Here we found a rare species of antelope in East Africa.

East African Oryx.

A very handsome animal, gathering in small herds of 10-20, We will find them out in the open grassy plains. With this image you can see the issue with heat wave!

Taken around 11 am in the hot sun, the heat wave distorts the light coming through our long lenses. Resulting in a tough edit.

Maybe next time we can catch these beauties in the early am.

August 2020!

A beautiful baby elephant stays close to mom, and gives us a pose!

Tanzania tours.. Join me in August!

Lilac Breasted roller lifting off to hunt!

We see several of these birds every day, and hope for a chance with such a nice background as this image shows us.

We sit and wait, hoping the bird will fly in a direction for us to have a good view. Luck was with us this time.

Thanks for looking.
ray@raymondbarlow.com

Very pretty antelopes!

A pair of female impala posing in Tarangire NP., which is not too far from Arusha, Tanzania. Complimented by a beautiful environment, these 2 beauties seem calm and composed; possibly they had some sort of feeling that they were being photographed!

Hoping for more nice chances in August 2020.

raymond

A very handsome Cape buffalo!

There was so much green grass to graze on this trip, as the Tarangire NP was drenched with rain over the last few months. (before we arrived!)

We were fortunate, no issues at all. No rain, and no mud bogs! It was easy driving, and excellent sightings. Everyone in the safari truck contributed to pointing out so many species.

Even Snakes! A python, and a Black mamba! Awesomeness!

Not great photos of them, just snapshots as we left them alone in their environment. So the great range in species was interesting regardless.

Incredible trip to say the least!

Thanks to all of my awesome guests.

So many birds!

We had several opportunities to capture many bird species in Tanzania. i would say at least 15 good chances with the White-headed buffalo weaver.

A beautiful bird, very common, and handsome!

This tour was probably my very best for bird photography, compared to the previous 6 tours. Possibly due to heavy rains in December and January.

I really enjoy the beauty in Tanzania.

A special and rare sighting!

The common Dwarf Mongoose is elusive, after many tours to TZ; I have only had a good look on 2 occasions in the past.

They are so cute and tiny! On this drive during our second day, we found a few members of this species browsing a termite mound for snacks.

We had 3 little ones, in and out of the venting holes of the mound, they were shay and curious! We all kept quiet, and clicked away when the chances were there, and realizing how difficult it is to get a sharp image in such close range.

Hope to see them again soon!

Thanks for looking!

A distant leopard, about 100 yards away poses nicely in a sausage tree, (Kigelia) within the Tarangire NP. A beautiful animal combined with a very difficult shot.

We were very lucky to catch a clean view, and a nice smile form this amazing big cat!

Would you be interested in a tour designed to see and photograph big cats making their kills? Let me know!

ray@raymondbarlow.com

Superb raptor performing a lift off!

A Tawny eagle in Tanzania shares its beauty as the massive bird lifts off to hunt in a new area.

We saw several of these birds, and had a great time watching and learning about how they survive eating left overs from the lions.

Tanzania adventures!

Newfoundland this August 2020!

ray@raymondbarlow.com

A new life in Tanzania

A newborn baby elephant is ready for life, lots of food and a safe place to live in Tarangire national Park, Tanzania.

Many herds in the area, some with as large numbers, up to 30 animals!. It was great fun trying to catch them interacting, and enjoying their close up and personal visits to our vehicle.

The adult females are very protective towards their young, as the share the responsibility of raising them. Such beautiful creatures, and impossible to appreciate until they are within a few yards of your eyes.,

True and real nature.

Love Tanzania!

ray@raymondbarlow.com

A very young East African elephant nuzzles with its mom.

Amazing sight!

Tanzania Tours with raymond.

Red-necked spurfowl

A cheeking and noisy ground bird, not easily found on such a nice perch! a termite mound.

Squawking its displeasure, we were able to catch a nice angle on this bird and background with some fancy maneuvering by our driver Muba., really well done.

For those who know the area, this was taken in the swampland of Tarangire NP.

