Leopard out on a early morning hunt Nikon D500 Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 S @ 220mm 1/500s f/4 ISO 400 manual mode handheld

Africa Tour Report

May 25, 2017 in Tour, Travel report, Workshops, Africa

Our experiences in Africa this year are hard to describe and will be impossible to forget. The leopards were the stars again this year but the lions treated all of us to some unbelievable moments as well. Watching them out hunting in the early morning light was just stunning!

Taking a moment to enjoy the very first rays of sunlight. Nikon D500 Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 S @ 300mm 1/1250s f/4 ISO 400 manual mode handheld — Taking a moment to enjoy the very first rays of sunlight. Nikon D500 Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 S @ 300mm 1/1250s f/4 ISO 400 manual mode handheld

Watching a big cat stalk prey is always awesome to see and this year we even had some very close calls with the prey escaping by a few feet. The big cats are not the most successful hunters in Africa after all. Sometimes you miss the actual take down but arrived a short time after, some of our group watched a pride of lions finish a giraffe. A pride of 16 lions moved into our reserve during our stay so there were lots of opportunities but like all lions, sleeping took up most of the lions daily schedule (16 is a little larger than the average pride BTW).

This area of the Sabi Sands is so rich in wildlife predators and their prey that it wasn't unusual to see both lions and leopards on the hunt in the same day or the same drive. Also some first timers well tell me that they are worried about seeing any wildlife, I mean anything, they are concerned that will get a chance to see an impala!?! At our location we see the big five in a single drive. Impalas? We see thousands with dozens of photo opportunities for rutting males in a single day. They are the most common mammals in the Sabi Sands BTW.

Leopard on the attack Nikon D500 Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 S @ 250mm 1/500s f/4 ISO 400 manual mode handheld

This year leopards treated us to a real show by demonstrating just how perfectly their camouflage works by sitting and watching us search for them, calmly sitting there just a few yards away! Amazing!

Watching the leopards stalk prey, usually impala, through tall grass is just an amazing thing to watch. They silently slink towards an unsuspecting impala low to the ground until they are up close before they pounce. It is pretty common to see leopards hunt in the early mornings at our locations. We had a few encounters in absolutely perfect morning light. The main advantage of a private reserve in addition to off-roading is that we leave for our drive as early or late as we wish. There are no entry and exit restrictions for our tour. At some parks in Africa you have to be out of the park just when the best light of the day happens, and most parks don't allow off-roading.

Mother and cub sharing a moment together. Nikon D500 Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 S @ 300mm 1/1250s f/4 ISO 640 manual mode handheld — Mother and cub sharing a moment together. Nikon D500 Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 S @ 300mm 1/1250s f/4 ISO 640 manual mode handheld

If you enjoy spending time with leopards and cubs this is the tour. This is always a highlight of a trip, and had a few great opportunities this year. Leopard cubs are some of the most photogenic creatures on the planet as far as I am concerned.

Lion roar. Nikon D500 Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 S @ 300mm 1/800s f/2.8 ISO 1250 manual mode handheld — Lion roar. Nikon D500 Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 S @ 300mm 1/800s f/2.8 ISO 1250 manual mode handheld

We had a great run of weather this tour, nice cloudy days with only a few wet sessions and never enough rain to cancel a game drive. Insects as usual were all on holiday again this year but I did get a report of one lone mosquito that decided to stay in town and work bothering one of the participants.

Young elephants having a water break. Nikon D810 Sigma 150-600 S @ 500mm 1/1000s f/8 ISO280 EV -1.0 manual mode handheld

2018 dates have been confirmed with a couple more days than this years tour. There are already a few spaces gone and they tour is limited to 8 participants. Let me know right away if you are interested in joining us.

Follow this link for more info on next years tour:

http://www.robertotoole.com/south-africa-tour/

Alaska Brown Bears 2016

August 16, 2016 in Alaska, Bear, brown bear, Tour, Travel, Travel report, Workshops

2016 Year End Wrap-up

Cubs wrestle in the meadows at Hallo Bay. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8 Sports lens @ 250mm, 1/1000 sec at f/3.5, manual mode, ISO 280. Image Copyright 2016 Robert OToole Photography.

