christian sperka – Page 126 – Christian Sperka Photography

2017-09-222017-09-22

World Rhino Day 2017

I hope the sun will never set on Africa’s Rhinos – WORLD RHINO DAY 2017

www.worldrhinoday.org | www.sperka.info | www.sperka.biz

Black & White under the African Sky – a sight to behold, to cherish and to never forget!

2017-09-18

Just now – for the first time in the last two weeks – I had a chance to think about a blog message. I thought you might enjoy a summary of all my Instagram images posted since my last blog post on 29 August, And I have included four new bonus images for all my blog followers 🙂

Let’s start with the ‘bonus material’ …

… our oldest Cheetah boy enjoying a drink at Thanda Safari’s Villa iZulu waterhole (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 4/500mm L) …

… a Thanda Lioness flehmen (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 4/500mm L) …

… a Burchell’s Zebra hosting 15! Red-billed Oxpeckers at the same time (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 3.5-5.6/28-300mm L at 235mm) …

… Thanda’s dominant male Lion at the end of the terrestrial twilight (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 3.5-5.6/28-300mm L at 210mm / f5.6 / 1/30s / ISO 6400) …

… and now the images published on Instagram …

… a young female Rhino denying the advances of a male (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 3.5-5.6/28-300mm L at 300mm) …

… Egyptian Geese mating (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 3.5-5.6/28-300mm L at 300mm) …

… the bliss of mud-bath (Canon 5D Mark IV / EF 4.5-5.6/100-400mm LII at 220mm) …

… one of Thanda’s largest Elephant bulls feeding (iPhone 7 Plus) …

… two baby Scrub Hares (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 4/500mm L / ISO 3200 / -1EV / 1/500s / f/4) …

… the view from the Thanda Safari Lodge as the mist rises in the early morning
(iPhone 7 Plus) …

… an awesome White Rhino sighting (iPhone 7 Plus – using the 2x optical zoom – still pretty close 🙂 ) …

… Buffalo yoga at the bush spa (Canon 5D Mark IV / EF 4.5-5.6/100-400mm LII at 180mm)

… Moon and Sun in the same picture – and Bheki 🙂 (iPhone 7 Plus) …

… a little Ellie protected by the herd (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 3.5-5.6/28-300mm L at 90mm)

… Thanda’s young male Lion – ready to mate (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 4/500mm L) …

… Cheetah at sunset (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 2.8/300mm L) …

I hope you enjoyed the selection. Have a good week.

www.sperka.info | www.thanda.com

2017-08-29

Hectic …

Well, my South African friend’s love the word hectic to describe a busy time. And my last few weeks were quite hectic!

I had very little time to blog and to document what I was doing. So I want to make up for that today. Here are pictures taken during these last few weeks.

… A young Lioness in her stride (23 July) …

… Elephants huddling for a family picture in front of the Thanda Safari Tented Camp (30 July) …

… A Lilac-breasted roller sighting making my day (31 July) …

… A Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl on its nest (1 August) …

… Me on game drive with my Green Mamba 1 – I love every minute 🙂 – Picture by Warren taken during our last game drive together before he exchanged the rolling hills of Zululand for the rolling hill of Scotland!

… My drone and the moon (4 August) …

… The Green Mamba 1 on top of the world (5 August) …

… A tiny Thanda Elephant marching along (9 August) …

… The night sky during the meteor shower (12 August) …

… A massive Eland bull at Nambiti Game Reserve (16 August) …

… Working on a photo shoot at Nambiti Plains Lodge (17 August) …

… Visiting the Blood River battlefield (18 August) …

… Another photo shoot, this time at Fugitive’s Drift Lodge (19 August) …

… Three days old – a baby Giraffe …

… And an agitated White Rhino cow (26 August) …

www.thanda.com | www.fugitivesdrift.com | www.nambitiplains.com | www.sperka.info | www.sperka.biz

2017-08-19

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)

A bull in musth at Nambiti … (Canon EOS 1D Mark IV)

A Black-Shouldered Kite at Nambiti … (Canon EOS 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

2017-08-10

WorldLionDay 2017

Today is Wold Lion Day – a day to celebrate one of my favorite cats!

#LetLionsLive #worldlionday

2017-08-06

Zulu Kids

Today I came across this picture I took at one of the local schools when I visited there with Thanda Safari guests.

These youngsters, as most Zulu children and also most adults, love to pose for a camera!

I am working on a series of blogs about the Zulu community, Zulu culture and Zulu people. Stay tuned …

Enjoy your week!

2017-07-24

The Montagues and Capulets

As in Romeo and Juliet this Lioness has no way to get united with her Romeo. As one can see in the video the young female is in esterous and is keen to mate, but the fences between two game reserve prevent the males from getting to here (the roars in the background are from the males on the neighboring reserve).

The lady is obviously not interested in the perfectly good dominant male on her side of the reserve. The grass seems always greener on the other side of the fence.

Enjoy the video and your week!

Video by Christian Sperka, Resident Wildlife Photographer Thanda Safari

2017-07-19

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 :-).