Yawning Hippo, Zambia

 Africa, Animals, Travel, Zambia  No Responses »
Aug 122013
 

It’s been a while since I’ve made a post.  It’s been a pretty hectic couple of weeks with cupmatch and a stag one weekend after the other. On top of that, my usual laptop decided to stop working on me so I’ve been using my old one, which I was shocked to find still works, kind of.

It may be debatable as to whether or not I can claim this photo. I really wanted to get a good shot of a yawning hippo. While on a booze cruise, I had the camera all set and had been trying to catch it on avail. My travel buddy, Harleigh, asked to look through the camera to get a closer look at what was a pretty inactive hippo. Just as she pointed the camera at him, this happened. Harleigh reacted and held down he shutter button, firing off about a dozen shots. This was the best of the bunch.

Hippo yawning with big teeth with baby hippo in the water next to it in Zambia

Follow the Leader, Hippos in Botswana

 Africa, Animals, Botswana, Travel  2 Responses »
Apr 102013
 

As we waited to go on our boat safari in Botswana, the waiting area of our safari operators filled with Japanese tourists. When we were told to head to the boat we managed to take off in front of the crowd. When we saw the boat we noticed it was a double decker and decided we definitely wanted to secure a spot up top. Unfortunately, they’d reserved the upper deck for the tour group so that they could all hear the translator. As a result, we were stuck with the bottom. As it turned out, we were the only three on the bottom. Apart from getting hit in the head by a lens cap dropped from the upper deck, it was actually great. It was like we had our own private boat and guide for a few hours.

I snapped this shot from the lower deck, of a mama hippo and her baby.

A baby hippo following it's mother as they swim in a river in botswana's chobe national park.

 

Baby Mountain Gorilla with Mother, Rwanda

 Africa, Animals, Mountain Gorillas, Rwanda, Travel  2 Responses »
Aug 082012
 

This little guy passed by me clinging to his mother’s back and seemed particularly interested in my camera. When she stopped and sat down he was behind her, but he crawled round to this spot and continued to watch.

Mother gorilla with back turned and baby gorilla staring into the camera surrounded by greenery in Rwanda.

Cute Cheetah

 Africa, Animals, Cape Town, South Africa, Travel  1 Response »
Apr 302012
 

Operation Horseshoe Bay: Day 3

My original plan to head down to Horseshoe Bay for a week didn’t really pan out due to a couple of alarm clock errors. I went down this morning and got exactly the conditions I was hoping for. I shot the photo I’d been picturing based on the Photographer’s Ephemeris and went about taking some more creative images. I now have so many shots from the 40 minutes I spent down at the beach that I don’t know where to start.

Cute Cheetah

In the meantime I’ve decided to upload this cute cheetah today. I’ve been reluctant to upload it as I’m not sure how good a photo it is. The composition isn’t particularly interesting. It certainly doesn’t measure up to the other cheetah cub photo I uploaded here. But, in the end I decided that this cheetah is so cute and has such amazing eyes that I had to upload it. At this point in time one of the cheetahs’ handler was preparing a ball on a rope for the cheetahs to chase.

Cute baby cheetah with intense brown eyes taken at Cheetah Outreach in South Africa.

Madonna and Child

 Africa, Animals, Mountain Gorillas, Rwanda, Travel  2 Responses »
Jan 162012
 

I haven’t had time to work on any photos from Prague. So, I’ve reached into my file of completed pictures. This may be my favorite photo from my entire time in Africa. When I walked over to try to take this photo her entire face was covered by a leaf. Then, she reached up and moved it just long enough for me to grab three exposures

It’s snowing here, I’m hoping it sticks but it doesn’t look too likely.

 

Face of mother mountain gorilla sleeping with her baby on her shoulder in Rwanda.