A couple of days late but nonetheless I have finally got round to adding this months FREE desktop backgrounds. As always, if you would like to download the file, simply click on the image and then select the “download” button when the image opens in the Box.net window.
The first image was taken on a trip to the Pilanesberg National Park. Late one evening whilst out on a game drive we came across a pride of lions around the fringe of the Mankwe Dam. The light was poor so I opted for an ISO setting of 1600 in order to achieve a shutter speed which would not render a blurred image. The pride were clearly on the hunt and were perfectly concealed within the long grass as a herd of wildebeest approached the edge of the dam. You can see that this particular lioness was very focussed as she moved through the dense cover.
The contrast of the dark facial features against the grassy background and body made for a nice black and white conversion, giving the impression of the body disappearing into the grass in the background.
The second image is quite different and I thought long and hard about whether to use it at all. I pride myself in being a wildlife photographer that trys to capture wild animals in a way that conveys their spirit and essence of their being. I recently ran a trip with some friends to the Ukuthula Lion Park as a site visit of sorts (I will be doing a destination review on this soon). Here we were free to feed and interact with young cubs in a way that would not be possible in the wild for obvious reasons. This really did provide for some interesting photographic opportunities as this image shows.
I hope you enjoy these images and as always, i look forward to hearing your thoughts and constructive criticisms on my choices for this month.
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