Landscape – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

August 11, 2025August 11, 2025

2025-08-11: Sunrise Panorama

This is a stitched panoramic created with 9 images taken on an early morning game drive in the Okavango Delta. The landscape and sky were absolutely perfect for trying to capture a panoramic image, and the sleepy lioness at the base of the termite mound was just an amazing extra.

Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

I remember this morning well not only for the beautiful sighting and amazing morning sky, but also for working through camera malfunctions while driving along a dusty and bumpy path. Thankfully, I got things sorted well enough by the time we stopped here to be able to capture lots of images, and then sort out a more proper fix once out of the vehicle.

I may have explained it previously, but I shoot with Fuji cameras and was having an F0 appear on my camera (basically, the camera didn’t think there was a lens attached). It turned out that my 300mm zoom lens had been on that body so long and used so much it had loosened some of the screws inside of the camera where the lens connects, causing the error. I didn’t find that out until I returned to camp and could get online, but my temporary fix was to swap my zoom lens to my other body, as my lighter weight lens didn’t return the same error codes. One of the people on my tour had a small screwdriver and I was able to fix my problem with ease (thanks again, Richard).

April 13, 2025April 13, 2025

2025-04-13: Full Moon

While the full moon was yesterday, a one day difference is close enough for me to use it as a theme and share some travel images.

There was a full moon during my time in Savute, Botswana, and we had beautiful clear skies to watch the moon rise and sun set. Taking photos while also holding a glass of wine isn’t going to yield the best images, but it does yield some pretty fantastic memories, and that’s the most important part.

A zoom lens makes the full moon look even more impressive. We were all wandering around the vehicles during our sundowner stop and I kept having to find sturdy surfaces to set down my glass so I could take a photo. Savute, Botswana. April, 2024.

One of the people in our group commented that the sky was the colours of a lilac breasted roller, and now every time I am out and glimpse the sky in these tones, that’s what I think of.

We only stopped for a moment so I could capture this shot, as we were on a fairly long drive back to our camp and had set out a little later than planned from our drinks stop.

January 5, 2025January 5, 2025

2025-01-05: Victoria Falls

I realized I still have a lot of images from my 2022 trip that I wanted to work through, so I decided to select some images from Victoria Falls, both from the Zimbabwean side and from the Zambian side.

I first visited the Zambian side of Victoria Falls in April of 2013, and the water level was perfect for viewing as there was a strong water flow to highlight the epic scale, but not so much as to shroud the entire falls in mist. My second visit was November of 2022, and there was far less water flowing over the falls and a lot more exposed rock, which showed off the scale of the falls in a completely different way.

On the day we visited the Zimbabwean side, clouds hung heavy in the air, but I don’t believe delivered any rain that day. Our visit to the Zambian side 8 days later couldn’t have been more different, with clear blue skies and fairly significant heat and humidity, around 38C or so, going from memory.

The different viewing areas offered not only different visual experiences, but different sensory experiences as well. This particular spot was incredibly humid and misty from the proximity to this portion of the falls and the direction of the breeze. It felt like being within a localized rainstorm. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. November, 2022.

Another viewpoint along the falls, but out of the pocket of mist.

Walking less than five minutes down a path from the main falls area provided an amazing view of the rock behind the falls. In the wintertime, with sufficient summer rains, there would be water flowing over much of this area.

Victoria Falls from the Zambian side under hot, clear sunny skies. This is an area just above the falls, and you can see a small amount of mist floating up the the left of the distant tree. Victoria Falls, Zambia. November, 2022.

A view of the falls from one of the main viewing areas on the Zambian side.

Similar to the Zimbabwean side, a short walk away from the main viewing area, there were huge expanses of exposed rock. This was one of the interesting things about being in the same place in a different season.

The weather conditions were perfect to view a rainbow created from the waterfall mist.

December 22, 2024December 22, 2024

2024-12-22: Sunrise

I was treated to a beautiful sunrise sky this morning when I was out walking my dogs; in one direction, warm yellow, orange and peach tones, and in the other, cool blues and purples. It was such a lovely start to the day. While I didn’t have my camera to take any pictures, I did have a few lovely sunrise shots just waiting to be edited from my last trip.

The sun just peaking up behind a hill in Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

Sunrise over Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

Another Savute sunrise. The skies in Botswana are magical. April, 2024.

