The Mashaba female had very young cubs when we visited in 2013, and so I was keen to see her again now that she had two new youngsters. She and the cubs proved elusive, but thanks to some great work from Sean and Robbie we did track them down if only for a very brief but fantastic sighting. Having a 500mm lens also allowed me to spend some time appreciating the birds of the African bush. Another highlight of this trip was seeing the Mhangeni pride take a well-earned rest on the edge of a quarry. This provided a perfect photo opportunity to shoot the lions from below at close range, although it did mean we were literally surrounded by 13 lions all perched above us!
Mashaba女性有非常年轻的幼崽,当我们参观了2013年,现在我很想再见到她,她两个年轻人。她和幼崽被证明是难以捉摸的,但由于一些伟大的工作从肖恩和罗比我们追踪他们要是很短暂而奇妙的发现。拥有一个500毫米镜头也允许我花点时间欣赏非洲丛林的鸟类。这次旅行的另一个亮点是看到Mhangeni骄傲把应得的休息在一个采石场的边缘。这提供了一个完美的拍照机会近距离射击狮子从下面,尽管它确实意味着我们真的被13狮子都栖息在我们上方!

With so many memories it’s hard to pick just a few images to represent the experience, but the following are some of my favourites.

The Tamboti 4:3 female enjoys a drink at a watering hole close to where she has rested up for the day. 1/800 sec at f4.5, ISO 1600

The Tamboti 4:3 female heads off on her evening patrol. 1/800 sec at f5.0, ISO 1250

A young male from the Tsalalala pride takes a brief rest. We followed the pride for two hours as they took an early morning walk through the bush. 1/400 sec at f4.0, ISO 3200

A sub-adult male, without a pride of his own, attempts to join the Tsalala pride. In this image, one of the young males of the Tsalala pride finds himself a little further from the comfort of the pride than he would like as he comes face to face with the older and slightly larger intruder. 1/400 sec at f4.0, ISO 1250

Another Tsalala pride young male in the morning light. Almost two hours after we joined them, they were still wandering through the bush. 1/400 sec at f5.0, ISO 500

An African pygmy kingfisher sits beautifully atop this reed, allowing me to capture this picture before heading back to camp for breakfast. 1/320 sec at f5.0, ISO 400