In Memory of Fig the Leopard

I have recently returned from Kenya, where I spent time in the Masai Mara, Olare Motorogi Conservancy and Amboseli. During my time in the Conservancy, I spent several days photographing Fig the leopard. Fig had successfully raised a number of cubs, including Olare, Figlet and Furaha. I photographed her throughout her life and so it saddens me tell you that on 7th March she was tragically killed by lions. She was ten years old and to make matters worse she was heavily pregnant.

The leopard images in the gallery (please click on the link below) are all of Fig, with the exception of the black and white male, affectionately known as ‘Golden Balls’, on account of having sired many cubs, including several of Fig’s. So sad to think that these images are among the last ever taken of Fig. She will be missed by many.

I spent some time in Amboseli, where I was lucky enough to get good views of snow capped Kilimanjaro, and was able to photograph elephants and flamingos in the foreground.

Click here or on the picture below to see the gallery of images from this trip….

After two very long years I finally returned to Kenya in December 2021. It was wonderful to once again experience those wide open spaces and huge skies of the Masai Mara.  I had almost forgotten how beautiful it is. I also spent time in Olare Motorogi Conservancy where I had some great leopard sightings of Tito and Fig with their cubs. I hope you enjoy some of my images from the trip.

Click here or on the image below to view a gallery of further images.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

It was great to see so many of you at my summer exhibition at the gallery@oxo. Thank you for your continued support throughout 2019 for both my photography and my charity.  A huge thank you to those who purchased my new book “Latitude”, all the proceeds from the sale of my books are donated directly to my Charity Hoopers Africa Trust. Please click on the link to see some of the wonderful achievements of Hoopers Africa Trust in 2019.

I have added some new images from my recent trip to the Masai Mara and Olare Orok Conservancy in Kenya.

Click here or on the image below to view a gallery of further images:

I have just returned from the Masai Mara and Olare Orok Conservancy in Kenya with my friend and guide Paul Kirui.  I was fortunate enough to photograph seven leopards, Kaboso and her cub, Tito and her cub, Siri, Fig and Figlet. It is easy to see why leopards really are my favourite animal to photograph. To view the images click on the link below:

Click here or on the image below to view a gallery of further images…

I have just returned from our biennial trustees visit to my Charity, Hoopers Africa Trust Kenya in the Masai Mara. The Charity provides education to disadvantaged girls in Kenya. See www.hoopersafricatrust.org for more information or to make a donation to this great cause.

Whilst there I was able to allocate some time to my photography. August is one of the best times for photographing the migrations of Wildebeest. With daunting crossings and hungry lions, there are plenty of wonderful photographic opportunities .

Below is one of my favourite images from the trip. Click on the image below to view a gallery of further images…

In February I visited Amboseli, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and the Masai Mara in Kenya with my friends, Lucy Parratt from WWF and Anne and Mike, fellow WWF supporters.  We visited the Masai Mara Predator Project, which is supported by WWF where we learned about some of the incredible work in which they are involved.

At Amboseli we saw large herds of elephants, some as many as 100 strong.  We also had some great sightings of the snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro.

In the Masai Mara we saw lots of lions, with one pride made up of five females with ten cubs. We also had some good leopard sightings.

At Lewa Wildlife Conservancy we saw large numbers of both black & white rhino and the critically endangered Grevys Zebra. Lewa is one of the best places in the world to see rhinos and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.  At one watering hole we encountered five rhinos, alongside elephants and zebras, which is an incredibly rare sighting.

Click on the image below to view images from the trip.

Elephants in front of Mount Kilimanjaro

I have just returned from Brazil, where I had a wonderful trip to the Pantanal, a natural region encompassing the world’s largest tropical wetland area. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul and covers an area of approximately one hundred and fifty thousand square kilometres. Renowned for its wildlife, the Pantanal is home to several hundred species of birds, along with jaguar, caiman, giant otter and capybara.

I was fortunate enough to see jaguars every day and the highlight of my trip was witnessing a territorial fight between two males. I have never seen big cats of any kind fighting with such ferocity, although I am pleased, not to say amazed, that both jaguars walked away seemingly uninjured. As you will see from the extraordinary photographs, at least one of them could have been seriously harmed. These images tell their own story and I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

I was also lucky enough to photograph a species new to me – the ocelot. It is a small cat and mostly nocturnal. Early one morning, I spotted what I assumed to be a small jaguar, before realising, with great excitement, that it was in fact an ocelot. The sun had not yet risen, so the photographs are not among my best, but certainly good enough for you to see what a very pretty cat it is.

Please click on the link below to view these images, along with those of giant otters, birds and various other animals, including one of a small anaconda wrapped around a caiman that was far too big for it!

I wish to extend my thanks to Paula Mason at Exodus Travel who organised my trip, my wonderful guide Alexandre Ribeiro, for his knowledge, experience and enjoyable company, and my boatman, Branco, at Porto Jofre, who did a brilliant job of trying to keep our small boat steady enough to enable me to get the occasional image in focus, which was no mean feat!

click on the image below to see more of the images:

After a rainy January, February turned out to be a dry, hot and dusty month in the Masai Mara.  It was quite a struggle keeping my equipment dust free and I had to take great care when changing lenses. On my return I popped in to my Canon service agents Fixation, to have my camera sensors cleaned! It seems strange now to be thinking of this while sitting here in snowy London, where it is -3c.

This time I was in the company of my great friend Roberta Bondar, fellow photographer and Patron of my charity Hoopers Africa Trust. As always, it was a great pleasure and lots of fun.

I returned with some great leopard images. of Siri, Kabosa, Bahiti and Fig, along with some of their cubs, but for me the highlight was spending time photographing the Eurasian roller, a migratory visitor to the Mara.  While not quite as ‘showy’ as the native lilac breasted roller, it is beautiful all the same.  Plenty of new images to consider for my 2018 exhibitions.

I hope to see many of you back at the Oxo Gallery for my summer show, which runs from 27th July to 19th August 2018.

Click here or the image below to see more images from this trip.

Click on the image to view more images.

I had an excellent 10 days in Kenya recently with my friend and guide Paul Kirui.  Thanks to Kicheche Bush Camp & Mara Explorer for, as usual, looking after us so well.  Some great leopard sightings in both The Masai Mara & Olare Orok Conservancy, especially the large male below. Male leopards are notoriously shy yet this was one of the most relaxed males I have photographed in a long time. I also had an encounter with some very young hyena pups, who would have thought they could be so cute, they are more like bear cubs.

A Happy Christmas to everyone and Best Wishes for a Happy & Healthy 2018.  I hope to see many of you back at the Oxo Gallery for my summer show, which runs from 27th July to 19th August 2018.

Click here or the image below to see more images from this trip.

Click on the image to see more images from this trip.