The Leopards of Luangwa

africaddict

Whilst in Sth Luangwa, Zambia I had a lot of fun with vehicle (hand held) spot lit and -EV/high ISO combined images on night time predators, in trips past I used to use my flash, high bracket mount, remote cord and better beamer
which was a lot to balance and results were very much hit and miss, dependent on getting that BB lined up just right.
With the D3s, that all changed and decided to try the spot lit method exclusively whilst on Sth Luangwa's night drives, I won't be going back to the BB method at least for night drives that's for sure.
I had Patrick Bentley (ex Lion Camp guide and a fine photographer) along with me for the week whilst @ Tafika camp and we had a ball practising this method.
Below are a few images using this method.

Spot lit Leopard on baby Impala
One night on such a drive we heard a bleating and scuffle, upon investigating and after negotiating the heavy undergrowth, we came upon this female Leopard on a newborn Impala, giving me a great down the lens stare.
We spent over an hour observing this very relaxed girl.
I opened up the exp 1/2 stop on the Impala's head to extract a little extra detail, whilst trying to eliminate any undue noise.

D3s 500VR 1/250s f/4 ISO1600 -2EV. F/F Nsefu sector, Sth Luangwa NP- Zambia Nov 2011.






It almost appears as if this leopard is kissing the baby impala goodnight.

D3s 500VR 1/250s f/4 ISO1600 -2EV. F/F Nsefu sector, Sth Luangwa NP- Zambia Nov 2011.






The night stalker
D700 70-200VRII 1/160s f/2.8 ISO1600@ 200mm -2 2/3EV. F/F Nsefu sector, Sth Luangwa NP- Zambia Nov 2011.






Lightening cub
A 4 month old leopard cub (another shy one higher up) waiting for mum's return with an electrical storm & lightening bolt in the background .Taken using a high a multiple frame rate (and a lotta luck) during the storm.
D3s 500VR 1/100s f/4 ISO3200 -2 1/3EV. F/F
Chipela Chayumba region, Northern Mfuwe, Sth Luangwa NP- Zambia Nov 2011.






Waiting for mum, Leopard cub portrait
D700 70-200VRII 1/640s f/7 ISO1600@ 200mm -2 1/3EV. F/F
Chipela Chayumba region, Northern Mfuwe, Sth Luangwa NP- Zambia Nov 2011.






His sister was well hidden, higher up this Whitethorn tree, we didn't sight her for over an hour!
D700 70-200VRII 1/125s f/8 ISO1600@ 200mm -2 1/3EV. F/F.
Chipela Chayumba, Mfuwe region, Northern Mfuwe, Sth Luangwa NP- Zambia Nov 2011.





C & C most welcome

Cheers
Marc

Stash

Fantastic!! I'm going to have to put Zambia on the Bucket list! I love the lighting on the cats, but have to wonder if it bothers them? How long are the night safaris?

Wossa

Stunning pictures, wonderful detail.......just gorgeous, nothing more to be said.

PGM

These are terrific! Could you please explain the technique a little bit more. Do you mean the cats were lit by vehicle lights? And how about the -EV/High ISO combined shots--I don't know exactly what that means, but would love to learn. Thanks, Pam

byoshi

Great Great Great shots.

africaddict

Appreciate the comments everyone, many thanks.

PGM wrote: »

These are terrific! Could you please explain the technique a little bit more. Do you mean the cats were lit by vehicle lights? And how about the -EV/High ISO combined shots--I don't know exactly what that means, but would love to learn. Thanks, Pam

The leopards were lit by a vehicle hand held spot light only, NO flash.
-EV/High ISO combined images means setting your exp comp between -2 to -3 value (you're under exposing the image) in combination with changing your ISO value
(generally above ISO800) to give you shutter speeds (enough to freeze the subject) of 1/100s and greater.
*This is more suited to semi pro/pro DSLR's giving quality high ISO images from 1600 and above.
Hope this helps.

Cheers
Marc

fjcvisual

Nice captures. Looks like patience paid off nicely.

NorthernFocus

That must have been a great experience. The D3s is an amazing piece of equipment as demonstrated with your stuff here. Nicely done

austinjames

great series and thanks for sharing

Harryb

Marvelous set of images with some good info too.

squirl033

these are simply superb... National Geographic quality images! i'm envious... i almost made it over to SA to shoot the Kruger NP, but then i got laid off, and my finances never recovered...

Kondwani

Wow!

squirl033 wrote: »

these are simply superb... National Geographic quality images! i'm envious... i almost made it over to SA to shoot the Kruger NP, but then i got laid off, and my finances never recovered...

Just found a link to your photos....and I had to register to the forum just to say your shots are wonderful /superb /stunning. Having been to South Luangwa before I can appreciate the skills needed with some of these shots. I can only hope that I get a fraction of images of this quality when I return there in March, to experience life in the "Emerald" season. I am impressed with your spotlight technique as my last attempt was very hit and miss and I was not happy using flash .....I will try boosting the ISO a bit more.....any more tips ?.
I would also be interested to know if your shots were hand held from the vehicle or did you use a beany / monopod ?
Once again wow! and thanks for increasing my expectations.

JohnDC

I like the effect, especially where there is no lit foreground and the beam is centered on the face of the animal--it becomes renaissance portraiture (chiaroscuro). As LED flashlights continue to become more spectrum-balanced and powerful, and cameras decrease noise at high ISOs, this method should become more useful. Like you, I've found the Better Beamer too awkward to use often. Also, compared with conventional flash, your spotlight method appears to have less image-marring glare (or was this post-processing?). Thanks very much for sharing your technique and fine images.
---John

Lemur Lover

Wow! Awesome series of shot Marc, absolutely love the last two of the Leopard cub jun the tree. I share your passion for wildlife, particularly African, so real pleasure looking through your galleries and looking forward to seeing more!