Kruger Newbies *

[PJL]

Ps did you run a blur in the back ground as I see the depth of field is quite shallow for the F-stop, That is just the way I like it, having a shallow depth of field and is going to push me towards the prime lenses

I didn't run anything on the background. The picture was a bit dark due to the weather on that day, so I gave it a bit of additional brightness and slightly increased the colour saturation in DPP

[PJL]

PJL at that focal length and F-stop I'm impressed with that depth of field, looks like a great lens, normally they have a much deeper depth of field at that focal length , but this blurred out great

I think perhaps I got a bit lucky with the background on that one But see how some of the other shots compare during the TR

Nice start PJL Your first trip to Kruger! I hope it won't be your last

Nice shots too, I was seriously tempted by the 150-600 when I first heard of it but I'm not sure it's a big enough improvement over my Bigma to warrant a trade-in.

Thanks BT, nice to have you dropping in
Definitely not our last trip... already trying to figure out when we can get back there
The tamron is certainly worth considering if you're either starting out or perhaps upgrading from kit lenses, but you're probably best saving your money for now if you have the sigma. Perhaps Canon will bring out something slightly longer than their old 100-400 to compete, in which case maybe save up for that

I like your P-52 but BT is correct about the 456mm...

PRWIN has experience regarding prediverted ISO and gsp, though!



Great pics!

Cheers RP! Glad to see someone knows what he's talking about

[PJL]

Day 3 Continued: Berg en Dal

After lazing around the camp for a while, we plotted an afternoon/evening drive towards the S25 with a thought to check out Gardenia Hide. Heading down the S110 our 'cat-spotting' eyes were firmly attached, but we only came across similar game to the morning.... even so, it was cool seeing oxpeckers on impala, as that made me feel a long way from home



We saw quite a few duiker in the area around Berg en Dal, and finally one stopped long enough to get a quick snap



We also came across a small herd of ellies who were a fair distance away from the road. Waiting with the engine off, they came closer and seemed happy enough with us being there even though they had some little ones in tow.






The S114 and S25 seemed pretty quiet. I guess there was probably quite a lot hanging out down by the Crocodile River, but the road didn't really give a view that way. Heading along the S25 we found our first lilac breasted roller - I've seen them before in other countries, but I simply love the colours on them so got fairly excited



Amongst the other regulars, we stumbled upon this giraffe next to the road. H loves giraffe so was really pleased to get to see them 'in the wild' (Addo doesn't have any).




Our park map wasn't totally clear about the exact position of Gardenia Hide, so after a bit of an excursion along the S25 we back-tracked to the S119 and found the place. I seem to remember someone mentioning how the entrance fence was a bit run down? Anyway, it looked like it had been replaced recently and the kids liked the idea that they could be stalked by something whilst walking along
There wasn't much happening at the waterhole except for a spoonbill sifting through the water



Our 'cat-spotting' eyes appeared to be faulty. There wasn't any sign of lion anywhere we could see, and after checking plenty of trees we decided that leopards must live only on the ground in that area.

Then something caught our eyes in a tree...

[PJL]

Then something caught our eyes in a tree...

And it wasn't quite what we were looking for



But still nice to get a pic of some white-backed vultures

[BluTuna]

Definitely not our last trip... already trying to figure out when we can get back there
The tamron is certainly worth considering if you're either starting out or perhaps upgrading from kit lenses, but you're probably best saving your money for now if you have the sigma. Perhaps Canon will bring out something slightly longer than their old 100-400 to compete, in which case maybe save up for that

Glad to hear that you'll be returning PJL

From what I've seen in the comparisons between the generic and Nikon or Canon lenses there is not enough difference between them to warrant the massive extra cost unless you make your living from photography! By strange coincidence, Sigma have announced a new 150-600 at nearly twice the price of the Tamron!

[PJL]

Day 3 Continued: Berg en Dal

It was approaching 5pm as we continued along the S119, and the light was fading fast what with all the cloud. Just as we hit the S114 there was a yelp of excitement from S... the cat-spotting eyes were in action and she had found our first leopard of the trip

It was lying sleepily in a bare tree which made it great for visibility, but as you can see from the photo below it wasn't exactly a photographers dream when it comes to lighting



On the bright side, if the sun had been shining it would have probably been right behind the beautiful cat, so we made the most of it and got some snaps as she stretched to make herself comfortable.









