Take Your Pic

Take Your Pic

- Toast Coetzer

BOMBER WRITES:

I took this picture on a recent trip to the Kruger Park. I was travelling from Shimuwini to Mopani when I found this female hyena walking along the road carrying a huge ribcage – maybe from a buffalo. She’d carry the ribcage for about 50 m, then stop and put it down, get a better grip and pick it up again. It was obviously quite heavy. I followed her for about 40 minutes.

TOAST SAYS:

A photo that captures animal behaviour is always more interesting than one of an animal lazing about.

This hyena is clearly on a mission. Maybe she had pups somewhere waiting for a meal, or she was looking for a quiet spot to enjoy her own dinner. You never know what might happen next. Follow an animal if it looks like it’s up to something.

I like that the photo is taken from the same level as the hyena. Of course you’re not allowed to get out of your vehicle in the Kruger, so achieving this can be tricky. Look for a way to position your vehicle so that you’re lower than your subject. By following the hyena for as long as he did, Bomber managed to find the perfect spot to take his photo.

Spur restaurants should snap this up for an ad campaign. One for the road?

JAPIE WRITES:

I took this photo on the S114 between Skukuza and Crocodile Bridge in the Kruger Park.

When it comes to photography, I believe that less is more. It’s good to leave something to the viewer’s imagination. That’s why I focused on the elephant’s trunk and didn’t include the rest of its head in the frame.

I’m fascinated by elephant trunks and I wanted to show how agile they are. Elephants might use their trunks to break off huge branches, but they also use them to pick up the smallest twigs.

TOAST SAYS: