Same procedure as every year 🙂
This year again I choose my favourite photos of the year. They are not necessarily the technically best pictures, above all they mean a lot to me emotionally or were taken in a very special situation. This way the photo selection becomes a retrospective on the year 2020 for me.
My favorite photo of 2020 was taken just seven minutes after midnight on January 1st. The picture was taken on the terrace of our chalet in Grimentz, in the Swiss Alps. This picture symbolizes so much that was natural and normal on the first day of the year and that was unthinkable, irresponsible or even forbidden at the end of the year. I sincerely hope that we can return as soon as possible to the life of the first of January of the year 2020.
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24mm F1.4 GM - 24.0 mm - 3.5 - 100 - 25
Below each image I mention the settings, camera and lens used to take that photo, all separated by a “-“. The sequence is always the same : camera – lens – focal length used – f-stop – ISO – shutter speed. For my preferred photo I used a ILCE-7RM4 with a 24mm f1.4 fixed aperture lens at 24 mm focal length, f 3.5, ISO 100 and 25 sec shutter speed.
The ILCE-7RM4 is a Sony A7R4, the ILCE-9 is a Sony A9.
Furthermore you can click on each image to view a larger version of it.
The following images are grouped by theme in no particular order.
Safari in Botswana 25th February to 18th March
When we left for our safari in Botswana on February 25, I didn’t think for a moment that this would be my only trip abroad in 2020, let alone how lucky we would be to get back home.
The trip took us via Johannesburg to Maun in Botswana and from there through 6 different camps in 19 days. First to Jacks Migration Camp in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, then again to the Kalahari Plains and finally to four new camps in the Okavango Delta and the Savute Channel.
We visited Little Vumbura, Chiefs Camp, Savute Elephant Lodge and Xaranna.
In each camp we heard different news from Europe concerning the Covid virus. But the internet connections were bad, so we could not see any information ourselves. In Xaranna it was said that some guests had already cancelled their bookings and that there might be border closures.
We started our return journey on March 17 as planned. When we took off from Maun at 2 p.m., this was the second last plane to leave Botswana, after which Botswana closed the borders. We took off shortly before 8 pm from Johannesburg towards Frankfurt, at midnight South Africa closed its borders. In Frankfurt, we were only allowed to board the plane after showing our Swiss passport and when we arrived in Geneva, the first passport control was still on the tarmac.
It took about 30 minutes to get to the departure gate at the Frankfurt airport. On the whole way we crossed only very few people. At Geneva airport, all the stores were closed, the parking lot empty, an almost apocalyptic scene.
But we arrived home safe and sound, with thousands of photos, once-in-a-lifetime animal encounters and the feeling that we had experienced a wonderful trip.
Already in the first camp we experienced a highlight of our trip with the visit to a clan of Meerkats. For once we did not have to stay in the vehicle. On the contrary, we could accompany the meerkats for a few hours on their first morning excursion. One cub was in the group and learned from the behavior of the other animals. Standing guard, digging for scorpions, staying in contact with the other family members, all this was taught to the young meerkat.
Besides our guide, we were accompanied by two official Meerkat guards. All Meerkat clans are permanently observed, on the one hand for research purposes, but also to protect them from misbehavior of people.
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS - 400.0 mm - 5.6 - 160 - 1/500
In general, we could observe young animals very often during this trip. The end of the rainy season is optimal for this.
Near Little Vumbura, a lioness hid her cubs, about 2 months old, under a large bush. If the mother was also there, the cubs came out and so we could watch them several times. There were 4 siblings and the group included two more lions that were about 2 years old. It was wonderful to see how the lion cubs were fighting with each other, playing tricks with the big siblings and playing with the mother.
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS - 400.0 mm - 5.6 - 160 - 1/500
Little Vumbura is almost completely surrounded by water. When we arrived, there was too much water on the airstrip, so we were taken by helicopter from a slightly more distant airstrip to the jetty at Little Vumbura, from where we transferred to the camp by boat.
We took advantage of the abundant water to take a trip in a mokoro, a local boat that is moved forward by pushing with a long stick.
