A picture a day.

[madaboutcheetah]

Ken, wonder what's in store for your viewing next week - I guess you'll soon find out. Enjoy your trip!!!

[Guest John Milbank]

They were often "together", Ken, but spread out...so you needed a wide angle shot to get all 20+, but locations were so poor that it was a waste of time.

 

My best opportunities were when they lived on an elephant carcass for several days in August '02...even then some of the pride were out of sight behind the carcass. There are some reasonable shots of that event on my 'Lions of Selinda' page. A cherry picker looking down on the meal would have been the way to go

[madaboutcheetah]

10 members, Ken (plus the Two pride males). 7 of the cubs from 2007 have survived - Lost one.

 

I didn't see them in October - maybe they will return from Savuti to see you / never know..........

 

RE male dynamics - there are only two weak males at the moment. They will flee if Milky Eye returns. The other 4 young brutes have not been around for the past many months also........ they are apparently in the mopane.

[madaboutcheetah]

Ken,

 

You are correct - in early June 2007, 3 cubs were still in a thicket near Selinda main camp. I found them while with Motsamai. The older 5 cubs, were already mobile and playful by then.....

[Atravelynn]

That last one is even better, Ken!

[africaaddict]

Another opportunistic shot, or rather just plain lucky was of a Southern Carmine Bee-eater in the process of catching Bees.

Sth Luangwa NP- Zambia. It's unfortunate that it was taken in harsh midday light.

Nikon D2Xs 300 f/2.8VR ISO100 f/2.8 1/800s@300mm.

 

Cheers

Marc

 

[Geoff]

Well done Marc. Light looks harsh but it would still be a cracking shot without the bee too.

[Game Warden]

Wow!

[Geoff]

The action in Ken's shot is superb. They're great birds to watch.

[twaffle]

Ken, that is absolutely fantastic!! I am envious.

[twaffle]

I like the fact that you can see the bird's eye so clearly, and the feet clinging to the top of the wood is really interesting. I also like the soft variation in the background, not just a blue sky.

[Geoff]

Yes. Artie would love that BG.

 

What post processing did you do?

[Guest sniktawk]

Here is a JPEG of the original RAW

EOS 1D MkIII

500mm F4 IS

F9

1/2500

ISO800

plus most importantly overexposed by using EV +.67

 

 

It seems that I did a crop, a slight sharpen (all digital images require sharpening), and possibly used my favourite plug in to bring out colours a little. Send me a PM for details , Wendy Langley has a copy of the plug in.

 

 

.

[Guest John Milbank]

Here's one of Yvonne's digital images from 2005 (taken in the vicinity of the Kwando-Selinda border on a transfer drive).

 

©Yvonne Milbank

[Geoff]

velvia plug in I suspect.

 

and yes you would have to over expose to allow for the blue sky BG.

[Guest sniktawk]

Geoff,

 

Yes that is the one, very good value from Fred Miranda.

 

 

John,

 

Nice shot, but a little dark under the wings. If I ever get a BIF in focus I would be happy.

[Guest John Milbank]

If I ever get a BIF in focus I would be happy.

 

You and me both. Y makes it look easy...probably because it is, combining the high ISO capability of good digital cameras with plenty of practice on fast sport. But then I know Press pros who could do the same with slow film. It's all about anticipation and reaction.

[Guest sniktawk]

I think this quote from Art Morris, sums up my dilemma

 

Start off with the central sensor only. Concentrate on panning smoothly and on keeping the central sensor right on the bird's head, neck, or face. As I have gotten older, I have found that this has become more and more difficult.

[Guest John Milbank]

Start off with the central sensor only. Concentrate on panning smoothly and on keeping the central sensor right on the bird's head, neck, or face. As I have gotten older, I have found that this has become more and more difficult.

 

You're not alone there, either. We don't even bother with a single sensor when doing basketball because of players' sudden changes of direction...much more unpredictable than birds in flight, although easier for Y than me because she has been a referee and coach, knows the game inside out and can anticipate moves.

 

Out of curiosity, I checked the RAW data for her shot of the ground hornbill in flight, and much to my surprise, it was only 200 ISO. She was using her 1Ds Mark II and my 100-400 at full zoom, f8.

[Guest sniktawk]

John,

 

Using high ISO on digital is a relatively new development, the MarkII can really only be pushed to 400.

 

The MkIII is good to 800 and starts to get noisy at 1600.

 

I would agree that F8 is a good aperture for this lens which I always found to be a bit soft.

[africaaddict]

Leopard night quench

 

She had just been feeding on her Impala kill up the bank.

Sth Luangwa NP- Zambia.

Slight "green eye" repair work in CS3

D2Xs 300 f/2.8VR 1/250s ISO400 f/4@300 & Better Beamer -1.7EV

Now, if I can only replicate this in a morning shot.

 

C & C most welcome

 

Cheers

Marc

 

[madaboutcheetah]

Who is this curious looking fellow, Ken? From the snow flake grasses, my guess is - the CKGR?

 

(Is it really called snow flake grass?)

 

Another question, Ken - do you know if the dogs really did den at the Baines Baobab last year or the year before?

[ttacs]

Hope this is the right place to occasionally share some of my favorite photographs from Tanzania with Safaritalkers; would never have found it without sniktawk's directive elsewhere thanks my friend . . .

 

Lioness on kopie, central Serengeti, July 2007

 

 

[twaffle]

Yes, the perfect place and a lovely photo - quintessentially Serengeti!

[Pangolin]

Moving briefly from excellent wildlife photography to "people on safari", this is what happens when I spend too much time in a canoe with both my wife and my sister. Selinda Spillway, September 2006.