More info on the "big cats kill" tour soon!

ray@raymondbarlow.com

Once in a while, a great chance for a shot comes along!

This tiny Pearl spotted owl turned up during our drive, spotted by our awesome safari driver in Tanzania. perched up in a tree, this tiny bird was hunting insects and small rodents.

Bright sunny days were common during our tour, so we would say this was difficult lighting. I will say the dynamic range with these Sony sensors is more then adequate. Nice details and accurate colours are expected with all the proper settings and conditions.

Another tour is now being planned for the near future... the "big cats" have a quite a few young, so we are looking for 3 guests only for a "fly into the Serengeti" in late March.
If you might be interested, please contact me - ray@raymondbarlow.com

Love real nature in Africa.

Superb staring with a pose!

This is easily the most common bird that we see during our tours. for the majority of the sighting, the starling is on the ground, feeding on ants and insects.

We were all very lucky here and this bird posed on a sweet perch for a few minutes, so we could work the angle and the background with our expert driver Mubarack. "Muba" is one of the finest drivers I have met in Tanzania with incredible sighting ability for distant birds and animals.


Another tour is now being planned for the near future... the "big cats" have a quite a few young, so we are looking for 3 guests only for a "fly into the Serengeti" in late March.

Big cats hunting will be the specialty of this tour!

If you might be interested, please contact me - ray@raymondbarlow.com

Love real nature in Africa.

Pygmy falcon hunting.

Love Africa

Please join me - Florida, India, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Newfoundland, Tanzania, Long Island, Ontario, Philippines, or choose a destination, and we will make it happen for you!

Thanks for looking., raymond

We returned home yesterday, February 21st 2020, from Tanzania. what a blast! So many amazing things to see and photograph. A black Mamba! Cheetah kill, sooo many birds, lions cubs in a tree, lions mating, leopards, elephants in for swim, and best of all - happy customers.

I will keep posting images in here when I have time to edit, lots to do including planning future tours. and wow, a cheetah mom training her cub to kill!

One highlight tour will be to "The Gambia!" superb for kingfishers, so many bird species, and chimpanzees January 2021.
Also, next February 2021 we have a target tour... cheetahs and lions making kills. More on all that soon!

Above, we have a female mother elephant nursing her calf. Interesting scene, and real true nature. We saw so many interesting situations, and animals engaging.

Love Africa

Please join me - Florida, India, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Newfoundland, Tanzania, Long Island, Ontario, Philippines, or choose a destination, and we will make it happen for you!

Thanks for looking., raymond

Another frosty day yesterday February 1, 2020 with the hawk owl. With him spending most of his time up in the trees with elevated view of the swamp, it was nice for us to have a lower perspective, with a background that looks better then the white sky.

A pretty snowfall without a lot of wind adds to the image, but makes focusing difficult for most cameras... not the Sony, amazing results as the a7r4 locked in straight away, and produced a nice result at iso 2000.

On the contrary, my Maria beside me had little success, as her Nikon D800 would not focus worth a *****.... so you can imagine how much we are looking forward to a 200-600 G Sony lens! Some day!

Thanks also to Harry for another fun day trip!

Northern Hawk Owl - Snow Shower
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 379.0mm iso1600

After a vertical dive into the bulrush, the owl pops out with a nice catch for lunch! A big juicy vole. In the next few shots he lifts off to carry his meal to a nearby safety zone.

Northern Hawk Owl with a Vole!
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 330.0mm iso2000

Lift off pose! After moving the vole from his beak to his talons, he started his flight to a secure eating perch! Though I do think he stored the catch in a tree.

Real nature, no bait.

Northern Hawk Owl- heads up!
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2000

In a fast attempt to get out of the marsh, and save the owls catch, he lifts off and power down-strokes to get elevated quickly. with relatively short stocky wings this takes a lot of power and wing speed.

He was up and away in a big hurry!

Northern Hawk Owl Downstroke
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2000

This is the third flight shot of the series, more to come.

