thanda private game reserve – Page 8 – Christian Sperka Photography

2014-10-282014-10-27

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!

2014-10-22

When a camera meets a Hyena :-)

We had made up this little project to try and capture some small night creatures with my camera trap. We selected the location carefully and installed the camera high enough not to attract Hyenas.

At least that was what we thought 🙂

This collage shows the camera before its meeting with some Hyena teeth. Then the last pictures it ever took, and finally the electronic rubbish it is now after the Hyena had a go at it.

Lesson to be learned – no more camera traps without steel casing!

2014-10-202014-10-19

A Rainbow over the Lebombo Mountains, a Road Block and two Freezing Cheetah!

As it happens during this time of the year strong winds frequently follow heavy rains. On our afternoon game drive we first encountered a beautiful rainbow over the Lebombo mountains, then we met with Thanda’s breeding herd of Elephants.

One of our largest bulls gave an excellent demonstration on “how to create a perfect road block”, right in front of the vehicle.

Last but not least Bheki – one of Thanda’s most experienced Zulu tracker – found the two Cheetah brothers on the open savannah. They were huddling together in the freezing wind.

Not a bad drive for a very windy day!

2014-10-182014-11-23

No camera :-) :-(

What an evening.

As I drove up to the Lodge on Friday evening – for a meeting – a Leopard appeared around a corner in front of my vehicle and calmly walked up the road for about ten minutes, illuminated by my headlights, before settling down next to my car in the bushes.

On the way home an Aardvark crossed the road in front of me and stayed for about five minutes on the road, just sniffing around.

Now that was the good part of the evening, the bad part was that I had no camera with me. A beginner’s mistake!

But I will never forget these sightings, especially my first Aardvark on Thanda.

These two images are of similar sightings a few years ago (with camera :-))

2014-10-082014-10-07

Just cows? Not so much ….

Sometimes safari guests think that a Cape Buffalo is just another type of cow. Far from it. These stocky herd animals can turn from fairly docile bovines into very dangerous opponents within seconds.

When threatened a herd will form a “battle array” with the large males up front, the younger males on the sides and the females and calves behind. In that formation they can even stand down a pride of Lions. For Humans on foot they can be one of the most dangerous encounters in the bush. There position as one of the Big Five is therefore fully justified.

This picture shows the Thanda Buffalo herd leaving a waterholes.

Picture by Christian Sperka – Specialist Photography Guide and Resident Wildlife Photographer – Thanda Private Game Reserve

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2014-10-05

Operation Cheetah

Today we changed the radio collar on our Cheetah mum so that the Wildlife Team can continue to monitor her progress – I was allowed to be hands – on for a moment – Thanks to Warren for taking the picture 🙂

And this is a collage of the operation – before – during – after

2014-09-262014-09-26

Unpublished

While browsing through some of my older images today I found this Leopard picture I took many years ago. It was never published. So here it is now.

Enjoy your weekend 🙂

2014-09-242014-09-24

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!

2014-09-202014-09-20

Ready for my close-up!

One of Thanda’s largest Elephant bulls was standing still for a few seconds – for his close-up pictures 🙂 – before he moved on down the hill. This gentle giant was trailing the breeding herd which had crossed the road in front of the vehicle on the way to a nearby waterhole. What an experience for the Thanda guests!