2012 photo safari to Southern Africa
At the end of November my wife & I completed our 2012 "round the clock" selfdrive photographic safari to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Etosha, Caprivi (Nambwa, Mahango, & Mamili), Botswana (Chobe & Savuti). This trip, driving our LC76SW & camping in our rooftop tent in some wild places, provided some scary adventures & fantastic photo opportunities (messed up some & missed others but we believe some great shots waiting impatientlly to emerge in Lightroom).
Most exciting event was in Mamili where I followed the rules fefore crossing a narrow stream. I got out of the car & after checking the surroundings for game & water for crocs waded into the knee deep water & found the white sand was very firm. I asked my wife to take a picture for the grandchildren of an adventuresome Opa jumping in the stream & the returned to the car. We crossed the streeam without difficulty passing a bush 5 meters from the opposite bank. As we rounded the bush we saw 5 lions a 3 second dash away. They were luckily sharing a warthog. My heart is still pounding. The most beautiful was to make up In mamili under our sausage tree to find ourselves in the moonlight surrounded by a herd of silhouetted elephants peacefully & silently grazing around our rooftop tent. This was our first trip to Mamili as on our 3 previous visits to Caprivi it was to wet to enter for "solitary old age adventurers). We only knew the dry Savuti and with the river flowing it has turned into a paradise with hundreds of elephants & buffaloes & thousands of birds all over the marsh
It will take a while to cull the weakest of our 20,000 or so photos, & then time to develop the best. The survivors will be gradually be added to our wildlife photography website (www.africaraw.com) in 2013.
However the two old age adventurers have been working hard I have now added the first 32 photos from the trip to our website portfolio in
the "2012-Photographic safari" gallery:-
www.africaraw.com/Wild...&k=9xqPSTS
These include elephants, hippos, wilddogs & wildcats, lions, & carmine bee-eaters. Please have a peep. I will continue to add in our best photos over the coming weeks
Most exciting event was in Mamili where I followed the rules fefore crossing a narrow stream. I got out of the car & after checking the surroundings for game & water for crocs waded into the knee deep water & found the white sand was very firm. I asked my wife to take a picture for the grandchildren of an adventuresome Opa jumping in the stream & the returned to the car. We crossed the streeam without difficulty passing a bush 5 meters from the opposite bank. As we rounded the bush we saw 5 lions a 3 second dash away. They were luckily sharing a warthog. My heart is still pounding. The most beautiful was to make up In mamili under our sausage tree to find ourselves in the moonlight surrounded by a herd of silhouetted elephants peacefully & silently grazing around our rooftop tent. This was our first trip to Mamili as on our 3 previous visits to Caprivi it was to wet to enter for "solitary old age adventurers). We only knew the dry Savuti and with the river flowing it has turned into a paradise with hundreds of elephants & buffaloes & thousands of birds all over the marsh
It will take a while to cull the weakest of our 20,000 or so photos, & then time to develop the best. The survivors will be gradually be added to our wildlife photography website (www.africaraw.com) in 2013.
However the two old age adventurers have been working hard I have now added the first 32 photos from the trip to our website portfolio in
the "2012-Photographic safari" gallery:-
www.africaraw.com/Wild...&k=9xqPSTS
These include elephants, hippos, wilddogs & wildcats, lions, & carmine bee-eaters. Please have a peep. I will continue to add in our best photos over the coming weeks
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Comments
Your pictures were dynamite too!! Very lovely website.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
I really enjoyed looking through your site. I also wanted to say that I really enjoyed the narrative that accompanies your photos.
I do have one question on the structure of your site. Are the pages, such as the trip tips, photography tips, where you have more of a journal format, is that a standard Smugmug template? I have wanted to do something similar, and would appreciate some insight as to how you achieved this.
thanks for all the great posts and journal entries. I really enjoy reading them.
Jim
Hi Jim,
I wanted to have a journal style for the tip sections & as usual got the "how" from our very efficient & helpful SmugMug heroes. You need to choose Journal "old" for this type of photo gallery style. This allows you space to attach a large caption alongside a photo. I did want to illustrate each tip with a photograph or a powerpoint drawing saved in JPG.
The SmugMug customization support group will help with more detailed queries on formatting. I did eventually, for my biology blog, decide to start a wordpress blog. The blog's diary format is more suited for regular updates. This blog mainly concentrates on natural history & wildlife physiology items. which I find with daily searchesi on internet or in biology journals. Topics I find interesting e.g. why the birth of hyena is so difficult etc., are updated regularly in an attempt to keep readers returning.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank all the members for their encouraging comments. I will be adding photos over the next few weeks as we wade through the editing & comments provide an energy kick.
Jim
Thanks for the encouraging comments.
Just wanted to report we now have added over 150 photographs from Kgalagadi, Ettosha, Caprivi, Chobe, & Savuti to our 2012 safari portfolio. These include leopards & wild dogs as well as many birds.
I have also continued my blog & there are now reports on how the owl can turn his head 270 degrees without fainting, & why the warthog which lack brown fat must stay in holes at night to keep warm. Most of the blogs attempt to simplify recent research into the physiology of wild animals by using analogies we all recognize.
Regards,
Peter