Leopard Hills, Sabi Sands, South Africa — October, 2015

[Tom Kellie]

Beneath your stately visage seen,

By those whose visits are so brief,

Have you pondered with insight keen,

Why life combines both joy and grief?

Red-billed Rider

Nibbling

Ephemeral Camouflage

Browsing Nyala

Male Nyala at Close Range

Matted Pelage

Grace

Yodeling Nyala

Male Nyala Portrait

Sinuosities

[Tom Kellie]

This trip report is great! Wonderful photos and descriptions.

 

I have been thinking about planning a (likely solo) safari to S. Africa due to the convenience and price and this really pushes me in that direction.

 

~ @@dinkdunk

 

You've made my evening by posting such a positive comment!

Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness, which means a lot to me while I'm in the process of preparing and posting a trip report.

As a solo traveler, I have had two overwhelmingly positive experiences in South Africa.

From the initial welcome — each time! — by Safaritalk master bird photographer @@Peter Connan, to the the experience at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg (Kempton Park), to the Federal Air shuttle, to all of those talented and professional staff members at Leopard Hills in Sabi Sands, literally all of it was a delight...BOTH times!

The sightings were consistently superb and the respect for nature top-quality. I never once sensed anything canned, commercialized or artificial. It was raw nature, presented with understated finesse.

It bears mentioning that the trip report of @@Tdgraves, http://safaritalk.net/topic/13879-kruger-circuit-a-south-africa-safari-at-the-optimum-time-september-2014/, had a major influence on my initial decision to visit South Africa.

@@Tdgraves is a persuasive advocate for South African safaris, and @@Peter Connan is a South African who exemplifies the welcoming spirit there.

Should your future solo safari plans take you to South Africa, I'm confident that you'll find it excellent value for money, with exceptional wildlife sightings on game drives.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[pomkiwi]

@@Tom Kellie There will be weeks of reading when you have finished this safari and moved on to the next two!

Very much enjoyed the postings of the dogs. I have been lucky enough to have experienced two extended sightings of active (as opposed to sleeping) dogs and found the variety and complexity of interactions fascinating. It would be rewarding to spend several hours observing such behaviours.

[deano]

@@Tom Kellie - welcome back. Brilliant pictures of the dogs. You have captured their movement in stills (if you know what I mean). I also like the impala and nyala images. The second impala picture with the road running through the frame is just how I picture Sabi-Sands...something around every corner. Great stuff.

 

Looking forward to the rest of this one and two more trip reports. Do you mind sharing your photo review/edit/post process? How many images would you typically take on a 2 week safari?

 

Kind regards

 

deano.

[Marks]

Wild Dog Glade, Sheltered Redoubt...your titles add so much to what are already very fine images.

 

Such a gorgeous nyala.

[Tom Kellie]

@@Tom Kellie There will be weeks of reading when you have finished this safari and moved on to the next two!

Very much enjoyed the postings of the dogs. I have been lucky enough to have experienced two extended sightings of active (as opposed to sleeping) dogs and found the variety and complexity of interactions fascinating. It would be rewarding to spend several hours observing such behaviours.

 

~ @@pomkiwi

 

Thank you for taking time to visit this trip report.

You've been blessed to have strong wild dog sightings.

I've had several wild dog sightings, with both highly active sequences and more low-key, sedate moments.

As I tend to take still shots with minimal action, they emphasize beauty and basic poses, rather than interaction.

Like you, I enjoy watching their complex hierarchical relationships play out through various sorts of ritualized behavior.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

@@Tom Kellie - welcome back. Brilliant pictures of the dogs. You have captured their movement in stills (if you know what I mean). I also like the impala and nyala images. The second impala picture with the road running through the frame is just how I picture Sabi-Sands...something around every corner. Great stuff.

 

Looking forward to the rest of this one and two more trip reports. Do you mind sharing your photo review/edit/post process? How many images would you typically take on a 2 week safari?

 

~ @@deano

 

I'm so pleased that you've enjoyed the wild dog images. Due to reduced light, there were technical challenges to obtaining satisfactory images.

