There my boys rode jeeps, watched the wildlife day and night, and fished; in fact my youngest son, 9-year-old Willy caught the largest tigerfish (a fish found only in the Zambezi) that they’d seen in many years!

While we saw many wonderful animals on this safari, I became especially captivated by the zebras. As I’ve written about before, I am fascinated with textures and patterns, and the striking stripes of these wild African horses were absolutely beautiful.

Our safari guide Gadric and I, clothed in safari camouflage, would get as close as possible to the group of zebras. Zebras live in harems with one stallion standing watch over several mares and their foals, and the male head of this group would always place himself between us and the other zebras. It was so cool to watch the interactions of the family unit, and each of my zebra photos represents a different part of it.

Because I spent so much time observing the zebras, I was lucky to catch some very special moments in time, with the bright sunlight behind the zebras’ heads etching out nearly every silvery hair.

The male zebra, watching us watch his group

As far as the other animals, at tea time every day, the below family of elephants would parade through our camp as if they owned the place. They were on their way to their afternoon swim on the Zambezi, and we would watch them all jump into the water and then float down the fast-moving river with their trunks in the air—something I won’t forget anytime soon!

This trip to Africa seemed to have a family theme, with all the fascinating animal families we observed and the fun times my husband and I had with my boys. The first thing I did when I returned was print the below large-size black-and-white photo of young zebras (ZIGZAG (#3824 B&W)—as both a striking piece of art for my sitting room and a wonderful reminder of our most memorable family trip yet!

Visit my AFRICA gallery to see my unique photos of the zebra family in various configurations. They are available in limited editions of only 25 prints of each, available for different decors in black-and-white, sepia, or color.

Last year, Barbara Erdmann Photography supported 8 kids in summer camp, and I’m pleased to report that in Summer 2014 I’ll be supporting 15 deserving kids’ participation in the Maritime Aquarium’s recreational programs. This support is a direct result of the wonderful support I received in the past year from everyone who sells and purchases my photos, including my favorite designers and my retail stores: Lillian August (Greenwich and Norwalk); Pimlico (New Canaan); Parc Monceau (Westport); Bel Mondo (Westport); Manor Home (Larchmont); BB abode (Darien); Gallery 52 (Rye); and Rider Gallery (Orchard Park). (See more details on my Retail Galleries page.)

Thanks to all, and I know that the summer-camp kids thank you, too.

You may have noticed that I recently posted a new category of photos on this website called “Triptychs.” I’ve loved photographing reflections and textures up close, and it turns out that decorators and other customers love them, too! After a number of interior designers told me that they like hanging artwork in threes and asked if my photos could be split into trios, I decided to pick out ones that I knew would make the most striking threesomes. Check out my Triptych Gallery and let me know if you agree.

In case you missed it, I was profiled in June 2012 on Holly Hurd’s wonderful site VentureMom.com. Here’s the link: http://venturemom.com/2012/06/13/barbara-erdmann-photography/