The last ten weeks have been by far the busiest since my arrival in South Africa over six years ago. They were exciting, interesting and exhausting.
But there was no time for blogging. Nevertheless here are my twenty favorite images from this period. I hope you enjoy the pictures!
#christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
Sun | Speed | Mamba | Relax | Cross | Wet | Rain | Walk | Anger | Lazy | Color
One picture per day …
For the last ten days I hosted a private photography safari guest on Thanda Safari. The lady from Switzerland had booked nine nights of private photo drives and photo lessons. These are a few of the best pictures which I took during her stay. We had a great time!
I hope you like my summary for these 10 days.
For many more pictures please subscribe to my Instagram channel (ChristianSperkaPhotography).
Monday – Day 1 | A beautiful Thanda Safari sunset | Canon 1D Mark IV – f4 – 500mm L
Tuesday – Day 2 | A speed run after a Wildebeest resulting in a kill | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28- 300mm
Wednesday – Day 3 | The Green Mamba 1 at Thanda’s largest waterhole | iPhone 7 Plus
Thursday – Day 4 | Lion cubs relaxing in the warm morning sun | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28- 300mm
Friday – Day 5 | An Elephant her crossing the Mduna River | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28-300mm L
Saturday – Day 6 | A wet Brown-hooded Kingfisher at the kuMasinga hide on Mkuze Game Reserve | Canon 1D Mark – f4 – 500mm L
Sunday – Day 7 | Vervet Monkey on a rainy day | Canon 1D Mark IV – f4 – 500mm L
Monday – Day 8 | Little Elephant and her mum walking towards my vehicle | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28-300mm
Tuesday – Day 9 | Angry dad! A male Lion telling a youngster to keep his distance | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28-300mm L
Wednesday – Day 10 | A lazy Cheetah male in the early morning | Canon 1D Mark IV – f4 – 500mm L
Extra | One of my favorite shots: A Knob-thorn tree and a Giraffe in the morning light | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28-300mm L
#christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
Bee-Eater | Flight | Sun | Set | Walk | Owl | Moon | Rise
One picture per day …
I hope your like my weekly summary. For many more pictures please subscribe to my Instagram channel (ChristianSperkaPhotography).
#christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
Luxury – Surfing – Cleopatra – Gourmets – Giants – Tsessebe – Dung – Flowers – Giraffe
One picture per day …
I hope your like my weekly summary. For many more pictures please subscribe to my Instagram channel (ChristianSperkaPhotography).
#christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
Zebra Sunset – Hyena Night – Red Sunset – Lion Evening – Hornbill Day – Rhino Sun – Lion Dusk
One picture per day …
I hope your like my weekly summary. For many more pictures please subscribe to my Instagram channel (ChristianSperkaPhotography).
#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
What a week – Crèche – Teach – City – Rhino – Arrival – Meal – Mate
One picture per day …
Monday – Visit to a crèche – create a project …
Tuesday – Teaching students and a very unusual sighting (Pied Kingfisher @ Thanda) …
Wednesday – Korean Dinner in Durban @ The Crazy Korean – what a treat …
Thursday – A Rhino at sunset – so special …
Friday – Two new Cheetah boys arrived at Thanda …
Saturday – The two males’ first meal …
Sunday – Mating Giraffes – a rare sighting …
I hope your like my weekly summary. For many more pictures please subscribe to my Instagram channel (ChristianSperkaPhotography).
#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
Herbivores sometimes consume bone material. This is called Osteophagy. Chewing bones allows animals to supplement phosphorus and calcium.
The body of the Giraffe needs this mineral and this metal to maintain the bone structure and help with many biological processes including energy metabolism, protein synthesis, and lactation.
So if you see a Giraffe chewing a bone it does not mean it has turned into a carnivore, it just takes supplements!
#GiraffeChewing #ThandaGiraffe ##thandasafari @thandasafari ##christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
I thought this picture works well for MOTHERS DAY 🙂 Enjoy the day!
