Each year I try to single out my top 10 favourite photos that I captured during the year. These are based on a very subjective set of self criteria and although I would like to hope there is some technical ability behind some of the shots, they are mainly chosen for reasons such as uniqueness, catching a moment, being a special sighting to me, or just being pleasing to the eye. Setting them in order from 1 to 10 is very difficult although the order below is a fair indication.
1.
Experiencing the Vic Falls was a lifetime experience, but seeing this elephant crossing the river about 30m from the fall, and the river flowing at a fairly high level put the size of the fall into a bigger perspective. The elephant used his trunk to first test each placing of the front feet, thus although quite calm and collected was still careful of false footing.
2.
The clarity of the subject against the background at early morning light just makes this an appealing photo for me.
3.
The look between the two subjects is what intrigues me in this photo… what was the interaction here? Coupled with the slanting rays of the sun to give it a slight dreamlike appearance.
4.
Yes, its a shoddy pic of a Serval. The finding of this Serval is what makes this one of my 2013 Top 10’s as this was the first recording of this species at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens, right in the heart of urban Gauteng.
5.
Taken with quite an old Canon A700 “mik-en-Druk”, using a flashlight as side lighting, provided a fantastic light effect to give detail but great shadows as well. The double reflection on both sides of the window adds a little bit of interest.
6.
I built a “home brew” camera trap using some firmware changes on my Canon A700. This is quite a tricky cam to setup, and the idea was to get the family of Ground Squirrels posing at their hole. To my delight this one decided to check out the cam and then stood and took in the view, giving me a great shot of the world from their view.
7.
A notoriously difficult cuckoo to see, never mind photograph. All my previous photos had been shots from far away or through dense foliage. At WSBG there is a little spot where a pair was very focused on the resident Cape Robin-chats, and sat quite open, and seem not to care much for passersby.
8.
An early morning visit to Northcliff Eco-park found these Guineafowl moving down the mountain. The early sunlight on the beautiful granite, with the expectation of the fowls leaping into the blue yonder makes this one of my favourites.
9.
This truly was an isolated thunderstorm with very small patches of rain falling with the late afternoon creating rainbow streaks. I was lucky as the rays highlighted the sandstone crown on the koppie.
10.
Early morning on the Nwanetsi in Kruger found this Green-backed Heron perched against the rising sun. A bit of fill in flash brought out the detail.