This is an African White Backed Vulture at the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre in Limpopo, South Africa. It’s an old picture which I took back in 2007. This vulture is in rehabilitation because he has a damaged wing and sadly he will not fly again. So in this case, as a captive, he is in a good place.

I wondered about uploading this because it’s captive, and all of my African Wildlife pictures so far are not. But captive animals are real animals too, and so deserve equal treatment by photographers.

My own view is that if there’s a better place for captive animals, then that’s where they should be. In some cases, that means back in the wild again. In other cases that is not so simple. Simply releasing a captive-born of several generations could be just that.

This has always been a favourite picture of mine and it would be a shame not to show it.

After a slight wave of concern among its users, 500px seem to be rebuilding well again after their rather embarrassing relaunch last month. The dislike button is still a point of contention for some, but happily it has lost it’s effectiveness in the wrong hands to a large degree. The Flow Page I hear, is up for a revamp too.

Gradually, after user a fair bit of noisy feedback, the Wall is back, albeit hidden away somewhat, as is the Activity Page. Stories is good, although I’m not sure if that’s for me, and then there’s the new, but much incomplete Market. However this version still has the quality of a beta release, with a few too many bugs too be really considered final. In another month hopefully, they’ll all be gone.

But as it stands now, the pros far outweigh its cons, so if you’ve not signed up, see that you do because right now it is the best way to get eyes on your pictures.

My own 500px page is here and I’ve galleries too: Colour | Black and White | British Wildlife

I have released A Flick of the Tail as a limited edition print of 75. This was the image that saw me win a specially commended award at last year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year. It was also chosen for that competition’s annual Portfolio cover.

A Flick of the Tail is limited to a run of 75 only and are each hand numbered and signed by me just beneath the image area. Each print is embossed with a stamp on the paper’s edge and printed with a generous white border all around. I check each Limited Edition print to ensure quality before it is sent to the buyer.

Print sizes available are 40cm, 60cm, 80cm, framed or unframed. Larger sizes are available on request.
I have more information about my prints, the process we use, payment methods and delivery here.

To purchase or enquire about alternate payment methods, email me via my contact page or at ofni.dyolldivadnull@divad or go directly to my online store here.

Marsh Pride Lion Cub, Masai Mara, Kenya.

• 3rd August – 10th August 2012
• 11th August – 18th August 2012

We are offering Masai Mara Photographic tours for 2012 with 8 and 16 day options.

With co-host Will Burrard-Lucas of BeetleCam fame.

Join with Will and myself to photograph the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth, the annual migration in the Masai Mara in Kenya. We have a private luxury camp, in one of the best locations in the Masai Mara, inside the reserve, and directly in front of a main wildebeest crossing point, set aside especially for us.

For much more info on the tour, including of the vehicles we use, tuition, iMac workstation access at camp, itinerary and costs, then visit the tour info page here at Masai Mara Photo Tours. Who knows, BeetleCam itself may make an appearance on tour!

With the Wildlife Photographer of the Year entries out of the way, here’s one I had left over. I’m not sure if it would have passed in that competition as the guidelines state burning and dodging in moderation. While there was no cloning involved, curves and the black and white conversion allowed the background foliage to be reduced to what you see here. I think it’s still within the confines of traditional black and white darkroom methods, but I didn’t want to chance it with the competition and entered a safer image instead.

For what it’s worth, the original can be seen here. I processed this entirely in Adobe Lightroom, as with my other images, with no enhancement via Adobe Photoshop.

I added three more black and white prints to the store this week, two African Buffalo portraits and one Noble Lion. There’s now nine in the Limited Edition collection, the first six are here. Sizes begin at 30cm and 40cm wide respectively and go up to 80cm or more. There’s more info and print specifications at Print Info.

Zebra Pair

In August I took seven other keen photographers down to the Mara, and those who shared our truck were taken by this zebra pair. It is not uncommon to see zebra pairs like this, it partly acts as a defense mechanism (and it’s been suggested that their opposing tails keep their faces free of flies). But what made this one special was the clear and clean background they were set in. The three of us picked up on this, and this is my take. This one is available as a print here, and you can see a colour version here too.

Mara River Flyby

One morning during the annual wildebeest migration we were down by the Mara river first thing – just after 6:00am – and found ourselves using ISO settings of 6400 and even 12800 sometimes to catch a crossing. A little later, when the light was a little brighter there was a part two of the crossing, and on this occasion I noticed a steady stream of vultures and maribu storks flying over the top of the assembling wildebeest which had gathered down at the riverside. I managed a couple, and this is one of them.

Richmond Park Stag

I was in Richmond Park with Richard Peters one morning with no special plan in mind except just to see what we could find. The best time is early in the morning, when the light is most likely at its best, and also when there is nobody else about. There was a herd of bachelor males, not doing anything particularly interesting, when I noticed this one right in front of me. I took the picture but it was only afterwards that I realised what I had. It was consequently published shortly after in the first edition of N-Photo, the consumer Nikon enthusiasts magazine.

Leopard Cub

Our April visit to the Mara was probably not as satisfying as our previous trips if it wasn’t for the last early morning encounter of two young leopards, a male and his younger sibling as here. The light was just wonderful, we were positioned well, and we found ourselves with twenty minutes with these two. The only thing I wished for, was that this little one would look right at me, right into the camera. But he didn’t, not once, not for a second.

Leopard Sunrise

During the same April trip we had a fleeting sighting of this one under the canopy. Again it was early, about an hour after sunrise. The light beam shone through a gap in the trees just briefly as she turned back on herself. I managed three, but for this one her tail was perfect and the light on her completed the picture.

Male Lion

Well I said five, but I couldn’t resist a sixth one because in the end I couldn’t leave this guy out. This male lion was had just finished feeding on a wildebeest with his pride and was off for a lie down somewhere. The look of intensity was ever present and I was delighted to have caught it.

As I said many of my pictures from 2010 played their part in 2011, so I hope with a little luck some of my pictures from 2011 might play their part for me in 2012 in some way or another too.

Well there we are. My picture A Flick of the Tail graces the cover of this year’s rather prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year annual. After twenty years of collecting and admiring the books, I now find that I’m on one. Needless to say, I am quite delighted.

The competition this year attracted nearly 41,000 entries, which was whittled down to 12,152 entries for the semi-final round, then down to 1082 for the final round of judging. Of these, 104 were selected for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition and accompanying book.

I have collected these now very collectable books since their inception in 1991 and some years ago I aimed for inclusion in the book, and now I’m on it. So I feel very privileged to have been considered and ultimately successful.

I had success with two other images reaching the final round as well, with two lions in Lovestruck, and a capture of the annual wildebeest crossing in Mara Meleé as seen on 500px.

But the portfolio cover took me unawares, I least expected it, because until now there had not been a black and white picture chosen for the cover.