Author: Sjoerd jan ter Welle

Wildlife Photography - Anticipatience Put the words anticipation and patience together, and you have a good recipe for wildlife photography. A big part of wildlife photography is about patience. You might have to wait a long time for that one ‘perfect’ shot, but missing that one picture is more the rule than the exception – putting your camera down, not having the right settings, or just not anticipating the moment. Morning safari It was a lovely morning out in the bush. It being the rainy season, the bush was lush and green. Birdlife was abundant while the soaring temperatures and rain were ideal for insects. The large general game had dispersed, as there was plenty of water and food available. The lush green bush was a sight for sore eyes! Although we made it past first light, there was a thin cloud cover dampening the hard sunrays. Shadows became less dark and the reflecting sunlight soft. Ideal conditions to capture the beauty around you. For a couple of weeks, I had a picture in my mind of an oxpecker sitting in the curve of a buffalo horn. To capture this moment would be an achievement on its own. While we don’t often get to see these birds perched on the horn of a buffalo as there is no food available, oxpeckers feed on ticks, dead skin, body fluids, and insects, and are often found on the larger herbivores except for the elephant. Buffalo We came across some old dagga-boys, a term used for old male buffalos, the local word ‘dagga’ meaning mud. These old warriors were enjoying their pension and could often be found wallowing and sleeping in mud wallows. So luckily this little group of buffalo were relaxing and grazing the lush grasses and were in no hurry to get