After leading my three tours this year in June, July and August I feel really lucky to have been able to see and experience so many amazing moments in Katmai and even manage to capture a few alongside tour participants.

One of the highlights this year had to be wolves. We had multiple sightings at just about every spot we visited. The wolf in this image had no fear of humans and crossed in front of my group so close in fact I had to zoom out to 270mm just to fit it in the frame! This wolf hung out at Geographic for a few days just doing laps looking for stranded salmon or photographer's backpacks, whatever was available first.

Cub chomping on it's sibling at Hallo. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 150-600 mm

Overall this year the action was great but it seemed like every spot we visited the opportunities for cubs seemed to be almost non stop. The most interesting action was with adopted bears and their new or at least temporary families. I have seen this kind of behavior a few times in the past but for some reason it was common this year making it hard to keep track of what was gong on in some cases.

At Hallo anytime is the best time for playing. Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300

Sports lens @ 300mm, 1/1250 sec at f/3.5, manual mode, ISO 250,

The amount of time the bears spend playing varies in direct relation to how calm and cool the bears are. Light overcast with drizzle are always my favorite conditions for bear photography.

Out of all the spots at this river mouth this bear decided it wanted to sit on our gravel bar. Geographic, Katmai NP Alaska, NIKON D500 and SIGMA 120-300 Sports lens @ 300mm, 1/2000 sec at f/4, manual mode, ISO 400. Image Copyright 2016 Robert OToole Photography.

The bear photography opportunities really have been excellent over the last few years in Katmai so you should think about joining us next year, you wont regret it. My 2017 small group photo tour dates are available with a two spots left on each of the August tours, for more information follow this link for more information

http://www.robertotoole.com/workshop/brown-bears/

Shoot me an email, Robert at Robert OToole Photography.com, if you have any questions.

Eagle Tour Report 2016

April 22, 2016 in Alaska, Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle Workshop, Tour, Travel report, Workshops

Unforgettable Experiences

This season of eagle photography in Alaska, my 11th straight year, was full of amazing experiences and opportunities I will never be able to forget. My tour participants really made it all possible so a big thanks to everyone that joined me in Alaska this year.

The Weather The weather really has been a big issue world wide over the last couple years and in Alaska things have really been affected by climate change with a lot less cold days and a lot more unusually warm days but the amazing thing is that the eagles could care less. Actually it seems like there are more eagles and this year it seemed like there were more sub-adult eagles than ever. Lots of eagles, pleasant weather, beautiful habitats and five other keen photographers in your group, what more could you ask for?

Storm clouds and perfect morning light is an exceptional combination and a dream opportunity for any nature photographer. Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8 Sports lens @ 240mm, 1/2000 sec at F5.6, manual mode, ISO 500. Image Copyright 2016 Robert OToole Photography.

Thanks to the constantly changing weather in this part of the world the five days of the tour will usually offer shooting conditions from clouds, to rain, to sun and everything is between, sometimes all in one day! This year the only weather phenomenon we missed was a snow storm, otherwise the weather couldn't have been better.

The Eagles

Flared eagle, Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

We had an great number of eagles this year for each tour. Even after all these years I still find it amusing when first timers on my tour cant hardly believe their eyes when the eagles just show up when we arrive, going from 2 to 25 in a few minutes and up to 50-75 or even more within an hour of arriving.

Inverted dive, Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

The first day of the eagle tour can be really hard for new people as there can be so many eagles coming from all directions that concentrating on getting a good image can be difficult. But after the shock of the first day the amount of quality images increases exponentially! After a few days you will learn to recognize and predict the eagles actions, like the inversion above, and things really start to get easy.

Eagle rock, Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

Two participants were able to bring the new Nikon D5 on the tour and I was able to try them out a couple of times. I think the auto AF fine tuning and touch screen were useful, the additional speed and high ISO capabilities at least for eagles were also nice but nothing groundbreaking over the D4S as far as I am concerned.

Hard bank Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

The Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 Sports lens was the perfect lens for the action again this year. After a few years with this lens I don't really see myself going back to a prime 300/2.8 again. The flexibility of the zoom with the speed of a prime lens are just too good to be true making it one of the best low light wildlife lenses out there.

