Africa Tour Report

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

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

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

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/

Once-in-a-lifetime Lion Encounter

Last week in South Africa I had an experience that left me with a sense of awe, one of the most unbelievable things I have seen or experienced in a decade as a wildlife photographer!

Once-in-a-lifetime Lion Encounter Video with our Ranger Omega.

As a wildlife photographer its part of my job to work close to my subjects, closer than ideal sometimes, but in this situation we came face to face with a predator, closeup, an arms length away. We got to see just how awesomely stealth a lion can be and how poor humans senses are, we never saw or heard the cat approach us. No one saw her until she was sitting on branch relaxing!!! If she had wanted to take one of us, no one in our land cruiser would not have known until after she had clamped down on that person's neck.

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Up close and personal portrait. Sigma 120-300 S @220mm Nikon D500 1/800 f/4.0 ISO 560, manual mode EV -0.7

It all started earlier that morning as we were watching this lioness and her sisters play with the cubs in her pride. We decided to head out to look for leopards but as we left, one of the males jumped up and ran off at full speed, then another male did the same. We caught up with the two with a water buck in their jaws that moments earlier a leopard had originally taken down. Nothing in Africa will challenge two adult male lions over food. As we were watching the two males on the kill on our left, all of a sudden a lioness decided to climb up a dead tree next to our land cruiser on the right to get a better look.  We never saw or heard anything, yet there she was a few feet away. After this experience, our ranger Omega told me that this was closest he had ever been to a lion in his entire life!

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Lioness in early morning light, uncropped image at 120mm. Sigma 120-300 S Nikon D500 1/800 f/4.0 ISO 560, manual mode EV -0.7

The situation was not as dangerous as it looks. The lions in the Sabi Sands are habituated to vehicles so they are simply seen as large objects that come and go and are not associated with humans or prey. So we were safe even though it looked dangerous. As the situation unfolded I was not afraid at all as the lioness would have already struck if its goal was to attack. Also the lioness showed no aggression or stress at all, even her ears were standing straight up and her tail was relaxed so I was not too worried but it was an awesome experience to see the completely wild and free cat just a few feet away.

More images and stories from my South Africa tour are coming next week. 

Any questions or comments please share them below or send me an email. 

Thanks.

St Augustine Bird Photography Workshop Report

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Newborn Roseate spoonbill hatchlings in the nest Sigma 150-600 S @600mm Nikon D500 1/800 f/6.3 ISO 1600 manual mode Auto-ISO -1.7 EV

The St Augustine Alligator farm really is one of the best places, and one of my all time favorite places to hold a workshop, the location, with 700+ nesting birds in a small area makes it very convenient and easy to access. The conditions were super this year and the 5 participants all helped make the workshop a big success. 

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Sigma 120-300 S @185mm Nikon D500 1/1250 f/4.5 ISO 400 manual mode SB800 flash

Cloudy skies at the farm turn it into the perfect place for flight photography. The birds are in breeding colors and plumage are all very active, displaying, maintaining nests, feeding their chicks, or battling over prime spots. It's hard to take a bad image here when the conditions are right.

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Great egret and a glowing sunset Sigma 120-300 S @120mm Nikon D810 1/1250 f/5.6 ISO 400 manual mode SB800 flash

As the bird got closer and closer I tracked it in the viewfinder as it crossed right in front of the sun, I actually lost the bird in the viewfinder at one point as the strong sunlight caused lens flare that made the focus screen go completely white. This is not the kind of image you see made at the alligator farm as I am usually the only person I see actively shooting towards the sun when I am there.

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Great egret incoming at sunset Sigma 120-300 S @120mm Nikon D810 1/1250 f/5.6 ISO 400 manual mode SB800 flash

Thanks to the warm glow of the sun causing a bit of lens flare, the color contrast with the warm and cool colors in the sky really makes for an interesting image. It's hard to believe this was all in camera and not created using filters, this is all natural!

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Great egret air battle Sigma 120-300 S @195mm Nikon D810 1/1600 f/4 ISO 400 manual mode SB800 flash

With so much consistent predicable action at the rookery you can practice your flight photography and take time to experiment with new techniques. This is one of the few places that I still use, and will probable always use flash. My good old faithful quantum external battery recently brought back to life with new cells, worked perfectly all week with only one charge.

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Great egret super flared translucent wings Sigma 120-300 S @120mm Nikon D810 1/1250 f/5.6 ISO 400 manual mode SB800 flash
 

When properly balanced the flash will open up the shadows to reveal feather details and let the back light fill the translucent feathers. Backlit birds in flight have always been a favorite of mine especially high key flight photos like this.

