The Masai Mara - A photographer's paradise?

By Christine Lamberth

From the air the myriad of animals on the plains of the Mara can be seen. Then the wheels of the plane touch down on the dusty runway and the show begins. The short drive to the camp is filled with involuntary arm extensions as I compulsively reach for the camera bag and silently curse the fact that everything is so well packed. Animals abound on all sides and it takes brute willpower to drive on by.
Entim Camp is one of the southern-most camps in the Mara. The Mara River meanders by in full view of the tent and the whole camp. Lunch is served in an open Bedouin-like tent with a show of grazing animals on the other side of the river. This must surely be heaven.



Finally 4pm rolls on by and the first game drive is no longer anticipated, it has arrived. Not even 500m from the camp and the first animals curiously watch as the vehicle rolls on by. In the Mara animals standing staring are ignored as they do not offer any exciting prospects. There is enough time and enough animals for careful consideration of setting, lighting and composition. Rarely does one get this opportunity elsewhere. The open plains are easily accessible by vehicle and there is very little hampering a good sighting. It is only on the river banks that the bush presents an obstacle. However, a good driver can beat these odds in this environment and there is seldom an insurmountable challenge.

The sighting list reels off like a book of the animals of East Africa.



DAY ONE
Waterbuck, Impala, Warthogs, Leopard, Giraffe, Cheetah, Elephant, Buffalo, Topi, Cox Hartebeest, Thompson’s Gazelle, Banded Mongoose, Blackback Jackal, Bateared Fox, Olive Baboons, Wildebeest, Zebra and Spotted Hyena.

DAY TWO
Lion, Bateared Fox, Leopard x 3, Hippo, Southern Ground Hornbill, Elephants, Dwarf Mongoose, Spotted Hyena, Giraffe, Cox Hartebeest, Thompson’s Gazelle, Hippo, Zebra, Waterbuck and Impala.

DAY THREE
Hyena, Cheetah with 6 cubs, Lion pride, dead Buffalo, Spotted Hyena, Giraffe, Elephants, Banded Mongoose, Blackback Jackal, Thompson’s Gazelle, Dik-Dik, Topi, Grant’s Gazelle, mating Lions, 4 x Lionesses, Zebras, Cox Hartebeest, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Buffalo, Vultures, Warthogs, Hippo.



DAY FOUR
Mating Lions, Topi, Cox Hartebeest, Buffalo, Zebra, Cheetah with 6 cubs, Ostrich, Bushbuck ram, Spotted Hyena, Thompson’s Gazelle, Grant’s Gazelle, Giraffe, Elephants, Warthogs, Hippo, Whiteheaded Vulture, Ruppels Griffon Vultures, Yellowbilled Oxpeckers, Pygmy Kingfisher, Black Rhino, Lion pride.



DAY FIVE
Thompson’s Gazelle, Cox Hartebeest, Topi, Buffalo, Impala, Eland, Cheetah, Waterbuck, Lion cubs, Tawny Eagle, Black Chested Snake Eagle, Lilac Breasted Roller, Ruppels Griffon Vultures, Red Billed Woodhoopoe, Olive Baboons, Spotted Hyena, Crested Crane, Hamerkop, Grant’s Gazelle, Ostrich, Zebra, Warthog, Elephants, Lion, Leopard, male Lion alliance, Lion mating pair, Giraffe,Southern Ground Hornbill, Bateleur.



DAY SIX
Thompson’s Gazelle, Topi, Giraffe, Hartebeest, Leopard, Lions on Hippo kill, Dik-Dik, Zebra, Buffalo, mating Lions, Vultures, Blackback Jackal, Impala, Marabou Stork, Spotted Hyena.



DAY SEVEN
Thompson’s Gazelle, Topi, Cox Hartebeest, Spotted Hyena, male Lion alliance, 2 pairs mating Lions, Blackback Jackal, Hooded Vulture, Marabou Stork, Ruppels Griffon Vultures, Zebra, Impala, 3 dead Zebras struck by lightning, Crested Cranes.



Drive after drive presents more opportunities than can be pursued. Each day there is a choice of locations and sightings and when the animals are lazing away under trees and there is little activity the plains of the Mara present landscape opportunities of note. The days are filled with frantic activity while camera equipment is put to the test.
At the end of the stay there cannot possibly be any sense of disappointment – just one day in the Mara is like a week anywhere else.

