A few from Kenya (56k Torture)

[MacX]

Bring on the cute lion cubs!! And so long as they are really cute, then I have no objection to your threat of a picture of a dead Zebra being pulled open by a hungry Hyaena.

And have some stars from me too.

What is it with the cubs? G.O.A.T. has a lot to answer for in mentioning them! Your hear me G.O.A.T.? You'll get them when I scan them and not a moment sooner!

(actually I don't think they're that good, but then I'm anti cute. )

And Thanks Hagel.

Kenya feel it? Kenya see the wildlife coming to life? Kenya!?!

LOL And go there as soon as you can.

Some beautiful photo's, first time I have looked at this thread and its easily one of the best collection of photo's I have seen on these forums.

Real life stuff that we all can't just nip down the road and see.

Er... I actually don't know what to say. Speechless for once. Er.. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Really awsome photos mate The quality of these surpasses some of the digital shots on here! Shows what film can really do!

Cheers! It's only coz I'm a cheapskate and buy up all the old but good 35mm stuff everyone else is dumping.

 

[MacX]

More!! If anyone's bored let me know and I WILL (possibly) STOP! At least you guys don't get the 2 inch thick album that my relatives get hit with.

Sorry Hagel and G.O.A.T but the cute cubs are a few films away in the scanning schedule. Here's a couple of lions as small compensation followed by a young Zebra (surely that has to be a little cute?).

Mine.. Grrr..

Hagel... Don't you dare go 'Ahhh'.

 

[MacX]

pop question 1 MacX, whats the lion eating in photo 1

That there be a Topi.

I have a whole one at home.... Picture of a Topi that is, not an actual Topi. Although they are quite handsomely coloured creatures.

Mildly related to Topi occurance... The guy who brought an army of helpers to push our Landrover when both diffs got grounded in the Mara was there researching the Topi.

 

[MacX]

they are some amazing shots there

glad you enjoyed the trip.. and thank you girl friend from us here at ocuk as without her we wouldnt be looking at these

Cheers, and now you've made my girlfriend unbearably smug. I'll post a picture of her later, that should wipe the grin off her face.

But for those patient souls who are still checking in, the scanning marathon continues and here's a few more.

 

[MacX]

It appears that I have reached the 'cute cubs' roll of film now. So for those few here who knew they existed, here's one before I pack up my scanner for the night.

Quite frankly, I want more vultures and dead animals.

 

[MacX]

wow, fantastic work mate! What was the keeper - throwaway ratio like? I'd REALLY love to go out to somewhere like kenya,was saying it to my mate the other day. I'd probably end up going OTT with my equipment rental tho for such a rare occasion and end up changing lenses more than i was shooting

The keeper rate? Well, out of the 720 I had processed (at Boots of all places), I kept 600 for the album, but they are all graded differently. Really good ones (IMO), I would say there are about 40 so far (which will go into a bound photobook). Some of these you have seen here. Of the others, some are just nice shots and others are more reportage and just tell a story so are kept even if technically I don't think they are good shots. Naturally, getting them on the PC has helped me make many of the okay shots look a lot better, or change the whole emphasis of a picture. A job that still continues today when I fire the scanner up once again!

You CAN pack too much gear. I just took two slrs with a lens on each to save on lens changing and some of the inherent dust problems that go with that activity. A backup superzoom digital was also in the pack but wasn't needed in the end and will be leaving it behind next time.

 

[MacX]

Great work MacX, keep the pics coming....kind of brightens my day checking out the latest additions....will have to find something else to do once you've finished the film scanning! Do you have many left to do?

I have about another 5 films to scan. In fact, I'll be taking a little break over the weekend. When I finish, the plan is to go back to Africa and take more pictures! But don't worry guys, I'll only post anything that's exceptional!

In the meantime, as a last image post for the week, I'll add a few more lion cubs.

I think I have TOO many lions in my collection. I definately have a big male lion to come, some hippos, a bird or two, TV star Kike the cheetah and grief knows what else. Hope everyone is enjoying this virtual safari!

 

[MacX]

Which lens were you using most often?

I only packed a Canon 100-400 L IS 4.5-5.6 and an old 28-85 USM II purchased 10 years ago. All the shots you see here are with the 100-400.

Kenya is firmly on my list of places to go and visit.

That was the effect I was hoping for. I was asked to send as many of you over there as possible as a condition for letting me leave the country with my case of exposed film. I think they said they'd let most of you go home afterwards if you wanted to though.

 

[MacX]

SDK^

I used the whole focal length available to me. The ostrich shot on page one is an example at 100mm where I wanted an environmental shot.