For whatever reason I'm more of a still shot photographer, without any pull towards video. That may be a consequence of never once watching television or seeing films in decades.

In a sense, my approach to wildlife and botanical photography has been from the sketching and watercolor tradition of naturalists, such as Audubon or Darwin.

In each of the two separate 2016 safaris — South Africa and Kenya — there was an average of 900 images per day, which comprised two daily game drives and any photos around the lodge or camp.

While on safari the only images deleted are those which are self-evidently seriously flawed for this, that and the other reason.

It's not my habit to ‘chimp’, i.e. continuously look at the camera's LCD screen to see how the photos are looking. I may glance at it to see if the images are too bright or too dark, but nothing more.

Once back in Beijing, the camera memory card is placed in the 27-inch iMac to randomly look at images, to assess overall quality.

When post-processing images to add to my own photo Web site, http://tomkellie.zenfolio.com, or to upload for a Safaritalk trip report, I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 12, chiefly for tweaking brightness and nothing else.

Sightings significantly vary. In a very general sense, I delete over ⅔ of the images. Those retained tend to have superior technical qualities, and/or depict characteristic or offbeat behavior.

I'm fairly liberal about cropping, as the camera sensors and lens resolution specifications are such that cropping is a viable option, when needed.

I hope that this overview is helpful. Thank you so much for your interest.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Wild Dog Glade, Sheltered Redoubt...your titles add so much to what are already very fine images.

 

Such a gorgeous nyala.

 

~ @@Marks

 

As is perhaps self-evident, I approach wildlife photography as if most individual images were still lifes or landscapes.

Although my professional life has been in the life sciences, I'm impressed by the discipline and visual discernment of such visual arts as pen & ink sketching, pastels, watercolors, and oil painting.

As European visual artists have a long tradition of appending titles to their oeuvre, I've sought to do likewise.

My motivation is to highlight selected aspects of the image which especially interest me. I'm flattered that a professional writer like you finds worth in them.

The male nyala was both stately and coy, nibbling away at the blossoms, a most comely and obliging subject.

Thank you so much for your highly appreciated encouragement.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

In early morning, at breakfast, now at dusk,

O spotted cat you too stretch out in leisure,
Silently relaxing, no spraying of musk,
You, like me, roll about for simple pleasure.

We Meet Again

In a Broad Field

Praying Mantis Mimicry

Ventral Fur Skyward

Full Extension

Cheetah Photographers

 

[Tom Kellie]

What value contracts, deeds or laws,

To a long lean cat who lives alone?

His world's limits are in his paws,

With boundaries never set in stone.

Playing It As He Lays

Swoosh!

Chat Tacheté

Predator of Passage

Footpads in Ebony

Cheetah Sighting in Context

Considered at Length

Vigilance Is a Given

[Tom Kellie]

“Dinner in the Boma”, what might that be?

It's dining al fresco by candlelight.

A first-time fresh experience for me,

The meal tasted fine in the starry night.

Spotlighting a Flap-necked Chameleon

Evening Fire in the Boma

The Full Spread

Sam Explains to Vern and Tricia from Wagga Wagga

Stemware

Evening Nibbles

[Tom Kellie]

Early on a Sabi Sands Spring morning,

Fresh beauty bedecks the waking Lowveld.

Green foliage shows nature's a-borning,

No finer day have I ever beheld.

Go-away Bird in Thorns

Rusted Windmill Blades

Morning Moon

Waterhole Greenery

Springtime's Color

Rock-solid Construction

Hidden Hoopoe

Fresh Foliage

Track to a Hyena Den

Photosynthesis at Work

Resting Waterbuck in a Copse

Nearing a Hyena Den

[Tom Kellie]

The Crocuta crocuta den was in a prime spot,

With thick vegetation above the large mound.

The mother hyena panted as morning was hot,

While her two dark grey babies made not a sound.

Without the Den

Dual Entrance Hyena Den

Spotted Hyena Mother

Hyena Den Entrance

[Big_Dog]

Fantastic stuff...any pics of the cubs?

