Decided to move my photos out of Saeed's thread for faster DLing. These were all taken in June 2003 in RSA. -TONY

That may well be the best lion shot I have ever seen anywhere.

The lion is a fantastic photo! I also really like the Leopard in the tree. VERY nice photos. I wish I could take photos like that.

Thanks for sharing them.
-Bob F.

You are a great photographer, sir.

Excellent photos. What kind of camera and lens were you using? Film or digital.
Mike

Thanks for the kudos, guys.

I'd like to say taking good photos came naturally, but it didn't. It took many years of practice to get it right. I'll be adding a few more here over the next few days.

mikehjd,

I actually used both digital and film cameras, but the photos uploaded here are all digitals because I haven't scanned any of the 35mm slides yet. I will be doing some in the near future, though.

My digital is an Olympus 2100 Ultra Zoom, which has a 10X optical zoom. It takes fantastic photos for being only 2.1 MB resolution. -TONY

Wonderfull pics. I hope you will post more. The lion is the best I have seen as well.

Exquisito Antonito! I'm sure I've seen the lion photo somewhere??

That lion looks exactly as my girlfriend mother

Very nice pictures
LG

Very good, please post more, Leopard gets my vote.

Nickudu,



If you mean published in a magazine, no. I haven't marketed any of the Africa photos to any publications yet. The only published ones are those in a John X Safaris ad on pg. 93 of the African Sporting Gazette Vol. 9, Issue 2. It's the one with the nyala on the cover. So about the only place you might have seen the lion would have been in another message somewhere or perhaps in the album I added to the African Hunter magazine site a while back.



Lorenzo,



I hope your girlfriend took after her dad in regards to her looks. If not, please tell her to be very careful with those teeth.



Billy,



More to come, maybe manana. I'll start another thread and even include another leopard photo. -TONY

Tony,

I'd sue like to use that lion shot in a book I'm writing about DGR. Possible?

Look for an email from me. Your address is correct, right? -TONY

Beautiful photos Tony. I have to post another one of yours here as well. I love the eyes on this lion.

There's nothing like the look of the eyes of a predator. Captivating and chilling, they rivet me and compel me to want to delve deeper into the experience of the animal.

These are wicked cool. Your practice certainly paid off! Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.

Forrest,

Hey, wanna a job as my PR agent??

I was going to put that one is another new thread for the sake of faster DLs per thread, but I'll just add some others, maybe later today. Did you grab that one from the album at African Hunter? -TONY

Here's another lion pic for you. -TONY

There's only one word for the last lion photo... REGAL!

Great pics.

Get these published somewhere.....they're some of the best I've seen.

Tony- Great job! How about putting some of these pics in the new AR book? Front and rear cover? I love the lion photo. Thanks for posting!

I thought the snarling lion was stunning, but that last one is one of the most gorgeous photos I've ever seen. Congrats on a fine job.

Very nice photos. And with a relatively simple digital! Post some more anytime.

Lorenzo, Have you ever thought that your nice kitty-cat girlfriend may grow older to look like her mother?

Verewaaier.

Last one looks like you did a little Photoshop lighting on it, but, the overall affect, and quality of your pictures, is really incredible. Getting that close to a Leopard, or lion, with even a 10X lense, is, well, my hat's off to you.

I would have a hard time taking those pics, unless I had my camera mounted on a 458 Lott...

s

Hi,
Was the pic of the King Cheetah taken in a reserve? They are quite rare, but I heard they are being bred specially in RSA or Namibia...

Very nice OW! What were you doing to that first lion? He looks pretty mad!!!!!!!!Is there a story to go with the picture? Thanks joe

I'm going to Botswana in mid-March, and just bought a new Olympus C-750 UltraZoom, which also has a 10x optical zoom but with 4 megapixels. I am not a seasoned photographer, but would like to get some good wildlife close-ups without getting too close to those teeth. So far I have found that at 10X it's tough not to get a little movement without a tripod. Do you have any suggestions that don't require me to use the more esoteric of what seem to be hundreds of settings on the C-750?

Okay, I'm going to try to cover a bunch in this one reply.



First, an overall thanks to everyone for the complimnets. And now, I'll answer those who had more specific comments or questions.



.44,



Oh, at least some of them will get published somewhere eventually. That's how I buy groceries. I just need to beat down some crocs nipping at my backside first, then start marketing the photos.



