Thick-Tailed Bushbabies

Gallery: WildlifePosted November 20, 2012119 views4 comments

Despite all of the close encounters with leopard and lion cubs and the many cool new species we saw in the Kalahari, this may well have been the highlight of my Africa trip in August.

Aside from big cats, I'm always eager to photograph some of the smaller, more elusive mammal species when I visit places like Africa and South America. In this case, we had just finished the evening game drive at Mala Mala and were walking back to our bungalow. These two bushbabies happened to be in one of the trees along the path, and thankfully they picked one of the few trees that was lit by a floodlight (so that guests can see where they are going at night).

This provided just enough ambient light to snap off a few quick shots of a nocturnal species I didn't realistically expect to photograph. A huge surprise, and I was delighted that a couple shots came out.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 70-200mm 2.8 IS
ISO 1600
1/40th
f/2.8
-1 1/3 exp. comp.

Max

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by John Clulow on November 20, 2012 at 5:34 PM

Without surprises, photography would be a lot less fun. I love these little guys looking out from the night, wondering what's going on. Really cute and compelling. Thanks so much for the image and also for your commentary.

Registered on November 1, 2012, 155 Posts, 1079 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on November 21, 2012 at 12:38 PM

What a great bonus, Max. I like the outcome, given the lighting circumstances. I think a crop keeping the lower and right two thirds of the frame, eliminating the "peeker" in the top corner, would make best use of those diagonal branches to artistically enhance the capture.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on November 21, 2012 at 12:51 PM

Lon, you're right. From an aesthetic standpoint, a vertical featuring just the one galago would be an improvement. In this case, I guess it's more of a documentary shot, since this is the only one I got with both in the frame.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on November 21, 2012 at 9:16 PM

After visiting Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana and South Africa, some of them several times over the past decade, I only saw these lovable creatures once - on my recent trip to Kenya in May 2012. That was at The Ark, but I couldn't make any images at all. This one is so good, Max!

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments