Botswana – Page 9 – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

February 25, 2018

2018-02-25: Revisiting Old Work

During this month of revisiting old work, I’ve had the opportunity to take many trips down memory lane, remembering amazing moments in nature and the challenging times trying to work out what to do with my camera to make the image that appeared on my LCD match the thought I had in my head.

What this monthly topic has hammered home is that the gear doesn’t matter, its what you are able to do with it. The software used to edit images doesn’t matter, its understanding how to make the tools work for you in the best ways possible. These things get said time and time again, but they really become apparent when you start reviewing a collection of work gathered over time that has been captured and edited with a variety of different resources.

No one looking at my images is going to say “You shot that on this camera body and then you edited it with that software program. There are times when I have been out shooting with more than one camera and once the images have been uploaded to my computer, I don’t know which image was shot with which body, without checking the info panel!

At the end of the day, the only thing that should matter is if the image moves you in some way.

And with that, here are a few images I have reworked this week. I hope you enjoy, and please check back next Sunday to find out what the topic of the month will be for March.

A rhino with her calf seen while doing volunteer work with Wildlife Act in 2014.

Not a spectacular picture, but a fun memory for me. I took a day off work and went out shooting for a school project I was working on. It was a fine fall day so I took Spencer with me, and he was overjoyed at having the opportunity to dig in the sand next to the river. October 2013.

My first foray into Botswana included viewing elephants in the water from a boat. An amazing experience! April 2013.

For my then and now image, I chose this wild dog lounging in the shade, seen while working with Wildlife Act in 2014.

Here is the now version of this image. I think I was much better able to highlight the texture of the fur compared to the original edit.

February 20, 2018

2018-02-20: WPC: Sweet

The photo challenge this week was to show something, or someone, sweet. If that isn’t an invitation to share photos of elephants, I don’t know what is. Or maybe that’s just me. 🙂 So here are a few images featuring some adorable baby elephants seen last year on my trip through Southern Africa.

Enjoy!

20180220_WPCSweet_JSawicky1 — This little one was struggling to climb out of the river bed, and got a helpful push from Mom. Hoanib Camp, Namibia. April 2017.

20180220_WPCSweet_JSawicky2 — Partially hidden behind Mom, this little elephant was very curious about our group. Botswana, May 2017.

20180220_WPCSweet_JSawicky3 — Another inquisitive youngster seen in the Okavango Delta. This one was busy watching a nearby group of baboons. Botswana, May 2017.

WPC: Sweet

November 30, 2017

2017-11-30: WPC Experimental

I am a few days delayed in posting for this topic, but I wanted to play along anyways. The photo prompt last week was experimental, and it gives me an opportunity to share some of the images I call my Artistic Impressions.

It’s timely, as I was just listening to a wildlife photography podcast that I really enjoy, discussing photographic art as opposed to straight “documentary style” wildlife photography. I thought the comments of the host, Gerry Vanderwalt, were absolutely spot on. His take on it was use your wildlife images in whatever way you choose to create the art you want to make, but just be very clear when presenting it to let people know that what they are seeing is not reality.

Now, I don’t think anyone would mistake any of these images for reality, and the comment was more aimed towards compositing work, but, I really do feel that people should create whatever moves them. If reality didn’t match how the moment made you feel, then turn your images into something that does invoke the feeling of the moment. Just don’t try to claim it is something that it’s not.

Anyways, on to the images 🙂

A watercolour style take on a ground hornbill at sunset. I loved the posture of the bird and the shadow on the termite mound, but found the image to be less sharp than I would have liked. Turning it into one of my artistic impression images allow me to play up what I liked most about the image.

20170511-DSC_4585 copy — If an elephant visited one of my dreams, I think it would look something like this.

20170426-P1020703 copy1 — A cormorant perched on the edge of the Atlantic, with seals frolicking amongst the waves.

20170426-P1020699 copy — A small part of a large seal colony in Namibia. The weather along the coast was dull and blustery, and many of my images left me flat. This take on the scene reminds me of surveying the area through the fogged and misty windows of our vehicle.

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

WPC: Experimental

December 24, 2016

2016-12-24: Photo Slideshow

Hi everyone! I recently put together this photo slideshow for my photo club Christmas party, and thought I would share it here as well.

The photos are taken over the past three years, and there are several from each of my trips to Africa.

I hope you enjoy, Merry Christmas, and all the best for the coming year.

December 4, 2016

2016-12-04: Birds of Southern Africa

I was going through my folder of edited photos and realized I have a large number of random bird photos ready to go. Which is good, because I’ve not managed to get out and capture any of the local wildlife lately!

Even splitting the group of photos I found into two, I’ve still got a fair number of bird photos to post in the future!

I hope you enjoy, and have a great day!

magpie-shrike — A magpie shrike perched in an acacia tree.

lilac-breatsed-roller-3 — A lilac breasted roller perching beautifully for a photo.

kori-bustard — A pair of kori bustards in the Kalahari Desert.

green-backed-heron — A green backed heron hunting along the edge of a dam.

brown-hooded-kingfisher — A brown hooded kingfisher.

african-sacred-ibis — A sacred ibis flies over on of the swamps of the Okavango Delta.

african-hoopoe — An African wood hoopoe.

October 17, 2016

2016-10-17: Monochrome Monday

A trio of leopard shots for this Monochrome Monday.

You can find these, and lots of others here on my website. Your walls surely deserve an update with some new artwork – matte or glossy paper prints, traditional, stretched or thin wrap canvas and even prints on metal. Check it out!

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September 4, 2016

2016-09-04: Cee's Photo Challenge Feathers

I noticed this challenge before taking off on holidays, and thought it would be a great chance to showcase a series of photos I had edited and saved in a folder titled water birds.

I hope you enjoy!

_DSC9777-Edit — An African darter drying its wings.

_DSC9698-Edit — An egret stalking in the shallows.

_DSC9668-Edit — A mixed group perched in a dead tree, including African spoonbills and sacred ibis.

_DSC7662-Edit — A grey heron standing very close to a nile crocodile.

_DSC7010-Edit — A brown hooded kingfisher.

_DSC6354-Edit — A pair of malachite kingfishers.

_DSC1470 — A pair of pied kingfishers in the Okavango Delta.

Please note, I’m away for several weeks, so I have scheduled some posts in advance. I will moderate and respond to any comments just as soon as I am able.

I am hoping to be taking loads of photos, so if you would like to follow along, please feel free to give my page a like on Facebook @jennifersawickyphotography and a follow over on Instagram at jensawicky.

Cee’s Photo Challenge: Feathers

August 29, 2016