30ott6,



I have no idea what "AR book" you mean. Does it pay real money and are you involved with it??



Socrates,



A bit of background darkening. Photo was shot in very warm, early eveing light, as well.



Boghossian.



Yes on the king cheetah. It, as well as those of the well-maned lions, were taken at Tshukudu, a very large reserve just outside Kruger NP. Some of the other critters were taken within or near the park or on concessions I hunted earlier on my 18-day trip to RSA. And congrats for recognizing that as a king cheetah. Here's one of the normal sorts. Her name is Savanah.







goosejoe,



Tshukudu has an extensive lion breeding program in place, and this old boy is one of their prime studs. He didn't like us intruding on his space, so started a bit of a roaring session. The other nearby lions joined in. Other than an elk bugle within 10 yards of me while I was bowhunting, it was the most incredible sound I've heard in the wild. Being so close, the roar was extremely loud and enough to raise goosebumps. The lions carried on for a 1/2 hr. Unfortunately, it was twilight when it started, so I had only a few minutes of shooting light.



tsheltont,



Yes, the 740/750 came about to replace the 2100. Unfortunately, Olympus, for whatever reason, didn't include the image stabilization feature of the 2100. So handholding it at 10X is iffy at best and requires a fast shutter speed for sharp images.



My suggestion is to use the shutter-preferred mode if the 750 offers it and set the "film" ISA to higher speed, such as 400 or 800. Also, brace the camera anyway you can. Even a single staff or monopod will help steady it. Or rest on the hood of a vehicle, a tree limb or anything else that is handy.



Now for the MOST important suggestions: READ THE MANUAL and do learn how to use some of those "esoteric" functions by actually TESTING them BEFORE you leave the USA.



There is no sense travelling that far, spending that much money and NOT getting good pix! Fortunately, with digitals, you can preview and delete the garbage. BUT...if you're shooting wildlife, you might not get a second chance to take more than one pic that could become the most memorable highlight of your trip. Been there, done that all too many times with a film camera over the past 25 years.



So make the first one count.

Outstanding pics,Kev

Thanks, Kev.

Here's another puttitat. -TONY

Tony,

Thanks for your kind comment about my pics, but, your animal pictures are truelly amazing! I'm very jealous! I have some good animal pics from our trip, but they're all on Fuji Provia 100 slides, and I don't have a scanner... Most of our "serious" pictures were taken with the 35mm, but in retrospect I think I would have brought a good digital SLR on the trip instead. It would have made it a lot easier to have it all together on harddisk and CD backups than the 3000 slides we have in addition to 3500 digitals...

Well, we live and learn!

Erik D.

www.dunia.no

ForrestB

That critter should be on a floorplate.



They are all very nice photos, by the way!

Tony:

A friend of mine is looking for some photos of Giraffes in the wild so they can use in some paintings. Anything available?

please email directlt to me at rslus@localnet.com

Thanks,
Bob S.

Hey OW, is it true magazines don't accept pics that have already been displayed? Don't they reserve all rights?
Also, is it true that pictures for magazines generally have to be on slides (or do they accept digital pics now?).
Lastly, do magazines generally get their pictures from
-The gunwriters
-Pro photographers in national parks
-Hunter/Photographers like yourself?
I know that OL once had a tame leopard on the front cover (can see chain if you look closely?) but are all those 6x6 elk from Yellowstone???

Erik,

I hauled my 35mm gear and shot a bunch of K64 slides because many publications still are in the dark ages in regards to digitals. Although I have a scanner, I haven't had any time to scan! Heck, I haven't even sorted through them yet.

My next major photo equipment purchase will be one of the Canon SLR digital bodies so I can use my cadre of lenses with it. One of my sons just bought the 10D, and it takes super pix. -TONY

Quote:

---

A friend of mine is looking for some photos of Giraffes in the wild so they can use in some paintings.

---

rslus,

Finally had a chance to go through some of my 35mm slides. I didn't shoot too many giraffe photos, but I scanned two of the ones I had. See the OW's LIVE African Wildlife Photos #2 thread.

I sure do enjoy your photos.

Roger, sorry I missed your note. You're right - he belongs on someone's floor plate. But, I'm afraid, not mine. I've always liked to admire really nice game scenes on rifles, but never desired them on my own rifles.

Birds on shotguns appeal to me though. I can't explain that one.