The Hyaena was sat right next to the landrover, so to get close up to her face was a mid-range shot.

Then of course there was plenty of opportunity for 400mm and more if I had the length, but there's only so much kit you can afford to buy and take.

 

[MacX]

Sorry ...I could not resist this ... i tryed .. but i failed

LOL

How am I going to get to sleep now I'm laughing my lungs out?!

 

[MacX]

Don't suppose you've got a bigger version of that? (Or could rescan it at a higer quality?) It'd make a great wallpaper.
Very nice shots there

I do. Original scan was 118mb in size. It does.

And thank you.

Seriously though, although I'm only an unprofessional photographer I am still quite protective of originals and high res versions of my images. I understand the realities of posting any images on the net, so although the 200k images are usable for many things I do not allow high resolution versions out into the public domain. If there appears to be enough residual interest in these, and the larger part of my collection that I consider not quite as good, I'll create a gallery and get a link posted in the Galleries sticky.

For everyone else who's still remotely interested in this virtual safari, I still have a few more to scan after my short break. I'll select a few more for here and then retire from scanning ANYTHING for at least a month.

 

[MacX]

Post them up, I will probably be able to ID most of them.

Well, that East Africa birds/lizards/mammals book I ordered is still winging it's way towards me and I have a little bit of a self imposed deadline in the production of a small book for the local travel agents. If I can kindly ask our kind bird expert Colin_da_Killer to pop in and id the following two birds it would be very helpful. Thanks in advance.

 

[MacX]

The first one is a von der decken's hornbill and the second one is a bea-eater although I'm not 100% sure I think it is a white throated bea-eater.

Anymore?

Ah cheers for that. I knew you'd come up trumps.

I might have the odd one left in the last few rolls of film, I'll let you know.

well done for posting the cubs (finally) Now just have to find a way of 'acquiring' the 100MB originals.

Hey, instead of wandering over to your desk and transfering it by USB stick, I'll e-mail one to you.


And because I always feel guilty about posting replys and not adding any pictures, here is a couple from tonight's batch for those still checking in.

The first is Kike from the Big Cat Diaries, doing what she's partly famous for.

I hadn't posted any hippos so here's a small group from a larger pod we found relaxing in the river.

 

[MacX]

Me 2, this was particular fat one I found in kenya...
lol !

Was that taken in the Mara like your other picture? Fat lions seem to only exist in the Mara in Kenya because they have so much to eat. The ones in Samburu and Tsavo were much slimmer.

 

[MacX]

Never fear, for those fed up of this thread floating about we are approaching the end!

For those I know are still patiently checking in every now and then, and I think there may be at least one of you left now, here is possibly the penultimate picture posting.

A mix of African White Backed Vultures and at least one Lappet-Faced Vulture.. I think! Help! Mr Colin_da_Killer! Oh.. a Zebra as well.

The Maasai Giraffe.. Marked differently from the one at the beginning of this thread.

And a general thanks for everyone's patience and comments!

 

[MacX]

Not much of a zebra though

Holy Crap! Lions! Tours did say 'while stocks last'.

 

[MacX]

Wow, that shot of the vultures is truly superb. You don't normally see that sort of thing on in safari pics. You've posted some awesome pics MacX, I've really enjoyed looking at them. Thanks for sharing

Cheers Mohain! I have a few final pics to post before signing off. If there are still no objections I have more of that Zebra being pulled apart by a hyaena. Slightly gruesome for some, but it's just the natural world for me.

 

[MacX]

born in johannesburg, lived in knysna and east london, left SA when i was 16 (8 years ago). moved here, now i`m moving to australia in a months time. so i`m gonna capture some ozzie wildlife, wish i`d bene into photography when i was IN SA.

That's great! Slightly envious here. I suspect you'll be packing some heavy duty photo kit for Oz then.

 

[MacX]

As the scanning marathon is now over (for this trip anyway), this is possibly the last posting of animals now. Unless there's an encore requested. Or is the pain too much?

Saddle billed stork (male)

Something I'll have to look up.

Another White backed vulture again (I think)

 

[MacX]

Post Production Post!

This virtual safari was brought to you by.

The Photographer
Me, carrier of big camera and even bigger ego.

With thanks to the Driver, Warrior guide, and helper.
Without their help we wouldn't have found all these wonderful animals.

Financed by
This person, with out whose great Christmas present none of these pictures would be possible. Like all charitable people, she wishes to remain anonymous.

Thanks to everyone else
who looked into this thread and left very kind comments. I hope you all enjoyed it.

In the meantime, I'm off to pack for the next trip. I'm not totally kidding either, I'm back out there this November coming.