During this boat trip at very slow pace we could observe many birds among others this Malachite Kingfisher. The late afternoon sun cast a warm light on the colorful bird, perfect conditions for photography.
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS - 400.0 mm - 8.0 - 320 - 1/500
Near Chiefs Camp we observed a herd of buffalo for a long time. It is simply unbelievable how many flies can buzz around the head of a buffalo. For me, one fly is enough to upset me, but this buffalo has thousands buzzing around his head.
ILCE-9 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter - 673.0 mm - 9.0 - 1600 - 1/1000
Near Chiefs Camp my big wish of this trip comes true, I really wanted to see rhinos in the wild. Our guide received the information that in a certain distance of our current position a group of rhinos were sighted. So we made a rather uncomfortable fast drive there and indeed we could see a group of 5 animals. There were three black and two white rhinos, with one cub in each group. It was already late in the afternoon and the light was weak to photograph. Nevertheless, we were able to take some pictures from a good distance to the animals in the second attempt. Rhinos look like animals from Jurassic World. It was a unique experience to see these impressive animals so close in the wild.
ILCE-7RM4 – FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS – 400.0 mm – 6.3 – 6400 – 1/1000
I would not call an adult hyena my favorite animal, nor is the image of these animals very positive. I had never seen young hyenas before. But at Savute Elephant Lodge we could see a hyena den and admire young animals for the first time. These are really cute and sympathetic. In the group were young animals of different ages. They also had little shyness in front of us. One cub bit into the tire of one of the rear wheels of our jeep, but without damage.
ILCE-9 – FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter – 840.0 mm – 9.0 – 6400 – 1/200
Watching lions is a great pleasure every time. Even though they are big, they are cats and some habits are very similar to habits of our house cats. For example, the hearty yawn that this lion shows in the early morning. The morning sun allowed for a beautiful contrast, so this image lends itself very well to a conversion to black and white.
This lion was part of a larger pride of about 10 to 12 animals of very different ages. From playful cubs, over mother animals up to stately males everything was represented. We could observe this pride in the early morning hours for some time and thus get a small insight into the life within this pride.
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS - 400.0 mm - 5.6 - 800 - 1/1000
Part of this group was also this young lion cub, which is lying here on its mother’s tail and so certainly won’t miss if the mother should move. A very clever move.
ILCE-7RM4 – FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS – 400.0 mm – 5.6 – 800 – 1/1000
At the last camp of our trip, Xaranna, we were lucky enough to see a mother leopard raising three cubs not far away. Although we never saw the mother together with her cubs, the cubs were all well fed, so the mother was taking good care of them. On three different days we visited the young leopards. Only on the first evening we saw all three together, otherwise there was always one with some distance to the other two. Often the young animals sought refuge on a large tree, which offered them good protection and an optimal overview.
For photographing the conditions were difficult. The animals were mostly in the shade and it was often later in the afternoon, so there was little sunlight. Nevertheless, we managed to get some nice shots and especially great memories of having seen these beautiful and elegant animals in their natural environment.
ILCE-9 – FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter – 840.0 mm – 9.0 – 6400 – 1/100
Early in the morning, we had just left camp Xaranna, a large male leopard crossed the road. We decided to follow him and did so for several hours. At the beginning the light was bad to photograph. The leopard moved slowly forward, stopping every so often to keep a lookout and so time passed.
Then he moved towards a small hill in the plain and suddenly was very tense. We saw that there were two porcupines behind a bush and obviously the leopard was after this prey.
We could follow an exciting hunt over a longer distance, in which the two porcupines were injured, but the leopard had to give up in the end. Again and again he had to interrupt the hunt because long spines were stuck in his paws or snout.
This picture was taken at the very beginning of the hunt. You can see in the leopard’s eyes how concentrated and tense he looks at the one of the two porcupines. This is on the lower right just outside the photo.
It was interesting to observe with which tricks the leopard tried to defeat the porcupines. He threw himself on his back next to the porcupine and tried to get a paw under the spines of the porcupine’s throat. He only succeeded in hurting the victim, but eventually both porcupines escaped.