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Great egret backlit flash fill landing Sigma 120-300 S @120mm Nikon D500 1/1250 f/4.5 ISO 400 manual mode SB800 flash
 

The nesting birds were back in force this year and the balance of different species was just amazing, you could see 5 species nesting next to each other in the same tree. The cattle egret numbers were way down this year, which is a good thing since they are not a native bird species anyway, due to the staff's hard work removing some of the invasive plants around the rookery.

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Roseate spoonbill banking in early morning light Sigma 120-300 S @120mm Nikon D500 1/1250 f/4.5 ISO 400 manual mode SB800 flash

The spoonbills were one of the highlights this year. It's great to seem them all around the farm now. Spoonbills like to nest farther back in the foliage than other birds so they are not the easiest to shoot but it's hard to beat spoonbill hatchings.

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Great egret low key Sigma 120-300 S @175mm Nikon D500 1/2000 f/5.6 ISO 400 manual mode SB800 flash

When faced with harsh afternoon light, which happens a lot in Florida, I like to get creative and hide harsh details with underexposure and darkening creating a low key effect. It can work very well sometimes as an alternative to normal exposure and processing.

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Great egret gathering twigs for the nest Sigma 120-300 S @120mm Nikon D810 1/2000 f/5.6 ISO 400 manual mode SB800 flash

This great egret was busy gathering nesting material just a few feet above the heads of half a dozen photographers. I didn't see a single photographer even look up as the bird flew back and forth to the nest a dozen or so times. It's always worthwhile to back up and take a look around to look for a new fresh angle and way of looking at the same scene.

If you like the images you see here and would like to learn more about the techniques I used to make them you can join our 2018 workshop at the farm. The Alligator Farm workshop is always a very productive and rewarding time. Any questions or comments please leave them below or email me.

Thanks.

Follow this link for more info on mu 2018 workshop: http://www.robertotoole.com/workshop/florida/

Eagle Tour Report 2017

While we were enjoying two weeks of sunny skies and bitter cold temps, poor weather was being pushed south into the pacific northwest and California. The clear skies brought the temps down to the single digits which made for excellent eagle photography but the cold did cause problems with sea ice. On the first few days the ice almost shut down the harbor which would have made reaching our photo locations impossible but the frigid temps did supercharge the eagles drive to feed. It was amazing to see a couple of dozen eagles flying right at us all at once, almost in formation like a squadron, as soon as we pulled up to a spot like a beach or a bay. 

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Eagle banking image made holding camera vertically. Sigma 120-300 S at 300mm, Nikon D500, 1/2500s, f/5.6, ISO 200, handheld vertically.

The photo opportunities were awesome thanks to the cold and the clear weather and the conditions made for some memorable moments like an eagle trying to land in our boat, more than once, on different days! My co-leader Scott had had his beanie pulled off by an overly friendly eagle on the beach one morning!

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Eagles meeting up in midair with talons out. Sigma 150-600 S at 170mm, Nikon D500, 1/2000s, f/8, ISO 200, handheld.

The cold weather also made outerwear choices really important if you wanted to keep shooting. I have lots of info to share on how to keep shooting safely on days like these so I plan on posting lots of information on the cold weather equipment that worked on this tour in a few days.

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Early morning beach landing. Sigma 120-300 S at 170mm, Nikon D500, 1/2500s, f/5.6, ISO 400.

The combination of cold and clear skies and persistent NE wind over the two weeks created perfect photo opportunities if you were in the right place at the right time. The NE wind varied most days from 5 -10, up to 20-30 at the highest with some 40-60 mph gusts one morning that allowed the eagles to put on some amazing flying displays. On the windy days we saw lots of non-stop shooting but the photographers paid for it later with tired arms! Even I felt my left shoulder and arm getting a little tight by Friday after shooting with my 120-300 f/2.8 all week.

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Stealing a perch. Sigma 150-600 S at 330mm, Nikon D500, 1/3200s, f/8, ISO 400.

This year I felt especially lucky to be able to take photographers to my favorite spots and enjoy all of our experiences shooting together. I have been the only photographer leading eagle tours to our locations continuously, each and every year, since 2005. This year there were 2 or 3 new operators scouting the area for future tours so its only a matter of time before all of the spots are going to be elbow to elbow, Bosque del Apache crane pool style crowds. My advice is to make plans to see the eagles sooner than later, as they are without anyone else around while you still can!

