Another shot from my Botswana adventure,  this is one of several giraffe portraits I took and yet another experiment in toned monochrome treatments.   Interesting how one's approach to image processing can change with,  and benefit from,  taking a break from an image.   I processed this shot last week and was quite pleased with the effect I got.  Putting the processed image aside,  I didn't post it on schedule on Friday (sorry about that chief),  but came back to the image several days later.   On second viewing I felt that the image wasn't quite right and went back into the file to make one simple adjustment.  There's no right or wrong on these things,  just personal taste,  but I'm glad that in this instance there was the delay in posting as the image, or maybe more to the point,  my feelings about it,  "matured".           

   Canon 5D Mk 2, focal length 700mm (500mm + 1.4x converter)  at F6.3,  shutter speed 1/1250 second at ISO 200.

Other web activities.

     Today's image is also the new homepage image at my mainsite,  click on the picture to view the "homepage image explained" page (should open in a new window) if you'd like to know more about it.  

     Several folks from the spaces.live system have joined me over at FaceBook as well,  which is kind of nice.  If you'd like to join me on the FB system,  here's the link:    FaceBook_page;_KD.    At risk of sounding like a grouch,  if you are on FaceBook or you'd like to join me there,  please refrain from sending me stuff from the plethora of add-ons that seem to exist there,  "what breed of dog do you resemble?" "what your star sign says about you"  etc, etc.   I guess some people love that stuff,  but personally,  I find it rather pointless.   cheers KD.  

    Well folks,  if you've visited my blog page before,  you'll know that I normally reserve Wednesdays for stuff that's a bit weird or wacky.   I'm not calling this one weird or wacky,  just a little bit different.   Going through some more of my Botswana shots (will I ever finish them?) I decided to process this egret shot a little differently by going for a toned monochrome effect.   This was really the result of experimenting with the develop function in Lightroom until I arrived at something that appealed to me.    I was torn between sharpening the image further to emphasis the feather details or leaving the image slightly soft,  in the end I chose the latter.       

         Canon 5D Mk2 with 500mm lens and 1.4x teleconverter (total focal length 700mm) at F5.6,  shutter speed 1/1600 second at ISO 200.

Banner image.

     Thanks to those who responded to my "can you see my banner?" inquiry.   I've now rectified the problem,  turns out I somehow messed up the viewing permissions...oops.

Wallpaper Image.

      A reminder that the image on my previous entry "Lion and Red Lechwe" is currently available as a wallpaper or screensaver image,  downloadable in a variety of screen resolutions at my mainsite.    Hit the link on the previous blog entry for details.    My practice is to make such images available for a limited time only,  otherwise the site gets a bit unmanageable.                               cheers KD.

    Still working through the Kwetsani camp shots and our lion, whom we've been following across the floodplain for a couple of blog entries now,  encounters a herd of red lechwe.  The red lechwe is a species of antelope which has adapted superbly to the flood plain conditions.   Completely at home in the semi aquatic environment with a greasy coat which sheds water and large hooves for running over swampy ground, the lechwe maintain a distance from which,  in the conditions,  they can easily avoid the lone lion.   

    Given the detail in this image,  it's best viewed large.   It occurred to me that some readers may wish to use the image as a wallpaper or screen saver for their monitor.    Looking through the statistics for my website,  I can see that 5 different screen resolutions cover roughly 90% of all visitors.  So with that in mind,  I've prepared the image in those resolutions and made them available for download at my mainsite.    Click on the photo for the link and enjoy.   Please note the copyright explanation on the linked page. 

     Cats don't like water,  right?   Well,  as demonstrated by this lion walking through water,  it depends on your environment,  and if your environment is the Okavango Delta,  chances are,  you're going to get your feet wet.   Taken early morning near Kwetsani camp in Botswana,  the lion continues to patrol his territory. 

     Canon 5D Mk 2,  70-300mm lens at 130mm and F5.6,  shutter speed 1/100 second at ISO 400.

     One of the memorable things that occurred during my time at Kwetsani in the Okavango Delta was a wonderful sighting of this lion at sunrise.    As was the pattern,  we got out of bed at 5.30 a.m. had some breakfast and then climbed into our 4x4 vehicles to set out looking for wildlife prior to the sun actually rising.   Our group used 3 vehicles and headed off in different directions.    Just on sunrise one of the vehicles sighted the lion as it stepped out from the undergrowth on the edge of the floodplain and started walking across the open flood plain.    Having got a radio message from the first vehicle we went to have a look too.   This is one of the resulting photos.    This lion,  a young male in beautiful condition,  walked the full length of the flood plain in front of us.   Our guide explained that he was patrolling his territory,  sniffing to try and detect the presence of any other lions that may have passed through the area.   I guess we must have followed him for about 20 minutes or so,  he was completely unconcerned by our presence.  