For us this hunt was a unique experience. Also our guide confirmed us that he had never seen this in his years of activity.
ILCE-7RM4 – FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS – 100.0 mm – 4.5 – 1250 – 1/1000
Sunrise and sunset
I have been photographing the sunset at our home in Corseaux for years. There must be well over 1000 such pictures by now.
The sunrise is just as exciting. It often happens that I am already in the office or on the way to the office at this time. So there are more sunrise photos from Vouvry or from the Chablais than from Corseaux.
After I noticed that with my Sony lenses there is a lot of noise in the shadow, I started to make three exposures each, 2 stops under, normal and two stops over. In Lightroom I merge these images as HDR to one image.
Sunrise Vouvry 17th February 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24mm F1.4 GM - 24.0 mm - 3.2 - 100 . 1/125
Sunset Corseaux 23rd February 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24mm F1.4 GM - 24.0 mm - 4.5 - 100 - 1/100
Sunset Vouvry 1st August 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 4.0 - 100 - 1/800
Sunset Corseaux 23rd August 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 30.0 mm - 6.3 - 100 - 1/640
Sunset Corseaux 26th August 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 4.5 - 100 - 1/400
Sunrise Vouvry 5th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 9.0 - 100 - 1/400
Sunrise Vouvry 20th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 29.0 mm - 4.0 - 100 - 1/250
Sunrise Vouvry 21st October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 -FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 4.0 - 400 - 1/400
Sunset Corseaux 22nd November 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 6.3 - 100 - 1/400
Sunset Corseaux 5th December 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 4.0 - 100 - 1/400
Sunrise Chablais 11th December 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 4.0 - 400 - 1/400
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 4.0 - 100 - 1/400
Sunrise Corseaux 14th December 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 31.0 mm - 4.0 - 100 - 1/400
Sunrise Vouvry 21st December 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 26.0 mm - 4.0 - 100 - 1/400
Fili and Hobbit
Photographing our two Picards is always a pleasure. They are grateful subjects. Whether at home, in the garden, while walking or in the snow in Grimentz, again and again exciting pictures arise.
Hobbit on 28th March 2020 in the snow on the Pleiades
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS - 400.0 mm - 5.6 - 100 - 1/1000
Hobbit and Fili on 15th April 2020 in our garden
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS - 73.0 mm - 5.6 - 1000 - 1/100
Hobbit on 21st May in our garden
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 315.0 mm - 6.3 - 2500 - 1/1000
Fili and Hobbit on 21st May in our garden
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 105.0 mm - 7.1 - 100 - 1/60
Hobbit on 19th July 2020 on our terrace in Corseaux
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 359.0 mm - 6.3 - 800 - 1/1000
Hobbit and Fili on 10th September 2020 in our garden in Corseaux
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 93.0 mm - 4.0 - 100 - 1/80
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 105.0 mm - 4.0 - 100 - 1/80
Hobbit and Fili on 15th September 2020 in front of the New Year sign for 2021.
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 88.0 mm - 4.5 - 2000 - 1/1000
Fili and Hobbit on 25th October 2020 in Grimentz
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 54.0 mm - 8.0 - 100 - 1/320
Fili and Hobbit on 8th December 2020 in the snow on Pleiades
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 105.0 mm - 7.1 - 160 - 1/200
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 105.0 mm - 7.1 - 160 - 1/200
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 7.1 - 160 - 1/200
Other dogs
On 20 September 2020 I had the opportunity to photograph dogs that met for a playgroup. It is always a pleasure to photograph different dogs in different situations.
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 105.0 mm - 4.0 - 400 - 1/250
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 97.0 mm - 4.0 - 160 - 1/250
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 5.0 - 400 - 1/500
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 66.0 mm - 5.0 - 2500 - 1/500
Wildlife in our graden
Wildlife in our garden are mainly birds and insects. From pictures of my trail camera I know that we often have a visit from a fox at night. This year in August he visited us still during dusk and so I managed to take some photos of him. He had absolutely no shyness and so I could get quite close to him. I was still at most 5 m away from him and he looked at me calmly.