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Eagles congregation in perfect late afternoon light. Sigma 150-600 S at 250mm 1/500s f/7.1 ISO 400 manual mode handheld 

My 2018 tour dates are posted and a couple of spots are already gone so if you are interested in joining us let me know as soon as you can. I am offering a early sign-up discount as motivation. Remember each tour group is strictly limited to 5 photographers to give everyone plenty of space to shoot. This way we don't bring our own crowd everywhere we go like the big groups always do. Join us, you wont regret it for a second.

More info with dates and prices:

http://www.robertotoole.com/eagle-tour/

Any questions or comments, share them below or send me an email anytime.

Also if you are on FB be sure to friend me to stay in touch:  https://www.facebook.com/robert.otoole.923

and join my facebook tour group to ask for any advice or help and to stay up to date on latest: https://www.facebook.com/groups/170108613467190/

Japan Winter Wildlife Tour 2017

We're back from Japan now and just about to head to Alaska next week. It was an epic trip thanks to the awesome participants and the great weather. Our tour was just  about perfect thanks to falling snow at almost all of the locations, falling snow is a must-have for a successful winter trip here.

We had an especially amazing day at the crane sanctuary with light snowfall turning into heavy snowfall with a very light crowd. Lucky for us most of the other photographers packed up and left once the snow started! The cranes were doing some amazing behavior in front of us, once right before feeding time at the sanctuary the entire group of 100+ birds walked up a small incline to the top of a hill and started to display, jump and dance, all together. Then all at once they all walked back down the hill and stared to feed. That group behavior was something to see in person.

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Japanese red-crowned crane resting in a snow flurry. Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary Japan. Sigma 150-600 S at 500mm, Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, manual mode, tripod.

It was great to see the steller's sea eagles back on beautiful pack ice this year after an iceless 2016. There was tons of action on the ice and completely different weather on each of our three mornings, sun, clouds, overcast and snow, we had it all over 3 days.

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Steller's sea eagle landing on pack ice in the nemuro strait off Rausu Japan. Sigma 120 - 300 f/2.8
Sports Lens at 300mm, Nikon D500, 1/1600s, f/3.5, ISO 400 manual mode, handheld.
 

Our trip to the snow monkey park was completely different this year. As were first people to arrive we were greeted by piles of fresh powder. The trail to reach the park was completely hidden by snow drifts.  Once we reached the park it was really interesting to see how the monkeys coped with fresh snow drifts that were piled over their heads. They moved around in single file lines that compacted the snow created their own trails with the young monkeys forced to ride on older monkeys to get around. It was impressive to see a monkey covered in snow running and jumping over streams and up and over boulders with an infant monkey riding under its belly, hanging on for its life and at the same time they almost seemed to be enjoying it. The snow fall started out light but by 9 AM the snow and wind increased visibility dropped to almost zero but once when it lightened up the shooting was epic.

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Young snow monkey snacking on a fresh spruce twig with buds at the snow monkey park. Sigma 150-600 sports  lens @ 350mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/8, ISO 500, handheld, Manual mode, +0.7.

Each year we spend an afternoon or two shooting the northern fox, which is a sub species of the normal red fox found in the rest of Japan, but this year the opportunities were so good we ended up spending four sessions with them. The Hokkaido fox have to be some of the most calm, relaxed, and photogenic wild animals on the planet. One afternoon we had the opportunity to shoot a fox pair hunting, which was already an experience to remember, when all of a sudden a single, third fox shows up and then things got really interesting. It was a special opportunity to shoot them hunting, playing, courting, fighting, even napping. Just amazing.

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Hokkaido fox confrontation on the beach with a out-of-focus Russian volcano in the background, Hokkaido, Japan. Sigma 150-600 sports  lens @ 500mm and Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 560, handheld, Manual mode, +0.3.

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Hokkaido northern fox getting a closer look at the stranger (with Russia in the background). Hokkaido, Japan.

What makes the fox so unusual in Hokkaido is that they have been habituated to people that when you pull up in our car the fox will actually walk up, sometimes within a couple of feet as in the image above, and just stand there and stare at you. This is due to the fact the people have been feeding them since at least the 70s. Researchers have found that human handouts make up to 10% of their diet in winter, becoming an important food source for the younger inexperienced individuals. The same researchers were surprised to find that even the wild fox located deep in the national park somehow picked up the strategy.

This years trip was one that I will never forget and I have to say thanks to all of our tour participants for making the tour so fun! 

There are lots of companies running photo tours to Japan, one has copied my itinerary down to the exact day, but few have experience that we do and none offer the same exclusive group size of only 5 that we do! 

If you're interested in taking the trip of a lifetime to Japan please take a look at the Japan tour page on this site for more information. Hope you can join us. 

http://www.robertotoole.com/japan-tour/