I am working on organizing all the Wildlife images, which I took between 2001 and 2010. This is a major undertaking which will take me many month.
But one of the rewards of this -sometime tedious – work is that I find some good images I have never published before. Here is one of them. Three hunting Lionesses.
Sorry to say, but there will be no further wildlife posts for the next two weeks. I will be back on Thanda on 8 November.
This week I had the opportunity to have a look at Pongola Game Reserve, a beautiful property with seven lodges. I stayed for a night and took a lot of images during two boat cruises on the Pongola River. It was very enjoyable 🙂 I hope to be back soon!
And now I am in Pretoria, getting ready for a trip to Europe. I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends in Germany and Switzerland.
Sorry to say, but there will be no wildlife posts for the next two weeks. I will be back on Thanda on 8 November.
The collage above shows three images I took at Pongola Game Reserve – White Rhinos at sunset, Nkwazi Lake Lodge and a sunset shot, taken during a boat cruise on the river.
I am working on organizing all the Wildlife images, which I took between 2001 and 2010. This is a major undertaking which will take me many month.
But one of the rewards of this -sometime tedious – work is that I find some good images I have never published before. Here is one of them. Three Cheetah cubs watching their mum going off to hunt.
Precious 🙂
Well, in this picture I am with Thulani, one of Thanda’s largest Elephant bulls. I came to watch him at the Thanda Safari Lodge, having a drink at the waterhole. He was in musth when this picture was taken. During musth he needs a lot of additional water as he looses a lot of liquids to get rid of his excess testosterone (up to sixty times higher than normal levels). Because he is an old and experienced bull he does not get very agitated during this period. As Elephant ladies like the older and the bigger guys he has nothing to worry about!.
In comparison to his weight of approximately six tons, I could be considered a light weight 🙂
Have a good week!
Recently, quite a few people have asked me how to see more of my images and how to buy some of them as prints on paper or canvas. (For their personal use at home – not for commercial use, retail or publication).
I have created new online galleries with many of my images for review and selection.(https://sperka.info/pictures)
It is not easy to ship anything from South Africa to anywhere else in the world. So, I have come up with a simpler way to do this. You can now buy a digital download of any of my images and have the print produced locally.
And here is how it works:
– Pick your image(s) and send the picture code(s) via email to info@sperka.com (just click on the image and the code will appear above or below the image)
– A download license for a single image (except Limited Series Images) cost 50 US Dollars. Please ask for the rebate structure in case you want to get more than one image.
– I will send you an invoice, which you can pay with PayPal or you can transfer the money to one of my accounts (USA/Germany/Switzerland/South Africa).
– Once the payment is made I will send you a download link to a high-resolution file of the images, which you can then use to have it printed locally in any way you like, and you can also use it as wallpaper on your phone(s) or computer(s). Please do not use it commercially, publish it on social media or forward it to third parties.
Please note: This license does NOT allow re-selling, sharing with third parties or publishing [LIMITED SERIES IMAGES ARE NOT FOR SALE UNDER THIS LICENSE]
An Impala and a Red-billed Oxpecker – An example for a mutualistic symbiosis, a relationship beneficial to two interacting species.
In August Bruno Fert, a well-known professional photographer from France, stayed at Thanda Private Game Reserve. Together with travel journalist Emmanuelle Eyles, he was working on material for stories about South Africa. Thanda was one of their subjects.
During his stay my tracker Bheki Ngubane and I were guiding them. Bruno was very kind and took some portraits of Bheki and of myself. I like them very much. They show me in both of my current professions, as field guide and as wildlife photographer. Thanks a lot Bruno!
I usually do not manipulate my images except to ‘restore’ them to what I recall as the best representation of what I actually saw. This normally includes the adjustment of color, brightness, contrast, sharpness and some minor cloning and makeup work.
This picture is an exception. It is a merger of four images of a female Giraffe raising her head after she was finished drinking. An interesting study 🙂
WORLD RHINO DAY 2015
Support the fight for the survival of these magnificent creatures!
In South Africa alone over 700 Rhinos were killed this year, that is almost three for every day …….
#worldrhinoday #savetherhino
The picture of the tiny little Ostrich was so popular that I decided to share some more of the images I took of the two new-born chicks and their parents on Saturday and Sunday at Pakamisa Private Game Reserve.
Enjoy them!
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 