Tag: south africa

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A dream come true!

A personal message

As many of you know I love South Africa and it has been my goal for many years to be able to live and work in this magnificent place.

Well, the dream has come true. I have been offered and accepted a position as Photography Specialist Guide and resident Wildlife Photographer at Thanda Private Game Reserve, one of my favorite places in Kwazulu Natal. On Tuesday this week the South African Consulate in New York approved my work permit and I will be moving to South Africa at the beginning of June 2012.

This means that I will close my gallery in the Arcade in Nashville (the Gallery Crawl on Saturday, April 7, will be the last day the gallery will be open – with a big party 🙂 and I will teach my last photography class at the Nashville Zoo on May 23. I enjoyed my time at the Nashville Zoo very much, first as docent and then as the official photographer and photography teacher. I will miss all my friends at the zoo and all over the USA very much (and I hope that many of them will visit me in South Africa).

My blog, my web-gallery and web-store as well as my website will remain unchanged. In the future the “Picture of the Week” will come directly from the South African bush!

I am looking forward to working with my friends at Thanda, one of the most beautiful private game reserves in South African (http:/www.thanda.com). I will have to learn a lot of new skills, as I am new to the field guiding part of my job, but I will enjoy that very much. And if you wonder where I will be living: In the middle of a game reserve, in between Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Buffalos, Rhinos, Cheetahs and Wild Dogs!

Thanks for the support from all of you who helped me in changing my life from an being an IT Executive to becoming a South African Field Guide and Wildlife Photographer.

See you in South Africa!

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Picture of the Week 11 – My Favorite Lion

[View all Pictures of the Week 2012]

Between 2002 and 2008 I have taken hundreds of pictures of this beautiful male Lion. He was the dominant male of the Phinda North Pride for many years and whenever I think about Lions I first think about him.

Together with my friend and field guide Mike Karantonis I spent many days and sometimes part of the nights watching him grow older and stronger. In 2009 a coaltion of three younger males replaced him as the dominant  male of the pride.

I took this picture in December 2006 in the streaming rain (see also the second picture taken at the same time) in front of my room at Phinda’s Vlei Lodge.

About male Lions:

Male lions are not lazy. They have a very tough life. Only one out of ten males makes it to full maturity. Once their father has evicted them, they have to fight other male Lions for a few years. The very few that get not killed in this harsh selection process may become the dominant male of a pride after they successfully drive away or kill the previous “boss”.

Male Lions do usually not participate in hunts because they are very visible with their large mane and would make it much easier for the prey to “get wind” of the hunt. They also have to preserve their strength and avoid to get insured in a hunt, because they have to defend their pride towards other males and prides. It is in the interest of the whole pride that they are capable of doing so, because if another male manages to take over, the first thing he will do is to kill all the young lions of the pride (up to two years old). For the same reason it makes sense that male Lions eat first and plenty at each kill to make sure that they stay strong for any upcoming fights.

Picture Data:

Picture 1: Camera: Canon 1D MII / Lens: Canon L 2.8 300mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/400s / Aperture: f/2.8 / ISO: 800 / Exposure Correction -0.33eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: manual K6500 / Time: early morning / Freehand

Picture 2: Camera: Canon 1D MII / Lens: Canon L 28-300mm at 78mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/100s / Aperture: f/4.5 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction -0.33eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: manual K6500 / Time: early morning / Freehand

For more Lion pictures got to
www.sperka.biz/lion (for African Lion)
www.sperka.biz/lion2 (for African Lion in zoos)
www.sperka.biz/lion3 (for Asiatic Lion)

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Venus

This is a scenic shot I took during my second trip to South Africa in 2002.

This is the evening sky over Mpumalanga (at Londolozi Private Game Reserve) with Venus in the sky.

Enjoy the picture!

Picture Data: Camera: Canon D30 (3.2 Megapixels!) / Lens: Canon 24-105mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/3s / Aperture: f/3.5  / ISO: 100 / Exposure Correction -1.00eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Auto / Center point focus only / Time: evening / cropped to approx 90% / on beanbag from vehicle

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Wading

This is one of my favorite “scenic” shot.

This African Elephant was wading along the water towards a large lala palm at Imagine dam at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa.

Picture Data: Camera: Canon EOS D30 / Lens: Canon L IS 100-400mm at 150mm/ Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/750s / Aperture: f/5.6 / ISO: 200 / Exposure Correction -0.5eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Auto / Center point focus only / Time: mid afternoon / cropped to approx 80% / Freehand from vehicle

I case you are in Nashville today it would great if you could come to my gallery tonight to learn more about Elephants 🙂
Click here for more information: https://christiansperka.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/video-invitation-intelligent-giants-the-nashville-zoo-elephants/

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Thanda Sunrise

Another scenic shot of one of my favorite places in South Africa.

