the Thanda game drive favorites, especially for younger children, who seem to have a special place in their heart for these long-necked, gentle creatures.