Eagle paradise, Kenai Peninsula Alaska, NIKON D810 and SIGMA 120-300 mm f/2.8

There are not that many places out for wildlife photographers that offer almost unlimited opportunities that are not degrading over time with almost no pressure from crowds. I feel lucky that I have been able to visit a place like this to share it with other photographers thanks to my tour participants for making it possible. If you have ever dreamed about shooting eagles in a natural environment think about joining my tour, you wont regret it. I

strive to put you in the right place to make the very best images possible and your image making will always be a priority over my own.

Tour size is limited to 4 participants so there will always be plenty of time for personal assistance and instruction from the leader.

Each and every day I will strive to put you in the right place to make the very best images possible. Your image making will always be a priority over my own. My second goal is to make sure you return home safe and sound with images that are better than expected.

Tour size is limited to 4 participants so there will always be plenty of time for personal assistance and instruction from the leader.

The 2017 workshop details have available here:

http://www.robertotoole.com/workshop/bald-eagles/

Shoot me an email, Robert at Robert OToole Photography.com, if you have any questions.

Amazing Alaska

September 22, 2015 in Alaska, brown bear, Tour, Travel, Travel report, Workshops

Late afternoon light with mother and cub in bear paradise. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 1000, EV + .3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld.

Amazing opportunities and experiences

My time in August with my tour participants was unforgettable. Its really difficult to put some experiences into words. One of my most memorable experiences was one morning my group and I were out alone and at one point we had six brown bear mothers with cubs all around us fishing and not paying any attention to us. Not one other tour group even bothered to turn up that day. On another day a second year cub really surprised everyone by repeatedly catching salmon just like a pro, without help from it's mother!

Second year cub playing with a salmon. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 290mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/14, ISO 1000, EV - .7, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld.

At Hallo we had a cross fox spend at least 40 minutes hanging around showing off in front of us. The funny thing was that we had a mother bear with two second year cubs close by but all lenses were focused on the fox!

Portrait of Mr Cross Fox with fireweed background. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 1000, EV + .3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld.

Over our two weeks we split out time between Hallo and Geo with lots of strategic landings at selected spots in between. At some of the usual spots like Geographic we did have lots of other groups on the river at the same time, it is the peak time after all, but if you know your way around Katmai you know there even better locations.

Pink salmon just waiting to make a break for it. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 360mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/11, ISO 2800, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld.

The conditions this year were very very good with lots of salmon at all the spots and we had just enough rain to increase the river flows but not so much that it was a problem for photography. Our timing could not have been better since the first winter storm warning of the year was issued the very next day after the last day of the tour and Alaska got slammed.

For a photographer it doesn't get much better than Hallo bay in the late afternoon. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/2000s, f/7.1, ISO 720, EV + .3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld.

All new this year

This year I tried something completely new reducing my tour group size to just four photographers while most other bear tour groups are increasing group sizes to make more profit. The two biggest advantages of a smaller tour group size is much less pressure and less effect on the bears when you are on the move. Also a smaller group will spend lots less time getting ready, moving and setting up so this a smaller group will always be more agile and efficient to be able to in the right spot when the conditions all come together.

Spring cubs on the lookout for mother bear. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 600mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/7.1, ISO 500, EV + .3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld.

Smaller is better

Small tour group sizes are the way to go judging by the feedback I received this year. For 2016 I have scheduled three of these exclusive tours, two are already sold out even before I announce them. I will post more information about the new tours later this week but if you are interested email me right away. Right now I have 2016, 2017 and 2018 tour dates available if you are interested let me know right away.

Where else in the world can you come across a bear gnawed whale vertebra on a beach walk?

Thanks

A big thanks to all of my awesome tour participants this summer, and special thanks to all of those that have re-signed for next year!

