Just a simple portrait of an olive baboon resting at the edge of a cliff in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. The sun was still relatively low in the sky and when the baboon turned his head slightly, his orange eyes were illuminated by the light. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second.

It was a lot of fun photographing these cheetah cubs as they chased each other all over the place in Samburu National Reserve. There were four of them and we saw them on three different occasions. This was early morning as the sun was starting to make its way into the sky. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1100, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.

When you get a dramatic sky in Kenya, it doesn’t take long to find a zebra to walk under it. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/640th of a second.

A Masai giraffe rises above the tree line while life is in full swing in the Masai village in the background. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

A few interesting facts about the eye of the ostrich: their eyes are bigger than their brains, their eyes are the largest of any land animal, their eyes are on the sides of the heads, they have great vision despite the fact their eyes can’t move around in their eye sockets. And as this photo illustrates, their eyes are visible even if they are looking in the complete opposite direction. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 140, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

This was our first lion encounter in the Masai Mara on our recent trip. We got close up and I took many frame-filling photos, but I liked this approach shot where I was able to use the environment to frame the lion as he sat atop a small hill. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm lens, ISO 5600, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second.

One of the specialties of Samburu National Reserve in the north of Kenya is the gerenuk. They are always fun to see, especially when they rear back on those hind legs to get at higher vegetation. They are sometimes called giraffe-necked antelopes, and you can see why. I thought this female looked like she was playing the flute. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.

This was a classic Kenyan scene we stumbled upon in the Masai Mara — elephants, acacia trees, blue hills and a stormy afternoon sky. Nothing like it. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 135mm) ISO 180, f/2.8 at 1/1000th of a second.

I mentioned in a previous post that we had great luck with aardwolves on our trip to Kenya this past summer. Going through my files again, I came across this image I liked of one running across the savanna in Samburu National Reserve. They are nocturnal, but we kept seeing them first thing in the morning, likely just before heading back to their burrows to rest for the remainder of the day. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 640, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.

We saw these two lions stalking a group of giraffes (or as a group of giraffes is commonly called, a tower of giraffes). And where there are stalking lions, there are opportunistic carnivores hoping to get in on the action. You can see a black-backed jackal in-between the lions and the giraffes, anticipating the hunt. Nothing came of the encounter and the lions never made a charge, perhaps fearing the lethal hooves of the multiple healthy-looking giraffes. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 450, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.