Gareth Carter Photography

Kalahari's Scally Ant-Eater

2014-02-24T12:36:00.000+02:00

Not too long ago I had shared a post on an enigmatic, rarely seen little creature, which for me was a first in my 15 years of guiding in Southern African reserves. If you know my story you will know I am talking about the ever elusive Ground Pangolin(Manis temminkii). It seems as though I have broken the 15 year dry spell as I have seen 2 in the last 2 months, both sightings giving me a sneak peek into these creature mysterious lives and the opportunity to photograph them in their natural habitat and the steps taken in the conservation of these animals.

Guest photographing a pangolin in the Southern Kalahari.

A Set of images of a Pangolin taken at Tswalu, in the Southern Kalahari.

My last Pangolin Sighting was an awesome experience as we got to see the little guy unravel out of his tight ball and scamper around the Kalahari desert doing what pangolins do best. We, my guest Lauren and I, spent a great deal of time observing and photographing the Pangolin in it’s environment while we waited for Tswalu Reserves conservation manager, Dylon, to take samples for genetic research and catalogue the individual found on the reserve for population numbers.

Conservation manager Dylon and his assistant Sam collecting genetic samples from the skin and scutes of a pangolin which will be sent to Pretoria for genetic analysis and recording.

They are tagged individually, by drilling holes into specific scales on the tail, thus giving them a unique number to identify them when found in the future. The drilled piece of scale is collected along with loose flakes of skin that are abundant between the scales for genetic research and sent to Pretoria University. This does no harm to the animal as the scales are made of keratin and have no nerve or blood running through them, basically they are just modified hair used for protection.

Skin is carefully collected from between the scutes and measurements taken so that when in the future this Pangolin is found again, accurate records can be taken on growth rates and home range areas.

A hole is drilled into 1,2 or 3 of the Scutes on a specific Row of 3 scutes. Depending on which row and which 3 scutes are drilled will determine the individual Pangolin’s Identity number. In this case the Pangolin would be Pangolin No: 1(ROW) AB (scutes). Scales coloured digitally for presentation purposes. No there are no rainbow coloured Pangolins running around the Kalahari.

After the Data and genetic collection, this individual seemed to suffer no ill effects and carried on as he was when we found him.

Not only was it great to see this little guy going about his daily business, but was awesome to catch a glimpse of what goes on in the background to ensure the conservation of these animals was truly an honour for both myself and Lauren my Guest.

The Okavango Delta Pan-Handle…… Botswana’s birding paradise.

2013-11-20T11:40:00.002+02:00

Having just come back from a 4 day birding photography extension in Botswana’s Okavango Deltas Pan-Handle with an Australian group, I can categorically say that this is a birders paradise, whether you are a twitcher at heart or just want to get some incredible birding images, the Okavango Deltas Pan-Handle is the Place to be.

With 84 species countered in 4 days and 7 lifers ticked off for my books, bearing in mind that we were concentrating on specific birds like Kingfishers, African Skimmers, Carmine Bee-Eaters and the African Fish Eagle, the species was quite impressive. The days were taken up by early morning and afternoon boat trips up and down the tributaries of the Pan-Handle in search of our birding Quarry.

The first early morning trip up river we decided to target African Skimmers and the African Fish Eagle, with a return trip searching out the Pel’s Fishing Owl on the islands just north of our camp before getting back to Xaro Lodge for a late breakfast.

Having filled our cards memories with Fish Eagles in early morning light, we started slowly making our way down river towards the African Skimmers breeding beaches, all the while searching for any other photographic subjects.

The African Skimmer is listed as a threatened species by the IUCN, with a estimated population in Southern Africa of 9500 birds. The main threat to the species is the creation of dams along important water sources as they need bare sand banks to breed during the dry season. This colony was one of 3 that we encountered during the 4 days.

Having spent a good 2 hours with the Skimmers we were able to take some creative images of these birds as they flew close to the waters surface, while pursuing prey and each other.

We had about an hour of light left and decided to check out the Palm islands that dot their way through the Pan-Handle in search of the elusive Pel's Fishing Owl, which luckily I know of a breeding pair not far from our home base, so we made our way to Loyd's Camp island to see if we could track this mysterious bird.

The group and I returned to base camp in preparation for the next 2 days of birding photography in the Pan-Handle.

