I wish all mothers around the world a HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
… with this cute image of an Elephant mom and her small calf. Have a great day!
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
Golden Orb Weavers …
… are noted for the impressive webs they weave. There are quite a few different species in the genus _Trichonephila_. The females can reach sizes of over 5cm (2″). The males are usually 2/3 smaller.
This picture shows what one can close-up work one can do with a good smart phone.
Technical data: Apple 14 Pro Max | Main Camera 48mm | ISO 80 | 1/85sec | f1.8 | ev+0 | 240mm
#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography
Meeting up with Mum!
When a pride of lions has many juvenile members, the experienced Lionesses often leave them for a while to attempt hunting on their own.
Especially young male Lions regularly “mess up” a hunt by being too obvious and/or too clumsy.
In this picture, a Lioness returned to the pride from such an unsuccessful outing, and all the youngsters ran enthusiastically to greet her.
A moment after this image was taken, they complained (moaned) to mum about being hungry.
And a few minutes after that, a dazzle of Zebras walked by, and the whole pride (8 lions) tried to catch one of them, again with no success.
As it got very warm at the time, they all decided to settle down in the shade of a tree and try their luck again in the evening.
A great experience for the guests on my vehicle!
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 1250 | 1/3000 sec | f6.3 | EV +0 | 150mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Cropped to 25% of the original image
If you would like to read more of my stories and see more of my pictures, you should visit my blog at https://www.sperka.com
#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography
Pure Luck and a Smart Phone
When I sent this picture (which I took this evening on my way home) to a friend, he responded with ‘this is Photoshop, isn’t it’.
Well, the answer is that it is not! Our dominant male lion raised his head from sleeping just as the sun had set. I was in the right place at the right time!
This picture was taken with my iPhone 14 Pro Max and was edited with the standard iPhone tools.
Here are the steps taken:
1 – The picture was first cropped to 9:16 (portrait).
Steps: Photos, Select Picture, Edit, Crop, Pre-Sets, 9:16, Portrait, Zoom In, Done.
2 – Then the shadows were brightened as much as possible.
Steps: Photos, Select Picture, Edit, Adjust, Shadows, +100, Done.
3 – A slight vignette (darken the ‘frame’) was then added.
Steps: Photos, Select Picture, Edit, Adjust, Vignette, +10(black), Fine.
I have also posted the original image so you can see the difference to the edited version.
Technical data: Apple 14 Pro Max | Main Camera 24mm | ISO 64 | 1/350sec | f1.8 | ev+0 | 48mm
#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography
Worship the Sun!
Terrapins are the ultimate sun worshippers. On a nice warm day, they will pile up on top of one another to catch the sun’s rays and at the same time exchange body heat (retain as much heat as possible to stay warm).
A few days ago, I took this picture of nine of these ‘freshwater turtles’ on a piece of wood in the middle of one of Thanda Safari’s waterholes.
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f/11 800mm | ISO 4000 | 1/500 sec | EV -1 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Cropped to 10% of the original image.
#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography
Iconic!
One of the most iconic birds representing Africa is the African Fish Eagle. This large and beautiful bird of prey has a very distinctive call to communicate with other members of its species.
They resemble the American Bald Eagle as they are part of the same bird family (Accipitridae).
The African Fish Eagle is typically larger in size compared to the Bald Eagle. The African Fish Eagle has a wingspan of up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) and a body length of around 3 feet (0.9 meters). In comparison, the Bald Eagle has a wingspan of around 6.5 to 7.5 feet (2 to 2.3 meters) and a body length of about 2.5 to 3 feet (0.76 to 0.91 meters).
I took this picture of an African Fish Eagle landing on a tree stump at the Falcon Ridge Bird of Prey Centre in the Drakensberg. A place well worth visiting!
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 800 | 1/2000sec | f4.5 | ev+2 | 62mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 60% of original image
#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography
Off into the berg…
Today, I am departing for a brief excursion into the Drakensberg Mountains. I plan to explore some new locations and attend two concerts featuring the renowned Drakensberg Boys Choir.
Before my departure, I thought I share a short slide show with some of my favorite photographs captured at Thanda and Pakamisa over the past three weeks.
I hope you will like the combination of wildlife, scenery, and night skies.
If you want to read more of my stories and see more of my pictures, you should visit my blog at https://sperka.info/blog/
#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography
Sun, Moon, and Stars
Thanda Safari recently purchased a Seestar S50, an intelligent astronomical telescope. I like working with it, as requires very little setup and lets me display/save the magnified stellar objects’ images on my iPad.
Besides looking at nebulas and other deep space objects it works very well for moon observation and sun observation (using a special filter).
This evening I took this moon picture from the Thanda House garden.
I also enjoy night sky photography. This – rather blue – milky way picture I took this morning at 5:30 before sunrise, during the nautical twilight, and just before the start of the ‘blue hour’. In this lucky shot I captured a shooting star.
Crisp winter nights are ideal for star gazing and photography. I am looking forward to some more night sessions in the upcoming winter months.
Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens L 17-40mm | ISO 6400 | 8sec | f4 | ev+0 | 19mm | Manual focus | WB Auto | M Mode | Crop to 40% of original image
#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography
The Answer!
As some of you have reminded me that I never provided the answer to my Lion quiz from 9 April, I would like to apologize for the delay. https://sperka.info/2024/04/09/noses/
Zanele, the oldest Lioness at Thanda Safari at 15 years old, was located in the top-right corner of the picture.
This is the portrait I captured of her on that day.
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f/11 800mm | ISO 3200 | 1/750sec | EV +0 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Image cropped to 40% of the original size.
#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography
Noses!
Two weeks ago, I wrote about our largest pride of Lions (called Zanele’s Pride). I described the energy with which the seven youngsters of the group trained for their adult life hunting skills.
When I met the group again a few days ago, they lounged comfortably at Thanda House dam near my home.
As I approached the waterhole, all nine Lions raised their heads, and I was able to get a frontal portrait shot of each of them.
It is astonishing that all of the young ones now look very much like adult Lions. Here is a bit of a quiz question:
Can you identify Zanele (15 years old) in this collage?
I give you a little hint: Look at the noses!
[The answer will be in my next post.]
If you would like to like to read more of my stories and see more of my pictures, you should visit my blog at https://sperka.info/blog/
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 