A morning game drive
June 30, 2009
We have been having some very good game viewing recently with the number of general wildlife like impala and puku increasing steadily along the river as it gets drier and drier inland – which also means the whole area is now crawling with lions. Here are a few images from this mornings drive.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Starry night
June 23, 2009
It was new moon yesterday which is a great time to photograph star trails as the night sky is dark and the stars are bright. Both of the following images were taken facing south which results in the swirl of stars circling the celestial pole. The glow in the bottom right hand corner of the leadwood photograph is from a bush fire way inland and almost invisible to the naked eye. The second shot is of a very old and fat baobab tree.
I think I have posted enough pictures of trees on the blog for a while so will get back to posting more wildlife stuff in the next couple days. Actually the game viewing has been getting better and better. A few nights ago we witnessed some lions feeding on a zebra next to a lagoon – the crocodiles came out of the water and managed to steal some of the kill from the lions! Unfortunately it was in fairly long grass so I didn’t get any decent images.
One last tree shot – this is the same leadwood tree with the milky way stretched out in the sky behind it. Check out the shooting star to the bottom right of the tree. You can purchase a print of this image from my website by clicking here
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Blacksmith lapwing
June 19, 2009
Early this morning I came across a Blacksmith lapwing (plover) crouched down on an open piece of ground quite close to the road. On closer inspection I noticed that she had a few extra legs!
After a few minutes she stood up and revealed two tiny chicks that had been nestled underneath her wings. They had the most incredibly long legs and were very well camouflaged. They also moved about at great speed making them quite difficult to photograph.
She allowed them to forage about in the open for a little while and then ushered them off into some thick grass where they would be safer from predators..
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Elephant eye
June 15, 2009
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Full moon
June 11, 2009
Another leadwood tree that I photographed at full moon a couple days ago. The first shot was taken not long before dawn as the moon was setting. Although we see everything as white, grey and black, photographs taken by moonlight are actually full of colour. I converted this image to black and white to make it look more like what we see on a moonlit night. The second was taken just as dawn was breaking.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Leadwoods
June 10, 2009
Leadwood (Combretum imberbe) trees make great photographic subjects. They are extremely slow growing and form interesting shapes with their gnarled and twisted branches. The wood is very hard and heavy (it weighs 1200kg/cubic metre) and apparently the tree can remain standing for up to 100 years after it has died. The older specimens are over 1000 years old…
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Toothy!
June 5, 2009
This is one of the three Mwamba males that have taken over this area as their territory. They have been hanging around near camp over the last few days. There is a lactating female in the area as well so hopefully we will be seeing some cubs soon. There is another female around although I am not sure which pride she is from. She is currently in estrus and mating with the largest of the three brothers. It looks like we are set for plenty lion action again this year..
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