Bears In Alaska

July 29, 2015 in Alaska, Bear, brown bear, Travel, Travel report, Workshops

Trip Report : Tour One

Overall this tour was just about perfect. Even though I managed to step on and break my Maui Jim sunglasses in half on the first day of the trip and later having my old faithful MacBook Pro suffering a RAM failure and logic board failure didn't seem to really matter to me since I was working with such a great group of people including my hard working co-leader Mark Comon from Paul's Photo. The Photographic opportunities were fantastic from the first few minutes and seemed to get better and better up until the last minutes of the final shoot of the trip.

Plus size mother blonde bear checking out our group. Sigma 24-105 Art lens and Nikon D810, 1/1000s, f/5.6, 75mm, ISO 640, EV + .7, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld.

The first few minutes after stepping off our floatplane I was faced with a tough decision, we had two bears (and later a wolf) fighting on top of a dead fin whale carcass, but the rest of our group was due to arrive in an hour or two. For the first couple of hours the harsh light made the dark bears on a white carcass unattractive so the decision was easy but after a 3 hour flight delay wait the light improved to the point where I decided to have the present half of the group suit up to take advantage of the scene in front of us. But before we could finish suiting up the rest of the group with Mark showed up, 3.5 hours late but just in time for the soft late afternoon light!

Lone bear morning walk at Hallo Bay. Sigma 150-600 Sports lens and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/7.1, 360mm, ISO 280, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, Uniqball UBH 45X on tripod.

The Weather

July in Alaska always seems to deliver with a great balance of long hours of good light and good weather and this year was no exception. We had a single rain delay due in the entire seven day tour!

The Locations

This tour, the first of a series of three, was aimed at bears, their behavior and interactions mostly in Hallo Bay. The second and third tours this year that are taking place in August are targeting bears hunting for salmon at a spot down the coast called Geographic Harbor.

Hallo had just started to show a limited salmon run when we were there and had good numbers of bear and cubs. Kuliak had tons of pinks getting ready to run (and the dead whale) but Kukak seemed pretty slow but it still provided a hugh number, almost unbelievable number of eagles and eaglets, one nest had three good looking young ones!

Taking a break from eating a whale lunch to size up our group. Sigma 150-600 Sports lens and Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, 500mm, ISO 450, EV -0.3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld.

Equipment

This year I went with the same lenses that performed so well on my Japan tour, the Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 (+1.4X), Sigma 150-600 sports, and a Sigma 24-105 all in my F-stop backpack / roller system. The 120-300 f2/8 sports lens was my go to lens for low light conditions, the 150-600 was my main lens the rest of the time. For bodies I brought a two Nikon D810s. The ability to go into CX mode with 6 fps and a 1.2X crop and DX mode with 7 fps and 1.5X crop with the increase in buffer size was great.

This year I brought three sets of waders, a convertible chest wader from Orvis, wading pants from Patagonia and a convertible thigh wader from Chota, all the ultra light Patagonia boots. The Chotas are good for warm afternoons since they pull down to boot level to keep cool.

Mother bear enjoying a roll in the warm sun and fresh sedge. Moments later the cub ran over to join her. Sigma 150-600 Sports lens and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/7.1 600mm, ISO 3600, EV + 0.7, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, Uniqball UBH 45X on tripod.

The entire tour delivered lots of great opportunities up the final minutes of the tour when we had a surprise! I knew the area were scouting was great for red fox in years past but I was even surprised when Mark spotted a fox sunning on a patch of grass in perfect light. We motored closer and closer to what seemed like a few feet past the end of my legs that were hanging off the front of the skiff. Before our boat hit a rock and scared the fox away my lens EXIF reported a seven foot shooting distance.

Red fox taking a hunting break to enjoy the sun. Sigma 150-600 Sports lens and Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, 550mm, ISO 900, EV + 0.3, Manual mode, Auto-ISO, handheld.

If you are interested in joining a 2016, 2017, or 2018 tour email me to be placed on the interest list. I should have solid dates by the end of August. Right now it looks like a tour at the end of June for bears and cubs and two August tours for bears fishing for salmon.

Sunday February 21st - Saturday March 5th, 2016, 14 Days: $8200. Deposit $3000.

Maximum 6 photographers + Leader Robert OToole and co-leader.

Any questions or comments? Leave a question below or send me an email.