John Alexander Wildlife Photography - KENYA - EL KARAMA

To be a good wildlife photographer one must have an in-depth knowledge of the subjects which are to be photographed, their physiology, their psychology. Ones bookshelf must contain many books on various animal behavioural models by leading theorists. My bookshelf happens to be predominately littered with mini-stories by Jeremy Clarkson. I, however was not to be phased by this and hired a big zoom lens which on inspection could easily be used as a murder weapon, and hopped on a flight to Nairobi.

I was adamant that I wanted to achieve more than just a record photograph of the animal but to produce a dramatic portrait using different lighting techniques. I have put underneath each image how I have used the light.

I hope you enjoy the images!

(Click on an image to view larger)

Four Ostrich underexposed with their feathers backlit by the late evening light. The dust helped too to give the overall scene a more orange hue.

A grazing Zebra backlit by the setting sun. I used the foliage to frame the image and to give depth to the image.

Sunrise over Mt. Kenya - I scouted out this shot the previous day. I climbed onto the roof of the Land-cruiser in order to have a clear view over Mt. Kenya. The muted colours lasted just seconds as the sun rose left of shot. Simplicity is the key to landscape images: Mountain and sky, with few silhouetted Bosquia trees breaking the horizon.

Side-lighting - A Giraffe looking in to the low morning sun.

Back-lit and underexposed Grant Gazelles grazing on the plains. Odd numbers always work better in photographs. I waited for them to produce a pleasing shape then took the photograph.

Front-lighting - The warm colour temperature of the car headlights contrasts nicely with the cool twilight sky. When the sun goes down, doesn't mean photography isn't possible!

Front-lighting - Two Giraffe graze near the water-hole. Love his tongue!

I have completely fallen in love with El Karama. Thank you so much Sophie and Murray for having me to stay.

Also a big thank you to my sister, Claire, for driving me and putting me into position for all the shots you see here!

John