I just got home late last night from another amazing adventure. I put this blog post together during our journey and tried to work on images that reflected some of the stories. I took a bunch more images and will be posting some on Facebook if you would like to see them follow my work there.
One of our first photos sessions was with a super adorable 4-month-old elephant. This little one was so rambunctious, he kept us entertained for a long while. We watched as he made a face, lifted his trunk, and forcefully backed up into another young Ellie hoping to engage with him. They began to play and roughhouse around. He soon mounted and trumpeted with glee. He (not sure if it was a boy) pestered the heck out of the adults until one of them wrapped its trunk around it and scolded him. I was giggling so much I couldn’t keep my camera steady…so fun!
I used a high-key B&W technique to help clean up the busy background of tall grases.
When I arrived in the Mara, I was told that my favorite leopard named Luluka had a new liter of two and had not brought them out of their makeshift den. I was hoping we’d get a glimpse of them before our time in the Mara was over. Lucky us, we captured her walking with one of the cubs to bring it to the safety of a new den. It was truly a thrill to see Luluka (daughter of Lorian) again and especially with a tiny cub in her mouth— swwweeettt! I also captured her jumping the river with one of the cubs in her mouth. She made a giant leap and did it with ease. The cub stayed rolled up in a ball while she jumped the main part. I guess so none of its limbed hit the water or ground.
The Mara continues to supply endless opportunities for big cats and since that is our main focus I had my fix of lions, cheetah and leopard. Not many servals, I think we saw only one this time.
Muddy faced cub
I am calling this one “First Kiss”
The fires created this smoke filled fiery sky.
While we were in the Mara there were a series of controlled burns going on. The animals were forced to move from the flames to open areas just outside of the burning grasses. It was sad to see the antelope lined up looking as if they had nowhere to go. I created several images but am sharing just a couple. These fires also created dramatic skies.
After an amazing Mara adventure, we headed to Amboseli. Amboseli was experiencing one of the biggest droughts in 40 years. There were dead Wildebeest everywhere. Along with a few elephants and zebra. It was awful to see the starvation and witness the weak fall to the ground. It was so sad for all of us. On our second day it started to rain, and things were looking up. Hopefully more rain will come. It’s amazing how quickly the grass grows after a couple of days of rain.
Amboseli never disappoints when it comes to backlit and dust filled images.
There we photographed Craig (one of the oldest big tuskers- about 50 years old) who was looking very thin but was feeding on dead branches and underbrush while we were there. Most of the elephants stayed away from the dried lakebed and stayed near the marsh area. The marsh was teaming with birds and had lots of water.
Big tusker “Craig” with some creative edits to the background…
This was another elephant that was dusting itself.