You really can’t get up too early for wildlife photography. That golden hour, when buttery light bathes the veld and turns the grass to diamonds, is not to be missed. I was enchanted by this female waterbuck, her long hair backlit by the rising sun, and I composed as I shot, placing her off to the right so her sightline ran across the composition. In the same drive we stopped for a mass of Cape buffalo and zebra to find five male lions finishing off their buffalo kill from the night before. I have the photos to prove it, or I’d never believe I was there. And I couldn’t have been in better company. Ann, Barb, Jenny, Candis, Mary and Rootie—it doesn’t get any better than that! Thanks to Leon Marais for putting our small band of natural history freaks in the right place at precisely the right time.

JULIE ZICKEFOOSE Birding in South Africa with Julie Zickefoose and Leon Marais