“Love Knot” – African Elephants – We had been watching these two elephants pushing and playing. The entire time their trunks were wrapped together. Once they started to separate with their trunks still entangled, I saw the potential for this image, zoomed out and pushed the shutter release.
“Full Out” – Wildebeest – One of the things I am always looking for when photographing action is body position. This image to my eye has great body position. The animal is fully extended seemingly putting every ounce of energy into running.
“Mother’s Helping Hand” - African Lions – When a female Lion has young cubs, she will leave the pride to find a quite spot to shelter her cubs. During that time, she will move them every few days. If they are moving far or one of the cubs is having a hard time keeping up, she will often carry them for a bit.
“A Prince Among Birds” – Lilac-breasted Roller – Certainly among my top three favorite birds to photograph in Africa. In addition to their beauty Rollers are also plentiful and have a habit of sitting on great perches in open areas, giving us photographers many opportunities to make images.
“The Lookout” – Cheetahs – Cheetahs spend most of their time hunting the open savannahs of the African plains. As you can imagine having an elevated platform greatly helps them to spot prey. For this reason, you can almost always count on them to climb to the top of termite mounds and such.
“African Sunrise” – Massai Giraffe – Kenya must be one of the best places in the world to make silhouette images like this. Between the rolling grasslands, the epic wildlife, and beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Images like this are almost guaranteed. You just need be in the right spot at the right time!
“The Chase” – Cheetah and Impala - Life and death plays itself out like this all the time in Africa. While it is often difficult to see something die. It provides comfort that this young Impala’s death will provide life to the Cheetah mother’s three cubs.
“Connections” – African Lions – We had spent the evening photographing parts of this large pride of lions as they lounged in a tree. When one of the females started to call and the rest of the pride started to emerge from the surrounding bush. In the end there were nearly 30 Lions in the pride.
“Life Goes On” – Cheetah and Young Wildebeest – We had been following a coalition of three young Cheetahs for a few days. They were young and having a hard time making a kill. So, we were happy when this happened. Unfortunately (for the Cheetahs) a group of Hyenas came by and chased them away and the wildebeest lived to see another day.
“Charge” – Hippopotamus – If you ever look over your shoulder and see this coming your way… you better move! Hippo are without a doubt the most dangerous mammal in Africa. They are aggressive and move much more quickly than they look like they should be able to.
“Life Goes On” – Cheetah and Young Wildebeest – We had been following a coalition of three young Cheetahs for a few days. They were young and having a hard time making a kill. So, we were happy when this happened. Unfortunately (for the Cheetahs) a group of Hyenas came by and chased them away and the wildebeest lived to see another day.
“With an Eye to Success” – Caracal – This Caracal had just successfully stalked this Abdim’s Stork. When it turned and walked straight at me as it kept coming, I kept shooting. This was my favorite image from the series. I love the eye contact and the fact that you can see the distinctive ear tufts.
“Two Brothers” – African Lions – Male lions that are not at the head of a pride will often form a coalition. This partnership hunts more effectively and is also much safer than a lone male. The bonds between these coalitions are usually extremely strong.
“Side by Side” – Cheetahs – I call this type of image a visual echo. I like the interplay between the two faces. Visually it is interesting to compare the similarities. The cat on the viewers left being sharp is the focal point and the other is a supporting element in the composition.
“Center of Attention” – African Lion Cub – Images like this make just make my brain happy. All the symmetry and the direct eye contact really appeal to my personal sense of order. Of course, it helps that the cub is very cute as well.
“The Prize” – Spotted Hyena – When Hyenas are at a kill in Africa it is almost always a very competitive situation with everyone jockeying for position and trying to get a piece of the kill. Sometimes the best strategy is to just grab a chunk of something and run off and eat it in peace.
“Checking In” – Massai Giraffe – Giraffe are very affectionate mothers and stay in close contact with their babies. I had spent a bit of time photographing this baby as it was resting when I noticed the mother making her way over. There was no time to change lenses so I zoomed out as far as I could and waited. Then she just dropped into the frame right into the perfect spot.