Wildlife Photography by Uwe Skrzypczak

Author:Uwe Skrzypczak
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Rocky Nook
Published: 2010-03-19T16:00:00+00:00

This crop represents an image taken with the equivalent of a 1400 mm lens in APS-C format (or a 2000 mm lens for a full-frame camera). The only practical way to take photos like this is by using your longest telephoto lens coupled with a teleconverter.

Black rhino with calf: Ngorongoro Crater, June 2005, Nikon D2x, AF-S VR 200-400mm f/4 lens & 1.7x teleconverter, ISO 360, 1/200 sec. at f6.7

Rhinos can be dangerous although, as Professor Grzimek proved, they often mount fake charges. Sometimes, even the people whose job it is to protect them have been fatally injured by rhinos charging at 25 mph. They have weak eyesight but can scent other animals over distances of many miles. A rhino mother with a calf in tow will stop every few yards and smell the air in all directions to make sure that her baby is not in danger from a predator.

In bright sunlight, and at any distance, you will need eagle eyes to be able to tell a dozing rhino from a weather-beaten termite mound. If you manage to make out a rhino, you “only” need to find a track that leads near enough to it to take a photo. Rhinos are mostly found in areas where off-road driving is prohibited. You can work around this problem in the early morning light or under cloudy skies by using an extreme telephoto lens, as in the image above. You might even be lucky enough to get sufficiently near to shoot using a shorter lens, as I was for the image on the right.

Photo opposite Black rhino at sunrise: Ngorongoro Crater, June 2005, Nikon D2x, AF-S VR 200-400mm f/4 lens, ISO 180, 1/125 sec. at f4.0

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