Northern Hawk Owl with prey tucked away!
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2000

In a fast attempt to get out of the marsh, and save the owls catch, he lifts off and power down-strokes to get elevated quickly. with relatively short stocky wings this takes a lot of power and wing speed.

He was up and away in a big hurry!

Northern Hawk Owl Downstroke
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2000

After 20 minutes or so of working in his "refrigerator", the hawk owl emerges with a nice flight across the marsh to hunt for another vole.

A few minutes later he dives right into the thick of the bulrush, and comes out with a nice fat vole. Another awesome real nature experience today, Jan 26, 2020. Images soon!

Thanks to Harry Hersh for joining me once again in the chilly cool weather!

Northern Hawk owl in Flight 5
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso4000

While waiting for the hawk owl to come out of hiding, we tracked a pair of Downy woodpeckers, foraging in the woods. Here the male produced a cute pose, all proud of himself as her gets ready for mating and springtime nesting.

So much fun shooting with this Sony kit in the forest. The AF was awesome through the bush twigs, and distractions.

True nature is best.

Downy woodpecker
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso5000

A hawk owl will usually save the kill, stuffing it into a protected area like a thorny bush, or an old tree cavity created by woodpeckers. The meal will stay cold and probably frozen for a later date when the bird is hungry and hunting is not going so well.

We watched the owl find this old cache and move it to a new storage location, about 60 yards from the original stash. It almost looks like he is try to make positive sure the dove is quite dead!

Love real nature.

Moderate crop at 8,000 iso, and a very easy edit. Unfortunate with the birds beak cutting across the eye of the bird, but still happy to enjoy the experience.

Northern Hawk Owl with a Mourning dove
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/800s f/5.6 at 385.0mm iso8000

Another quick take off shot with the hawk owl. iso 4000, and a nice job by the A7r4 to carry some sweet resolution after processing out the noise.
This bird is so fast, I am happy to catch any king of flight shot!
Hope to go back this weekend!


Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso4000

A large crop with this image, but worth a try!

Our owl decided it was time for a bath, as the mild weather created a small pool of water in the pond at the swamp. Too many reeds in the way from my view, so we didn't get a shot of the washing, but an interesting behavior to witness at least.

The a7r4 performs well in low light, as the heavy overcast did not give us much to work with. Thanks again Jane and Diane!

Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/4000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso3200

ISO goes up!

A7r4 iso at 64,000 looks not too bad here. I hope it works this well in Africa!

Thanks to sisters Jane and Diane for joining me for a day in the field with this superb owl. The both captured amazing shots!

Let's hope this owl sticks around for a few more weeks so we can enjoy the beautiful and real nature.

Northern Hawk Owl @ 64,000 iso
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/5000s f/18.0 at 400.0mm iso64000

When an owl lands in front of you!!

Right place right time, and all those hours of hanging around can pay off!

Very lucky for us photographers, and this Hawk owl to have such a treat. This is not a lion killing a wildebeest, but almost as cool to see. Our owl flew down into the ditch within 12 feet of our cameras, and did his thing to help him survive the cold winter.

We could see and hear the vole struggling to get away, but in the end, it was carried off to the nearby woods to be stored for a future meal.

Amazing and real nature, never baited., and you can clearly see why I will never bait.

Northern Hawk owl and his Vole
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/8.0 at 250.0mm iso4000

Real!

Wild and true nature! Lunch time with the hawk owl.

Neat to watch how this bird dealt with its prey, up close and personal! Hoping for another chance soon!

4000 iso, with 0 NR.

Northern hawk owl preparing lunch 2
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/8.0 at 250.0mm iso4000

That Look!

Life is good when your into nature, and a difficult bird sits down on a cool perch, with a nice background and gives you that awesome look!
As if to say " what the heck are you looking at man!"

O well, happy or not, it was fun.

Through my experience with this new a9 Sony, I am learning how critical the exposure setting are (along with everything else!). Interesting, this frame was shot about 1.5 stops under, and the noise needed to be corrected., even at a relatively low iso for this camera.

