Tag: africa

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The Battle of Blood River …

Sorry – I have not blogged for quite a while as I was very busy before I went of my off time.

Earlier this week I visited Nambiti Game Reserve and stayed at Nambiti Plains Lodge. Then I visited the Blood River Battlefield. This battle between the Boers and the Zulus was one of the most important events which shaped South Africa’s history. A very impressive monument – build by the Afrikaans people – and a rather neglected museum – documenting the battle from a Zulu perspective – serve as reminders of this battle. And now I am at Fugitives Drift Lodge near the battlefields of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift just above the Buffalo River. One of my favorite locations in KwaZulu Natal.

Here are a few pictures – including some drone images I took during this trip. I hope you enjoy them!

The Blood River Battle Memorial … (DJI Phantom 4 Plus Drone)
Blood River Memorial … (DJI Phantom 4 Plus Drone)
The Laager – Defensive Boer position on the bank of the blood river … (Apple iPhone 7 Plus)
An aerial view from my drone … (DJI Phantom 4 Plus Drone)
The wagons … (Canon EOS 1D Mark IV)
Nambiti Plains … (Apple iPhone 7 Plus)
A bull in musth at Nambiti … (Canon EOS 1D Mark IV)
A Black-Shouldered Kite at Nambiti … (Canon EOS 1D Mark IV)
Gemsbok at Nambiti … (Canon 1D Mark IV)
The Buffalo river valley and the Fugitives Drift Lodge … (DJI Phantom 4 Plus Drone)
Fugitives Drift – Site of one of the real dramas in the British and South African history … (DJI Phantom 4 Plus Drone)

Home

http://www.fugitivesdrift.com/

Tuis

http://www.sperka.biz

http://www.sperka.info

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Amazing Camouflage …

Today I had a great sighting of a Vine Snake at Pakamisa Private Game Reserve. This small specimen was quite relaxed and made for an excellent photo model :-).

Slight excitement …
Getting a taste …
Moving around …
Amazing camouflage …

Pictures 1/2/3 – taken with a Canon 1D Mark IV and a 28-300mm lens
Pictures 4/5 – taken with an iPhone 7Plus

http://www.sperka.com

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May and June

In the last weeks I did not have a lot of time to blog. But over the last few days I worked on a lot of images (sorting/filing/deleting/editing a few thousand) and I thought you might like to see some of my favorite shots from May and June 2017 which I took at Thanda Safari.

The Big Five, Cheetah, Hyena and more …

Enjoy them!

Big boy …
Bigger boy …
Close …
Closer …
On camera – twice! …
Down the road …
Follow up …
Incredibly strong …
Breakfast …
A good fight …
Just caught …
Almost no light, but still very special indeed …
iPhone 7 plus 2x distance 🙂 …
Me and The Green Mamba 1 – More information at https://sperka.info/gm/

Pictures information for the photographers among you:

  1. 10 June – Small Elephant – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 300mm
  2. 11 May – Large Elephant – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 85mm (DoF-PP)
  3. 30 May – Small Lion – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 85mm
  4. 28 May – Me (Mirror) and Hyena – iPhone 7 Plus
  5. 9 June – Vulture – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 270mm
  6. 30 May – Pride of Lions – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 105mm
  7. 2 June – Cheetah – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 250mm (DoF-PP)
  8. 5 June – Bark Spider – iPhone 7 Plus
  9. 28 May – Hyena on Kill – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 90mm (DoF-PP)
  10. 28 May – Giraffes fighting – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 235mm
  11. 12 May – Leopard with Nyala kill – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 300mm
  12. 20 May – White Rhino with new-born calf – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 105mm
  13. 8 June – Cape Buffalo bull – iPhone 7 Plus (2x magnification)
  14. 28 May Me with my Canon 1D Mark IV and the Canon 28-300L lens sitting in the Green Mamba 1 – iPhone 7 Plus

Note: DoF-PP = depth of field change in post processing

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iPhone Photography

In the last few weeks I was driving a lot with journalists, photographers and many Thanda Safari guests. I had only limited time and opportunities to use my Canon DSLR. But I used my iPhone 7+ quite a bit. Here are some of my favorite iPhone shots 🙂

A drone from a visiting journalist at sunset
A Lioness having dinner …
A Zulu gentleman at his homestead …
An Elephant under the morning sky …
A Buffalo bull having a rest …
Two Rhinos close up and personal …
Getting up from the afternoon siesta …
The proud grandma with one of her grandsons …
A Cape Buffalo calf at sunset …

 

 

 

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Five Years in the Wild

Today, five years ago, I arrived at Thanda, my home in the African bush. What an amazing five years, meeting new friends and people from all over the world, taking thousands of wildlife images and visiting many new places.
I am looking forward to many more years living and working at this amazing place 😊

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The World and a Map

During my last visit to the Star-For-Life Mmemezi high school in rural Zululand with an Austrian journalist we had a chat with the 12th grade students about the world. We talked about Austria and Australia and about Switzerland and Sweden and also about German. We realized that they were very interested to know about the world out there. So I made a decision. I ordered a large laminated world map (2.65m x 1.55m / 8.5″ x 5″) and I will deliver it to the school for 12th grade classroom. The journalist kindly contributed funds and I promised her that I will tell them a bit more about her beautiful country when I deliver the map.

I am looking forward to my next visit!

This is a picture of the school which I took with my drone 🙂 Everyone at the school loved the ‘small helicopter’ and the pictures it took!

Read more about Star-For-Life – which was founded by Thanda Safari owners Dan and Christin Olofsson – at https://starforlife.org/

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Nyala

I am leaving South Africa today for my annual trip to Germany and Switzerland. As I was preparing for a presentation I am going to give in Switzerland I came across this image. It is one of my favorite Nyala shots ever 🙂

More info about by presentation in Switzerland on 28 April at https://sperka.info/2017/04/18/zululand/

 

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My up-coming ‘Zululand’ presentation – anyone welcome!

As every year I am visiting my family and friends in Germany and Switzerland in April/May.

This year a small town in Switzerland has invited me to give a presentation about “ZULULAND – Wildlife and the People in South Africa”. This is a public event on 28 April and anyone is welcome at the presentation. I will talk about my life and my work in South Africa and show some of my pictures. The presentation I will be in German … 🙂 .

And now in German…

Wie jedes Jahr besuche ich meine Familie und Freunde in Deutschland und der Schweiz im April/Mai.

Dieses Jahr hat mich eine kleine Gemeinde in der Schweiz (Schlossrued) eingeladen, einen Vortrag zum Thema “ZULULAND – Tierwelt und Menschen in Suedafrika” zu halten. Dies ist eine oeffentliche Veranstaltung und jederman ist willkommen. Ich erzaehle ueber mein Leben und meine Arbeit in Suedafrika und zeige einige meiner Bilder. (Den Vortrag halte ich in Deutsch).

Looking forward to seeing some of you in Europe 🙂

A few people have asked me where Schlossrued is! Here we go:

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