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Like Father, Like Son--Black Maned Lions of the Kalahari



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These are black maned lions of the Kalahari in Botswana. We came upon a pride of 10, the male, 5 cubs, and 4 females. They had killed a gnu the night before and...
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These are black maned lions of the Kalahari in Botswana. We came upon a pride of 10, the male, 5 cubs, and 4 females. They had killed a gnu the night before and were headed in to find shade for a rest. The male had already gone ahead to scout the territory and had just called a couple of the cubs to come to him.

I DO WANT TO ANNOUNCE THAT THIS PICTURE HAS RECEIVED SIX FEATURES, BUT VIEWBUG, IN ITS INFINITE WISDOM NOW HAS THE POLICY TO JUST SHOW ONE OF THEM. "TO KEEP YOUR PHOTO PAGE CLEAN, WE ARE NOT ADDING A DUPLICATED FEATURE AWARD : )". (YES, THE SMILEY FACE IS THEIRS). SO I'LL CLUTTER UP MY OWN DAMN PAGE.

I DID WRITE THEM IN PROTEST AND GOT THEIR USUAL MUMBO JUMBO ABOUT SHARING MY INSIGHTFUL FEEDBACK WITH THEIR TECH TEAM, WORKING ON UPDATES, YADA YADA YADA.

1. FEATURED IMAGE OF THE WEEK, 5-15
2. FEATURED PHOTO OF THE WEEK, 8-16
3. FEATURED BY VIEWBUG WEEK OF 11-9-16
4. FEATURED BY VIEWBUG WEEK OF 12-18-16
5. FEATURED BY VIEWBUG WEEK OF 7-3-17
6. FEATURED BY VIEWBUG WEEK OF 8-1-17
7. FEAATURED BY VIEWBUG WEEK OF 9-3-17

Copyright Notice: All images on this web site are protected by the U.S. and international copyright laws, all rights reserved. The images may not be copied, reproduced, manipulated or used in any way, without written permission of Kay Brewer, Artist, and Kay Brewer Photographs, a licensed business. Any unauthorized usage will be prosecuted to the full extent of U.S. Copyright Law.


Available for print without watermark and signature at:
KayBrewerPhotographs.com
PhotographsByKayBrewer.com
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6552

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Awards

Contest Finalist in Visions Of Africa Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Exotic Wildlife Photo Contest
Curator's Choice in Covers Photo Contest Vol 25
  View more
Peer Award
Superb Composition
gordylindgren miketrainor christrabant Niko_ptikal SiddharthaShukla edandaniphone vbkees.koelewijn801631 +89
Absolute Masterpiece
JohanViljoen1 morriskleyman ronjudyluv2travel RLP073 Paul_Joslin bernardoalfonsocastaeda MERCEDESS +78
Top Choice
gabrielehafnereckel Johnsalterego keithhempfleng surendrachaturvedi Jaspa Trudie EloIm +72
Magnificent Capture
ClaritaBethCanlasMiller BenDufeck LeeHuang TKandaCanon Ricardo_MGF BtBates NatureCoast +39
Outstanding Creativity
Txilekoa Tilley EUCONJK41 aliasadi109 MikeBoyle dngphm charlie875578 +11
All Star
Samijored LindaT BarbaraOdle marnie333 Sniper1972 marlenekamfer CozmicKarol +9
Superior Skill
mihrt MIsabel Arzhtatiana alef0 sanchezjosmanuel andrew37ot soumyabrata +3
Genius
keb clarieharrington JoeDarkflash charlenecampbell-wood vb5690 mcampi Rustybucket8472
Love it
PhilC wideopenspaces
Virtuoso
Igor_pol tredyh

Emotions

Impressed
tredyh tcurry13 chuckmyer secretmomentshots estercastillo08

Top Ranks

Capture Cats Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Capture Cats Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
artFix Exhibition ProjectTop 10 rank
artFix Exhibition ProjectTop 10 rank week 1
Wildlife Photo Contest 2017Top 10 rank
Wildlife Photo Contest 2017Top 10 rank week 1
Feline Beauty Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Feline Beauty Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Wildlife Babies Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Wildlife Babies Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Wildlife Portraits Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Wildlife Portraits Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
80 Stays Around the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank
80 Stays Around the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
African Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank
African Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
African Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Around the World Photo Contest By DiscoveryTop 10 rank
Around the World Photo Contest By DiscoveryTop 10 rank week 1
Visions Of Africa Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Visions Of Africa Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Feline Fancy Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Feline Fancy Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
Feline Fancy Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Wildlife In Remote Places Photo ContestTop 10 rank
On The Wild Side Photo ContestTop 10 rank
On The Wild Side Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 2
Wildlife In Remote Places Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Wildlife In Remote Places Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank
Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank week 2
Animal Kingdom Photo Contest Vol 1Top 10 rank week 1
From Afar: Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank
From Afar: Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Image of the Year Photo Contest by SnapfishTop 10 rank
Image of the Year Photo Contest by SnapfishTop 10 rank week 3
Image of the Year Photo Contest by SnapfishTop 10 rank week 2
Image of the Year Photo Contest by SnapfishTop 10 rank week 1
Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 3Top 10 rank
Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 3Top 10 rank week 1
Exotic Wildlife Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Exotic Wildlife Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1

