Category Archives: Uncategorized

by Diane | June 2, 2020 · 3:22 pm

The Chobe River and Chobe National Park, Botswana

The Chobe River is a special place for nature photographers and nature lovers. One side of the river is Botswana, the other side, Namibia. Beautiful birds are nesting along the both shorelines.

Malachite Kingfisher
© Diane Kelsay

Malachite Kingfisher
© Bob Harvey

White Fronted Bee Eater
© Diane Kelsay

Pied Kingfisher
© Diane Kelsay

And the nest robbers go after the eggs.

Water Monitor Lizard
© Diane Kelsay

The Southern Red Bishop searches the reeds for building materials.

Southern Red Bishop
© Bob Harvey

He builds several nests for his home show and invites the female for a look.

Inspection of the nest.
© Diane Kelsay

Elephants love the water, where they drink, eat, cool off and play.

Riverbank mud bath.
© Diane Kelsay

And sometimes their life ends in the river. Dozens of Nile Crocodiles feasted on this elephant for a day – and then for some reason, moved it about a half mile upstream during the night, and then cleaned up what remained.

And of course, the mighty Fish Eagle. Sometimes the call is the first sound of the morning.

Along the riverside, lions like to roam in and out of the trees, along the sandbars…

The roar was the loudest we ever heard.
© Diane Kelsay

Clearly she was busy grooming and didn’t want to respond.
© Diane Kelsay

Looks like he is waiting for her.
© Diane Kelsay

The river is loaded with hippos. Lots of action!

Hippo looking for trouble!
© 2018 Diane Kelsay

It’s a beautiful river.
© Diane Kelsay

Link to our Botswana Photography Safari

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Tagged as bee eaters, bird photography, birds, Botswana, Chobe National Park, Chobe River, crocodiles, elephants, hippos, kingfishers, lions, Malachite Kingfisher, Namibia, nature photography, Nature Photography Adventures, Nile crocodile, photo tours, wildlife photography

by Diane | May 9, 2020 · 8:41 am

Mom & Me

It’s time to celebrate our moms. They feed us, then teach us how to feed ourselves by grazing, browsing, fishing, hunting… They protect us from predators and teach us how to get along in our environment.

It’s really special to watch and photograph moms and their young. Do take the time to study the behavior, not just catch a quick photo. You will end up with many choices of great moments.

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Tagged as Africa, baby animals, bears, bison, brown bears, cheetah, elephants, giraffe, grizzly bears, howler monkey, jabiru stork, leopard, Lion, mothers day, Nature Photography Adventures, penguins, rhino, rhinos, safari, wildebeest, wildlife photography

by Diane | April 15, 2020 · 10:59 am

N’Giresi Village, Tanzania

The local village of the Wa Arusha tribe are cousins of the Maasai, but unlike the Maasai, are a farming community. We offer a visit to this village as a pre-tour for our Tanzania Adventures. This time, I went with Kristie and we had a great experience. This is not a show, this is real village life.

We walked several miles through the village through banana and coffee plantations. These ladies walked uphill about 3 miles from the market with heavy loads on their heads. And we were tired from carrying our camera bags?
© Diane Kelsay

We visited a traditional healer and she showed us her collection of medicinal plants. It was very dark, only an open door. I asked her to hold up the pretty plant into the light and caught some light on her face too.

The healer’s house with a pile of cornhusks.
© Diane Kelsay

Drying the corn.
© Diane Kelsay

Lunchtime for the goats.
© Diane Kelsay

We asked for a demonstration of how to process the coffee beans (the coffee they served us was amazing)

Shelling coffee beans.
© Diane Kelsay

Tossing the beans into the air for the shells to fly off. The shells are light skins and she assists by blowing them as she tosses.
© Diane Kelsay

Then they are dropped into the roaster. She stirred them over the fire until roasted just perfectly. We could see why this coffee was so great. Everything is done on the farm.
© Diane Kelsay

Many people like to search for the chameleon while walking down this road.
© Diane Kelsay

It was Saturday but some of the village children were in school. Others were not. I’m not sure how the system works. When we approached the doorway, the noisy kids milling about all went to their seats and looked like model students.

Listening intently to the teacher. Then they sang us a song.
© Diane Kelsay

Kristie really loved the children. See her quote below.
© Diane Kelsay

“These kiddos stole my heart from the very first. How I wish I could be in Tanzania today. Something in my soul is telling me to get back there as quickly as I can. I miss the people, the animals, the landscapes and the rhythm of life”. She posted this on facebook and I asked permission to copy it here. Kristie is right on with everything she said. We have many friends in Tanzania and look forward to every visit. When I go back to this village, I will bring a print for the healer. She was amazed to see her photo on the back of the camera. I’ve emailed the guide so he can show her but they love getting prints. Everyone appreciates our visits and the few dollars we bring to the community.

Consider joining us on a Tanzania adventure in the future and we will introduce you to the people, the animals, the landscape.

Link to our calendar

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Tagged as Africa, Africa photography, Maasai, Nature Photography Adventures, people photography, tanzania, Tanzania people, Tanzania photography, Tanzania Phototography Safari, Tanzania Safari, Tanzania villages

by Diane | April 5, 2020 · 11:25 am

It’s Spring – A Challenge

Tired of being inside? It’s spring outside! We are usually gone during spring, so we are making the most of our lockdown with daily walks and finding lots of new life to photograph around our place.

