Madikwed
FollowAfter spending 7 days searching in the Kruger National Park for the infamous Leopard, it would be my first trip not seeing one, I had become so despondent. I t...
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After spending 7 days searching in the Kruger National Park for the infamous Leopard, it would be my first trip not seeing one, I had become so despondent. I think the thrill of searching for a Leopard and finding one is what drives me to get up at 4am in the morning. Anyway, this was a fresh Lion kill that we stumbled upon where the vultures had just moved in on. I love the amazing power of these birds in flight so a fantastic find to see them this close up.
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Awards
Top Shot Award
Winner in African Wildlife Photo Challenge
Runner Up in African Wildlife Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in African Wildlife Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Wings in Motion Photo Contest
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Contest Finalist in The Food Chain Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Virtuoso
Top Ranks
p_eileenbaltz
April 19, 2017
Wow.......extraordinary work! As good as any I've seen in National Geographic.
isabeldevito
October 23, 2017
this is absolutely incredible, it feels like a Nat Geo magazine pullout. I love that the lion, top predator, is prey here.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photograph was taken near the Thokwani Picnic Site in the Kruger National Park.Time
We had spent a week in the park further up North. Due to the drought I struggled to find any great action scenes to shoot. On the last full day in the park we came across a Hyena running away from 'something' which alerted us to stop and watch. What we saw was vultures circling and dropping down from the sky so we decided to investigate by driving down a dirt road and came across this scene. It was the first time I had seen so many of these magnificent birds in the wild so close and was enthralled to spend some time photographing them swooping down to the carcass. This photograph was taken at around 1pm on the 15th of January 2016.Lighting
It was a cloudy day so I was constantly adjusting to compensate for the ever changing light.Equipment
I used a Canon 5D Markiii, 70mm-200mm 2.8 IS lens, and was hand held.Inspiration
I love the African Bush and what it has to offer. Because finding 'bigger' animals to shoot was so difficult this was one of those moment I would struggle to get again, at least this close to the road.Editing
Yes, I used photoshop to enhance the birds and bring back some of the sky. I have edited it in layers through camera raw to assist with the process. The background in particular seemed incredibly dull because it was a little bit washed out.In my camera bag
I usually carry with me, a 5D Markiii, a 60D backup, a 70mm-200mm 2.8 IS Canon Lens, a 100mm Prime Canon Lens, a 24mm-105mm Canon Lens, a Tokina 11mm-18mm 2.8 Lens, my bottom of the range flash (as I do not use flash often but nice to have one), a trigger, chargers and batteries, a tripod, a small chair, cleaning equipment and a Kinder Joy Toy I have named 'Delilah'.Feedback
You have to have a lot of patience for this. If you are not used to Africa, a guide would be a good idea as they will know the good spots to go to depending on what you would like to photograph. Tracking the movements of animals in the Kruger National Park really helps and going in low season is a must if you are a photographer. Far less cars and people to contend with. Keep your shutter speed as high as possible and work on an F-stop of about 5.6-8 if you would like to keep the image crisp with some depth of field. I prefer to keep an ISO of about 500 too and not go higher than that. Africa is undoubtably my favourite place on earth and anyone who has the opportunity to come and photograph here is privileged.