The rest of the trip was spent moving up and down river into the Pan-Handles smaller tributaries and channels in search of the smaller, unlikely species of bird that frequent these smaller water pathways and capturing the nesting Carmine Bee-Eaters in the afternoons, while always keeping our eyes open for any further Fish Eagle and African Skimmers action while on the river.

Keeping the best action for last, the colony of Carmine Bee-Eaters was a treat for the entire group. Although difficult at first to keep up with the birds due to their aerial acrobatics, we had spent 4 hours at the colony and everyone started to get the hang of capturing these birds in flight.

The Carmine’s were a great end to the Okavango Deltas Pan-Handle extension, where the group now made their way into Botswana’s great game reserves, the Moremi and Chobe, to see what lay in store for them in the guise of furrier subjects.

Finally, this image of an African Skimmer was the perfect end to the 4 days extension to the rest of the Botswana Safari.

Searching for the Pangolin!

2013-10-25T11:29:00.001+02:00

It has been awhile since I have posted on this blog and I am sorry to have neglected those have been following me. The last year has been a bit of a whirl-wind with the starting up of my Photographic Safaris Company, and because of that all my efforts have been concentrated in that direction. So as a new post on a blog that has been a little neglected I would like to share with you my guiding career in images.

There are specific creatures and critters that are high on every wildlife guide, photographer or safari travellers list, the bucket-list animal that we would travel to the ends of the earth to find. As a professional safaris guide in Africa I have my own “Bucket-list” of critters that I want to tick off, on top of this list has been the Cape or Ground Pangolin (Manis temminckii), which are found for the greater part in Southern and eastern Africa. Although they are relatively widespread and are found in a myriad of habitats, these animals are rare, having been placed on the IUCN Red Data List as an Endangered species.

In this post I want to take you on a visual journey, my journey as a Field Guide and wildlife photographer, following my career over the past 14 years. I hope to share some of my experiences with you in pictures, from the beginning until the day I found my Pangolin. Starting off using 35mm slide film and hopefully maturing as a photographer into the digital age. The following have been chosen on their merit as images of memorable sightings I have had during my career and images that I personally think are a cut above the rest. I hope that they convey my story to you until we find the Pangolin together.

2003 - 4 years into guiding and my first SLR Camera. Canon EOS 8 (Analogue)

At this point of my photographic career I was just clicking away and didn't realize the fundamentals of photography and what all the bits and bobs my camera could allow me to do. It was through my guiding mentor, Lee Gutteridge, that I learnt more then just the basics and my photography got better as I went along.

2004 – 2009 I had made the move from an analogue SLR to Canons EOS 20D Dslr.

2010 – Present The Big boys come out and I purchased myself Canons EOS 7D. It is with this camera that I have ended my guiding career in the lodge industry and now, since 2012, we started Untamed Odyssey and busy myself with freelance guiding within Southern Africa.

These images are just a small collection from many years in the industry while "searching for the Pangolin", I think there is an obvious change in quality, especially from the first few years of photography. Lately I have been on a mission to tick off some of the rarer species, and the Pangolin has been right at the top of my Bucket list. Over the past year I have been lucky enough to visit and guide at Tswalu Private Game Reserve in the Kalahari which finally brought the end to my Pangolin search, when on the 7 of October my guests and I were privileged to find one of these odd-ball critters in its natural environment.

Notice the smile on my face!

Thank you for taking the time out and joining me in my "Search for the Pongolin".

2013 BIG BANG ! ! !

2013-01-03T17:49:00.000+02:00

Highveld Thunderstorm

2012-10-17T21:30:00.000+02:00

Dem Daisies

2012-08-26T12:35:00.002+02:00

Leopard Silhouette

2012-07-06T10:18:00.003+02:00

Finally, a clear night for a bit of trails photography!

2012-07-03T09:36:00.000+02:00

Published,...... Finally ! ! !

2012-06-02T16:10:00.001+02:00

Finally.......... My photography has officially been published in a great field guide by Lee Gutteridge.

Lee's first edition of his field guide "The Bushveld" came out a few years ago and concerntrated mainly on the Waterberg region of South Africa's Limpopo Province.

Since then he has brought out another field guide on the Okavongo and Rock Paintings in Southern Africa. This 2nd edition on the Bushveld includes the Kruger and surrounding Lowveld area, well known to many safari enthusiasts.