October 27, 2024October 27, 2024

2024-10-27: White Pass Railway

Today I felt like doing something a bit different, and went back to some of the images I flagged from my 2023 Alaska trip. All of these images were from an excursion I did, taking a train trip along the White Pass for a day trip in the Yukon. I have shared some images from this trip before (search Alaska if you missed these and want to take a look).

An old train bridge over a canyon, with a large portion of the trestles collapsed.

A sky so blue it looks fake, but it absolutely isn’t.

The northernmost desert in North America, at Carcross, Yukon.

One of the beautiful lakes near Carcross, Yukon. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to be touring the area.

A view north of the highway running between Alaska and Yukon, just north of the border.

October 6, 2024October 6, 2024

2024-10-06: Landscape Selection

I was drawn to work on landscape photos this week, so I picked a selection from the different places I visited between South Africa and Botswana this past April.

This was a dry riverbed in the Timbavati Private Game Reserve, with a waterbuck grazing and a rock fig growing out of the side of the large rocks. South Africa, April, 2024.

Sunrise in Klaserie Sands Game Reserve in South Africa. This trip was my first time in this reserve, and it was surprising how different the landscape was, compared to the Timbavati that it shares a border with. The area was fenced for a very long time, so the bush was very thick since there were no elephants passing through until quite recently. Klaserie Sands Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

A lone waterbuck on the floodplain alongside the Chobe River. Despite the fact that I was there at the very start of the dry season, the river was extremely low. It was very different to being in the area in April of 2013 or more recently in November 2022. Chobe Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

Sunrise on the Chobe River, during a beautiful early morning boat cruise (complete with coffee and snacks, of course!). Chobe Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

A rocky outcrop in Savute Game Reserve. It wasn’t the type of game drive where I felt comfortable asking to stop for a lot of landscape shots, so I just put my camera on the fastest shutter speed I could, and then snapped away while driving. Some of them worked, but many did not. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

Moonset at sunrise in Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

A pair of baobab trees seen in Savute. Botswana, April, 2024.

This area is called Dead Tree Island in Moremi Game Reserve. While you might initially think an area of dead trees wouldn’t be the most photogenic area to be in, I found it strikingly beautiful. I have quite a few images from this area that I flagged to work on in the future. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

Okavango Delta sundowner drinks stop at a hippo pond. This was a preplanned stop with the camp staff having set up a bar and snacks stop for all the vehicles to visit. It was a lovely evening. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

A lone bull elephant climbing the hill from the dry Boteti riverbed outside of Leroo La Tau Camp. I am hoping to soon pull some images from my first time in this area in 2015 and contrasts them with the more recent ones as the difference in the landscape is quite striking. Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.

June 23, 2024June 23, 2024

2024-06-23: Alaska

I had some photos flagged to edit from my 2022 trip to Alaska, so I followed the path of least resistance and worked on those, rather than selecting images from my latest adventure. Back to Africa images next week 🙂

I’m still in awe of how beautiful a trip it was, and how I really lucked out with the most amazing weather you could ask for.

June 2, 2024June 2, 2024

2024-06-02: Chobe River Sunrise

On our last morning at Chobe Game Lodge, our group had the option to either have a short, early morning boat cruise, or sleep in (we didn’t have time for a full game drive because of our flight time to go to our next camp). I’m an early bird by nature, and try my best to never miss an activity when on safari, so the choice was easy for me. The people that slept in certainly missed out on a beautiful morning on the water.

March 3, 2024March 3, 2024

2024-03-03: African Travel

I wasn’t sure what to call this post, as it is simply all the African images I had saved in my quick collection in Lightroom, some from back in 2019, and others more recent. This finishes off the last of the really old trip images I wanted to edit, but I still have a few from 2022 that I’d like to work through, as well as my cruise images from 2023.

A young man lion, doing what lions do best. Madokwe, November 2022.

A very healthy looking male lion on patrol in the Sabi Sands. May, 2019.

Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side. November, 2022.

A leopard looking awkward, rather than regal. Sabi Sands, May 2019.

A lone bull elephant. Madikwe, November 2022.

The milky way from my cabin deck. Sabi Sands, May 2019.

February 4, 2024February 4, 2024

2024-02-04: Sunrises and Sunsets

We’ve had some beautiful weather the last few days, and my road is finally clear of icy and easy to walk, so I’ve been getting the dogs out for nice morning walks. The morning twilight and sunrise have been beautiful, but since I didn’t have my camera with me to capture them, I went through some of the many images I have left to edit, and found a selection that shows some of the beautiful colours I have been enjoying.