A journey of Giraffe (8 in total) were crossing the road in front of my home, just as I was approaching. I waited patiently for these graceful giants to move on before I passed through the gate to Thanda House.
Mum’s shade!
This little Black Rhino calf enjoyed her mother;s shade on hot day 🙂
Morning has broken!
This was the view a few minutes ago when stepped in front of my room at Thanda House – winter is coming and so are the beautiful sunrises and sunsets – Have a good day!
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
With this electronic bouquet of Proteas I wish my mum (in Germany) and all the mums around the world – in the eighty countries, where this special day is celebrated today – a VERY HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.
ALLES GUTE ZUM MUTTERTAG !
50mm
It has been years since I have used a ‘short fixed focus length lens’. Last week, when cleaning my equipment, I picked up my Canon EF f1.4/50mm lens and decided to put in my camera case to give it a try at low light.
And two days ago such a scenario presented itself.
After the sun had set I took this image of our north pride Lions sleeping off a good meal. With very shallow depth of field it creates a special artsy atmosphere. I like it and I think I will use this ‘short beauty’ more often.
A little kiss :-)
The traditional pose …
… and another one …
A Little Detour
Today a little detour was required on my way home from the Thanda Safari Lodge. The two Cheetah brothers were resting in the shade under a tree in the middle of the road, so I had to get a bit of the street as they would not move for my car 🙂
The Two Boys!
Backlight
Lions at one of Thanda’s waterholes – I was able to play with the light from another game viewing vehicle (thanks to my fellow guide) – despite the fact that I did not have the right lens for the job I like the atmosphere of the scene!
Nashville Memories
An artist named Martyn Norris has recently asked for permission to use one of my Clouded Leopard images as a basis for one of his drawings. I really like the result – thanks Martyn!
And looking at this image took me back to when I was working as photographer and photography teacher at Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. I really enjoyed my time in Nashville and I miss my friends in the Music City USA. I hope to visit again, soon.
If you are travelling to Nashville make sure you visit this excellent zoo – http://www.nashvillezoo.org …
… and also have a look at Martyn’s other work (if your are on Facebook 🙂 – http://www.facebook.com/martynfoxart.
The South African Kingfishers
After yesterday’s post about a Malachite Kingfisher on Thanda a few people have asked me about the various South African Kingfishers. So, here is a short post about them:
There are ten Kingfisher species in South Africa. Five are aquatic species and five are considered woodland Kingfishers. Up til now I took pictures of eight of these ten species. I am still missing the Half-collared Kingfisher and the Grey-headed Kingfisher.
Four of them (Woodland Kingfisher, Striped Kingfisher, Brown-hooded Kingfisher and African Pygmy Kingfisher) are regularly seen on Thanda Safari Private Game Reserve and I had one – rare – sighting of a Malachite Kingfisher. Giant Kingfishers, Mangrove Kingfishers and Pied Kingfishers are aquatic species and are therefore not resident on Thanda.
Enjoy the pictures!
Malachite Kingfisher (C) Christian Sperka Photography
Giant Kingfisher (C) Christian Sperka Photography
Mangrove Kingfisher (C) Christian Sperka Photography
Pied Kingfisher (C) Christian Sperka Photography
Brown-hooded Kingfisher (C) Christian Sperka Photography
African Pygmy Kingfisher (C) Christian Sperka Photography
Striped Kingfisher (C) Christian Sperka Photography
Woodland Kingfisher (C) Christian Sperka Photography
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