Lee approached me early last year looking for new images for the new edition and hopefully some of the less seen critters with which a was proud to oblige. There are a number of my images that were used, but my images of a Cape Grass Bird and Aardvark have to be my favourite.

If you are interested in obtaining a copy for yourself you can contact Sarah at sarah@natureguidetraining.com

Limited Editions up for grabs.

2012-05-22T22:25:00.006+02:00

Hi guys and girls,

I have been playing around with a few of my images and have come up with some high contrast black and white shots that I would like to put out there if any of you are interested. The size of each print can be found under the image and can be printed on canvas, high gloss or matt super fine photographic print paper.
Each print will be personally signed by me.
The cost of each print is ZAR 1,180.00

Drop me a line via E-mail at garethinthebush@gmail.com and let me know what you are looking for.
I am looking forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the images.

Up Hi ( 1400 x 850 )

Coming Chameleon ( 1200 x 750 )

Take Off ( 1200 x 750 )

Ol' Bull (1200 x 750 )

Toddler ( 1200 x 750 )

The Chase (1200 x 750 )

Get Out there and Keep Shooting!

Sundew chowdown !

2012-05-07T11:59:00.001+02:00

I decided to get a bit of Macro done and focused my lens towards my pet Sundew. These little guys are part of the family Drosera, comprising some 194 species in the carnivorous plant family.

Unlike the Venus Flytrap, which has a trigger mechanism that helps trap their 'prey', the Sundews have leaves that are covered with tiny hairs, each with a drop of mucilage at their tip. This mucilage is where the Sundew gets its name, as it looks like dew drops have settled on the plant.

This sticky Mucilage helps trap the insect to the plant and aids with the digestive process as it is full of enzymes that break down the food source for the plant. The resulting nutrient soup is then absorbed by the leaf.

Very, very cool plants.

Get out there and Keep Shooting ! ! !

Just like "The Silence of the Lambs"! ! !

2012-05-07T11:19:00.006+02:00

Those of you who have seen the movie "Silence Of The Lambs", may remember this little fellow. This is the Death's Head Hawk Moth (A. lachesis.). They are often seen raiding Honey Bee hives for their honey.
The moth has an unfortunate reputation, and is associated with folk tales involved in evil and the supernatural.

Death's Head hawk Moth from above.

Death's Head Close up

Seen these guys at Safari Lodges before, but didn't think I would come across one at the coast. Very, very cool to see.

Get out there and Keep Shooting! ! !

New survey and a Dry Dock ! ! ! !

2012-04-17T14:19:00.005+02:00

Please checkout the survey below and answer the questions when you can.Thanks for the support.

Click here to take survey

Below was an image I captured in Cape town at the V&A waterfront of a ship in a dry dock. The contrast in Black and White came out better then it did in color. Might just hang this up on my wall!

Get out there and keep Shooting!

Hout Bay Night Skies.

2012-03-21T10:43:00.001+02:00

Last night, I had the opportunity to create some really interesting images with StarstaX, which is a great multi-image stacking programme free off the net and very easy to use. I had at my disposal a platter of texture and color as I was shooting from a bouldered beach at sunset and to top it off we had a couple of guests staying with us at Tintswalo Atlantic who just got engaged at the time of the photo, so I thought I would add them to my "platter".

This image was created with 240 images @ 12 sec. each. Then layered in StarstaX and finally edited in Photoshop. Let me know what you think.

Get out there and Keep Shooting!

The Hunting Grounds.

2012-02-25T19:17:00.000+02:00

Hi Guys and Gals,

I have just edited another quick video on a blog that I posted back in November 2010 of a hunt between a pride of 3 male lion and 5 lioness, and a male buffalo. I hope you enjoy the footage and please comment and let me know what you think?

Get out there and Keep Shooting ! ! !

Something New. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2012-02-24T07:45:00.002+02:00

Hi Guys and Gals,

This is something new that I would like to play with in the future. Eventually, once I get the hang of it I will hopefully be able to share a bit of what I've learnt as a Wildlife Photographer and as a Field Guide working in Southern Africa's Top Private Reserves. I am looking forward to getting this process polished up so that it will be content and visually interesting, and hopefully something that you can learn from.

The following is my first try at it and shows some of my images that were taken during my time a leopardhills in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa. Feel free to crit as this is still a learning process for me.

Thanks and Enjoy!

Get out there and Keep Shooting! ! !

