Jim Rickards wrote:
Nice group of photos and narration to go with it too. Training those giraffe probably took some time! . Good work.
Thanks, Jim. Yes, it took me quite a while to train them to walk like that! Actually, we saw them at a distance and I was hoping that they would hold formation long enough for me to get a shot without being super-telephoto because as mentioned above it was really too dark for anything but the 70-200 f2.8. They held the line until we were mid-telephoto, I grabbed a few photos, and then the line broke apart. Luck and timing frequently play a big role in nature photography.
Doug Bentlage wrote:
Excellent series Jay, love the photos and the commentary. Although they are all amazing shots, my favorite is the giraffes, very cool shot!
Doug
Thanks, Doug. I like the giraffes too. They didn't really fit into any of the themes I came up with for my Maasai Mara photos, but I definitely had to throw them in somewhere.
harshaj1 wrote:
Excellent commentary and photography. Love # 6 and 7.
I also came across 4 mating pairs of lions during my trip. Three of the pairs were too far to get decent pictures. It rained when I came across the last mating pair. I got some shots but not as sharp as I want them to be.
Harsha
Thanks, Harsha. We saw two lions mating at Samburu, but we were behind them and so those photographs weren't nearly as interesting as these were. Interesting side note, the male we saw at Samburu has been seen mating many times but has never sired any cubs and so is apparently impotent.
Chris Willis wrote:
Jay, I am continuing to enjoy the pictures from your trip. The mating lions are great, but the giraffe pictures is really captivating to me. What a lineup! Also nice to see that elephant be so calm near the camp -- last time we were around elephants in Africa (Botswana) the females were almost uniformly very aggressive so we generally kept our distance! Interestingly the males we encountered were very cool and we got quite close to them without incident. They are awesome animals to be close to on foot, I am sure that was an unforgettable experience.
Chris
Thanks, Chris. I don't know this, but I think it's safe to assume that this elephant had spent enough time near the camp that she was familiar with the day-to-day activites at the camp. As long as the guests went about their business and kept a respectful distance, she was quite relaxed. That said, there were always a number of armed guards patrolling the camp to make sure that none of the guests did something foolish and none of the animals did something unexpected. I know wild animals can be unpredictable, but my general experience has been that an elephant (male or female) that you approach is likely to be edgy and aggressive, but that if you select a position at a reasonable distance and then let him or her approach you, it will be much more relaxed.
That's essentially what happened here. The elephant approached the empty tables as you see in the first shot and then moved off some. We sat down to eat and then the elephant slowly made its way back. Although it's certainly fairly close to us, it's actually further away than it looks and is not as close to the tables as it was in the first shot. If it had been, I'm not sure any of us would have stayed at the table.
anthony whitmo wrote:
totally awesome capturing these guys in "The Act"
The Giraffe shot is absolutely stunning and would be a very interesting print !!
The pics around camp very interesting
Well done
Anthony Whitmo
"The Act"!! Of course! Anthony, you've just made me realize I missed a golden opportunity! I could have gone with a Shakespearian motif in naming the photos:
Act/photo I: Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Act/photo II: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Act/photo III: The Taming of the Shrew
Act/photo IV: As You Like It
Act/photo V: Romeo and Juliet
and naturally,
Act/photo VI: All's Well That Ends Well
Too bad Shakespeare didn't do a history of Richard the Lionheart!!
Great stuff. When were you at there? I just left Uganda last Monday and was suppposed to go to Massi Mara but cancelled due to the unrest. As it turned out, I should have gone, but could not reschedule my flights. Guess I will have to go to Africa again. Thanks for sharing these, I love the telephone poles. Bruce
. Good work.
I'm too sweet and innocent!!