Blue tit on 8th February 2020
ILCE-9 FE - 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter - 840.0 mm - 9.0 - 1250 - 1/1000
Common house sparrow taking a bath on 9th February 2020
ILCE-9 FE - 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter - 840.0 mm - 11.0 - 1600 - 1/640
Black bird taking a bath on 5th April 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 1000 - 1/2000
A crow stands at the bird bath on 13th April 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 1600 - 1/1000
Blue tit taking a bath on 17th May 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 640 - 1/1000
Starling feeding on a cherry tree on 20th May 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 800 - 1/1000
Bee feeding from a lavender on 12th June 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 320 - 1/1000
Bad luck for a craw feeding on a cherry tree on 27th June 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 2000 - 1/1000
Starling on 22nd July 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 800 - 1/1000
Fox visiting us on 11th and 15th August 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 6400 - 1/250
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 16000 - 1/1000
In April this year, the fox visited us so often because he was eager to help us with the gardening. My trail cam took so much footage that I was able to make a timelapse movie out of it.
Starling on an apple tree on 18th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 640 - 1/1000
House sparrow on 7th December 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 250 - 1/1000
Landscape photos
Snowy mountains, sun and corks in Grimentz on 5th January 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24mm F1.4 GM - 24.0 mm - 16.0 - 100 - 1/100
Sunset in Chandolin on 22nd January 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24mm F1.4 GM - 24.0 mm - 16.0 - 100 - 1/400
Rainbow at home on 23rd May 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 33.0 mm - 4.5 - 100 - 1/100
Zurich by night on 20th July 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 22.0 - 100 - 30
Stormy night in Corseaux on 21st July 2020. Photographed using a Strike Finder 2 to trigger the camera.
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24mm F1.4 GM - 24.0 mm - 4.5 - 800 - 1/6
Interesting clouds over Corseaux on 26th July 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 9.0 - 100 - 1/800
View over the upper part of Lake Geneva on 5th September 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 8.0 - 100 - 1/400
Reflection of a chalet on 5th September 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 56.0 mm - 11.0 - 100 - 1/400
Lake Derborence on 17th September 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 8.0 - 100 - 1/800
AISA assembly hall in Vouvry on 9th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 8.0 - 100 - 1/250
Grimentz on 24th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 8.0 - 100 - 1/1600
Autumn walk on 24th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 8.0 - 100 - 1/400
Mountain top peaking through the clouds on 24th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 257.0 mm - 5.6 - 100 - 1/1250
Autumn panorama of Grimentz on 25th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 8.0 - 100 - 1/1600
View out of my office on 26th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 105.0 mm - 8.0 - 100 - 1/1250
View out of my office on 27th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 74.0 mm - 8.0 - 100 - 1/1250
Some more images
Peony in our garden on 21st May 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 105.0 mm - 7.1 - 100 - 1/800
Rose in our garden on 21st May 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 105.0 mm - 8.0 - 100 - 1/500
Palm leaves in our garden on 14th July 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 100 - 1/25
More insects during summer 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 105.0 mm - 4.0 - 100 - 1/1000
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 400 - 1/1000
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 400 - 1/1000
A large flock of starlings flies over us on 11th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 24.0 mm - 4.0 - 200 - 1/1000
Autumn colours on 24th October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 422.0 mm - 6.3 - 800 - 1/1000
Curious little flower on 19th July 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS - 105.0 mm - 4.0 - 100 - 1/2000
Half moon on 27th July 2020
ILCE-7RM4 - FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS - 600.0 mm - 6.3 - 100 - 1/640
Portrait of a swan in Port de la Pichette on 29th November 2020
ILCE-7RM4 FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS 600.0 mm 6.3 4000 1/1000
Broken glass on a construction site on 2nd October 2020
ILCE-7RM4 FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS 34.0 mm 5.6 800 1/80
Thanks that you’ve made it so far.
