Tag: CHRISTIAN SPERKA PHOTOGRAPHY

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Bl**dy Thorns …

… is what this Cheetah male would have been thinking if he were human.

One often sees animals limping and usually assumes a dire injury inflicted by predators during a hunt, broken bones, or a gruesome infection from a wound.

But a lot of times, it is just a thorn, of which there are plenty lying around, which get stuck somewhere in the underside of the feet.

And having no fingers does not help. It can take a long while to get the offending piece out, usually by vigorous tongue-licking, as shown in this picture.

With visible relief, he followed his brother across the savanna after his paw was thorn-free again.

There also a few more images from this sighting below. Have a good week!

Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/70-200mm | ISO 6400 | 1/750sec | f2.8 | ev+0 | 200mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography 

Scent marking – Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/70-200mm | ISO 800 | 1/750sec | f2.8 | ev+0 | 170mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode
Lounging – Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 6400 | 1/90sec | ev+0 | WB 6500K | AV Mode
On the move – Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/70-200mm | ISO 500 | 1/500sec | f2.8 | ev+0 | 180mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode
Claw sharpening – Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/70-200mm | ISO 800 | 1/500sec | f2.8 | ev+0 | 160mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode
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iPhone & Eye-Level – Giraffe

This afternoon, I returned to Thanda House driving along the reserve fence. This large Giraffe bull did not want to step out of my way as he was ‘air-sparring’ with another bull on the neighboring game reserve. Normally, bulls stand next to one another as they spar or fight by hitting one another, swinging their massive heads. 

As these two could not get together, they were swinging at the air! (short video below) I took this eye-level shot as I passed him while he stepped back towards the fence. 

[Taken from my Suzuki Jimny with an Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max using the 24mm main camera at Thanda Safari]

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography 

If you want to read more of my stories and see more of my pictures, you should visit my blog at https://sperka.info/blog/ 

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Canon & EyeLevel – Lions

Using a very long lens (800mm) from quite a distance away, the shooting angle becomes very shallow, even though I was about a meter (3 feet) above the eye level of the two young males. It is not always possible to get at eye level or below, so a bit of distance helps to get close to a good shooting angle.

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f/11 800mm | ISO 5000 | 1/500sec | EV +0 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 80% of the original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

#CanonOnEyeLevel

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iPhone & eyeLevel – Elephant

I am starting a new picture post series. From time to time I will post pictures taken with my iPhone from eye-level or below. 

Starting today with an Elephant bull who gave me a little warning while I passed by in my little Suzuki Jimny.

Taken with an Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max using the 77mm Telefocus lens at Thanda Safari

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography 

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Amarula and a Grey Ghost!

Last night we stopped for a drink

at the edge of an open savanna area just after the sun had set.

While we took pictures of the beautiful orange backlight clouds my tracker Bheki shouted at us to get into the vehicle.

As I turned around a large grey ghost (also called Elephant) was standing about 20 meters away from us. He had appeared Houdini-fashion out of the nearly tree-line without making any sounds.

My guest, who had enjoyed an Amarula on ice just before the unplanned arrival, adhered to my instructions to move slowly but steadily to the vehicle and climbed on.

Bheki had only time to get onto his tracker seat when the large bull arrived at the back of the vehicle, where my coolerbox and hotbox sat in the open back gate. 

Our drink stop snacks, cans, glasses, and the Amarula bottle were still on the foldable table on the front of the vehicle.

Bheki grabbed the bottle and I started driving forwards very carefully away from our visitor, without spilling anything from the table.

The Elephant did not follow but chose to continue his walk up the road towards a nearby water hole.

We packed up all our equipment and agreed that we just had a very special adventure!

It was amazing to see how the Elephant’s behavior changed once we were no longer on foot but back on the vehicle. It was another clear demonstration for the difference between the instinctual hostile attitude of Elephants to humans on foot and the learned acceptance of humans as part of a safari vehicle (or any other human-made structure).   

The collage shows a picture taken by my guest of the Elli behind us and my picture of Bheki holding the Amarula bottle while we were driving away!

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The Kings’ New Realm!

This morning, Thanda Safari’s new male lion coalition was released from their boma (holding area) onto the reserve.

They immediately started exploring their new realm by going walkabout and scent marking their territory.

At only four years old, the two brothers are already large and very good-looking.

I am looking forward to capturing many great shots of them in the years to come!

Music by Root

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography 

If you want to read more of my stories and see more of my pictures, you should visit my blog at https://sperka.info/blog/ 

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An excellent project!

For once this is not about wildlife 😊

As many of you know I support the Star For Life ( https://starforlife.org ) charity whenever I can.

For this project Star For Life Germany ( https://starforlife.org/de ) has donated 45! brand-new Laptops for a Secondary School in one of the poorest areas of South Africa.

Over the last few weeks I have spent quite a bit of time setting the laptops up with MS-Office, Google Chrome, etc at my home at Thanda House.

And this week I supported the donors’ representatives from Germany, the local SFL team, and a student-teacher-team from Sweden delivering them to the school and giving the first lessons to learners and teachers.

I enjoyed helping in this very worth-while project.

Today we had a great hand-over celebration with local officials, all the learners and teachers, and a lot of song and dance!

With this new ‘computer lab’ the students of all the grades from 8 to 12 can now learn some of the most important skills for the modern world. Up til today only very few of them had ever had access to a PC.

If you want to know more about Star For Life and/or how you can help then just refer to their website(s) or contact me directly.

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Sunset

I am currently staying with good friends at Lake Mzingazi Lake in Richards Bay.

Just before sunset we were sitting and chatting in their garden when this Cormorant flew by over the lake.

I love the image!

Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 100 | 1/3000sec | ev+0 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Multi-point focus | Hand held

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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