TBC

[PJL]

Day 3 Continued: Berg en Dal

One other private game drive vehicle had pulled up next to us at the start of the sighting, but they had missed the leopard getting up for her big stretch. We were later joined by a couple of other cars as she settled down to her snoozing and suddenly the game drive vehicle came reversing back to us waving us forward. Intrigued, we followed and less than 200m further along the road there was ANOTHER leopard - again up a tree but this time with a fresh kill

We thought it was very kind of the guide to tell us about the other leopard - she had seen my lens poking out the car window so thought we might be able to do the sighting some justice despite the failing light. I'm not sure whether this was another adult leopard or perhaps a near full grown cub belonging to the other lady, but I was very surprised to see another so close by!!

It was incredibly dark looking up into the tree - Grandpa later admitted he didn't see the leopard at all and only believed us on seeing the photos
These were the pics which came out best - some at ISO 5000, some at ISO 6400 - which to me is quite simply amazing camera technology. Big thumbs up to Canon









Unfortunately we couldn't hang around for long as it was still a fair way back to Berg en Dal and we didn't want to miss gate closing time. As we cruised back, there were plenty of big grins on our faces having the day end on such a high! As we drove up the S110 tar road there was a pile of cars looking for what apparently had been a leopard crossing the road... we didn't feel the need to stop and after negotiating the traffic jam, carried on up to camp with a few minutes to spare.

Back at the chalets, fires were duly lit and some sizeable steaks were braaied. We also had some complimentary bubbly to toast our days sightings thanks to the Grandparents stop at Nottens
Whilst eating, S had a bit of a fright as she's not so keen on geckos/lizards for some reason and this rather large one made an appearance



Our next day would see us heading to Satara - the longest in-park drive of our stay. So we packed up as much as we could ready for an early start

TBC

[PJL]

great shots of the leopard, Canon! thought you where a Nikon man, lucky you did have a canon or you would have missed those shots

I've always been a Canon fan PRWIN I was really surprised with how well the dark shots came out. To the naked eye, it basically looked like this:

[PJL]

Day 4: Berg en Dal to Satara

The next day dawned very dark and murky. We had decided on a quick early sprint over to Matjulu before packing up the car, but the weather was keeping almost everything hidden and making the place look like Scotland rather than SA. Just a marabou stork was out braving the drizzle.








After somehow squeezing everything (and everyone) into the car, we set off up the H3 to see if the hyena were around at the den site, but they too were seemingly sheltering away from the weather. On one of the bridges we spotted a saddle billed stork in the riverbed below, which promptly flew off





Near another riverbed, this rhino formed part of a peaceful scene




We stopped for some steak rolls at Afsaal, where Granny showed the kids just how big Kruger is on the map, and why we weren't already at Satara




Heading north, it was still fairly quiet, with some of the normal regulars around including this impressive kudu bull, buffalo complete with oxpecker contingent, and our first proper sight of wildebeest







TBC

[PJL]

Day 4 Continued: Berg en Dal to Satara

Further along the H3 there had been a lion sighting, and a few cars (well the people in the cars) were trying to get a view of them. We were keen to try and spot them as well, because none of us including the grandparents had yet seen lion on the trip. After quite a bit of moving forwards and backwards we finally saw the odd ear and tail-flick through the long grass near the base of a tree in the distance, but it was incredibly difficult to make them out.

Every so often, bits of lion became visible through the bush and so I had been trying to get a snap for the record, leaning on the steering wheel for camera support. Unfortunately I wasn't concentrating and slipped a couple of times onto the horn, and after the 2nd time was so dismayed at my disturbance of the scene decided it was time to leave the lions in peace and continue our journey. We stopped next to the other car to apologise for all the noise but they were thankful - they were just about to leave as well, and our horn hooting had caused a lion to get up and start walking

As soon as I spotted the direction of travel we reversed back to the spot where I expected it to emerge. It didn't take long and this lioness came wandering towards us.





We had a prime spot as more and more lion came out the bush, round the back of our car and off to the other side of the road.





The pride seemed a bit strange with many young ones, and what appeared to be a very young dominant male. Either way, we were very excited that all our noise had accidentally caused such a cool sighting








We continued up to the H11 where we came across klipspringer posing close to the road



And as we drove along to Skukuza for a pit-stop, this babyboon was checking out the traffic



TBC