Baboons!

Hello everyone, wow where has the last six weeks gone?! I can't believe it's the middle of December already!

Well, things have been very busy with the pop-up shop and Christmas craft fairs but I have been slowly making my way through images taken earlier in the year and putting together my favourite images and planning for next 2015. I will be sharing some of these images with you over the next few weeks, starting today with baboons!

Baboons are not everyone's favourite animals and are often overlooked, but they make wonderful photographic subjects from the babies through to the adults, you just have to spend time in their company. I spent an afternoon with this troupe of chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in the Western Cape of South Africa and the expressions and behaviours were completely captivating.

There is no doubting that proteas are one if their favourite foods, this young one was certainly tucking in!

The young ones are so much fun to watch as they eat and play

But away from all the fun and frolics of the young baboons with endless energy, the adults have some quiet time to relax and take contemplate the world. 

There is always a little time for grooming and eating

and some time to get lost in concentration, this final image I'm leaving you with is one of my favourite from the afternoon. I had such a wonderful time with this troupe and am already making plans to return in the next year or so. 

This year I have taken the time to get to know a few species rather than work with many and it has allowed me to not only learn about their lives and behaviours but also their characters and different ways to capture these. For now we are leaving the baboons behind and moving onto something somewhat smaller, but to find out what stay tuned!