Categories


100 Comments | Report
NanaSue54
 
NanaSue54 October 14, 2015
AWESOME shot!!! :)
ogilvie
 
ogilvie October 15, 2015
You must remember that animals color depeding on the time of year you capture these beauts, the color of the environment etc. can vary . In the.rainy rainy season theyare washed clean of dust and will "change"color. Color of lions , for instance, vary from different parts of the same country and region. Still a great capture.!!!
Wizzard PRO+
 
Wizzard October 16, 2015
The King and his cubs,what a wonderful portrait!!
YvonneJeaK PRO
 
YvonneJeaK October 16, 2015
Wonderful
davidsloan
 
davidsloan October 16, 2015
Beautiful, natures very best. exquisite.
gondmagdi Premium
 
gondmagdi October 17, 2015
OMG !!! Stunning capture !!!!
DorisSeybold
 
DorisSeybold October 17, 2015
Wow Gracie!!! Gorgeous!!!!
malread Platinum
 
malread October 19, 2015
Amazing capture, sharp great tone, well composed.
mcampi Platinum
 
mcampi October 21, 2015
Kay you rock. The lighting is perfect, the subject is outstanding and the composition is awsome. Wow mark
onyanita PRO+
 
onyanita October 21, 2015
light and colour look great!
onyanita PRO+
 
onyanita October 21, 2015
voted!
Kazza60
 
Kazza60 October 21, 2015
stunning !!!
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal October 22, 2015
Wow I hear their calls. Voted exotic wildlife!
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 October 23, 2015
Voted Exotic Wildlife
Vince542
 
Vince542 October 24, 2015
Amazing shot, VOTED I hope you win!!!
modelmeemaw Platinum
 
modelmeemaw October 24, 2015
Really nice capture!
Martha
nina050
 
nina050 October 24, 2015
That was supposed to be a Magnificent Capture!
Rrrrrrr VB!! So incredible! (The shot, not VB!) Love it.
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 October 27, 2015
wonderful !!
Elyzabeth PRO
 
Elyzabeth October 28, 2015
Dahlink, you could not have done better if you tried, I can almost feel his breath! Ogilive's comment was very interesting.
Elyzabeth PRO
 
Elyzabeth October 28, 2015
Voted Exotic Wildlife :)
rmr731 Platinum
 
rmr731 October 28, 2015
I love it! Beautiful capture! You know I love those lions!
lizziemellis Platinum
 
lizziemellis October 28, 2015
Magnificent shot:-)
lizziemellis Platinum
 
lizziemellis October 28, 2015
Voted Exotic wildlife good luck:-)
onyanita PRO+
 
onyanita October 30, 2015
voted!
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 October 30, 2015
Congratulations! Curator's Choice in Covers Contest Vol 25
Jeta1websandpix
 
Jeta1websandpix November 01, 2015
Incredible capture Gracie. Voted. Good luck! :)
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank November 02, 2015
Excellent group shot. Looks like they are having a growl along.
JulesB
 
JulesB November 03, 2015
You can see how proud he looks...excellent capture !!!
Bazz PRO+
 
Bazz November 04, 2015
Congratulations on being a finalist in the Exotic Wildlife Photo Contest!
Kazza60
 
Kazza60 November 04, 2015
congrats on the Exotic Wild life finalist award .. looks like a winner to me !!
carolcardillo PRO+
 
carolcardillo November 04, 2015
Excellent! Congrats, Kay, on being a Finalist!
valiastevens
 
valiastevens November 04, 2015
Fabulous shot.
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank November 05, 2015
Way to go, congratulations on your finalist award, I always liked this image.
KenBrakefield Platinum
 
KenBrakefield November 05, 2015
Congratulations. Well done
rmr731 Platinum
 
rmr731 November 05, 2015
Congrats Gracie!
Flosno
 
Flosno November 06, 2015
If Daddy could purr....they're all purring...beautiful
Elyzabeth PRO
 
