Thanda’s North Pride of Lions having a drink at a waterhole last Sunday morning. One of my favorite images of 2014!
Morning drinks!
Watch her!
It is not easy to get prey and predator into the same picture, unless on occasions when one is eating the other :-).
But on this evening a Thanda North Pride Lioness was resting on a waterhole wall as a Giraffe female kept an eye on her; both in the right position for a great photo opportunity. After a while the Lioness walked off in one direction and the Giraffe the opposite way.
Diffusion
I do not really like to work at night with artificial light. But sometimes this sort of light creates a very special mood. Using a diffusing filter on Bheki’s strong spotlight I was able to take a portrait of this Lion cub. The soft widely spread light through the filter is not too hard on the young eyes and we only use it for a few moments during the photo shoot. The rest of the time we use a red-light filter.
This night photo-session was part of two game drives of wildlife photography lessons. At Thanda it is possible to book a “Photography Private Safari Vehicle” which includes me as the wildlife photography instructor. My student on this evening game drive enjoyed her night-light lesson very much!
Oldies but goodies!
Oldies but goodies – one of my favourite Lion images ever 🙂
Ignore the car!
Lions normally ignore game drive vehicles, especially when the encounter is on their terms. The Thanda dominant male was passing within touching distance of the vehicle, undisturbed by the humans within the car.
It was not necessary to tell any of the Thanda guests to sit very still and be quiet during this sighting, that was done quite naturally 🙂
What a morning!
And the difference is …
Well, they are of different age and the pictures were taken in different light (therefore the colour difference). But here is the major difference:
The little Lion on the left lives with his family (The North Pride) at Thanda Private Game Reserve in South Africa. The small one on the right lives with his family at the Zoo in Basel, Switzerland. The one lives in the wild with all its dangerous and its beauty, the other one lives in captivity, at full board and with a health care plan 🙂
Congratulations to Peter Mettler, who got the correct answer!
… and now the bonus question, what is so special about this one?
What’s the difference?
What is the difference between these two Lion cubs?
A hint: it is not their looks alone!
I will blog the answer tomorrow afternoon 🙂
Have a good week.
Airborne
No words – just enjoy the images 🙂
Just right!
Sometimes an image is just right!
I titled this one: Give me patience …
It is one of my favourite 2014 images.
Imagine …
… you are sitting quietly in the bush and watching six little Lion cubs playing all around you. Well that is the experience we had on today’s evening game drive. While the adult Lions were sleeping soundly in the thick bush little ones moved about, climbed trees, stalked one another and ran around like all small kittens do.
This picture is my favourite shot from this magic encounter! The little Lion on the left got interested in the clicking of my camera and posed for a portrait.
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 