With 2500 iso on the Sony a9, we usually do not expect any noise, so I am now going to spend more effort with watching the histogram and exposure settings with both of my Sony bodies.

You might not see the noise here with this small file, The 32x18" print size image fike I produce with every edited shot shows just a bit more noise then I am happy with, so some extra blurring to the background was applied.

All good, looking forward to more next week, after this weather clears! We hope!


Northern Hawk Owl eye to eye
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2500

Another interesting day with the Hawk Owl, unfortunately we didn't get a good angle for a background today, so blah white sky behind the bird.

next time!

Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha A9,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso6400

Another interesting day with the Hawk Owl, unfortunately we didn't get a good angle for a background today, so blah white sky behind the bird.

next time!

Northern Hawk Owl in flight!
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha A9,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso6400

Another interesting day with the Hawk Owl, unfortunately we didn't get a good angle for a background today, so blah white sky behind the bird.

next time!

Northern hawk owl preparing lunch
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso6400

The owl took a dive into the snow, missed the kill and came back up to look for more! I am happy to have iso 4000 usable on this camera, to gain shutter speed when needed.

Another fun experience! Heading back tomorrow if all goes well!

Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/5000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso4000

Zero Noise Reduction!

iso 4000 is the setting on my a9, so in post processing, this image was just fine as is!

Neat situation, we are standing on the roadside, the owl perches a few feet above the sidewalk, we give it plenty of room, and wow, it flies into the ditch within 12 feet of me. so much for the theory of disturbing the poor owl!

Remarkably, the hunt was successful! And the vole was far from happy., so as they say that is life. This is 1 of at least 100 shots with this encounter, too many to choose from when the fps is 20!

At this point, the owl was ready for lift off, and proceeded to the trees to store the food for a later date. Good fun!

Northern Hawk Owl with fresh lunch!
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/8.0 at 250.0mm iso4000

This owl has lunch in sight!
Image taken just before it hovered for 9-10 seconds.

Northern Hawk Owl hunting
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/800s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1000

Every once in a while, it pays to be tenacious. Sit and wait, put in the time then hope for a good chance, also! - be prepared!
8 trips north to watch this owl get along in a natural environment with influence from nature photographers. There always seems to be a good crowd hanging around, enjoying the beauty of nature., and yes it gets ridiculous when some people take selfishness to the limit. enough said.
There was a good steady breeze, as this owl was moving from hunting perch to perch. At one point it saw a chance for a vole, flew over to have a closer look, and decided to hover for about 9 seconds! It was the gift we all wanted!
I was able to fire 70+ shots, and thanks to Sony, each shot is tack sharp.
As I was testing the iso limits of the A7r4 camera, at this point I was shooting at 4,000 iso. Too high for some? Maybe, but I was up into the 10,000 + range earlier., and hope to test more before Africa in a few weeks.
Thanks to my friend and guest Harry Hersh for joining this trip. Another amazing experience for us! and we have had a few!

Thank you for looking.

Northern hawk Owl Hovering 1
Ontario, Canada
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/5000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso4000

In this 2 image set - So here the hawk owl struggles with it's cache, as the wet snow we had previously has frozen the food to the trunk of the tree. So off it goes, moving on to another meal in a small pine tree, but we were too far to see how successful this owl was with its second choice.

Northern Hawk Owl with Lunch 1
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/800s f/5.6 at 318.0mm iso640

My comments regarding the "mob" scene at the owl location north of Toronto.

Several times I have seen the owl so close to the road, within 6-12 feet of large delivery trucks driving by., and completely indifferent to the situation. I am happy this bird came to visit us, and is sharing its natural life with nature enthusiasts of all kinds. the bird is completely undisturbed by humans.

Obviously like your back yard birds, it would leave if there was an issue. How many times have you got in your car and slammed your door to flush birds, how many times have you driven by a bird who flew away because you were too close. This is the reality of humans on earth interacting with nature. If a lion was walking through your local park, you and your family would scatter. this is nature.

