Wildlife Photography Blog

Caption: Porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis) walking along bank of dry riverbed at dusk, Mashatu Game Reserve, Tuli Block, Botswana.

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM; Focal length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/160; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO 400.

It was during an afternoon game drive in Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana’s Tuli Block that I saw my first porcupine in the wild. As Mollman, our safari guide, eased the Toyota down the steep bank into a dry riverbed, he spotted the porcupine emerging from its burrow (below).

Although it was late afternoon with the low sun casting shadows in parts of the riverbed, this sighting was certainly unusual as porcupines are strictly nocturnal and not normally seen during daylight.

The porcupine was not particularly phased by our presence and set off determinedly across the riverbed, its black-and-white quills backlit by the sun’s last rays (right). Once on the other side, it climbed the bank and quickly disappeared from sight in the adjacent bush.

Porcupine quills are popular symbols of the African bush, much-loved by designers for decorating brochures and websites pertaining to African safaris. For me it was exciting seeing the actual carrier of the quills — the real thing as it were.

One of the myths about porcupines is that they shoot their quills when attacked by predators. As with most non-predators, the porcupine’s immediate response when threatened is to flee. However, if cornered it defends itself agressively, initially trying to scare off the attacker by stamping its feet, rattling its quills and grunting.

If the attacker fails to take evasive action quickly enough, the porcupine will rush backwards or sideways at it and jab the needle-sharp quills deeply into the attacker.

For porcupines, sex can be a prickly issue, but they get round this quite successfully and pairs will, in fact, copulate frequently. Like humans, they don’t only mate for breeding.

See safari guide Roddy Smith’s article, Porcupines Must Mate with Care, for more on this intriguing rodent.

Clipped from: photopeka.com (share this clip)

Photopeka.com is a recently launched photo blog that showcases a wide variety of photos from around the world.

Founder of the blog, Dustin Hill, clearly puts much time and thought into his selections, as they cover an intriguing range of subjects and locations. This type of selection is obviously subjective and not every shot will appeal to every reader.

However, what’s different and of value to photographers and those learning photography, is that Dustin adds comments and information about where and how the photograph was captured, including camera, lens and exposure details.

I’m obviously also happy that Dustin has included one of my photos from my Wildlife Photography Blog – see Zebra Trio

Caption: Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) takes a break from feeding on its kill, a female impala, to scan for any approaching scavengers, Mashatu Game Reserve, Tuli Block, Botswana.

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM; Focal length: 200mm; Shutter speed: 1/1250; Aperture: f/7.1; ISO: 400

The cheetah, once it had eaten its fill, moved away from the kill to rest in the shade of some nearby shrubs. After stretching and yawning, it began carefully grooming and cleaning itself, very like a domestic cat would do.

In the picture (right), it’s using it’s tongue to lick and clean its foreleg. Note the visible, unsheathed claws.

The cheetah’s claws — used mainly for providing traction during its short, blistering runs and not as weapons of attack — can only be partially retracted.

In contrast to this, other cats which either stalk or pounce on their prey, have claws that retract into sheaths when at rest, ensuring the claws remain sharp and ready for use.

We were interested that the first scavenger to arrive and start feeding on the remains of the kill was a tawny eagle (below), beating the resident jackals and hyenas to this free meal.

2012 Wildlife and Nature Calendars from Calendars.com

In addition to African wildlife such as lions, elephants, giraffes and zebras, there are also calendars featuring cute baby animals, garden and backyard birds, colorful butterflies, Polar bears, tigers, wolves and riveting landscapes.

This compelling selection of 2012 calendars, including wall, desktop and mini-calendars, features photography by many renowned wildlife photographers, including those from National Geographic.

See 2012 Wildlife Calendars for more.

Canon's new flagship DSLR, the EOS 1D X (left) with Lytro's 'focus later' Light Field Camera (right)

The Canon EOS 1D X is Canon’s new flagship digital SLR, featuring an 18-megapixel, full-frame CMOS sensor and a shooting speed of 12 frames a second. It replaces both the Canon 1D Mk IV with its APS-H format sensor and the full-frame Canon 1Ds Mk III, effectively consolidating the two ranges.

The ID X is expected to be available around March next year and will set you back close to $7,000.

Also expected to hit the shelves early next year, the other new camera unveiled, the Lytro Light Field Camera, will cost either $399 (8 Gb storage) or $499 with 16 gigs of storage.

What makes the Lytro different from anything seen before is the ability to set the focus later, on your computer. This is possible because the Lytro captures the entire light field — hence “light field” camera — whereas conventional cameras capture only a single plane of light.

From comments on photography websites and forums, it seems the Lytro is seen by many as a gimmick that’s headed for failure. But I’m not so sure and prefer speculating what’s possible when disruptive technology is introduced to a stable, mature industry — which makes me wonder whether the Lytro could in fact fundamentally change photography. See my article Will Lytro’s “focus later” Camera Revolutionise Photography? for more.

Caption: Leopard cub (Panthera pardus) relaxing on a termite mound in fading light, Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana.

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/40; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 800; Lens.

On a recent visit to Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana’s Tuli Block, we were fortunate to see an excellent variety of wildlife. Even though it was still very dry with the vegetation brown and parched, the animals looked in pretty good shape.

Some of the highlights incuded sightings of a cheetah mother with her sub-adult cub, three leopard cubs, lions, hyenas, numerous jackals, vultures squabbling over a lion kill, and even a porcupine at dusk.

The above photo is of one of the leopard cubs, a female, that we found alone with the remains of a kill that she fed on before posing for us on a termite mound. We later saw the other two cubs well camouflaged in a leafy tree, but never saw the mother, although she must have been nearby.