While Phil and Dawn Judd were at Londolozi in December they visited our Creative Hub on a daily basis. We set up the Londolozi Creative Hub in order to provide our guests with a space in which to share images, post process photographs and simply, get creative with us! I was in awe of the images that were presented to me and every morning during the seven nights that they were with us, I woke up with an excitement as to what Phil would bring to me that day! Using a Nikon D4 with either an 80-400 mm or his fixed 600 mm, the creations were beautiful and below you will see only a few of many…
Vultures silhouetted by the sunset is done so beautifully in this image and can be a creative composition trick to try in the future.
Vultures are not always the most eye pleasing subject to be photographing but here, Phill has managed to create two great photographs using them as the subject, one in the sunset and this one silhoetted by the moon.
A superbly creative image, often it pays off to try something different.
Even though the above photograph is wonderful, capturing a leopard in its full glory is always a winner. Notice the ‘600mm blur’ that photographers refer to as the incredible depth of field that you get when photographing with that lens.
Like Mother…
…Like daughter!
‘What do you think of my new headdress?’ You will often see the redbilled oxpeckers landing on impala’s in order to get a meal of various ticks and insects found in the fur of the animals. Here, Phill got one in the right place at the right time in order to capture this rather comical image.
Crocodiles are often seen with their mouth wide open while lying on the banks of the river or pans. It can come across as being incredibly intimidating, but fear not, they only do this in order to cool down!
Hippos, on the other hand do use this as an intimidation strategy so if you are ever wandering when to get out their way, this is good warning to do so!
They don’t only do it to intimidate us but they will also open wide when fighting for territory with other hippos. These fights mostly happen between two males, one of which has attempted to take over another ones territory when coming into maturity.
Even in the rain, Phill managed to capture some outstanding photographs, this one being an example. This swallow attempts to keep his feathers dry by puffing himself up against the rain.
Phil not only experimented with his photography, but also with a camera trap to capture the activities of the animals that are a little too shy for daylight. In December the star of the ‘camera trap show’ was this porcupine and her youngsters. Did you know that a porcupine youngster is called a porcupette?
Phill and Dawn seem to have a habit of seeing male lions roaring and this trip was no different. Watch the final scene of the video below to see the four Majingilanes roaring together filmed by Dawn. The video is called bushveld immersions and is best watched at full volume!
Which is your favourite of Phil’s photographs, let us know in the comments section below?
Photographed by Phill Judd, Londolozi guest
You took some wonderful pictures Phil, ( but we knew you would) with that leans of yours! Hard to pick just one that we like, but the hippo’s are my favorite and Dawn, the video is spectacular! Kristen and Gerry got some pretty good pictures considering they didn’t have your expertise or your lens. We are reliving our safari as we look at all the pictures.
We had a marvellous safari experience at Londolozi! Hello to Like, Trevor, Erin, Penelope and Trevor. They were all so wonderful to us! Londolozi exceeded every expectation we had! Don’t ever change!
Thank you so much,
Sincerely,
Donna and Gerry Read
Thanks Donna. I was really lucky to get some great photographic opportunities on this visit, thanks primarily to Like and Trevor’s skill. I am still going through about 5,000 images that I took and will send some to Kristen as I promised of the lion pride in the rain. The hippo shots I took the day after you left, I’m sorry you missed them! I am really glad you enjoyed your safari, Londolozi never fails to impress.
The all are amazing….love the video!
Thank you Lynn. We were very fortunate to get the video and certainly I have never seen any film of young porcupines before so we were very fortunate. Dawn’s ability with the video is getting quite professional and her shot of the four male lions roaring at the end of the second video still makes the hairs on my neck stand up!
oh the bushveld immersion!!! made me feel like I was ALMOST there. How I miss it.
There are SO many incredible photographs on this blog…..it is at all possible to download any of them? I would love a leopard on my desktop!
I miss Africa as well, Dawn and I use the photos to relive the moments and look forward to our next visit. I have some pretty good leopard shots that I was fortunate to take and would make a suitable desktop image. Rich can give you my e-mail contact address and I will gladly send you some to choose from.
Sure no problem Phil. Susan I will email you shortly. rich
amazing!
Thank you Evette. That is very kind of you to take the time to comment.
Oh thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures. I love the picture of the Vulture silhouetted against the moon, very special. The sunset one, was the sky really that colour with no colour filters?, if so, beautiful. The video is so special as I feel that I am sitting in the wagon watching all that “action” & those big dudes giving voice at the end – that is spine chilling. Well done Phill & Dawn, you must have more in your stash??
I’m, glad you like the vulture photos Wendy. Vultures are not everyone’s favourite subject but in both these examples I thought they provided a very evocative image, which in this case was taken with a Nikon D300 with a 400mm lens. With the sunset photo the loan vulture in the middle makes a powerful impact. The moon shot was a particularly difficult hand held image to take whilst in a vehicle. I don’t use any filters and these photos are both presented as they came out of the camera without any Photoshop help. We love the four lions roaring as well. In fact Dawn has it as her mobile phone ringtone!
The 2nd video is absolutely AMAZING!!!!!! I loved the way each animal was captured!!! WELL DONE!!! My Favorite!!! Thank-you!!!
wow, i really enjoyed the sound-scape. Made it more real and alive. Thank you.
The first two pictures of the vultures are amazing!
Thank you Chris. Like most things with wild life photography, there is a large amount of luck in having the subject matter being in the right place at the right time and then spotting the opportunity. The fact that all the Londolozi Rangers are keen photographers as well, helps tremendously when trying to position for a particular photograph.
Incredible images Phil. The leopard on the tree and the tussling hippos are absolutely excellent photographs! Well done and thanks for sharing on the blog! rich
I am really indebted to you for all the help both you and Kate gave me at the Creative Hub whilst I was at Londolozi. It is a superb facility very professionally run. Having the opportunity to be able to review photos and videos properly, on a daily basis is a unique facility and your enthusiasm for both professional and amateur photographers a like is admirable. As you rightly said, the Nikon 600mm lens is excellent at capturing sharp images and producing that exceptional depth of field blur so distinctive of this particular lens. Combined with the fact that Londolozi has such a variety of all the wild life, and diversity of terrain, the chances of getting high quality spectacular images are greatly enhanced.
Superb!
Thank you. I am really glad you like them. I had such a great time taking them, a great reminder of Africa!
The still photos are very good, but the video is sensational. I will try sharing it with all my friends who keep asking, “Why do you keep going back.” Thanks for sharing. We will return to Londo in just two more months.
Can you tell the name of this marvelous leopard…..she is so pensive & lovely. Would also love to know the method you have of identifying them…..by the spots on their muzzles? Thanks!
I just love the photo with the vulture and the moon.