Christian Sperka Photography | Blog & Site | Custom Luxury Tours

2012-05-192012-05-19

Countdown …

Pictures: Clouded Leopard at Nashville Zoo at Grassmere and Asiatic Lion at the Zurich Zoo

The countdown is running. I have ten more days in the USA and then I will spend five days in Germany and Switzerland before I depart (one way 🙂 to South Africa.

Now I am very busy with packing and getting everything ready, so unfortunately I have very little time left for goodbye lunches and dinners.

But I thought that there is no better place to say goodbye than at the zoos in Nashville and in Zurich/Switzerland. So for anyone of you would like to see me before I leave to South Africa …

… I will be at the Nashville Zoo on Sunday, May 27 in the morning and I will have lunch in the Zoofari Cafe at 11:00am. I would be great to see some of you at the zoo. To track me down at the zoo just call 347 819 3030 once you are at the zoo.

… I will be at the Zurich Zoo on Friday, June 1 in the morning and I will have lunch at the Masola Hall Restaurant at 11:00am. It would be great to see some of you at the zoo. To track me down at the zoo just call +41 79 793 9393 once you are at the zoo.

And if I do not see you again before I leave then I hope to see in South Africa sometime soon 🙂

Thanks and all the best – Christian

2012-05-192012-05-22

Packed! and Sale!

DIRECTIONS to the SALE : from the corner of Nolensville and Old Hickory go south on Nolensville for about 1 mile. After you see the PIE IN THE SKY restaurant on the left turn left at the next traffic light (this Lenox Village Drive)
Then turn right into the parking garage of 6900 Lenox Village Drive and drive one floor up (this is considered level 3). Park your car in one of the 2 hour places on the west side of the parking. Enter the building (on the south side). This is the block with my apartment and your are on the correct level. Go to apartment 320. If you have problems finding it give me a call (347 819 3030).

Some of you have asked what I will take to South Africa and what I will do with all the things I cannot take with me. Here are the answers:

By Sea

This is a picture of the Pelican cases with all my stuff, to be sent by sea to South Africa. They will arrive a few weeks after I will have arrived at Thanda.

By Air

This is a picture of the four cases and the bag which will travel with me on the planes first to Switzerland and then from there to South Africa.

Sales and Giveaway

I will only take my cameras, computers, clothes and a few other personal items to South Africa. Everything else has to go!

So here is the procedure how I will get rid of my belongings:

Where: My apartment at 6900 Lenox Village Drive – Unit 320, Nashville, TN, 37211, Phone 347 819 3030

When: From May 22 to May 24 from 3pm to 7pm

Open House Sale – Day 1 and Day 2
Tuesday May 22, 2012 and Wednesday May 23, 2012
On these two days I will sell all items in my apartment. All sales are cash and carry! (Any purchased item must be taken away on the day of the sale).

Open House Give Away – Day 3
Thursday May 24, 2012
On this day all remaining items (not sold on day 1 or 2) are giveaways. You may pick them up any time between 3pm and 7pm

Goodwill – Day 4
Friday May 25, 2012
All items not gone by then will be moved to goodwill on this day. And then I am ready to leave 🙂

What items are for sales:
– Computers
– Screen
– TV
– Blu-ray player
– Surround sound system
– Tables
– My famous wooden cubes (large and small)
– Briefcase
– Printer
– Speakers
– Cabinets
– Bed
– Plastic containers all sizes
– Glasses
– Plates
– Cutlery
– Lamps
– Books
– Clocks
– Clothes
– Shoes
– Safe
–
… and many other items …

Note: Unfortunately I have no time for previews and answers to questions about the sales items. If you are interested you have to come and see yourself.

Looking forward to seeing you at the sale 🙂

2012-05-12

Picture(s) of the Week 20 – Playing Rough!

These little Asian Elephants were playing rough today at the Hannover Zoo in Germany.

I took these pictures today at one of the best zoos I have ever seen. It is actually more a perfectly made theme park with animals than a zoo. It is not surprising that it has more than 1.6 million visitors per year.

Yesterday we have been at the Burger’s Zoo in the The Netherlands, another one of the leading zoos in Europe and tomorrow we will be at the Leipzig Zoo in Germany.

Enjoy the picture!

PS: I will be back in the USA next Thursday evening.

2012-05-06

Picture of the Week 19 – European Zoo Trip

This weeks picture is of a Pallas’s Cat (or Manul). The picture was taken at the Zürich Zoo in Switzerland.

European Zoo Trip

Tomorrow I will be leaving for a trip to three European zoos. First to the Burger’s Zoo in Arnhem in The Netherlands and then to the Zoos in Hannover and Leipzig in Germany.

I will be back in the USA on Thursday May 17. If I get a chance I will post some images while I am in Europe!

More about Pallas’s cat:

Pallas’s Cat (Otocolobus manul), also called the Manul, is a small wild cat having a broad but patchy distribution in Central Asia. The species was named after the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas, who first described the species in 1776 under the binomial Felis manul.

Pallas’s Cats are about the size of a domestic cats. They are solitary and territorial. They spend the day in caves, rock crevices, or marmot burrows, and emerge in the late afternoon to begin hunting. They are not fast runners, and hunt primarily by ambush or stalking. They feed largely on diurnally active prey species such as gerbils, pikas, voles and Chukar partridges.

2012-04-28

Picture of the Week 18 – Climb!

Small Cheetahs – as all other small cats – love to climb. Once they grow up it is much harder to get onto trees with their “semi-retractable” claws. These claws are designed like spikes to aid fast acceleration.

