RENTIA DEYZEL

Canon EOS 600D Sigma 150 – 500 mm

RENTIA WRITES: I’m from Somerset West and this was my first trip to the Kruger Park. I travelled with a friend from Limpopo – we meandered from Pretoriuskop in the south to Punda Maria in the north over seven days.

One day, we came across three southern ground hornbills between Skukuza and Lower Sabie. One had caught a frog and was very happy with its catch. Vervet monkeys tried to snatch its lunch, but they didn’t get lucky. The hornbills caused a traffic jam as everyone was trying to get a photo. One bird got upset with a vehicle and pecked it five times! The hornbills eventually disappeared into the bush.

TOAST SAYS: In a mixed martial arts fight between a ground hornbill and the side of a Hyundai Atos, my money is on the bird… A ground hornbill packs a serious punch with that huge bill – it’s like getting hit with a pickaxe!

Animals always have right of way in parks and reserves. Rather try to get your shots from a distance, using a zoom lens. That said, many animals have become used to the presence of vehicles, especially in busy places like the Kruger. Some predators even use the noise, smell and cover provided by tourist cars to shield their presence, and they spring surprise attacks when their prey is distracted.

What I love about Rentia’s shot is that she managed to get an eye-level photo of this beautiful bird. She also got a bit lucky with the light green foliage in the background, which surrounds the bird’s head and makes the black feathers stand out. The grass in the foreground gives us a sense of scale – it shows how big the bird is. When photographing birds, try to show them doing something. Behaviour always adds a narrative to a wildlife photo. In other words, try to get something more than the bird just standing or sitting there like a chess player considering his next move. ( Thick-knees are good at that.)

Although the poor frog had to croak for it, the hunting behaviour captured by Rentia is what makes her photo special.