Elyzabeth November 07, 2015
Voted Image of the Month :)
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal November 08, 2015
Congratulations on your award!
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal November 08, 2015
voted image of the month!
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 November 10, 2015
Voted Image of the Month
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 November 10, 2015
congratulations ! on being a finalist, good luck Gracie, ester
kathleenweetman
 
kathleenweetman November 13, 2015
How great to be a finalist....Wonderful shot...Voted .k
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank November 17, 2015
A must vote for Image of the year.
CozmicKarol
 
CozmicKarol November 18, 2015
Love this capture
abi23
 
abi23 December 05, 2015
I love this! Simple, honest and a wonderful capture of a personal moment between mother and cub ! Go you !!!!
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal December 07, 2015
Voted Image of the year!
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 December 09, 2015
Voted Image of the Year
lizziemellis Platinum
 
lizziemellis December 12, 2015
Voted ..image of the Year:-)
kathleenweetman
 
kathleenweetman December 12, 2015
Voted ..Image of the Year....k
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank December 16, 2015
Voted Image of the Year.
onyanita PRO+
 
onyanita December 16, 2015
voted Image of the Year
Elyzabeth PRO
 
Elyzabeth December 16, 2015
Voted Image of the Year!
AnneDphotography
 
AnneDphotography December 22, 2015
wow, this is a stunner Grace ! detail color and emotion are incredible ! Congrats on the awards , well deserved ! :)
kathleenweetman
 
kathleenweetman February 17, 2016
Voted........oooooh love it........love it....love it....k
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal February 20, 2016
voted from afar wildlife!
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 February 28, 2016
Voted From Afar Wildlife
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank May 05, 2016
A very willing vote for Animal Kingdom.
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 May 08, 2016
Voted Animal Kingdom
kathleenweetman
 
kathleenweetman May 08, 2016
VOTED ...ANIMAL KINGDOM..K
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal May 11, 2016
They shout, they sing, and they love. Voted animal Kingdom!
kathymuhle PRO+
 
kathymuhle May 24, 2016
Perfect - voted animal kingdom
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank May 28, 2016
Way to go!!!! Congratulations on a very well deserved "Feature" award. My compliments.
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 June 05, 2016
Voted On The Wild Side,
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 June 05, 2016
Congratulations !!!!! Gracie Featured Award, ester
lizziemellis Platinum
 
lizziemellis June 09, 2016
Beautiful..voted on the Wild side:-)
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank June 15, 2016
One of my favorites, voted On the Wild Side.
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank June 15, 2016
Voted Wildlife in Remote Places.
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 June 27, 2016
Voted Wildlife in Remote Places
Arzhtatiana
 
Arzhtatiana July 27, 2016
A great shot!
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal August 09, 2016
voted feline!
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank August 18, 2016
Voted Feline Fancy. Great image Kay.
kathymuhle PRO+
 
kathymuhle August 18, 2016
A favorite - voted feline fancy
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal September 01, 2016
voted feline fancy!
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 September 01, 2016
Voted Feline Fancy
kathleenweetman
 
kathleenweetman September 02, 2016
Feline fancy....voted ..k
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank November 09, 2016
It's always nice to find one of your images gracing the Featured View Bug Wall. My compliments for having it in there twice.
trainwoman Platinum
 
trainwoman December 18, 2016
Well put..........another black mark against VB and their ignorant policies
I personally can see why this was awarded so many times and it should be shown
KayBrewer Platinum
KayBrewer December 18, 2016
Thanks, Glenda!
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank December 18, 2016
I think more VB patrons should do the same as you wrote in your photo description. Over time, the VB leaders have alienated many of us with their ignorant and blatant "rules" for their laziness of NOT giving us our due awards in our photo page. It is not clutter!!! It is acknowledgement for an outstanding image.
KayBrewer Platinum
KayBrewer December 18, 2016
Thanks for the support, Unk! More people should protest.
kathymuhle PRO+
 
kathymuhle February 04, 2017
Filling the mind with song - voted Visions of Africa
Elyzabeth PRO
 
Elyzabeth February 12, 2017
Voted Visions of Africa :) (Which you will be, just a vision if you keep getting that close!)
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 February 14, 2017
Voted The Vision of Africa
carolcardillo PRO+
 
carolcardillo February 19, 2017
Congrats again, Kay, for being a Finalist!
Kazza60
 
Kazza60 February 19, 2017
congrats Kay .. love this .. a well deserved award :)
FredericMONIN Platinum
 
FredericMONIN February 21, 2017
Great capture !!!
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 February 22, 2017
Voted Around the World
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 February 22, 2017
Congratulations !! Kay , one of the finalist, Visions of Africa Photo Contest, good luck
DorisSeybold
 