Nevertheless, in the picture below an adult male Cheetah climbed a low branch for a better look around in the morning mist.

Enjoy the pictures 🙂

For more Cheetah images go to http://www.sperka.biz/cheetah

2012-04-26

Last Orders!

Because of my move to South Africa I will take my last orders for my Signed Animal Art Prints next Monday (April 30, 2012). I will order the prints on Tuesday and they will be available for pickup at my place in South Nashville between Monday, May 21 and Thursday, May 24.

If you would like a print just select an image from my selection online (www.sperka.biz) and email the picture number and gallery name to me. I will then order the print for you.
You can find the available sizes and prices below.

If you have already placed an order in the last few weeks your prints will be ready at the same time. These prints are not available for shipping, so if you would like to get one, you have to pick them up in Nashville.

My Online Gallery/Store will remain unchanged and you can continue to order prints online. They will be shipped directly to you (Anywhere in the World). In case you are looking for a specific animal/species and you cannot find anything you like on my site please send me an email and I will make any pictures I might have available to you online. I will continue to upload new images from South Africa to my online gallery/store: http://www.sperka.biz

Also, a selection of my prints will continue to be available in the Nashville Zoo Gift Shop.

Thanks to all of you who have purchased my prints in the past or who will purchase them in the future online 🙂

ART PRINTS (lead time 5-10 days)
8″x10″ – Animal Art Print by Christian Sperka (metallic paper / mounted on 12″x16″ board / signed) – $39
11″x14″ – Animal Art Print by Christian Sperka (metallic paper / mounted on 16″x20″ board / signed) – $59
16″x20″ – Animal Art Print by Christian Sperka (metallic paper / mounted on 20″x24″ board / signed) – $89

LIMITED EDITION and SPECIAL EDITION ART PRINTS (lead time 5-10 days)
16″x20″ – Animal Art Print by Christian Sperka (metallic paper / mounted on 20″x24″ board / signed) – $129

2012-04-22

Timeout :-)

From now until end of May I will be preparing my move to South Africa. This will leave me less time than usual for shooting pictures and posting blog message.

Once I have arrived and settled in at Thanda (South Africa) I will be posting again regularly (probably end of June 2012).

Thanks for subscribing to and reading my blog!

PS: I will post as often as possible during the move and let you know how it is going 🙂

2012-04-222012-04-22

Picture of the Week 17 – Smack!

These two Cougars cubs were smacking their lips when I took the picture(s).

This picture is a merger of two almost identical images with one of the cubs smacking the lips in the one picture and the other in the another picture.

The picture series was taken at Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

More about Cougars:

The Cougar (Puma concolor), also known as puma, mountain lion, mountain cat, catamount or panther, depending on the region, is a mammal of the family Felidae, native to the Americas. This large, solitary cat has the greatest range of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere, extending from Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes of South America.

Although large, the cougar is most closely related to smaller felines and is closer genetically to the domestic cat than to true lions. While it is a large predator, it is not always the dominant species in its range, as when it competes for prey with other predators such as the jaguar, grey wolf, American Black Bear, and the grizzly bear. It is a reclusive cat and usually avoids people.

For more Cougar pictures go to http://www.sperka.biz/cougar

2012-04-192012-04-19

Surprise!

Commendation by the Mayor of Nashville

It is not often that I get caught completely by surprise.

But the proclamation signed by the Mayor of Nashville, which was presented to me at this week’s Nashville Photography Club meeting, was a great surprise. I am very honored by this commendation from Karl F. Dean, the Mayor of Nashville.

This document will get a special place on the wall in my new home in South Africa.

Thanks to the Mayor, to all my friends at the Nashville Photography Club and to all my friends at the Nashville Zoo.

Picture: The proclamation document was presented to me by Randy Harris (President, Nashville Photography Club / not in the picture) and Linda Hulsey (Member, Nashville Zoo Photography Club /left). Amiee Stubbs (Nashville Zoo Photographer /middle) and Dr.Heather Robertson (Senior Veterinarian at the Nashville Zoo /right) were also present at the presentation ceremony at the Nashville Photography Club meeting on Tuesday, April 17, 2012.

2012-04-16

Pictures of the Week 15 – Browse and Graze

[View all Pictures of the Week 2012]

Black Rhino and White Rhino

This weeks’ pictures are in honor of two of my favorite mammal species which are under the threat of extinction by humans. If the poaching madness is not stopped these creatures, which were on this planet long before us, will disappear forever!

The main difference between Black Rhino and White Rhinos is the shape of their mouths. White Rhinos have broad flat lips for grazing and Black Rhinos have long pointed lips for browsing foliage. A popular theory claims that the name White Rhinoceros was actually a corruption of the word weid (“wide” in Afrikaans), referring to their square lips.

“Rhino Dawn”

More about Rhinos:

Rhinoceros, often abbreviated as rhino, is a family of five species of knee-less, odd-toed ungulates. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia.

The Rhinoceros family is characterized by its large size, with all of the species able to reach one tonne or more in weight; a herbivorous diet; a thick protective skin; relatively small brains for mammals this size; and a large horn.

Rhinoceros are killed by humans for their horns, which are bought and sold on the black market, and which are used by some cultures for ornamental or (pseudo-scientific) medicinal purposes. The horns are made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails.

Click here if you would like to help the “Save our Rhino” effort on Thanda Private Game Reserve.

Click here is you would like to know more about the “Rhino Poaching Issue”.

Click here if you would like to see more of my Black Rhino pictures.

Click here if you would like to see more of my White Rhino pictures.