     Shutters chattered away continuously,  god knows how many gigabytes we collectively shot.   Imagine Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arriving on the red carpet at the Oscars and you have some idea of the photographic frenzy!   (a "photographic orgy" as one of my travelling companions put it)   Only here there were no flashes and no suggestion of surgical enhancement!      

     Canon 5D Mk 2 at 105mm and F5.6,  shutter speed 1/250 second at ISO 400.

     A male impala shown in its environment in the Okavango Delta,  Botswana.   The tall reeds and grasses are both blessing and curse,  plenty to feed on but also good concealment for predators.    Whilst I like to get close up shots of wildlife,  sometimes it's good to get a broader view and show the animal in the landscape.

     Canon 5D with 500mm lens at F6.3,  shutter speed 1/1600 second at ISO 400.

   Another shot from the Okavango Delta near Kwetsani camp,  and another unscheduled blog entry to try and clear the backlog.   In common with several shots I've presented over the last week or two,  this shot was taken from a small boat and features the abundant lilypads.  

   Canon 5D with 24-105mm zoom lens at 24mm and F13,  shutter speed 1/40 second at ISO 400.

Wide Angle Lenses.

    When people think of wide angle lenses they often think of broad landscapes,  the wide angle will allow me to "get the whole scene" in the frame.   This is of course true,  but the wide angle lens has another characteristic which makes it particularly useful and that's its extended depth of field.   In order to give the landscape a feeling of depth,  it's really worthwhile looking for interesting foreground material and getting close to it.    The perspective effect of the wide lens,  combined with a close foreground will add emphasis to that foreground material.   In this instance I positioned the camera low to the edge of the boat to make the most of the lilypads,  the closest of which was probably only a metre away.   To further take advantage of the foreground,  I chose a small aperture to ensure the greatest possible depth of field.   Everything in the frame is sharp.

    Also interesting here is the way the light plays on the water.   Being sunset the tones in the sky and on the horizon are warm with red and yellow elements which are of course reflected in the distant water.   The further towards the bottom of frame we get the colder the tones become.   At this point we're looking down at a steeper angle avoiding the sunset's reflection.   The broad perspective of the wide angle lens allows us to capture the contrasting tones which become a feature of the image.

    The take home point out of all this?    Look for and take advantage of good foreground material particularly when using wide angle lenses.   To further illustrate the point,  put your hand over the bottom half of the picture and visualize the remainder as a panoramic,   not very interesting is it?

      Given the backlog of stuff I've got at the moment I figured a Wednesday posting might be in order,  even if it's not a "weird Wednesday" type subject or treatment.  Waterlillies are a common sight on the channels and lagoons of the Okavango Delta.    The choice of such a long lens may seem odd for such a subject and I took several shots at closer range with shorter lenses,  but at the time we were looking for small birds.    I saw this lily on the water,  had a look through the lens and it looked pretty good so,  why not?    Notice the small strands of spider's web between some of the petals,  on further enlargement you can also see them reflected in the water.   I've commented before about the extraordinary detail you can get with digital but it continues to amaze me.     

Canon 5D at 700mm (500mm lens x1.4 tele extender) at F13,    shutter speed 1/800 second at ISO 400.

     As the title suggests,  sunset over the flood plains of the Okavango Delta near Kwetsani camp.   This is the same area as for the kingfisher and jacana shots posted last week.    When reviewing and rating my shots in Lightroom,  this was a shot that I initially didn't rate all that highly.  On second viewing however,  I decided to just quickly throw a couple of adjustments at it to see if there was anything worthwhile in it.   Although others may disagree,  I kind of like the result.  I opened up the foreground shadows and enhanced the warmer colours there.   The sky has had very little done to it,  and I added a vignette to the overall scene.    I've made the point previously that there is no reason why a telephoto lens can't be used for landscapes and this is another demonstration of that.

     Canon 5D mk 2 with 500mm lens at F5.6,  shutter speed 1/320 second at ISO 800.

     Once again from the channels,  pools and lagoons of Kwetsani in the Okavango Delta of Botswana.  Taken on the same afternoon as the Malachite Kingfisher shot (see previous entry) this African Jacana was one of numerous species we saw whilst exploring the waterways in small boats.   Notice the long toes which are an adaption for walking on the many lily pads which grow throughout the delta.    Taken with the long telephoto plus a tele extender in the late afternoon,  this shot has had very little digital manipulation of the colours.    The bird was jumping from one lily pad to another,  if you look closely you'll see a trail of water droplets left behind as he jumped.

       Canon 5D at 700mm,  F7.1,  shutter speed 1/1000 second at ISO 400.

Website updates.

     Looking at my mainsite I realized that,  with everything that's been going on,  I've been a little slow to update recently.    As a result I'm making an effort to update more frequently.   The homepage image was updated 24 hours ago and the linked page gives a further explanation regards today's image.     As you can see the current blog banner features a Malachite Kingfisher,  to visit my mainsite just click on the banner image.       cheers KD