In photography and in life, always look for the light - if you don't see it, bring it... - John Waire

This week’s blog is all about the lions of Sabi Sabi due to there being so much going on with them in recent weeks. The thing about them though in terms of photography is that we often spend a lot of time waiting for them to show us any signs of activity, unless you can plan the safari in such a way that your timing is spot on. In most cases these activities only happen after dark, a time when there is zero light for photography, so we bring our own in the form of spotlights. Thankfully lions are not affected, nor bothered by the lights in most instances and this allows us to get creative at times. For this week’s selection I have chosen images from an assortment of light situations to highlight the idea from the quote above and as more of a guideline to taking better black & white images. Please enjoy this week’s selection of wildlife in monochrome...

Taken in the late afternoon, one of the Fourways males demonstrates for us an impressive yawn, a sign of getting active. The light here was very low and so I had to push my light sensitivity quite high to get a sharp image.

Another one from the late afternoon, however here the sun was still on its way down. Here the male we know as Solo lifted his head for a few moments before returning to his ‘catnap’.

Solo featured here again enjoying a drink in some soft afternoon light. In monochrome photography, as in regular photography, there really is no substitution for decent light.

Somewhat overcast conditions here, which is not always a bad thing. The best part about overcast weather for me is ‘no shadows’ and even exposure. The other great thing is that it’s generally cool, meaning that when we came across the Southern Pride here in the early morning after being on a kill they were quite alert.

A close-up of one of the Southern Pride females that same overcast morning. The even tone in the image out of camera allows for a lot of wiggle room in post processing.

The larger Fourways male here walking towards the vehicle in the early morning light. From the image it is clear to see that there is a distinct side/backlighting effect on the male which lends to a very nice looking image.

The larger of the Fourways males was found on a buffalo kill early in the morning with a slight offset lighting situation. The light was soft and sweet, but coming in from slightly behind the big lion so I had to wait for the right moment in which to press the shutter.

A Fourways male and Southern Pride lioness mating. This was a really spectacular moment and one that could not have been captured without the help of a spotlight.

Again here, the spotlight was quite necessary to illuminate this lioness as she was satisfying her thirst. This was actually taken at dusk with quite a bit of residual light available however, to ensure a faster shutter speed could be used to freeze the action of drinking itself, we made use of the spotlight.

This highlights very briefly the creative aspect to spotlight work on cats at night. By having a second light from another vehicle shining on the animal from the side, I was able to create a more dramatic image of this Southern Pride lioness emerging from the shadows of darkness.