Photography is a magical kind of art that allows people to preserve time and moments, and to describe the world the way they see it. - Sahara Sanders

The creative side of photography has appealed to me more and more over the last couple of years and it’s pretty amazing to note the progress you achieve over time. When I started, I was more concerned with video and simply documenting events, but as my passion, knowledge and skill levels grew, so did my creative process. I now look at a scene and more or less know what I wish to achieve with the image, especially when it comes to monochrome conversions. Monochrome to me is the more expressive art form and my preferred way to showcase the natural world. I hope you enjoy this week’s selection of images...

Brown-hooded Kingfishers are among the most common of the resident kingfishers and can often be seen searching for food from a perch. I pursued a slight high-key approach due to the prevailing weather conditions and I really liked the result.

I really enjoy night-time photography, particularly when employing the use of spotlights. When you’re lucky enough to have others that understand the applications, you can achieve some great results such as this image of a Charleston male on the move.

Panoramic stitching is something I’ve been toying with for some time now and I’ve been really happy with some of the results. There are many instance where there’s too much lens for the scene and panoramas are a great way to include all the elements.

Spending time with the Southern Pride’s newest cubs has been an incredible experience. They are so calm and confident, even at such a young age, making viewing an absolute pleasure. I loved the dappled light in this scene, forcing its way through the tree canopy and illuminating portions of only the one sibling.

The Verraux’s Eagle-Owl or Giant Eagle-Owl as it used to be called, is one of the most beautiful owls we have in our region, but difficult to find. We were lucky here to find this bird one night and it was calm enough for us to take our time in photographing it using a spotlight. I used a split toning effect in the monochrome conversion, adding an interesting dimension to the image.

There’s no substitute for good light or use thereof. We don’t always want light to hit our subjects straight on and in fact in most cases, using a side light can create a nicer mood to the image. These elephants were casually surrounding us while feeding and the opportunity for this image materialized and I just knew it would be great in a warm Sepia tone.

The last light of day is always the softest and subtlest of the 12-hour period and I love photographing pretty much anything in it, but when there’s an opportunity to photograph leopards during this time, I take it with both hands. The Hlarulini female, pictured here, was moving about in front of Bush Lodge scent-marking heavily, but pausing briefly so I could get this image of her. She is a real beauty.

I love pretty much everything about this image and is one of a kind within my portfolio. Our positioning, the light and of course luck, were all in our favour on this day and I wanted to show the cub in its environment, still be zoomed in enough to be the main focal point of the image. The backlighting really enhanced the image more than I could’ve hoped for.

One of my favourite antelope species and possibly the rarest that we have on our reserve. They are very habitat specific and so one does not really find them by accident, but on this occasion I hit the jackpot when I spotted this male, accompanied by a female, resting and ruminating quite close to the road and very relaxed with our presence, a behavior rarer than the antelope itself.

This was a sensational moment for me and a first glimpse of the Southern Pride cubs just outside their rocky den. I’ve always wanted to capture an image at a den area and on this day my wish came true. It was humbling to be in such a position and being privy to such a secret. I will forever cherish this particular experience.

Blog by Mike Palmer (Bush Lodge Ranger)