On our Kenya trips, we see two species of giraffe, the Masai giraffe in the south and the reticulated in the north. This is the latter. Reticulated giraffes have darker patches of color, which are more geometric shaped with well defined edges. Although it looks like this young one was trying to hide, it was doing what they do — eating thorny acacia tree branches. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1000, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.

I had previously posted a wide shot of the four cheetah cubs playing king of the hill on a termite mound. Here’s a closer look. These two were looking down on their siblings who were running in circles around the base of the mound. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 220, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.

Where there are predators, there are always a few jackals lurking around. This black-backed jackal was shadowing two lions, waiting for them to make a kill, and then hopefully leave a few scraps behind. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 320, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.

We had been viewing a few lions in the Masai Mara when I looked around and saw this Africa jacana catch a frog. With their long toes and claws, they can walk across floating vegetation to grab unsuspecting prey. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.

Always fun to play with light and shadow when you can get the light to fall on the animal’s face and then expose for those highlights. This dwarf mongoose was running around in the bushes at our camp in the Masai Mara of Kenya, giving me plenty of time to find the best spot to take the shot. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 220, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second.

This was the first lion we spotted on our recent Kenya trip. And she was barely visible, hiding in an area of tall grass in Nairobi National Park. Because I have my auto focus set to a button other than my shutter release (aka back-button focus) I was able to quickly manual focus using my lens focusing ring and work around all the grass that was in front of her face. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

Most safari goers catch a glimpse of a lilac-breasted roller or two while out driving around. They’re hard to miss with their spectacular plumage, especially in flight. This one was perched on a boulder as we slowly drove past. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.

Yesterday I posted the largest animal on the savanna. Here’s one of the smallest (at least one of the smallest I photographed) — the unstriped ground squirrel. As you might have guessed, what sets these guys apart from other African ground squirrels is the lack of a white stripe on their sides. They can be spotted pretty much anywhere in Samburu National Park but this was the only time I saw one making its home inside a termite mound. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.

Here’s another one where I put the camera on a tripod and held it, inverted, over the side of the safari vehicle while using a remote trigger to get a ground-level perspective. Also nice to capture a rising sun on one side of the elephant and her calf on the other. This was in Samburu, where the elephants are plentiful and always have a bit of a reddish tint to their skin due to the red clay dirt of the area. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 lens (at 59mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

Here’s another shot from our first night in Kenya in Nairobi National Park. We had one of those classic African skies — stormy but with moments of sun breaking through the clouds. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 (at 41mm) ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.