“To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.”

― Henri Cartier-Bresson

Welcome to another installment of our wildlife in monochrome segment. Some moments witnessed do most certainly take your breath away, while others may do so much later when going through the images afterwards. It is a fine balancing act while out on safari, between being absorbed into the action in front of you and focusing on events through the eye of one’s camera. I find myself at times struggling to achieve that perfect balance, but there isn’t much that can beat the sense of accomplishment when achieve that perfect capture. I’m not saying that my images are perfect, in fact far from it but every now and then regardless of technical ability or big lenses (which I do not own), you capture an amazing image and even that is relative to whomever may be looking at it. This is what I love most about wildlife photography.

I got up close and personal with this Speke’s Hinged Tortoise as he moved about feeding on some Marula fruits lying on the ground.

A different approach to the capture angle of this female elephant completely changed the feel of this image. This is possibly my favourite way to frame a portrait.

A beautiful White-backed Vulture takes to flight at the site of a kill.

A member of the Charleston duo searching for his brother. These males are set to be real contenders for territory in the region.

At a maximum focal length of 200mm, this Fork-tailed Drongo allowed me to get really close to it to get the shot and was far more concerned with snatching up the termite allates nearby.

The Warthog Wallow female looking as relaxed and regal as ever.

Not many people know this, but Little Bush (featured here) and Warthog Wallow are actually related, although their temperaments couldn’t be more different.

A very large bull elephant decided that the grass next to the vehicle was greener than that of the surrounding bush.

Not all subjects out here are pleasing to the eye, but that doesn’t make them any less appealing.

One of a handful of the last images that I had the pleasure of taking while viewing this beautiful young leopard. Sadly he has passed on, but these memories will be etched in my mind forever. Without photography the memory would surely fade over time, but with these images his memory lives on.

I hope you have all enjoyed this week’s selection of wildlife imagery in monochrome. Until next time...