Category: Uncategorized

Early morning and it’s cloudy over the savanna and river beyond Tarangire Safari Lodge. Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, June 3, 2019. Apple iPhone 6 Plus back camera, 4.15mm, f/2.2. ƒ/2.2, 4.2mm, 1/200th sec. For a larger version, see my Flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/botetourt/48140381187

Masai giraffe and accompanying red-billed oxpeckers on the lakeshore in Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania, June 4, 2019. Nikon D500. Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6. ƒ/16, 500mm (DX 750mm), 1/3000th sec., ISO 1600. See a larger view at my Flickr site, www.flickr.com/photos/botetourt/48238313697

A young Maasai gets enthusiastic during a welcoming dance. Linda and I visited a “cultural” Maasai boma (village enclosure) while we were traveling back from the Serengeti. It was a real village — people live there as they try to keep the old ways, but open it to outsiders as a way to earn income to keep things going. These Maasai are traditional herders (and cultural interpreters) who live on the arid leeward side of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. They ask a donation, allow visitors to meet and photographic them, and they sell the excellent beaded crafts they have made. Many see this as exploitation. I, and many others, see this as a friendly exchanged that allowed Linda and me a tiny window into the Maasai way of life. We came, we met, we learned, we left enriched though perhaps wanting more, and hopefully their life goes on. <i> Technical Note: This is what an extreme wide angle is for. I was in these guys’ faces and they got in mine; we fed off of each other. Nikon D750. Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8. ƒ/8, 15mm, 1/180th sec. ISO 400. View larger at my Flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/botetourt/48054813738

A young impala female rests in the grass, surrounded and protected by adults, in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, June 3, 2019. Nikon D500. Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6. ƒ/5.6, 390mm (DX 535mm), 1/1000th sec., ISO 400. To view larger, visit my Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/botetourt/48162951397

A blue monkey beside the dirt track that winds through Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania, June 4, 2019. Nikon D750. Nikkor 70-210mm f/4-5.6. ƒ/13, 210mm, 1/250th sec., ISO 1600. To view larger, visit my Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/botetourt/48162951397

A Von Der Decken’s hornbill in a tree at a Tarangire National Park camping shelter in Tanzania, June 03, 2019. Nikon D500. Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6. ƒ/5.6, 500mm (DX 750mm), 1/125th sec., ISO 560. See a larger version at my Flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/botetourt/48162951397

I met a few other photographers on the night of July 1, 2019, at the Pine Tree Overlook of the Blue Ridge Parkway and we shot pictures of the Milky Way. (The really bright body in the middle right is Jupiter.) Nikon D750. Movo gimbal head on Benro tripod. Tamron 15-30mm ƒ/2.8. ƒ/2.8, 15.0 mm, 15 secs., ISO 3200. View larger at my Flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/botetourt/48218556627

A superb starling struts its stuff in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, June 3, 2019. Nikon D500. Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6. ƒ/5.6, 230mm (DX 345mm), 1/250th sec., ISO 560. View larger at my Flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/botetourt/48218556627

Looking west from the Blue Ridge Parkway, lightning on Saturday night before the fireworks at the Buchanan Firemens’ Carnival in Botetourt County, Va., July 6, 2019. Nikon D750. Benro tripod, Movo gimbal head. Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6. ƒ/13.0, 200mm, 30 secs., ISO 100. View larger at http://www.flickr.com/photos/botetourt/48218556627

A Maasai giraffe, with a red-billed oxpecker, at Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania, June 4, 2019. Nikon D500. Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6. ƒ/16.0, 500mm (DX 750mm), 1/350th sec., ISO 1600. View this larger on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/botetourt/48238221336/