Chad Cocking
04-12-2011, 07:44 AM
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u259/thechadODP/BNP_001.jpg
The white lions of the timbavati are what made this private reserve in South Africa world famous in the 1970's. Since the early 1990s though, there have been no white lions born naturally into the reserve that have survived beyond the first few vital months...that wasuntil two were born into the Timbavati Pride in June 2009.
I am fortunate enough to work in the reserve and see these special, and 100 percent naturally occuring, white lions every so often. it was always my dream to capture the ultimate shot of a white and normal tawny lion together, and always thought drinking would be amazing.
one evening the pride moved towards a waterhole after eating a giraffe, but stopped just short when we were watching them. while we had planned to arrive maximise our chances of seeing them active they slept. 24 hours later, they were still sleeping in the same spot! we had a second chance, and this time we got it spot on! as we were approaching them, we found a clan of hyenas at the nearby waterhole and spent time watching the hyenas. not 10 minutes later the first of 2 white lions arrived at the same waterhole to drink and her tawny cousin decided to come and drink next to her....it was a dream come true and i clicked away like a little child with the hugest smile on my face. the second i took this shot i knew it was a winner :)
almost no processing was done besides standard RAW processing of contrast and picture style selection.
Canon 1DmkIII
Canon 500 f4
1/250
f6.3
ISO 400
The white lions of the timbavati are what made this private reserve in South Africa world famous in the 1970's. Since the early 1990s though, there have been no white lions born naturally into the reserve that have survived beyond the first few vital months...that wasuntil two were born into the Timbavati Pride in June 2009.
I am fortunate enough to work in the reserve and see these special, and 100 percent naturally occuring, white lions every so often. it was always my dream to capture the ultimate shot of a white and normal tawny lion together, and always thought drinking would be amazing.
one evening the pride moved towards a waterhole after eating a giraffe, but stopped just short when we were watching them. while we had planned to arrive maximise our chances of seeing them active they slept. 24 hours later, they were still sleeping in the same spot! we had a second chance, and this time we got it spot on! as we were approaching them, we found a clan of hyenas at the nearby waterhole and spent time watching the hyenas. not 10 minutes later the first of 2 white lions arrived at the same waterhole to drink and her tawny cousin decided to come and drink next to her....it was a dream come true and i clicked away like a little child with the hugest smile on my face. the second i took this shot i knew it was a winner :)
almost no processing was done besides standard RAW processing of contrast and picture style selection.
Canon 1DmkIII
Canon 500 f4
1/250
f6.3
ISO 400