As a result of working at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, I have had the greatest opportunities to photograph animals of all kinds in their natural habitat. With so many opportunities, I started seeing many of my pictures were coming out very similar so I thought how could I do something a little different. I have a Canon 100-400mm lens which gives me great variety in the field which gave me an idea...

This image below was after the Southern Pride managed to successfully bring down a buffalo. After feeding, they went for a drink of water at a nearby by water point. By zooming in and focusing just on the nose, I captured this lioness’s tongue licking the last droplets on her nose.

Giraffes are beautifully captured with the landscapes, sometimes however it’s just not possible as they often hide behind a tree or stay in the thickets. So, for this image the giraffe’s head was behind the tree with the body sticking out to the side and I saw my gap and zoomed all the way in to 400mm capturing the patterns which just happened to look like the African Continent.

With photographers chasing light, it can be quite the challenge. You don't always get a high-profile animal in great lighting conditions and when you do, they don't always turn and pose for you - they have their own agenda in mind. This rhino was not helping our case as he kept moving away from the light opposed to walking into it, so the majority of his head and face were in the shade. I noticed the dust which was being picked up by the feet as he walked across the road, I didn't have much time to act and managed to capture the little bit of great light we had coming off his foot.

Kigelia was on a hunt and was climbing up trees for some height advantage to see if she could spot some prey. She jumped up a nearby tree which had many branches and leaves blocking her face and I was too close to fit all of her body into a camera frame. She stood on one of the outer branches where I was able to capture her beautiful paws.

A huge male elephant was feeding on some grasses and just kept getting closer and closer, so it was time to zoom in and focus on the finer details of his tail. Generally, the older the elephant gets the less hair they have on the tail.