I had a great time photographing the dwarf mongooses that were scurrying around outside our tents in the Masai Mara. Always fun to have a few subjects back at camp. As the name suggests, these guys are the smallest of the 34 different species of mongoose in the world. More on them in upcoming posts. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 2000, f/5.6 at 1/100th of a second.

Here’s another situation where I was able to get the camera on the ground and shoot using a handheld remote trigger. Samburu National Reserve in the north of Kenya is a nice contrast to the Masai Mara in the south. The Mara is more fertile, with green rolling hills, while Samburu is more of a desert-like landscape. The elephants are the same species in both places, but they appear less grey in Samburu due to the red clay dirt that exists throughout the park. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 lens (at 41mm) ISO 2200, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

We had one very Garden of Eden-y morning. The sunlight was filtering through a forested area of the Masai Mara as a hippo was making his way back to the river, passing a giraffe reaching for the trees, an elephant feeding on the lower grasses, baboons basking in the sun along a cliff, a warthog family resting in a clearing, eagles perched above, and two male lions backlit as they passed within a few feet of our vehicle. Easily the best half hour of the trip. More photos from this magical morning in upcoming posts. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 360, f/2.8 at 1/500th of a second.

The aardwolf is a new species for me. I’ve seen glimpses of them before but have never been able to capture decent images. I let everyone know how rare it was to see one — and then we saw five more. They are nocturnal, which is one reason for their elusiveness, but we kept seeing them early morning, just before they returned to their dens to spend the day. At first placed in their own classification, aardwolves are now generally considered part of the hyena family. Unlike other hyenas, however, the aardwolf does not hunt large mammals, preferring instead to eat insects. Their diet consists mainly of termites, and they can eat up to 300,000 in a single night. Photographed in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 640, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.

We had good luck with cats on this trip, particularly cheetahs. We saw a few kill attempts in the Masai Mara, one successful, and in Samburu we had daily run ins with a mother and her four cubs. The cubs seemed to be constantly at play while the mother was on the look out for the next meal. This photo was taken early in the morning while the cubs were chasing each other back and forth. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, IOS 900, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.

Where to start with our recent trip to Africa? Why not day one. Due to flight schedules, we were forced to spend a night in Nairobi. Rather than catching up on sleep, the group decided to pay a visit to the nearby Nairobi National Park. I had never been to this park before, mainly because I try to get out of Nairobi as soon as possible — that and the fact it’s fenced in on the three sides adjacent to the city, with only the southern border allowing wildlife to move in and out. But it’s a great place to see one species that’s difficult to see elsewhere — the rhinoceros. Nairobi National Park has both black and white rhinos, and although a sighting isn’t guaranteed, they can be hard to miss. A flat area with low grass allowed me to test out the focusing system of my new Nikon Z8. I attached a tripod to the L Bracket of the camera and lowered it to the ground, using a remote trigger to fire the shutter. Subject detection caught the rhino’s eyes and allowed for a nice ground level perspective and lots of moody, late afternoon sky. A cattle egret even hopped on board the mother rhino as she walked along with her calf. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 lens (at 35mm) ISO 2800, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

Hamerkops aren’t very colorful, but they make up for it with style. The two species of hamerkop can be found throughout most of sub-Sahara Africa. They are medium-sized wading birds with eating habits that can best be described as “generalist.” In other words, they aren’t too particular about what they eat, although they have a penchant for fish and amphibians. I photographed this one in the Masai Mara of Kenya. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/3200th of a second.

Yellow-necked spurfowl, also known as yellow-necked francolins are native to eastern portions of Africa, from Tanzania on up through Eritrea. I photographed this one in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. The males will often climb to the top of termite mounds or large rocks to call to females. Or, perhaps, to get a better look at photographers. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 260mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/125th of a second.

A pack of spotted hyenas stand on a ridge above a kill attempting to scare off a lion. The lion was holding strong while the hyenas were doing all they could to intimidate her. Photographed in the Masai Mara of Kenya. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 220mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second.