Whether he's being charged by elephants or in hot pursuit of African wild dogs on the hunt, it's just another day at the office for wildlife photographer Dave Hamman.
Former job: Safari lodge manager, Botswana.
Since then: Documentary filmmaker and photojournalist for National Geographic and other publications.
Photographer for two books: Running Wild: Dispelling Myths of the African Wild Dog and Cheetah.
My books: With the wild dogs we spent four-and-a-half years following the pack at every opportunity and due to their efficiency (at hunting) only twice managed to document them catching their prey.
Working on the cheetah book was simpler, but lacked the adrenaline-pumping action of trying to stay with dogs hunting at 65km/h. However, it too had its challenges.
Predicting where and when a cheetah was likely to hunt and not to influence the outcome proved to be a challenge.
Often I was set up in what I thought was the logical escape route for the prey, only to have them head in the opposite direction...
A close scrape: We were in Botswana filming some sub-adult lions and just waiting for them to do something when the light was right. I decided to get out of the vehicle and get close to them on the ground so as to shoot them with the setting sun behind.
I got some close up shots of the lions yawning and stretching and suddenly the young male stood up, looked straight at me then made a beeline for me.
I didn't feel any threat, so sat my ground to see what was going to happen. He approached apprehensively but when he got close he took a swipe and knocked my camera out of my hands.
It was only after getting back into the vehicle that reality set in... with hindsight, I realised that the lion had seen his reflection in the lens and out of curiosity approached to see what this 'other' lion was all about.
Cloce scrape 2: A more recent incident had a greater impact on me. I was out of the vehicle photographing a bull elephant drinking when he charged, a mock charge.
I had recently injured my back and in whirling around to get back into the car my back spasmed and I couldn't get up, so I continued to shoot. I eventually crawled back to the vehicle.
My downtime: Home is the place to be. Something I really enjoy is having my daughter sit on my lap and go through all the images with her of the story that I'm working on and to let her know where I've been and why I'm doing it.
Questions and views through the eyes of an eight-year-old are often a great way to help simplify a complex issue.
Profile
Name: Dave Hamman
Nationality: South African
Occupation: Photojournalist
Lives in: Johannesburg
Website: www.davehammanphoto.com