View from the deck. I took my time moving around and arranging the greens and lavender. In the past I’ve been in a hurry and just took documentary shots.
© 2020 Diane Kelsay

Same tree, cardinals frequent. NOT an easy shot. I had to open the door to the deck and hide inside. There were many misses – out of focus, branch in front of his face, oops he flew away (they are fast).

Cardinal in the redbud tree.
© 2020 Diane Kelsay

Flight abstract. Things you can make with “misses”
© 2020 Diane Kelsay

The bees are working hard! Yay, honey!
© 2020 Diane Kelsay

I enjoyed sitting by the stream, lush green mosses everywhere.
© 2020 Diane Kelsay

Daffodils are up.
© 2020 Diane Kelsay

More abstract opportunities.
© 2020 Diane Kelsay

New growth poking through last year’s dead stuff.
© 2020 Diane Kelsay

I hope you will go outside and find things. Even if you have a small yard or apartment common space, there are insects, new growth, blossoms, birds, even reflections in rain puddles and drops on leaves. Have fun creating and take good care of yourself. Post your photos on facebook, send them to me at diane@naturephotographyadventures.com.

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Tagged as bee photography, bees, birds, flower photography, flowers, insects, Nature Photography Adventures, spring

by Diane | March 26, 2020 · 1:01 pm

Textures All Around Us

Post 2

My first trip outside with the camera was on an overcast day to photograph the texture of the River Birch tree.

Watching closely from the kitchen window, I waited for the sun to come out and photographed it again.

It’s important to observe how light changes texture, especially side light.

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by Diane | March 20, 2020 · 2:54 pm

Textures All Around Us

Textures

It’s always easy to spot beautiful textures when we travel.

Why? Because we are looking!

At this time of hanging around our houses, we challenge you to go find some interesting textures. They are everywhere and art can be created. To stay healthy, we all know the rules now, but exercising the mind and body is an important part of staying healthy. We will spend the next week finding some things to photograph around the house, our gardens and woods, and even some of the things we have brought home from far away places. Watch for the next post to see the results.

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Tagged as Nature Photography Adventures, photographing textures, textures in nature

by Diane | February 3, 2020 · 1:34 pm

Spots!

I had so much fun cropping the feathers, that when I went to print some cat photos, I started looking hard at the differences in their spots. Such gorgeous designs. I love cats! Can’t get enough cat photos.

Some look sharper than others, has to do with the hairs. Can you name these 4 cats? Hint: an obvious one is missing, think of others. Send me an email – diane@naturephotographyadventures.com with your IDs and if they are right, I’ll give you $100 off the next adventure you sign up for.

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by Diane | January 7, 2020 · 12:05 pm

Feathers

Some of my favorite moments in processing bird photos are when I zoom to 100% to check details. Birds are beautiful, yes. But when you look at the endless designs, colors and details of the feather patterns, gorgeous abstracts appear.

Look for the opportunities to create art from nature. Grab your camera, let’s go!

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Tagged as abstracts, art in nature, artistic cropping, bird photography, color and design, feathers, nature abstracts, nature photography, Nature Photography Adventures

by Diane | November 19, 2019 · 9:34 am

Chimps and Rhinos

Chimpanzees How to photograph an animal with so much personality. Study them closely as you photograph, they have human like expressions – you want to caption each one with what you think they are thinking. Easy because we share so much DNA. Use your non-verbal interaction skills to develop a relationship, then capture the moment.

Just thinking?

This one looks like he heard a “Bob joke” and is trying to give a polite laugh.

Rhinos – a different story. They wander about pretty expressionless. The photographic challenge is to capture the setting and use the light, perhaps the mood if it’s charging toward you. Or the adult/young interaction.

Close views show interesting textures and features of this odd looking creature. Can you tell the difference between a black rhino and a white rhino? It’s not about the color.

Black rhinos have a pointed lip suitable for grabbing fruit and leaves off trees and shrubs. White rhinos have a flat, wide lip for grazing on grasses. The white rhino is larger. Learn more about rhinos on our Kenya Photography Safari.

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Tagged as black rhino, chimpanzee, chimpanzee sanctuary, chimps, Jane Goodall, Kenya, Nature Photography Adventures, rhino, rhino conservation, rhino sanctuary, white rhino

by Diane | November 11, 2019 · 1:35 pm

The Pantanal – Jabiru Storks

First light on the Jabiru Stork nest. Three young ones watching the adult fly about.

The adult takes off again to find some goodies to bring back.

Our guide tells us they bring back wet vegetation, adding it to the nest to cool it down. It also has some good stuff to eat like fish and snails.

The Jabiru is the tallest flying bird in South and Central America. Come join us in 2021 to photograph this nest and other Jabiru sightings in the Pantanal of Brazil.

Link to our Pantanal Wild Photography Adventure

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Tagged as bird photography, Brazil, jabiru stork, jaguar, Nature Photography Adventures, ocelot, Pantanal, wildlife photography

Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Chobe River and Chobe National Park, Botswana

Mom & Me

N’Giresi Village, Tanzania

It’s Spring – A Challenge

Textures All Around Us

Textures All Around Us

Spots!

Feathers

Chimps and Rhinos

The Pantanal – Jabiru Storks

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