Photograph of the Month June 2022 – Cape Buffalo

The photograph of the month for June 2022 comes from my recent Africa workshop (trip report coming next few days) and is of a Cape Buffalo at night. Photographed from one of the private overnight ground-level reflection hides on the game reserve around 1am in the morning. Although the scene is artificially lit by two floods, light levels are still extremely low and required a combination of high ISO (ISO 6400) and slow shutter speed (1/20th of a second – handheld). The reflection of the Cape Buffalo is obviously the star of the image, but what also appeals to me is the simplicity of the frame. This sort of clean background and reflection is only possible at night and is enabled solely by the cleverly designed hide.