[deano]

Thank you @@Tom Kellie - great info for me. I too use Elements but don't take nearly as many pics as you do.

 

Really like your images of critters in their habitat but for me its typically the ones that have that air of expectation about them that really stand out...with tracks to a hyena den being a great example. You could change that title and insert the name for most of the usual suspects (lion, leopard, elephant etc.) and I would gladly drive down there with eyes scanning every bush and tree for whatever is (and more often than not isn't) there. Great cheetah pics too as well as any pics of the lodge. December can't come soon enough.

 

Thanks again and kind regards

 

deano.

[Tom Kellie]

The Vernal Equinox has left its mark,

Its impress made in soft shades of green,

The vigorous plant life befits a park,

One's soul inhales this pastoral scene.

With a Soft Blush

Blooms Precede Foliage

On a Modest Scale

Unlike Neighboring Plants

Venerable Trees in Spring Garb

Luxuriant Spring Growth

Requiring Neither Silks Nor Pearls

Botanical Amethysts

Heliophilic Vegetation

Branching Polyps

[Tom Kellie]

Where there's vegetation birds abound,

Singing, fluttering, perching and such,

Their cheerful presence sensed all around,

Concerning birdsong, there's never too much.

Sunbird Pair

Bee-eater Amidst Blooms

Hoopoe on a Termite Mound

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

Tightly-woven Nest

[Tom Kellie]

The Lowveld forest is by no means an empty wood,

It teems with life from striped zebra to tiny mice.

With lush vegetation the living is very good,

Yet careless animals soon pay a heavy price.

Resting in a Small Waterhole

Solitary Forest Denizen

Not Exclusively Plains Dwellers

Shadow Stripes

Zebras in Springtime

[Tom Kellie]

Fantastic stuff...any pics of the cubs?

 

~ @@Big_Dog

 

Coming right up!

Thank you!

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Thank you @@Tom Kellie - great info for me. I too use Elements but don't take nearly as many pics as you do.

 

Really like your images of critters in their habitat but for me its typically the ones that have that air of expectation about them that really stand out...with tracks to a hyena den being a great example. You could change that title and insert the name for most of the usual suspects (lion, leopard, elephant etc.) and I would gladly drive down there with eyes scanning every bush and tree for whatever is (and more often than not isn't) there. Great cheetah pics too as well as any pics of the lodge. December can't come soon enough.

 

~ @@deano

 

Relative to several other members who use burst shooting, I'm no more than a fumbling amateur. They regularly shoot more than 1,000 images per day on safari, week after week.

More lodge photos are on the way. That was not the final cheetah sighting.

I'm especially interested how your like the images which beckon the viewer to further exploration. While I've never before heard it expressed that way, I know exactly what you mean.

December will soon be to the point where the remaining months are counted on fingers and thumbs. That's relatively soon!

Thank you for your supportive comments.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

It's too dark down here — we're coming up!

Mom, mom, it's so good to see you again,

Do we both feel big this morning — yup!

Oh! Who's watching us? Back into the den!

Venturing Forth

The Brood

Exploring Mom

Olfactory Overload

When the World Is New

Hyena Trio

Crocuta crocuta Mother and Young

Outside the Den Entrance

Panting Cub

[Tom Kellie]

Wild hyenas have a fierce reputation,

Well-deserved, in part, yet there's another side.

How they act depends on the situation,

Their personal feelings they seldom confide.

Female White-bellied Sunbird

Walking Near the Den

Hyena with Small Wildflowers

[TonyQ]

@@Tom Kellie

I really like hyena -and I love your pictures of the cubs - beautiful little animals.

[Tom Kellie]

After watching animals great and small,

The would-be watchers became the watched,

Hippo surveillance went beyond the call,

Any dreams of friendship quickly scotched.

Preparing for the Morning Break

Being Watched During the Morning Break

[Big_Dog]

Wonderful pics of the tiny hyaena cubs! The mother looks very tired too!