Category: CHRISTIAN SPERKA PHOTOGRAPHY

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Intelligent Giants, The Answers and The Winner


I admit it was a bit misleading. All the detail pictures in the last “Animal Species Identification Contest” were from the same species: African Elephants.

The first person to send in the correct answer to the question in the contest was Bob Ellis, Smyrna, Tennessee.  Congratulations!

To be more precise, all pictures were of the Elephants at Nashville Zoo at Grassmere.

During the next Nashville First Saturday Gallery Crawl there will be a special event at the Christian Sperka Photography Gallery.

In cooperation with the Nashville Zoo I will be showing many interesting  images and video clips of the Nashville Zoo Elephants.  There will be three presentations by Connie Philipp, Director of Animal Collections (at 6:30pm / 7:30pm and 8:30pm).

Learn more about these INTELLIGENT GIANTS – The Nashville Zoo Elephants

It would be great to see you at my Gallery in the Arcade (Downtown Nashville) on Saturday, March 3, 2012 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.

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Buck, Beaver and Courtship

A few times a week I go walking with a friend around Radnor Lake (Nashville, Tennessee).

These walks are supposed to be more for exercise than for photography, but I cannot go anywhere in Nature without a camera 🙂

This morning we saw a White-tailed Deer Buck looking after a herd of does, a Beaver swimming and making a quick excursion on land and we observed the courtship behavior of some Canada Geese.

A most productive wildlife photography morning!

If you would like to review all my Radnor Lake picture go to www.sperka.biz/radnor

 

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Animal Species Identification Contest

I have been working recently with some very interesting animals.  So, here is small animal species identification contest. These are six different macro pictures.

The first reader of my blog who sends in the correct identification of all six pictures (species names) by email to info@sperka.com will win a 8″x10″ print.

Enjoy the contest :-)

I will publish the correct match and the winner soon!

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Getting Close!

Today I got a very good question from one of my blog readers about the “closeness” to animals on game drives (see comment and answer on the post MORNING MIST).

Here are two pictures of a case when the animal chose to come so close to our vehicle, that we made the decision to get out of the way :-). The second picture is taken from a considerable distance. The Elephant Bull past us quietly!

In the first picture you can see the dashboard of the car and the Elephant. It was pretty close.

Picture 1: Camera: Canon 1D Mark IV / Lens: Canon L 17-40mm at 28mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/320s / Aperture: f/4 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction +/-0.00eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Auto / Time: winter morning / Freehand from vehicle

Picture 2: Camera: Canon 1D Mark IV / Lens: Canon L 17-40mm at 40mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/320s / Aperture: f/4 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction +1.00eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Auto / Time: winter morning / Freehand from vehicle

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Morning Mist

This is another scenic shot with an animal in it. But you have to look very carefully to detect the Cheetah in the tree.

Two groups enjoy this Cheetah sighting in the morning mist from their game viewing vehicles.

This pictures was taken at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa.

Picture Data: Camera: Canon D30 / Lens: Canon L 100-400mm at 400mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/1000s / Aperture: f/5.6 / ISO: 100 / Exposure Correction +/-0.00eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Auto / Time: winter morning / Freehand

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Imagine Dam

Well, this is another scenic shot but it has some animals in it – The best of both worlds ? :-).

It is a picture of a winter sunset at Imagine Dam on Phinda Private Game Reserve, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

I hope you enjoy this very African scene.

Picture Data: Camera: Canon 350D / Lens: Canon L 4.0 17-40mm at 37mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/30s / Aperture: f/4 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction -1.00eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Shade / Time: evening / Freehand

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Picture of the Week 8 – An “Unhappy” Lady

[View all Pictures of the Week 2012]

Most of the time you see a picture of a lion with an open mouth the animal is either yawning or flehming. It may look threatening and intimidating but it really is neither.

The young lioness in this pictures shows that she is quite upset. She is growling  at two young males (one of them in the picture), which were part of a different pride, who walked quietly past her in a show of dominance.

