Hi all…I think today I am going to mix it up again and give you guys all a little glimpse into our lives here in the Kalahari.  I don’t know if you all know but Noa is up here with me, as my girlfriend, and probably more importantly to her (lol) to take footage of the park and everything that happens here. so I am being nice again today and giving you two photos to have a look at. The first one is of Noa working her film camera and the second is of me doing my think with my normal photographic camera. We were busy following this big male lion the one morning and this is when my colleagues that were up here at the time took these photos of us. In that case, to be truthful, these photographs are not actually mine but of me as the subject for a change. They also show you a bit more of how my vehicle works beautifully to accommodate us – the way we have to move around, the lack of obstruction by glass windows etc. Feel free to come have a look if you see us in the park when you come and visit.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Noa: Me:

Cheers til tomorrow.

Hi all…so life goes on here in the Kalahari for us. We are just trying to get back and settled again as I am sure most of you are too, going back to work and school etc. Things seem a lot easier when you get in your routine again, especially when it is waking up at 4:30/5am to make coffee and hit the tracks. I am so used to this by now that I am pretty much on autopilot for most of the morning. The photo I am sharing with you today is just a little tribute to the big male lions I have become very attached to here in the park. They are really beautiful and are always perfect subjects for me to photograph whether it is this big guy on the crest of a hill or others on the dunes etc. They never disappoint me! I admire and respect their power and abilities to take down large prey but also love to watch them laze about in the heat of the day. It seems like they have a pretty good life if you ask me. So take a look at this one and take a minute to admire him because he is worth it.

Enjoy. Cheers til tomorrow.

Hi all…I hope the weekend was a good one for all of you. Noa and I are still just trying to keep cool up here in the heat but doing what we love to do still so it’s not that bad. Today I am going to share a funny one with you all because I noticed this photo as I was going through them and every time I see it I smile. I hope it will do the same for you. It is a photo of one of the wildebeest around the park here. I don’t know what it is about these antelope (yes, they are part of the antelope family) but every time I come across them they make me laugh in some way. If it’s not just their generally weird appearance, its their mad behaviour and random outbursts of frolicking about. I love them because they are unpredictable and always look a little bit out-of-place. I don’t know if it is just this parks wildebeest but they always seem to be alone in a smaller heard of either Springbok, Gemsbok or Rooi Hartebeest. It kind of looks like they are always trying to fit in but never quite do. If you ever see them going truly crazy, i.e. galloping and bucking about, it is probably a male trying busy to entice a female to mate with.

If you have any funny stories of these guys or any others really, feel free to share them with me…take a look at this photo and hopefully have a chuckle.

Enjoy it and cheers til tomorrow!

Hi all…ok so today I might have lied a little in the title of this post because the photograph I am sharing with you today is not actually black and white. It is more of an ‘arty’ one though because it is one of this beautiful big male lion completely silhouetted by the setting sun. The only other colour in this photo, besides the black, is the deep orange-red cast by the setting sun in the background. As lions do, this male is having a good yawn whilst waking up after a nice long day of relaxing (all tongue and teeth). Who knows what he got up to on his night journey. I really like this one and I hope you do too.

Take a look and let me know what you think…

From us here in the Kalahari, have a safe and relaxing weekend and remember to get outdoors sometime. Cheers til Monday.

Hi all…so I need to apologise first for the lack of post yesterday-technical difficulties. As you can imagine, it is not always that easy for me to connect to the internet in order to upload these so forgive me if I miss one or two along the line. Todays post is another 2 photograph one so lucky for you guys. These two young males decided to have a little sparring session while I was watching them and the rest of their pride. I think they were probably practicing for the real thing that they will have to face one day with a big male. The dust started flying around which always makes for nice photography while they were dancing around each other in it. I love the browns, yellows and oranges you get from taking photographs in the Kalahari. It never gets old for me. I guess that is part of why I have lasted here so long.

Take a look and let me know what you think…

Cheers til tomorrow.

Hi all…I’m back. I hope that you all had a great holiday and festive season. I know Noa and I had some fun in Swakopmund but its back to the Kalahari and to work for me. I know a lot of you are interested in the kind of ‘behind-the-scenes’ stuff of my life and work here so today is another post for me to share some of the pics of me doing what I love to do with you. The first is just one of me in my vehicle so that you know what to look out for when you come and visit  the park and me. This vehicle was completely customized for me so that I could do the most effective job possible when in the park. Most of the time I drive with the windscreen flapped down, hence the crazy hair blowing in the wind, haha. The second photo is just of me using one of my favourite sets of equipment. Take a look and get a little bit more of a feel for my life here in this great place…

Let me know what you think and keep checking in with me daily…Cheers.