DorisSeybold February 23, 2017
Congrats Kay for being finalist!!! Now go for the 1 prize - you deserve it!! and I´ll vote for you!!
kathymuhle PRO+
 
kathymuhle February 26, 2017
Beautiful - voted
kathleenweetman
 
kathleenweetman March 05, 2017
Voted ...around the world comp.....Love your lons k
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal April 03, 2017
Congratulations on your award!
kathleenweetman
 
kathleenweetman April 08, 2017
Voted African wildlife image..k
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 April 09, 2017
Voted African wildlife
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal April 11, 2017
voted African wildlife!
Eddieuuu071 Platinum
 
Eddieuuu071 April 16, 2017
Thank you for submitting your wonderful photo to this challenge!
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 August 18, 2017
Voted Wildlife Babies
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 August 28, 2017
Voted Feline Beauty
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank September 06, 2017
Congrats on another Feature. I read your story and feel your pain. Unfortunately we all belong to a site whose powers to be do what they want. They have an attitude of like it or leave it. This site has the same revolving door policy as the progressives that have dominated Silicon Valley and the internet since the last political administration.
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal September 21, 2017
i love this! voted wildlife!
MichelleAnnHarrison
 
MichelleAnnHarrison April 04, 2018
Gorgeous pride the King and his babes. Beautiful site to see father and babies
mihrt PRO+
 
mihrt August 04, 2021
Voted Capture Cats !!
KayBrewer Platinum
KayBrewer August 05, 2021
Thank you, Gail!
See all

Behind The Lens

Location

Botswana in southern Africa, Kalahari Reserve

Time

Just before sunrise and through sunrise - the Golden Hour!

Lighting

It was tough not to be SO golden - golden sunrise, golden grass, golden lions. I actually had to tone down the gold on the pictures. It looked natural to my eyes, but the photos not so much. Looked like I amped up the saturation, but I didn't! For this one, I desaturated a bit.

Equipment

Canon 5D Mark III, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom, my knee or the door frame of the vehicle was my tripod, no flash. Nikon circular polarizer.

Inspiration

One of the guides at the "permanent tented camp we were staying in saw this pride way off in the distance on the plains. We left breakfast on the table and jumped into the vehicle (did I mention it's a topless vehicle????) and dashed off to find them.These are black maned lions of the Kalahari in Botswana. We came upon a pride of 10, the male, 5 cubs, and 4 females. They had killed a gnu the night before and were headed in to find shade for a rest. The male had already gone ahead to scout the territory and had just called a couple of the cubs to come to him. Inspiration? The opportunity to be up close and personal (sometimes TOO close for comfort) to these magnificent animals in the wild, watching them act normally. I didn't stop to frame photos and decide what was next. This was the chance of a lifetime so I steadily clicked that shutter and caught what I caught. At any time, if the lions started acting antsy, that was our cue to ease out of there. I knew I wouldn't ever have this opportunity again. So I clicked and clicked.

Editing

I shot Daylight White Balance, shutter priority (1/500) and let the camera choose the fstop. Unfortunately with that light (not very bright), the high shutter speed, as low ISO as I could go with, the DOF suffered. I focused on the animals so the grass and background pretty much blurred out. The good thing was that I mostly got the animals in detail and didn't really care that the background wasn't focused. I brought the RAW file into Adobe Camera RAW, and made a few adjustments before bringing it into Photoshop CS6. I did a little "border patrol", straightened horizons (pet peeve), then ran it through Perfect Effects 8 for a bit of HDR effect. I did a lot of denoising because despite my wishes, the ISO was high. I masked the lions and denoised the background. The I masked the background and got as much detail on the lions as possible. I desaturated the animals a little because the lighting made them seem unnaturally gold.

In my camera bag

For this particular outing, I had 2 camera bodies: Canon 5D Mark III with EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom, and Canon 60D with Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM AF Lens, both with Nikon circular polarizers. Dust blower because there's a lot of that there! Also my Canon G15 point and shoot for emergency shots. But if I'm going out in the car and don't know what I'll run into to shoot, I'll have my whole set of gear - all lenses, all cameras, teleconverter, cleaning materials, 2 tripods (Manfrottos), black cloth to cover my camera viewscreen in the bright sun, mounts, manuals, guides, lots of SD and CF cards, and maybe a small laptop.

Feedback

Go to Botswana and get the best guide available! There are SO many animals there! And so fewer tourists than other African safari countries--the guide companies ensure that. Be prepared to pay dearly for this privilege. Carry your long lenses, your best camera. Leave fear behind because, let's face it, you're out there with some animals that could eat or stomp you and you're going to probably be in a topless vehicle. Finally (advice I didn't take heed of), go with photographers. I was with people with point and shoots and more interested in moving moving moving than photography. I think we all know that people who aren't photographers are rarely patient with the time it takes for a photographer to really work.

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