The photographers who share the beauty of these birds will help everyone appreciate the beauty of nature, so long as they are respectful. Yes, a few bad ones will give us all a bad name, as they act like delinquent morons, but that again is life on earth.

Drive down the 401, and you will see a ton of those idiots who have no respect. Again, that's life on earth. We all have to deal with it, as frustrating as it is.

We cannot avoid causing interruptions to natures world. And please keep in mind, this is a free country, people have a right to go to a mall with mobs of people shopping, people have a right to stand on the road taking photos of the real world.

There is no way to avoid interacting with nature, no matter where you are or what your doing, nature is taking a real hard level of disrespect from our human race. We need to embrace nature, and learn to change our lifestyle, and hopefully reduce the contamination as a result of humans on this planet.

We need to support companies who are developing the "green" culture in this world, moving towards a sustainable future for our children. Greed and profit need to take a back seat for a while until we clean up this mess.

I do hope people wake up, and appreciate what we have, and realize the concept of "more" needs to be applied to living in a healthier planet.

In this 2 image set, the hawk owl struggles with it's cache, as the wet snow previously has frozen the food to the trunk of the tree. it moved on to another meal in a small pine tree, but we were too far to see how successful this owl was with its second choice.

Northern Hawk Owl with Lunch 2
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/320s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640

Longtailed Ducks in Flight
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1250

Guys and Gals

The chase is on! Mating season for these duck is close, as the boys chase the girls in an effort to impress. A slight mix up in species, so I am sure they will work things out!
A7r4 on the mechanical shutter, shooting at 10 fps, with not quite enough depth of field. f7.1 would have brought all three birds at the back of the race in focus. Next time!

Thanks for looking!

Ducks in Flight
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso800

Timothy Story, myself, and Victoria Koroleva after along day with the birds of southern Ontario!, good fun, lots of laughs, good friends and some fun shooting. Later a nice dinner in Stoney Creek, a treat from Victoria!

Capping off a good year in 2019, and looking forward to 2020!

Samsung phone image.

A little bit of sunlight can go a long way to brighten up the colours, and speed up the camera. This owl was active for about 3 hours one day last week , and great fun shooting! Dodging all the people was difficult, but that is the reality of a popular owl in Ontario.

The a7r4 did a good job keeping up with the bird with most flight shots, still hoping for a software upgrade soon! The busy background is a bit disappointing, so regardless, I edited this shot since I like the flight pose with the wings down. Hopefully another chance soon.

Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/4000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640

Dinner was frozen to the tree!

The owl pulled and scratched at it's meal, but the cold weather would not allow it to release the meal. Real nature at its best, so much fun to watch and see this bird carry on and perform for us all.

Northern Hawk Owl with Frozen Dinner
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/500s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640

Fading light!

Still a good chance to test the limits of the a7r4, these speedsters really motor along. Using the mechanical shutter to get a good freeze at 61 mp is the critical setting for the a7r4.

I am happy with the dynamic range, and high iso resolution with this camera, and the 100-400 seems to be a good fit for my budget. The 600 f4 is just a bit out of range!

Some day!

thanks for looking!

Male Long-tailed duck in Flight
Ontario, Canada

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1250

Timothy Story and Victoria Koroleva Industrial
Ontario, Canada

My friends and guests for the day out for a photo hike, watching the sun go down over Hamilton, Ontario. I was standing near the lift bridge, and warming up the car for the ride to the restaurant.

What a fun day with my friends!

http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/4000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso3200

Another visit to the Canal recently with Victoria Koroleva and Timothy Story, great fun with the ducks! One of the best "Birds in flight" locations I know of, world wide! The Mergansers are just coming into full colour plumage, so the next couple of months should be fun.

I really am enjoying the a7r4 camera, But I do wish for the 400 2.8 Sony lens! Some day! For now, the 100-400 GM will be excellent for Africa soon, and hopefully we will see some amazing real nature in the Serengeti.

Join my next tour to Tanzania coming up in August 2020, or a visit with the Tigers of India in June 2020!

Red-breasted merganser in Flight
Ontario, Canada
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso800