While it’s not practical to carry a bulky camera with you everywhere, when going on photo-outings, Dad and I will strap our cameras into the back seat of the car for easy access if we see something exciting. Sometimes you’ll see something and a second later it’ll be gone, and you’ll miss the photo. I know I’ve done this a few times! In South Africa, I would sit in the back with my camera across my lap when we drove places, which meant I could grab a few opportunities as they popped up. Here’s a few photos taken either from the back of the car through the window, or just on the side of the road with me having jumped out of the car. The Jackal was on the road in front of us as we were returning from Giant’s Castle in the evening, and it watched us for quite a while before we drove off and left it in peace. It’s one of my favourite photos from the whole trip.

The Steenbok around Langerbaan and Saldahna are quite red, but they still blend into the landscape very well. We spotted this one as we were leaving the B&B that we stayed at one morning.

Blue Cranes aren’t all that fond of being chased by people with big lenses. I jumped out of the car to try and get some photos, unfortunately the heat made everything shimmer and nothing was quite sharp. I processed this with Topaz Clean 3 to smooth out the background.

You never know when you’ll get an opportunity to take some great photographs, so it always pays to be able to grab your gear as quickly as possible.