Hi all…it is getting very close to Christmas now and I am going up to Swakopmund for a while with Noa to get my vehicle serviced and to chill a bit. This is therefore my last blog post for 2010 which will probably resume somewhere around the 4th January 2011. I just want to thank all of you who have been following this blog so far and for all the support that you have shown me and my business: ‘Lochner Photography & Publishing’. The blog has not been up and running long so I am really pleased with the way the views are increasing so I hope it grows and grows in 2011. Let me know if there is ever anything in particular that you want me to show you (photo-wise) or if you have any other queries or questions I can help you with. I am really looking forward to what 2011 will bring me! I would also like to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to our sponsors for all of their support. They are listed on the right column on the home page.

Today’s photo is a black and white one which I decided to share it today because I can’t share it tomorrow for ‘Black & White Friday’. This leopard looks alert and in the hunt. I like this photo because its eyes and face are really in focus. This is tricky to get at night so I am happy with it. The eyes are also really clear, big and bright. Again, I will say that I love leopards and that they are one of my favourite animals to photograph as I am sure most of you will agree. Enjoy it and let me know what you think…

Thanks again to everyone for their support and come visit me in the Kalahari sometime in 2011. Take care and have a great party over Christmas and New Year! See you next year from both of us in the Kalahari.

Hi all…today’s photo is one of those that most people would not like to be in the situation to be able to take this shot. But this is what I do and do what I need to (respecting the animals and park rules ALWAYS!) in order to get the shot I want. This puff adder is in his ‘ready-to-strike’ defensive position which is not a position you want them to be in when you find them, that’s for sure. There are lots around here though so you need to take care when walking around the park as they are lazy and rely on camouflage for protection. They will sometimes hiss loudly if you are disturbing them which is a great warning to you to get out of its area as quickly as possible. They have a triangular head and strike with such force that they say that most of its prey die from the trauma alone and not necessarily the venom. This snake is responsible for more deaths than any other African snake so please treat them with respect and lots of caution. They have cytotoxic venom which is injected deeply because of the size of their fangs. This venom attacks and destroys tissue and blood cells which presents itself as painful and fast swelling. You can almost see the venom on its tongue in the photo I have shared with you. It looks like it has an almost ultra-violet coating on it. These are the things you have to remember when in the bush-you are just visiting and the animals here are serious and do not play around. Please respect this so that everyone can enjoy visiting these places for a long time to come…enjoy…Let me know what you think…cheers until tomorrow.

Hi all…so as you know it gets really hot up here. Noa and I like to drive around early in the mornings before the sun gets fierce and then in the late afternoons again until late when it is cooling down again. This leopard we stumbled upon on one of our evening drives which was great for us because leopard are really difficult to see in this park. They are very good at sneaking around and staying just out of sight. What made this find great was the colours that were around because of it being twilight. I was able to capture really unique and interesting colours in the background and around the leopard. The greens are emerald, the sky is pink and purple and even the ‘token-burnt-orange’ ground of the Kalahari is a dull grey/brown. All of these colours contribute to the leopard standing out in the photo. Yet another great background the Kalahari has given me for one of my favourite animals that I love to shoot with my camera!

Enjoy folks and let me know what you think…

If you are traveling these holidays, take care on the roads. Cheers.

Hi all…greetings again from a HOT Kalahari. I hope that all of you had a fun and safe weekend. Probably lots going on holiday all over the country. I know the camp sites around here have filled up and we are getting lots of visitors popping in to our camp site to say hi which is nice. It is cool to meet people who know me from seeing my work etc. So thanks to all that have already and for those of you still coming, don’t be shy to say howzit.

So today’s photo I have for you is of a cheetah on one of the ridges around Samevloeing area. I like this one because of the contrast of the cheetah’s colouring to the blue blue background. There is no shortage of incredibly blue skies here in the Kalahari, in between the thunder and sand storms that is. The cheetah is getting a great view of what game is where from this ridge, probably trying to see if there is anything worth attempting to hunt. It looks very regal poised on top of the ridge, looking down on everything else. The Kgalagadi Cheetah Project, by Gus and Margie Mills, collars cheetahs to gain really important information about them in this park. As you can see, this one is not collared but this project has about 10 radio-collared cheetahs now giving the researchers very valuable info about their feeding, ranging and reproductive behaviours. It’s a good-looking cheetah.

Take a look and let me know what you think… Enjoy the holidays. Cheers!