Tag: wildlife

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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 52 – Walking the tight-rope!

This week’s picture of a male Bateleur was taken at Phinda Private Game Reserve, Kwazulu Natal South Africa.

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

About Bateleur …

The Bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus) is a medium-sized eagle. It is a common resident species of the open savanna country in Sub-Saharan Africa. Bateleurs pair for life, and will use the same nest for a number of years. Unpaired birds, presumably from a previous clutch, will sometimes help at the nest. The Bateleur is a colourful species with a very short tail which makes it unmistakable in flight. Immature birds are brown with white dappling. The prey of this raptor is mostly birds and also small mammals; it also takes carrion. “Bateleur” is French for “tight-rope walker”. This name describes the bird’s characteristic habit of tipping the ends of its wings when flying, as if catching its balance.

For more Bateleur pictures go to www.sperka.biz/bateleur

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Wildlife Photography – Basic Rule Number 5 – Learn how to over- and under-expose with your camera!

Wildlife Photography – Basic Rule Number 5 – Learn how to over- and under-expose with your camera!

Your camera is smart, but not smart enough. Once you have your standard settings only concentrate on one adjustment while you are shooting. If the object you are interested in is much darker than the surrounding you have to over-expose. If the object is much lighter,  you will need to under-expose. This takes training; so get out there, make some exposure mistakes and learn from them.

Focus!
An African Elephant bull waking in a straight line towards a waterhole.
This picture was taken at Etosha National Park, Namibia.

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Wildlife Photography – Basic Rule Number 2 – Shoot a lot – Waste Space!

Rule Number 2 – Shoot a lot – Waste Space!

Give up your old “film” habits and shoot a lot. I often take dozens of pictures of one scene. Like humans animals have “good” and “bad” expressions and postures. Shooting a lot and selecting the right image later on your computer will get you there. In a four hour game drive I will sometimes shoot 500 images.

Don’t worry about all the “bad” pictures you take, the good ones will make up for it!

Sparring
Two Elephant bulls sparring at Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa

This was part of a large series of images. Only a few of them I would ever show to anyone!

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Wildlife Photography – Basic Rules Number 1 – Have Patience!

Quite a few people have asked me in the past about my secrets for wildlife photography.

There are no secrets just some basic rules. Over the next few days I will publish those rules on my blog. Enjoy them.

If you have any eye to capture a scene and if you adhere to these rules, you will create some great pictures.

Rule Number 1 – Have patience!

It does not matter if you shoot in the wild, in a zoo or just your pets. You need patience. Spend a lot of time with an animal and you will see amazing things. I often spend hours in front of one exhibit at a zoo or an animal in the wild.

The Kill
Lioness taking down an Nyala bull at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa

I waited nine hours for this to happen and the I had only 23 seconds to take the pictures 🙂

 

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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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Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish all my American friends a very happy Thanksgiving.

It is traditionell in North America to have a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. I love these beautiful birds (in pictures and on my plate :-)).

This picture of a beautiful male Wild Turkey was taken at Radnor Lake in

 Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is native to North America.

Turkeys have 5000 to 6000 feathers.Tail feathers are of the same length in adults, different lengths in juveniles. The adult male normally weighs from 5 to 11 kg (11–24 pounds) and measures 100–125 cm (39–49 in). The adult female is typically much smaller at 2.5–5.4 kg (5.5–12 lb) and is 76 to 95 cm (30–37 in) long.

Males are polygamous, mating with as many hens as they can. Male wild turkeys display for females by puffing out their feathers, spreading out their tails and dragging their wings.

For more pictures of wildlife at Radnor Lake go to www.sperka.biz/radnor

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Picture of the Week 47 – We are playing – don’t interrupt!

These two Cape Hunting Dog puppies were playing when they were rudly interrupted by the photographer 🙂

The picture was taken at Thanda Private Game Reserve, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

Enjoy the picture!

For more Cape Hunting Dog (or African Wild Dog) pictures go to www.sperka.biz/chd

About Cape Hunting Dogs / African Wild Dog:

The Cape Hunting Dog (Lycaon pictus) is a large canid found only in Africa, especially in savannas and lightly wooded areas. It is variously called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf. This dog is the only canine without dewclaws which are the claws that are on the inside of the front feet.

The Cape Hunting Dog has a the highest biting force of any extant mammal of the order Carnivora, although exceeded by the Tasmanian devil a marsupial carnivore.

Litters can contain up to 19 pups, though ~10 is the most common. The typical gestation period is 70 days. Females will disperse from their birth pack at 14–30 months of age and join other packs that lack sexually mature females. Males typically do not leave the pack in which they were born.  In a typical pack, males outnumber females by a factor of two to one, and only the dominant female is usually able to rear pups. The species is also unusual in that some members of the pack, including males, may be left to guard the pups whilst the others, including the mothers, join the hunting group.

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