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Wildlife Photography »
Wildlife photos
Top wildlife photos
A selection of the best wildlife photos taken by members of staff.Art or photography?
All of these shots are straight Jpegs. Whilst it is important to take and then process minimally RAW images, there is a fraudulent malaise of overly processed images which are certainly unethical and frequently ridiculous. If photographs are titled as wildlife images, that is precisely what they must be, not bogus and ludicrous pastiches with only a vague relationship with the original article. Cropping, exposure and perhaps contrast levels are acceptable changes, anything else is a charade; fine if it is passed off as art but not if the photographer is trying to hoodwink the viewer that that is what he or she took.  | | What a Bustard The Masai Mara has the finest sunsets in the world, and the most. I have probably taken 5000 sunset
images over the world and at least 80% of them are within 30 metres of each other. This was not in my
favourite spot, but I had ruled out anything spectacular as there was a heavy cloudbank. With timing and
almost predictability, just as I reached for my sundowner the clouds parted on the horizon. It was then an exercise of trying to find a subject and quickly. One can always settle for an acacia, there is no shortage
of those, but this was a far more fertile quarry. I was contorting to get the lens low enough, but with a 2/3
under-expose the result was better than I had imagined a half hour before. |
 | | One in the eye A couple of male wildebeest tussle with each other each looking for supremacy in their part of the herd.
Stallions are irascible and unpredictable but wonderful photographic subjects, yet getting anything
remotely original from a cast of a million is tough. |
 | | Pick up Litter Sometimes just recording is enough if the moment is rare. I have never seen hyena pups so young; the
mother had just given birth and we watched from a respectful distance as she ate the first one (a savage
hyena rite of passage) then settled down with these. Once she relaxed - after a considerable wait - she
started moving them around a little. What makes the moment is the first one hanging onto the other
youngster. In moments like this it does not pay to be too smart. Decent ISO, keep the shutter speed
well over 250 and GET IT SHARP |
 | October 2009 - Old bill
Nothing special, but this old ground hornbill provided some good sport. Strangely they always
congregate in odd numbers and that morning they were foraging across he short-grass plains.
Bird photography is challenging, very rare birds are great to record but give me an action shot
over a stationary one anytime. A moment before and the mouth would not have been open,
a moment after the grub would have been swallowed. It is always good to try to understand
and then visualise the shot before you take it rather than ambushing the image every time. |
 | September 2009 - Close shave
Lion kills are incredibly exciting, especially if the whole pride is involved.
This was not a case of them fanning out over the plains to ensnare their quarry, it was mid-day and
they were not hungry, but a storm had gathered overhead and wakened them, when a handful of
foolish wildebeest wandered through, one of them limping. The alpha female made her move. A
shutter speed of 2000 captured the action and at one stage I had too much lens, surely a first, before
the prey straightened up into my 500mm. The limp disappeared remarkably quickly and the lion
missed her meal. |
 | August 2009
We returned to the beach later that afternoon and evening. I was determined to just concentrate on
penguins in the surf, however it was raining so they had freshwater showers not saltwater. With the light
grim, some slow panning was the only viable alternative, indeed because of the ‘hot chests' - if you'll
forgive the phrase - mentioned above, this was the perfect weather. Tripod, 500mm lens, low ISO,
shutter speed of an obscenely low 1/8th of a second and then 2 hours of trying to get it right. The trick
was to pick them up with the human eye, lock on with following focus, landscape format to cut out some
of the white and then quick taps of two and three exposures. Needless to say, once I and my cameras
had dried out there was some industrial deletions. |
 | July 2009 Seeing lions at sunrise or sunset is not unusual. Actually catching them in the late or early glow is far
harder currency. This huge male used to wake me most mornings for six weeks, and this particular
morning he answered my prayers and posed on the ridge just above our camp. He wanted his females
and rather than just lying or standing, which is a good photograph, he bellowed out his instructions to
his errant females. Again a drop-down exposure, no foreground (it rarely serves any purpose) and
low ISO. |
 | April 2009
The black volcanic sand of Gold Harbour South Georgia is photographic heaven. This day we managed
to get everyone onto the shore before 6.00am which was a good thing as the Katabatic winds blew us
off by 9.30. There is no shortage of penguins here, over a hundred thousand, but by lying down and
waiting for a freshly washed one to emerge from the surf I was trying to do justice to the scenery rather
than just the wildlife. A gorgeous sunny morning will always help although the bright light does play
havoc with burn out on the King's chest. |
 | Stumped - A gamble pays off - March 2009
Portrait format, keeping it sharp and a bit of space around the shot is only a percentage of
the story. This was all about understanding the subject. As they walked across the plains I
noticed this stump about 700 metres away. It was vaguely in their direction. Moving there
swiftly we waited and although the mother ignored it as it was not a robust enough platform
for her ‘view to a kill', it provided the perfect playground for her cubs. It was a gamble, they
frequently do not pay off but they still must be pursued for arresting photographs rather
than an album of record shots. |
 | January 2009
There are approximately 1.2m flamingos at Lake Nakuru National Park, just recording them is not a
problem, but getting something vaguely original is very hard. Again resorting to slow panning is the
answer. 40th second and two third down to neuter the burn on the water gives this sort of result. It is by
no means perfect, the cropped bill on the left is a disgrace, but it is at least arresting. |
 | September
At the end of a long afternoon on Zodiac inflatables, we were returning to the icebreaker on the
Northwest coast of Spitsbergen. Up high on the rocks something spoilt the angular outlines and, on
closer inspection, it was this large male. Many people were tired with bladders aching and had returned
to the ship, ignoring my frantic radio calls. For those who stayed out, there was ten minutes of absolute
joy as this massive predator towered above us. Photographically it was very tricky as there was
considerable swell and a fairly strong wind, and the image had to be taken portrait - it would be heresy
otherwise. It was also tough as the long 500 with converter was necessary, anything shorter would have included the sky and this would have thrown the exposure viciously. After wasting a few films the
technique dawned on me. Just before the pontoon reached the top of the wave, lock on with tracking
focus and fire a quick burst. I managed about half a dozen out of several hundred but it remains one
of my favourite portraits. This is no normal back-lit bear on rocks, he is 60 feet up at least and
enjoying his lofty, regal view from the top of the Arctic food chain on his basalt throne. |
| August
8.00am sounded a good time to be having a quick breakfast in South Luangwa. After parking the vehicle
next to a small oxbow I wandered down to the water, intrigued by the croaking chorus of bullfrogs. As I
reached the water this beautiful Saddlebill took off. They are not quick birds and it just gave me time to
track it on my 500 lens and take just as it was landing, startling these two puku. The backlighting adds
to it as does the comical look on the antelope's faces. Fuji Velvia 50 slide film, not some cheated raw image, took care of the rest. |
 | July
It is not often I can look at a portrait of a predator and think it could not really be improved on. Yes there
could have been mating crimson shrikes on its back, but that is the land of photo fantasy. The
combination of early side and back lighting and a lovely backdrop really combined on this. Leopards on
trees are not uncommon, but the way this beautiful young male blends with the contours of the fallen
trunk adds a pleasing symmetry.
Canon EOS 1V 500F4 IS lens, Fuji Velvia film. Taken in Buffalo Springs Kenya. |
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