Eight of my pictures were used in a 10 page article for the Priority magazine for Singapore Airlines PPS Club, published by NewBase Content.
Travel Writer Rod Mackenzie wrote a great story called ‘Close Encounters’ about Thanda Safari. I especially like his description of me in the story: A charming combination of Dr.Dolittle and Q from James Bond :-).
www.sperka.info | www.sperka.biz | www.thanda.com
It is often said that one ‘must’ have a decent camera with a reasonable long tele-focus lens, when going on safari. However, while it is certainly an advantage to have such a camera, today a lot of people have very good smart phones (iPhones or Android-based) and prefer to travel light.
Here are five reasons why a smart phone safari can work …
1
Smart phones are very good when taking a wide angle picture (no pinching!). Focus on the beautiful scenery with wildlife in it and you will create some great memories. Zooming in on pictures (pinching) should be avoided as most smart phones only provide digital zoom (equivalent to picture cropping). It is best to take the picture ‘un-zoomed’ and crop it later. Some very advanced smartphone (eg iPhone 7+, 8+ and X) have a second tele-focus lens, which do provide optical zoom capability.
Picture: Elephants at Thanda Safari – iPhone 7+
Picture: White Rhino just after sunset at Thanda Safari – iPhone 7+
Picture: Giraffe at Thanda Safari – iPhone 7+
2
Smart phones are great in difficult light situations such as sunsets, sunrises and interesting cloud formations over beautiful scenery. These are often easier to capture, than with a regular camera. Combined with a good ‘enhancement app’ like an excellent ‘Camera+ for iPhones’, amazing pictures can be created.
Pictures: Mganhla dam at Thanda Safari – iPhone 7+
3
Clip-on tele-focus lenses are available at very little cost and having such a lens will make it possible to get a good shot of far away targets (eg Lions, Birds). Binoculars can also serve as a tele-focus lens (make sure there is a small distance between the camera lens and the binoculars ocular, focusing first on the subject with your binos, before using your smartphone camera).
Picture: iPhone 7+ with 12x telefocus clip-on lens
Picture: iPhone 7+ using binoculars as a telefocus lens
Picture as taken …
Picture once cropped …
This picture was taken with an iPhone 7+ and a 12x telefocus clip-on lens.
4
Smart phones are excellent at taking macro-shots. Anything from plants to small creatures can be captured very well. Make sure to check with your guide, if it is safe, to get close to any creatures.
Pictures: Splendid Locust – iPhone 7+ help ‘upside-down’ to get on eye-level 🙂
Pictures: Giant Snail- iPhone 7+ help ‘upside-down’ to get on eye-level 🙂
5
Private game reserves, such as Thanda Safari, are great for smart phone photography as one usually gets much closer to wildlife than in a national park. A professional and experienced guide knows exactly how close he can get safely to animals, to ensure a good picture. Get as close to eye-level with your picture subject and you will create some great shots.
Pictures: African Rock Phyton at Thanda Safari – iPhone 7+
Pictures: Elephants at Thanda Safari Lodge – iPhone 7+
Pictures: Lion at Thanda Safari – iPhone 7+
Pictures: Lion at Thanda Safari – iPhone 7+
If you have any questions about a Smart Phone Safari or Photo Safaris feel free to contact me directly (info@sperka.com).
For Thanda Safari guests – staying 2 nights or longer – I offer a 30 minute free ‘smart phone photography lesson’ (subject to availability). Session should to be booked well in advance. http://www.thanda.com/en-gb/experience/photography-at-thanda
All pictures in this post were created with an iPhone 6+ or iPhone 7+ with most being cropped.
#thandasafari #christiansperkaphotography #SmartPhoneSafari #iPhoneSafari
I personally work with Canon DSLRs, Apple iPhones and a DJI Phantom drone. #canonglobal #apple #djiglobal
