There's a huge difference between what we picture and the original image. - Shihab Kazi

Editing is a huge part of the photographic process in turning the raw image into more of what you had in your mind’s eye when taking it. In the old days this process took place in Dark Rooms, but today it is so much simpler in that it is all digital. This week I have chosen to focus on the Charleston male lions and their position with the Southern Pride. Not long ago it was the Fourways male coalition that we all had high hopes for in taking over the area, with the Charlestons seeming as though they weren’t interested at all and then all of a sudden it was like a switch had flipped with them and they started to push hard for the territory. I’m quite glad they did though and I feel they would probably be the better coalition to take control due to their strength and tenacity. I hope you enjoy this week’s selection of wildlife in monochrome...

The larger of the Charleston boys, aka Big Boy to some of us, on the search for his brother. He was moving around with purpose and calling non-stop, but after following him for an hour with no luck we left him be.

Big Boy again just slightly illuminated out of the darkness of the night.

Waking up after a really hot day in the Lowveld.

A beautiful close-up of Big Boy. He really is an exceptional lion and certainly one of the largest males that I’ve seen.

The two boys together for a short period with the girls. Big Boy is the more dominant of the two males and as such offers his brother little opportunity to get close to the females.

The iconic Floppy Ear. She is the glue that holds the rest of the girls together and also the one that needs the most convincing in terms of the males establishing their dominance.

The smaller Charleston male, dubbed Mazino (Ma-zeen-yo), which means “tooth” in the Shangaan language, due to tooth that’s been hanging off of his lower jaw for the last several months. We all thought it would have fallen off by now, but it sure is stubborn. Thankfully its not causing him any trouble though.

One of my favourite ways to showcase a male lion.

Big Boy showing some interest in one of the females lying nearby.

Males and females rarely display affection toward one another and even here there wasn’t much in it, but there was a brief moment where they seemed to connect.