Tag: nature

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2023-06-25: Elephants at Hwange

I’m in the process of making some changes to my cataloguing of photos. After a few years of trying to work with Capture One exclusively, I’m moving back to Lightroom for cataloguing and basic edits. Given how hectic life was during the time I was trying to use Capture One, I probably didn’t put enough effort into learning the program, but Lightroom feels easier to use, and right now, that’s enough of a pull to make the switch. In all honesty, it’s nice to have so many different choices of software to use, and my choice may change again in the future.

It’s a little tedious transferring over my star ratings, since there isn’t an automated way to do things, but at least it means I am going through all the photos again to decide if I do want to work on them in the future.

As for today’s image, it should be no surprise that I gravitated towards elephants. This sighting was right after lunch when we arrived at our camp in Hwange, and everyone enjoyed the antics of this group rolling in the mud and dust bathing.

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2023-06-18: Mount Edgecumbe, Alaska

I recently returned from a trip I had wanted to do for some time – a cruise to visit Alaska. I found an itinerary that worked with my schedule and booked it, and hoped for the best weather wise, but anticipated the worst. I packed a toque, gloves, scarf, fleece, rain coat, rain poncho… all the things to deal with excursions in damp and cold weather, and instead needed to apply sunscreen at each stop and spent my time outside in t-shirts. Many of the people that I met on board, some that had done Alaskan cruises on multiple occasions, agreed that we had strangely amazing weather (and not to expect that if I should go again).

I’ve not yet done a full review of my images, but this one caught my eye when importing. I took this from my balcony as we left Sitka, heading for our next port of call. I’m looking forward to sharing more images from this trip, and especially interested to start looking through the images I took while whale watching, to see if any turned out.

Mount Edgecumbe viewed in the evening after leaving Sitka, Alaska. May, 2023.

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2023-06-11: Giraffes

I had planned to edit a few images today, but then the day got away from me. This seems to be a familiar occurrence lately, and I am going to need to do a bit better in planning my time to work on photos.

This image caught my eye out of the grouping that I had flagged to work on. These young giraffes were necking in the warm glow of the early morning sun.

A pair of young giraffes necking, Madikwe, South Africa. November 2022.
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2023-05-28: Giraffe

A giraffe on a hot and sunny day. I think I caught the giraffe mid-chew, making it look even a little more awkward than they normally do.

A giraffe seen in Zambezi National Park, Zimbabwe. November, 2022.
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2023-05-21: Elephants at play

Midday is generally not considered the best time for photos, with harsh glare and intense shadows. But a group of elephants, happily frolicking in a muddy puddle, is too good not to shoot, regardless of the conditions outside.

I know I’ve said it many times before, but spending time amongst elephants makes my heart happy.

Elephants at play, Chobe National park, Botswana. November, 2022.
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2023-05-14: Pygmy Kingfisher

The pygmy is the smallest of the kingfishers seen in Southern Africa, and they really are a treat to spot, with jewel tone feathers and an intensely orange beak. This one was seen in typical woodland habitat. The barbed wire seems out of place in the bush, but the track we were driving along had an open construction excavation along the length of the road (I believe putting in a new water pipe), and the wire provided some demarkation between the work zone, and where it was safe to drive.

We were fortunate as this kingfisher kept flying off and back to almost the same spot on the wire, giving everyone in our group ample opportunities for spotting and photographs.

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2023-05-07: Tawny Eagle

Tawny Eagle seen in Zambezi National Park. Zimbabwe, November 2022.

I believe this is a tawny eagle, but raptor identification has never been my strong suit, so I hope if I have that wrong, someone will provide a correct ID. I saw a lot of raptors on my trip, but didn’t get into the habit of writing down names, as often they were spotted when I couldn’t get an image of the bird. It was different being on a specific birding trip, rather than a general safari. Birding was concerned with sightings, whether they were close up or far away (and some of them were really, really far!), whereas a general safari is more focused on close sightings and photography. It was interesting learning more about birding during my trip, but I must admit, I prefer my bird watching to be closer to me, where I can really enjoy them, rather than a small spec through binoculars.

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2023-04-30: Zambezi Sunrise

Today, I made it to the end of the weekend long before the end of my to do list, so I’ve just selected one image today to work on. I’ve decided to share a lovely sunrise along the Zambezi River. Our group was fortunate to have a few sunrise and sunset river cruises, thankfully they happened after all the wild weather we had with heavy rains at the start of the trip.

Sunrise on the Zambezi River. November, 2022. Zambia.
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2023-04-23: Birds around the water

My photo sharing has been quite haphazard and random lately, and today is no different. As I got to my computer to work on images, the heavens opened up with the first thunderstorm of the year. After calming the pups down from the surprise of the loud noises, I thought decided to focus on bird around the water for today.

All of these birds are ones that I had seen before, but I still needed to go to my bird app to double check on both the heron and the kingfisher. Hopefully I have those identified correctly.

A hamerkop seen whilst on a drive around the town of Victoria Falls. Zimbabwe, 2022.
A group of pelicans spotted while on a game drive in Zambezi National Park. Zimbabwe, 2022.
A pair of African skimmers seen while on a boat cruise in Chobe National Park. Botswana, 2022.
A brown hooded kingfisher seen while on a boat cruise for the Zambezi River. Zimbabwe, 2022.
A striated heron seen along the banks of the Zambezi River. Zimbabwe, 2022.
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2023-04-16: Zebras

It’s a grey and dreary day today, and a black and white image felt like the right thing to work on. This mare and foal were part of a small group of zebras, and just outside the frame was the stallion, working to keep the group together and moving it in a cohesive direction. This was one of several very young zebra foals that I had the pleasure of seeing during my last trip.

A zebra mare and foal seen in Madikwe, South Africa. November, 2022.
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