Taken by my wife on Canon Digital Rebel with 100-400 lense.

These accompany the previously posted trip report.


http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=4139...=SYE/otsi=SALB

WOW!!!

I've just been through them all - fabulous selection of photos. You certainly saw everything & in numbers. I loved some of the leopard shots and the 3 male lions drinking were amazing, as were the 4 cheetah. Also great to see someone else take so many bird photos - can you name them all as I struggeld with some!

Thanks for sharing.

Just -re-read your trip report (great!) & picked up the names of the birds from that.

Should be working but had to look at your photos. They are fantastic!

I guess credit goes to your wife. (smile)

Really, the numbers of animals (all those cheetahs, etc.) is amazing.

Thank you.

Those are incredible photos -- what terrific photos of cheetah, nyala, triumverate of male lion.

I can name most, if not all, of the birds -- before my first safari, the only birds I knew were ostrich, vulture and flamingo, but now I can name pied kingfishers, lilac-breaster rollers, buffalo weavers, hammerkops, etc.

Photos

I would like to say well done on some nice shots. My only negative would be the Depth of Field in many of the shots. I feel that the animals are sometimes out of focus. out of interest, what were your AV and shutter speed for shooting?

Photoholic I will pass that on to the wife. I am responsible for video and so cant really speak for her work. I am sure she will want to get some nput from you.

From memory the birds featured were Saddlebill Storks, Grey Heron, European Roller, Hamerkop, Pied Kingfisher, Dwarf Bittern.

The Cheetah viewing was the best we've ever had, and we couldn't get good shots of the four brothers at Madikwe.

Mala Mala and the Sabi Sands are awesome for Leopard, the cubs which feature ina couple of shots are the fourth generation of one family that we've had the priviledge to see. For us that is one of the main reasons to visit the same place, also Mala Mala's website keeps us updated on the animals lives between visits.

Outstanding photos - and with a 35mm. Good for you. Thanks for sharing these.

Particularly like your leopard, saddle billed stork, rhino, jackal and cheetah pics and isn't the baby ele cute? but ALL are wonderful! THANKS!

Your wife did a great job as trip photographer! The Cheetah & Leopard photos were outstanding.
Boy, was that a grungy rhino, they really do love to wallow in the mud.
Hope we see as much as you did ..we leave for Botswana in May. Thanks for posting your report and photos, what a great way to start the morning!

Brenda

Wow!!

Thanks!

Brenda

Where are you headed in Botswana? You must remember to take noyes because a trip report will be expected.

Matt

To Photoholic

The wife says many of the shots there were taken in low light and she was experimenting with settings. She is going to get a monopod for our next trip to help in those situations. Your thoughts on depth of field with reference to a couple of specific images would be greatly appreciated.

Matt

Hi Matt,
We are starting off in Cape Town and the winelands then off to Botswana for 9 nights.
We are staying at:
Sauvti Camp in the Linyanti area
Kwetsani Camp in the Okavango Delta
Chief's Camp in the Moremi Reserve

I can hardly wait and your photos are just like giving drugs to an addict!
Brenda

Brenda, I stayed at Savuti Camp in August 2003 and it was GREAT -- I have been on five safaris, and my only sightings of aardwolf and caracal were at Savuti, plus loads of lion and even some wild dog and serval, plus all the usual suspects.

Wow..two fixes in one day..Thanks Thit-Cho on the Savuti info, hopefully our sighting s will be as good as yours.
Last week I was in Wyoming with a group of friends and spotted bison, moose, coyote & elk. I was so excited and kept shouting..MOOSE..SLOW DOWN...STOP THE CAR...BACK UP. Yikes I can only imagine how exciting Botswana will be.
Did you see the aardwolf and caracal on the night drives??
We are going to do a sleep out one night at Savuti in one of the hides.

Napamatt:

My God! The best photos I have ever viewed! Are you by any chance a professional photographer? I have so many books on African wildlife and very few pictures in those books come close to the closeups you have of most of the animals. They are incredible! Thank you so much for sharing them.

Hope you don't mind but I have marked the album in my "favorites" so I can come back and view them again. They are fantastic.

Jan

Napamatt,

Thanks for the great photos. Looks like the 100-400mm Canon lens is the way to go for wildlife photos.

How much experience did your wife have with this lens before this trip, and how much experience as a photographer prior to this trip?

Hi Napamatt,

I can understand your wifes fustration in those low light situations. You have to sacrifice DOF or face a possibly blurred picture. Firstly, in reference to the monopod, i would recommend the Manfrotto 682B self sanding one. It comes with an attachable three pronged leg support. Obviously cannot leave your 100-400 on it, by it will be very supportive. Then get a ball head for it.

http://www.manfrotto.com/product/tem...mp;itemid=1814

I have just picked out a couple of pictures as you asked. If you look at the photo labelled 'Impala and Zebra'. To me, none of the animals are in focus. I was simply wondering what settings that photo was taken in? Personally, i shoot mainly in AV moode, and when there is good light, whack it to F/16. Kavey would advocate the same. It will give you a slower shutter speed, but if it is above 1/40 with slow moving animals, no motion blur.

Image 1860 is a fantastic shot, though i feel that it could have been national geographic standard. Using AV and F/16, all three of those cheetah faces would have been sharp. The two on the right a pretty sharp, though the onve on the left seems to draw my gaze. Its lack of sharpness seems to bring done the overall image quality.

Its a very easy thing to remedy, and i went through and still do similar problems. I have added some pics to ofoto to show you some that i took. Cheetah 1 & 2 are my IMHO, examples where i have not had sufficient DOF. The faces are reasonably in focus when the images are A4 size, but the bodies are not. I shoot this at F/5.6 in good daylight. F/11 would have given me a complete sharp image. On the other hand, i like the fact that the DOF is small. The face was the image i wanted to catch, so throwing the body slightly out of focus was not an issue.
I hope this is some help. I shoot in AV mode 95% of the time. When you get to each new position, think about what you want to achieve before shooting away.

sorry here is the ofoto link:

http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.js...id=71559719506

Peter

apologies

On the other hand, i like the fact that the DOF is small. The face was the image i wanted to catch, so throwing the body slightly out of focus was not an issue.

THIS IS REFERENCE TO CHEETAH 3 IMAGE