Greg du Toit
Ethereal Africa
Ethereal Africa is a gallery of creative wildlife photography that includes motion blur photography and high key wildlife photography. Depicting familiar African subjects in an unfamiliar way, this collection of creative wildlife photography contains masterful panning photos and much more.
Classic retro techniques have been mastered and new camera skills invented to assemble this avant garde creative wildlife photo gallery. Panning photos include nuanced motion blur photography of various kinds. High key wildlife photography has at times been employed to showcase Africa’s beauty. Some of the creative wildlife photos in this gallery are the result of a unique angle and composition, or even a natural weather event. Whatever the reason, this creative wildlife photography gallery has been reserved for those rare and special photographs; the kind that a creative wildlife photographer cannot demand but must rather pursue, with relentless patience, passion and blind hope. The photos in this gallery have been painstakingly created over the duration of more than two decades, and are the result of thousands of hours spent in Africa’s wildest places.
These creative wildlife photographs, although sometimes unbelievable, have not been digitally manipulated but have been created in the field and in the camera.
See this CNN Africa Avant Garde article. Read more about GDT Fine Art Wildlife Prints.
Storybook Giraffe - Through a window in the forest a young giraffe gazes out. The diffused glow of dawn gives the scene an utterly storybook feel (Ruaha, Tanzania).
Traveling Through Time - Rhinos are prehistoric looking creatures and they remind me of dinosaurs, ones that have traveled through time. It is my hope that as a species they will overcome, and keep traveling into the future (secret location in South Africa).
Dust and Dreams - As a budding wildlife photographer, I built the first underground hide in Africa when I dug a hole in which to conceal myself, next to a waterhole. This was a breakthrough shot for me and taken on slide film (South Rift Valley, Kenya).
Portrait of a Steenbok - A Steenbok stands and assesses, before coming in for a drink. It is not often that one looks up at a Steenbok and I am grateful for the perspective my underground hide gives me.
Lechwe Dream - A mother lechwe and her lamb stand of the great grassy plain that is Zambia's Busanga. The light diffused through blue mist creates a dreamy photo.
Zambezi Dream - Floating down the Zambezi River one late evening, we passed a lone elephant on the bank. Drifting, floating, it all felt like a dream.
The Great Crossing - Dust billows forth and tension mounts as the migration gathers on the banks of Kenya's Mara River, preparing for a crossing of epic proportions.
Catwalk - A leopard walks with intent past the grassy bank of the Mojave river in Botswana's Mashatu Game Reserve.
Golden Waterbuck Forest - It was early in the morning when we bumped into this waterbuck in his forest. The light was low and so shooting with a slow shutter speed, I wanted to capture the scene in a dreamlike way (Zambezi Valley).
Sprinkle of Gold - Following this lion on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater, nothing could prepare me for the sprinkle of gold that came once the sun peeked over the crater's rim.
Lion Cub Window - This photo offers a window into the world of a mother lion and her cubs. A passing vulture momentarily distracts the little ones.
Waterbuck Forest - In the twilight of pre-dawn a waterbuck bull stands tall in his surreal forest (Zambezi Valley).
Elephant Apparition - Deep within a secret forest an elephant is rendered as no more than an apparition (Zambezi Valley).
Showers of Gold - On the great plains of East Africa the heavens often open and when this coincides with the equatorial rays, you get showers of gold (Masai Mara, Kenya).
African Rain - In Africa the raindrops are gigantic, it's as if every drop is celebrated (Masai Mara, Kenya).
Zebra Impression - A zebra moves through the bush of Botswana's Tuli Block. Using a slow shutter speed, my black and white subject becomes overlaid with green foliage. This single exposure, like all my work, has been created in the field and in-camera.
Forest of Dreams - Deep inside a winter-thorn forest in the Zambezi Valley, an elephant lifts its trunk to smell if the pods have ripened.
Water Ballet - Elegant, graceful and oh so pretty in pink, the flamingo is a feathered supermodel. Seen here dancing across a Rift Valley lake in Kenya, where the subtle pink plumage and blue watery hues combine, creating this pastel watercolour (Lake Bagoria, Kenya).
Flamingo Flurry - Zooming in and shooting with a slow shutter speed, I allow the flamingoes to paint their own frame. Photographed on a private Northern Kenya photo safari to Lake Bagoria.
Lechwes in the Mist (monotone) - Four lechwe rams stand tall at dawn on the flooded plains, surrounded by mist, in Zambia's Kafue National Park. There are scenes that as a wildlife photographer I will never forget. This is one of them!
Desert Wanderer - An Oryx is most at home in the most inhospitable places, like deserts and dusty plains (Amboseli, Kenya).
Poetry in Motion - A lioness moves through the burnt plains of Kenya's famed Masai Mara. Using a slow shutter speed I pan with my subject, capturing her effortless prowess.
Giraffes Beneath the Acacia (2) - A pair of giraffe play wrestle beneath an Umbrella-thorn Acacia tree, on the vast plains of the Serengeti. To accentuate these two iconic shapes of Africa, I chose high-key camera settings (Tanzania).
Giraffes Beneath the Acacia (1) - A pair of giraffe prepare to play wrestle beneath an Umbrella-thorn Acacia tree, on the vast plains of the Serengeti. To accentuate these two iconic shapes of Africa, I chose high-key camera settings (Tanzania).
Woodland Zebra - Mystical and magical are just two adjectives for the zebra. Stalking my subject on foot, I hide behind a bush to capture this ethereal portrait. The oxpecker was simply the cherry on top (Mala Mala, South Africa).
Lone Giraffe - A giraffe stands on a vast grassy plain in Kenya's Amboseli region. The khaki grass blurs the foreground and the frame, imbued with soft pastel colours, reminds me of Africa's quiet moments of solitude.
Tall Twiga - Standing tall on the floor of Kenya's Rift Valley, the only thing in the savannah that is taller than this giraffe, is its shadow.
Painterly Portrayal - A lioness, hunter supreme and stealth in motion. This photograph is the result of thousands of hours spent with lion, trying to capture the primal energy of Africa's apex predator. This single exposure, like all my work, was created in-camera (Mala Mala, South Africa).
Stealth in Motion - Using a slow shutter speed, I pan with my subject as he moves stealthily through the long winter grass (Mala Mala, South Africa).
Lechwe Lamb - A baby lechwe antelope stands in the mist on a grassy plain in Zambia's Kafue National Park. Africa is full of mood and mystery and therefore both are signature themes in my photography.
Disappearing Lechwe - Choosing to portray my subject in an abstract way, I let your imagination wonder beyond the horizon (Kafue, Zambia).
Wildebeest Trio - On the dry dusty plains of Kenya's Amboseli region, a trio of wildebeest journey beneath the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Zebra Plains - On the great plains of East Africa a zebra disappears behind a veil of grass at sunset (Masai Mara, Kenya).
Reclining Leopard - A leopard climbed into the fork of an African Greenheart tree in Kenya's Masai Mara and I especially enjoyed it when she stuck a leg out and made herself extra comfortable.
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