Running with the wind

2012-02-21T13:22:00.000+02:00

This is an image I caught whilst photographing a pride of 11 lion ( 3 Males and 8 large females) hunting a lone bull Buffalo in the Kruger Park early one morning. The Buffalo was rite on the males rear end, but they were to close for me to get them in the picture so I cropped it down to just the male. I blogged about this earlier last year and forgot about this image.

Get out there and Keep Shooting! ! !

Bushveld Princess.

2012-01-06T11:59:00.000+02:00

Lovely 8 month old Leopard cub. She gave me hours of perfect Leopard cub interaction.

Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Lens: Canon 100mm - 400mm EF-L f 4.5 - 5.6
Aperture: f 5.6
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/200 sec
Very low light and shutter speed, used a beanbag to steady the camera.

Get out there and Keep Shooting ! ! !

Highveld Electrical Lights !

2012-01-06T10:34:00.011+02:00

Lighting is definitely one of my favorite photographic subjects, and although I haven't quite captured the perfect images yet, I am very pleased with what I have caught so far. These images are from an electrical storm about for years ago. I must have taken about 300 images that night and as it was my first time trying to capture lightning I was fiddling around with settings the whole time. Since then I have refined my lightning photo's, but these are from my first go at it.

Get out there and keep Shooting ! ! !

Good 'ol Dugga Boys

2012-01-05T21:55:00.004+02:00

Dugga Boys.................old, usually lone male Cape Buffalo are affectionately called this because of their habit of wallowing in mud to cool off and rid themselves of irritating, biting insects. Dagga, South African Slang for mud or cement, hardens on these animals skins, thus giving them their name.
I found this old bull in the Kruger taking a midday wallow to cool himself off in the hot Southern African sun.

Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Lens: Canon 100mm - 400mm EF-L f4.5 - 5.6
Aperture: f11
Shutter: 1/320 sec
ISO: 250

Get out there and keep Shooting! ! !

Kalahari Boys

2012-01-04T12:51:00.002+02:00

Found this coalition at a waterhole in the Kgalagadi quenching their thirst after a long hot day in bush.

Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Lens: Canon 100mm - 400mm EF-L f4.5 - 5.6
Aperture: f 6.3
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/200 sec

Get out there and keep Shooting!!!

The Little Things.

2012-01-04T12:07:00.004+02:00

Sitting around, Canon in hand looking for little tit bits at the Sanctuary Retreats Management Houses in Maun while waiting for our paperwork to be finalized for our work permits.

Nothing seemed like it wanted to expose itself to my lens and I started getting a little frustrated, so I lit a cigarette and opened a beer while I waited.

Putting out my Cherri of the cigarette I noticed this tiny little chap and quickly changed lenses and added my 5x Diopter to the lens.

This little snail measured about 2mm in length and was definitely a mollusc that I never seen before.
I messed around with flash and bouncing light off a A4 piece of paper to direct light and try and defuse it a little. These are some of what I got.

Get out there and keep Shooting!

Night Lights......

2011-10-22T08:32:00.001+02:00

There have been a few great electrical storms for the beginning of the season, so I decided to grab the camera and get some.

Camera - Canon Eos 20D
Lens - Canon 15mm - 85mm EF f3.5 - 5.6
Aperture - f8
Shutter Speed - 25 Sec
ISO - 100

Get out there and Keep Shooting!

Jackal Buzzard Close-up

2011-10-10T15:51:00.001+02:00

Camera - Canon Eos 7D
Lens - Canon 100mm-400mm EF-L
Aperture - f/5.6
Shutter - 1/800 sec
ISO - 200

Get out there and keep on Shooting!

Pixoto's No:1 image for September 2011.

2011-09-29T09:10:00.002+02:00

I have recently joined a photographic dueling website called Pixoto. You upload your best images in certain categories that are then voted for against other photographers images. This is done per week, then per month and then annually. Some truly incredible photography to be seen on this site and a great way for up coming photographers to get recognized.
The following image is one that I uploaded in September and won first place in the wildlife category.

Camera - Canon Eos 7D
Lens - Canon 100mm-400mm EF-L
Aperture - f/6.3
Shutter Speed - 1/30 sec
ISO - 200
Bounced Flash for fill.

Go and checkout Pixoto's webpage (http://www.pixoto.com/contest). Some really cool images and some great photographers.

Get out there and Keep Shooting ! ! !