This is a sunrise on Thanda Private Game Reserve in Kwazulu Natal.

Picture Data: Camera: Canon 1D Mark IV / Lens: Canon L IS 28-300mm at 200mm/ Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/3000s / Aperture: f/5.6 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction +/-0eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Auto / Center point focus only / Time: early morning / cropped to approx 50% / Freehand from vehicle

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Morning Mist

This is another scenic shot with an animal in it. But you have to look very carefully to detect the Cheetah in the tree.

Two groups enjoy this Cheetah sighting in the morning mist from their game viewing vehicles.

This pictures was taken at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa.

Picture Data: Camera: Canon D30 / Lens: Canon L 100-400mm at 400mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/1000s / Aperture: f/5.6 / ISO: 100 / Exposure Correction +/-0.00eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Auto / Time: winter morning / Freehand

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Sunrise over Mkuze

In the last few weeks a few people have asked me if I could also put some of my scenic “non-animal” pictures on the blog.

Even if it is not my focus (I usually target things that can move :-)) I will post a few of my scenic shots over the next few weeks.

So here we go. The first picture is – predictably – from South Africa!

It is a view over the Mkuze Game Reserve, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. The picture was taken from high ground in then north of Phinda Private Game Reserve in the early hours of the morning.

Enjoy it.

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Picture of the Week 4 – Evening Patrol!

[View all Pictures of the Week 2012]

Leopards are my favorite species of cats!

Since 2002 I am supporting a leopard conservation project in South Africa. It is called the Munyawana Leopard Project.

This week’s picture is of one of the female project leopards walking the boundries of her territory at dusk.

If you like to know more about this project and the organisation which runs the project go to www.panthera.org/programs/leopard/munyawana-leopard-project.

If you like to see more of my pictures taken for the project go to www.sperka.biz/mlp.

For more leopard images from my various trips to southern Africa go to www.sperka.biz/leopard.

About Leopards:

The Leopard (Panthera pardus) is the smallest of the four “big cats” in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. It was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its range of distribution has decreased radically because of hunting and loss of habitat. It is now chiefly found in sub-Saharan Africa; there are also fragmented populations in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. Because of its declining range and population, it is listed as a “Near Threatened” species on the IUCN Red List.

Compared to the other “big cats”, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic (completely black or very dark) are known as black panthers. The species’ success in the wild is in part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometres per hour (36 mph), its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass, and its notorious ability for stealth.

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Picture of the Week 2 – View Point

Cheetahs are one of my favorite cats. In 2005 I had the opportunity to follow a Cheetah mom and her four cubs for three days. I got many beautiful shots from these days. This week’s picture was never published before. Enjoy it!

View Point – A Cheetah with her cubs resting on a termite hill looking for prey on Mziki Marsh – Phinda Private Game Reserve – South Africa.

For more Cheetah pictures got to www.sperka.biz/cheetah.

If you would like to order a print of this images online go to http://www.sperka.biz/potw2012/h2ba335ce#h2ba335ce

About Cheetahs:
The Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large-sized cat inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East.  It is the only cat with non-retractable claws (therefore cheetahs cannot climb vertical trees, although they are generally capable of reaching easily accessible branches). It achieves by far the fastest land speed of any living animal—up to 120 km/h (75 mph) in short bursts covering distances up to 500 m (1,600 ft), and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in three seconds.

The cheetah has unusually low genetic variability. It is thought that the species went through a prolonged period of inbreeding following a genetic bottleneck during the last ice age. The extinct genus Miracinonyx was extremely cheetah-like, but recent DNA analysis has shown that Miracinonyx (early to late Pleistocene epoch), found in North America and called the “North American cheetah” are not true cheetahs, instead being close relatives to the cougar.

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Picture of the Week 50 – Bloodshot!

This weeks picture if of a Cape Buffalo Bull.  The picture was taken at Phinda Private Game Reserve, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

To review all 2011 pictures of the week go to http://www.sperka.biz/potw2011/slideshow

And this is my EYES series version of the image in black&white:

For more Cape Buffalo pictures go to http://www.sperka.biz/buffalo

About Cape Buffalo:

The Cape Buffalo, Affalo, Nyati, Mbogo or African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a large African bovine. It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild Asian water buffalo. Owing to its unpredictable nature which makes it highly dangerous to humans, it has not been domesticated, unlike its Asian counterpart, the domestic Asian water buffalo.

The Buffalo is a very robust species. Its shoulder height can range from 1 to 1.7 m (3.3 to 5.6 ft) and its head-and-body length can range from 1.7 to 3.4 m (5.6 to 11 ft). Buffalo weigh up to 910 kg (2,000 lb), with males, normally larger than females.

Buffalo have few predators and are capable of defending themselves against (and killing) lions. Lions do kill and eat buffalo regularly, but it typically takes multiple lions to bring down a single adult buffalo.

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