Tag Archives: Suzi Eszterhas

Beyond the Jungle: Suzi Eszterhas

As you can see, I held one out on you!
 


 

I know. I know. It couldn’t be helped. I just can’t get enough of those beautiful Lions.
 

Apparently, I am not alone. Last week’s post “Love Lies Within A Jungle”, received one of the highest number of visitors to this site. It seems that we all love animals!
 

So I thought, hmm, that’s interesting.
 

Perhaps I should give you a glance beyond the jungle this week and expose the person who is responsible for those amazing pictures—wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas.
 

Suzi Eszterhas lives in the San Francisco bay area, but because she spends nine months out the the year away shooting taking photos of a wide variety of animals in the wild, I guess you could say her real home is Africa.
 

In recent years, she has specialized in documenting family life of endangered species and has become well known for her unprecedented work with newborn animals. Her photographs are published in books, magazines and newspapers all over the world, including the front covers of “Time” and the “Smithsonian”.
 
As you can imagine, Suzi has won many awards, including those from the National Wildlife Federation, Nature’s Best and Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Although she primarily works in Africa, she has also undertaken commissions and led photography tours and workshops in the Antarctica, the Arctic, Alaska and Montana. Well, as you can see, just about everywhere.
 


 

In fact today she is headed back to Africa to teach a current workshop and wildlife tour. I could go on and on about her involvement with several International Wildlife Conservation groups, but what I really wanted to point out to you is this:
 

Suzi Eszterhas is a fellow writer.
 

Isn’t that cool? Who knew?
 

But before I get into that, I just had to ask…What attracted Susi to become a wildlife photographer? Was it her love of nature? Her passion for photography? Or was her childhood love of animals?
 

This was Suzi’s answer. “For me the attraction to wildlife photography has always been more about the animals than the photography. Though I love photography, wildlife has always been my biggest passion. I find animal behavior fascinating and learned very early on that knowing your animal subject is critical in taking good wildlife photographs. You must know where and when to find your subject, how to get close to it, and how to predict what an animal might do next in order to capture that special moment.”
 


 

And when we study each picture on this page, we can see Suzi’s passion for that special moment shining right on through.
 

As I mentioned above, Suzi Eszterhas is also a writer and she has produced a new series of children’s books that follow the lives of baby animals from their birth to adulthood as they grow up in the wild.
 

I had originally contacted her, after sighting that gorgeous picture of the father lion and his cub on the internet, wanting her permission to publish it on my blog. But after our correspondence by email, Suzi admitted that she had released these fabulous books.
 

And the name of this series is: “Eye on the Wild”.
 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_7?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=suzi+eszterhas&sprefix=Suzi+Es%2Cstripbooks%2C305

 
Copies are available on Suzi’s website or on Amazon.com
 

These beautifully photographed books are for young children ages 4-7. They show all aspects of the animal’s life in the wild, with close-up pictures of the family group in its natural habitat. The books also include conservation information and useful websites.
 

If you have any young children or grandchild, you’ll want to be sure to check them out. They are so adorable. What child or adult for that matter wouldn’t want to read one of these books!
 
 

So what do you think? Which one is your favorite among the animal kingdom? Do you have any animals at home? Do you love photography? Have you ever contemplated going on a Wildlife Safari?
 

Be assured that I am forwarding your many comments to Suzi. But it might take awhile for her to reply do to the distance and her remote circumstances. 🙂
 

Thanks everyone!
 
 

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Love Lies Within A Jungle


 

Lions are known as some of the most aggressive animals on the planet. So when this amazing photo captured a special moment in time, it created quite a buzz.
 

Yep, I’m buzzing! Here’s why…
 

“This picture depicts a cub as he meets his dad for the first time ever,” said the wildlife photographer who captured the meeting, Suzi Eszterhas. “It’s a major part of a lion’s life growing up.”
 

“When lion cubs are babies, the mom keeps them in a den for the first six to eight weeks of life, and it’s during this time that she keeps them very hidden,” Suzi said. “Afterward, she will bring them out and introduce them to the pride. It’s at that point, they meet dad for the first time.”
 

Suzi was able to capture this rare intense moment as she lay ensconced within a pride of lions on the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya over a three month period while living in Africa. These photos were captured in 2008/2009.
 

“That was literally the moment the cub first saw his dad ever,” Suzi said. “He kind of walked up shyly and then the dad immediately tried to play with him as the mom watched the whole time to make sure the dad behaves. The whole moment is really special.”
 


 

I’d say it was really special, wouldn’t you?
 

Why?
 

Because it portrays an intense bond that exists between one another—A connection, an attachment, a fierce breed of magnetism. And the beauty is:
 

It’s natural.
 

It has been said that Love is a virtue representing all kindness, compassion, and affection —“the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another”. Love may describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one’s self or even the animals.
 

Wikipedia brings out that, “Love or (affection) can also act as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.
 

Love may be understood as part of the survival instinct, a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.”
 

That’s very interesting since as you all know; we at times may make a menace of ourselves, though unintentionally. We may roar like a lion, but we don’t really mean to strike out nor do any harm. (See also last weeks post, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Just a Little Bit…)
 

Yet, it is Love or Affection that drives us to keep the peace and stick together. If you notice the intense gaze as the father meets his son, well, I don’t know about you, but that would not make me feel the least bit comfortable. But if I only depend on what things look like, (as in getting ready to be eaten alive), I would be mistaken. After all, isn’t it the innocent approach of this seven week old cub that promotes this peaceful union?
 

So even though our love may sometimes lie deep within a jungle of emotion, we can be confident that when on occasion we do roar like a lion, it is most likely an innocent hiss like this remarkable young cub.
 
 

What do you think? Are those not some of the most extraordinary moments that you’ve ever seen captured on film? Have you ever made a menace of yourself or roared unintentionally? What approach do you find that helps promote a peaceful union?
 
 
 

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