March 1, 2013
Jackal, African Wild Cat, Lion Cub, Cheetahs, Gemsbok, and Brown Hyena in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

I've just spent nine nights in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa — one of my favorite places in the world. It's usually great for cats and this time was no exception. I saw at least 4 different African Wild Cat, a Caracal, 11 different Cheetah, a Leopard with a cub, and 9 different Lion including a pair mating.

I'm sure some of you remember Kodachrome and Ektachrome from the good old days of film. There's another, less well known chrome that has recorded many more great moments than those famous emulsions. Neurochrome has been used to record innumerable spectacular moments in the photographer's memory even when the moment wasn't captured on a traditional photographic media. I had two great neurochrome moments on this trip.

The first was late one afternoon when I passed a group of three Cheetah, probably a mother with two older cubs, resting in the shade of a tree to escape the stifling heat from the sun. I had passed them a bit earlier on my way away from camp and they were still resting on my way back. I didn't think much about photographing them until I saw a line of a dozen Springbok, a favorite prey item in the Kgalagadi, about a mile down the road walking straight towards the Cheetahs. I turned around and went back because the Cheetahs were likely going to become quite interesting to photograph with dinner on the way. I set up with a good sight line of the potential chase area, then watched the Cheetah get prepared for the chase as the Springbok were oblivious to the impending doom. I was surprised that the Cheetah didn't attack as the the Springbok were approaching, so I repositioned to still be ready to photograph the chase. The Cheetahs waited until the last of the Springbok was perpendicular to them, then the mother started her chase. I perfectly framed the two seconds of the chase that I could see from my vantage point and couldn't wait to get back to my chalet to view the images. I was shocked to see that the focus was perfectly locked onto the background — damn!

The second neurochrome moment was on the second afternoon I spent with a Leopard mother and cub. The mother had finally come out into the open after the sun had set and I was waiting for the cub to join her. Instead, a Brown Hyena, a mostly nocturnal animal that I had only ever seen before at night at an illuminated waterhole, came into view up the dry riverbed. I quickly left the not-so-interesting Leopard and went to photograph the Brown Hyena. I got some decent images of it before it crossed the road right in front of me and continued heading straight towards the Leopard. I quickly started backing up to be able to photograph the Brown Hyena and Leopard, but was only able to watch the mother Leopard tangle with the Brown Hyena as the Leopard cub ran up their favorite tree and then the mother ran up the tree too. It was incredible to watch!

I was also able to record some nice images on digital media so that I can share them directly. :) Here are six of my favorites. I photographed this Black-Backed Jackal drinking early one morning. I had never seen so many Jackals in the park before as I did on this visit.

The African Wild Cat (Felis silvestris lybica) is the same species as the domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) but a different subspecies. Kgalagadi is one of the best places to see and photograph them, and I had two cooperative subjects. This one posed just long enough for me to get this image before dashing off into thick brush.

One morning, six Lions came to visit and dink from a waterhole. They lined up perfectly side by side on the opposite side and drank, but they were mostly in the shade and the background was in full sun. I would have killed to have had enough fill flash to even out that exposure! Fortunately, they came back to the waterhole to drink some more, and I was able to get some nice images of them drinking individually, including this older cub.

Another morning I spotted these two Cheetah in a great location before sunrise. I waited for the light to come up and they posed nicely while looking for something to eat for breakfast.

Gemsbok have fantastic markings and are the namesake of the former Kalahari Gemsbok National Park which is now encompassed by Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. These two males fought hard for almost two minutes and it seemed like an eternity as I was photographing it. What a thrill!

I photographed this Brown Hyena the morning after the Brown Hyena tangled with the Leopard. It had just explored the area around the Leopard's favorite tree and was heading away when I made my best images of the species.