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Guest Report: Hermann Buchen, Germany
Hermann Buchen visited South Luangwa in September on a private safari with me from Marula Lodge. We enjoyed some wonderful sightings. The best of these happened on our first afternoon in the park...but I'll let Hermann tell you about it: Meetings with leopards and lions in South Luangwa - Hermann Buchen There are still places in Africa, where nature can be found protected from mankind as far as possible. South Luangwa is one of those places [...]
2015 in Review
Many thanks to all my followers who have supported my activities in 2015; some of you have commented on photos, many have contributed to discussions on social media boards, and an increasing number have joined me on safari! Through all these contributions, 2015 has been my best year to date, and I’m most grateful to you all. 2015 Outlook We started the year surrounded by doom and gloom in the African tourism trade. The global slow-down [...]
Wildlife: Reviewing some images
While going through my portfolios from 2015, in readiness for my annual "Year in Review" post (coming soon!), I came across a few images from a safari in April that I had overlooked. I remember the safari well - buckets of great sightings, the drama of 10 Italian men in a camp for a week!, and loads of rain - but I also remember that I went on holiday with my family the day after it [...]
Wildlife: A bird in the hand….
Yesterday, I went to participate in a bird-ringing exercise at a friend's house - her gardens are a mecca for all sorts of visiting birds from abroad, and it always throws up some great sightings. Leading the ringing, were experts Klaus and Lizanne, who have ringed birds for many years and fed hundreds of pages of data to the University of Cape Town. They have visited Luangwa on many occasions so it was gratifying to recapture [...]
Through the Lens: Irritable Buffalo
On a short morning safari with my family at the weekend, we found a solitary buffalo bull. Although these guys aren't very social (or sociable!) they are very rarely seen alone, preferring the company (and protection) of other bulls. It's a fallacy to say that they are all the old bulls who have left the herd for retirement. It only takes a bit of observation, followed up with some reading, to show that bulls cycle through [...]
Wildlife: A Green Paradise
Safaris at this time of year are a bit less predictable than during the drier months. That's not to say that we don't enjoy great sighting, but just that you can't guarantee them every day like we (almost!) can in the winter. Nevertheless, a short afternoon drive with my family over the weekend still gave us over 20 mammal species and close to 50 bird species. I think that living in such a wildlife-rich part of [...]
Wildlife: Not checking in rear-view mirror before reversing
This warthog appears not to have checked inside its burrow before reversing in for the night! Perhaps it was startled and rushed to seek refuge in its hole, but found that the hole was still being used by a porcupine avoiding the heat of the day! These spines had been driven deep into the flesh, suggesting that the pig was moving quite fast when it came into contact with the spiky rodent! Porcupines, civets, genets, aardvarks, [...]
Photo Safari Skills: Photographing after Sunset
I was out in the bush last night and enjoyed a lovely sunset. After marveling the view, I headed towards home. On the way out, I kept looking around for photo opportunities as that soft glow of post-sunset is actually a great time to take photographs because the indirect light gives a special quality to images. A troop of baboons were playing around the base of some Ebony trees, enjoying the last of the light before [...]
Wildlife: A Puffback Display
I love going back over old images because I always find some gems I'd completely forgotten about. This image is far from one of my best (in fact, I look forward to some abuse from fellow photographers in the comments about the background and the unfortunate leaf) but it shows some wonderful behaviour. This little bird is a Southern Puffback, or Puffback Shrike. It's a noisy and abundant resident across woodland in Southern Africa, most easily [...]
Photo Safari Skills: Making the best of the light
Sometimes wildlife photography can be frustrating. Animals don't behave with us in mind, they just do what nature programmed them to do. Most wildlife enthusiasts understand that, and simply smile when a creature drops its head and walks in the opposite direction from where the photographer wanted! But when the wildlife is performing, and the light is not, it's easy to become frustrated! So what options do we have? If the light is poor, I tend [...]
Photo Safari Report: Namit & Usha | Nkhonzi Camp | 20 – 23 Oct 2015
I can't believe it's come along already...but the end of the season is here and we have had our first massive rain storm which has left the ground sodden and the roads very slippery! What follows is a collection of images from a 3-day photo-safari with 2 guests from India, Namit and Usha, who joined me at Nkhonzi Camp for the last few days of the season. As the end of the season always is, it [...]
Photo Safari Skills: Night Photos
Over the coming months, as well as bush updates, I will be posting blogs about how to take photos in some of the more challenging situations. These include backlit subjects, night photos, birds in flight, low light photography, sunsets and several others. Watch out for the "Photo Safari Skills" tagline. First up - NIGHT PHOTOS The opportunity to conduct night-drives is a major draw for many of South Luangwa's visitors. Certainly it is an added bonus [...]
EDWARD SELFE
I organise & run photographic safaris in the finest wildlife areas on Earth.