This scene was part of an encounter of the juvenile offspring from two prides on Thanda Private Game Reserve (2 males and one female on both sides). This happened while the adult females of each pride were absent.

During the time we watched the encounter there were no open hostilities, just lots of territorial marking behavior, many growls and fierce facial expressions (as the one in the picture 🙂

But the next day the males of both prides showed obvious signs of a night battle (wounds from claws on his shoulder – see the picture below).

More about lions:

Both males and females defend the pride and its territory against intruders. The male(s) associated with the pride must defend their relationship to the pride from outside males who attempt to take over their relationship with the pride. Females form the stable social unit in a pride and do not tolerate outside females. Membership only changes with the births and deaths of lionesses, although some females do leave and become nomadic and/or form a new pride. Sub-adult males on the other hand, must leave the pride when they reach maturity at around 2–3 years of age.

Picture Data:

Picture 1: Camera: Canon 1Ds MIII / Lens: Canon L 4.0 500mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/500s / Aperture: f/4 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction +1eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: manual K6500 / Time: midday / Freehand

Picture 2: Camera: Canon 1D MIV / Lens: Canon L 3.5-5.6 28-300mm at 210mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/4000s / Aperture: f/5.6 / ISO: 1600 / Exposure Correction +0.5eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: manual K6500 / Time: mid morning / Freehand

For more Lion pictures got to
www.sperka.biz/lion (for African Lion)
www.sperka.biz/lion2 (for African Lion in zoos)
www.sperka.biz/lion3 (for Asiatic Lion)

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Hill-side Path

Here is one more scenic “non-animal” picture. This for all the “barn lovers” out there. I took this image in the Swiss Alps during a trip from Germany to Italy in August 2010.

This is a typical small barn next to a hill-side path. In the winter this area would be covered with snow, but in summer it displays lush green grass.

Picture Data:
Camera: Canon 1D MIV/ Lens: Canon DO 70-300mm at 200mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/350s / Aperture: f/5.6 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction +0.5eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: K6500 / Time: early afternoon / Freehand from a car window

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Sunrise over Mkuze

In the last few weeks a few people have asked me if I could also put some of my scenic “non-animal” pictures on the blog.

Even if it is not my focus (I usually target things that can move :-)) I will post a few of my scenic shots over the next few weeks.

So here we go. The first picture is – predictably – from South Africa!

It is a view over the Mkuze Game Reserve, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. The picture was taken from high ground in then north of Phinda Private Game Reserve in the early hours of the morning.

Enjoy it.

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The Forgotten Cat, the Answers and the Winner

Thanks to everyone who participated in the CAT EYES contest.

It is hard to believe, but I forgot to put my favorite cat, the African Leopard, into the contest selection 🙂

Congratulations to Ricky Reino from Surrey in the United Kingdom. He was the first to get all answers correct. And here they are:

1 Caracal – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
2 Serval – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
3 Cheetah – Phinda Private Game Reserve – Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
4 Snow Leopard – Zurich Zoo – Switzerland
5 Cougar – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
6 Clouded Leopard – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
7 Jaguar – Chattanooga Zoo – Tennessee, USA
8 Eurasian Lynx – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
9 Male African Lion – Thanda Private Game Reserve – Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
10 African Wild Cat – Limpopo Region, South Africa
11 Manul or Pallas Cat – Zurich Zoo, Switzerland
12 Bengal Tiger – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
13 Female African Lion – Phinda Private Game Reserve – Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
14 White Lion – Cincinnati Zoo – Ohio, USA
15 White Bengal Tiger – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
16 Amur or Siberian Tiger – Private Collection – Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
17 Panther or Black Leopard – The Bronx Zoo – New York, USA
18 Jaguarundi – Krefeld Zoo – Germany

The “Forgotten Cat” …

African Leopard – Londolozi Game Reserve, Sabi Sands, South Africa

… and the “Extras”

Sand Cat – Cincinnati Zoo – Ohio, USA
Bobcat – Cincinnati Zoo – Ohio, USA
Ocelot – Memphis Zoo – Tennessee, USA
Fishing Cat – Cincinnati Zoo – Ohio, USA

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