17-24 September Masai Mara Photo Tour

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Mashatu June photo workshop- an annual occurrence.

In June 2010 we ran a photo workshop to Mashatu on the exact same days as this years one. It was one of the best 4 days I have ever had on the reserve, with leopard cubs, lion cubs, wild dogs, hyena and lots of elephant activity to keep us and our cameras busy. Knowing what things are like in the wild, I never expected such an intensity of activity to be seen for quite a while.





How wrong was I to be.

Heading out on our first afternoon drive we found some lions laying in the riverbed lazing away. Just then, a herd of elephant arrived and the lions scuttled, the scene was filled tension- and it was a harbinger of things to come.





From then onwards we had a few hours old elephant baby being swum through a herd, lions fighting with hyenas at their den. The hyenas had very young ups which offered us very good photos when danger was not around. A very relaxed leopard mom with three tiny cubs was the next attraction and kept us occupied with cameras for many a session. In amongst this we also had elephant herds running down riverbanks, lions trying to mate and a couple of other leopards roaming around…





I’m not the superstitious type when it comes to repeat performances, but I can justly assure you that next year June I will be on the June Mashatu photo workshop. Lets just say that it will be part of tradition…!

Enjoy the pics.








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Mashatu Winter Bliss - By Isak Pretorius

The dry season in Mashatu usually means good game sightings. The dry conditions force animals to congregate at the last remaining waterholes. Our recent photographic workshop to Mashatu in June always had the prospect of good sightings, but nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to see. The sightings and photographic opportunities were not just good, they were phenomenal!





One of the highlights on our first afternoon drive was to try different lighting techniques on a pair of lions with the vehicles' spotlights. Everyone had fun mastering backlit/rim, side and front lighting. The next morning we were out early and found a hyena den close to camp - a big clan with lots of youngsters that were playing outside the den each morning until late. Mashatu also delivered the usual specials with large breeding herds of elephants, including a day-old baby still with a piece of its umbilical cord attached, good bird photographic opportunities and the normal plains game.





One afternoon we stumbled upon a small pan with about 30 foraging glossy ibises. These usually bland subjects looked spectacular in the late afternoon sun. That was exactly the type of photography that gets my heart racing - making ordinary subjects look spectacular. They were surprisingly accommodating and allowed us to get very close to them - out of the vehicle and onto the ground for that low angle perspective.





You know that a trip is going well when a sighting of lions fighting with hyenas are not even considered the highlight of the weekend. On the second morning's drive we followed the same male and female lion we saw on our first game drive and observed how they wandered too close to the hyena den. The whole clan of eight adult hyenas grouped together and started harassing the trespassers. The young male's temper flared up in a number of sequences that offered first class action photography opportunities as he defended himself.





A female leopard with three cubs have been in the area for our entire stay and we were dying to get a good look at them. Small gaps through the thicket allowed us to get some record shots at various stages, but with such young cubs we knew our chances were slim of getting good leopard cub shots. On our fifth drive our patience were rewarded when the leopard and her cubs walked in a dry riverbed an even allowed us to observe them while drinking water. This was a special moment for us all. At the time we did not know however, that this was just an appetizer for things to come. That night she made a kill and dragged it into a nearby tree. We returned to this sighting on each of our last three game drives and felt privileged to observe and photograph an episode of these leopards' lives!

Once again Mashatu revealed to us some of its unique and spectacular treasures. We can not wait to return there soon.

Isak Pretorius Photography Blog.




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Africa Geographic feature - Albie Venter

One of C4 Images and Safaris' guides, Albie Venter, was recently featured in the Africa Geographic magazine. Albie leads various tours for C4, including tours to the Masai Mara, where the images featured, was taken. Read more about Albie here.



Click here to download the pdf.


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Mashatu - A Place of Opportunities, By Christine Lamberth

The tyres of the car drumming on the tarred road surface beat out a rhythmic song that entrances the traveller and keeps his eyes glued to the horizon and the anticipation of something new. The fever builds and new experiences wait ahead to fuel the desire to keep hurtling forward in the search for unique moments.
The photographer is fortunate in that these moments can be captured not only in memory boxes but in a physical format that can be shared. Photography greats such as Cartier-Bresson and David Goldblatt were supremos in the art of the moment and it is indeed from their great example that a photographer can learn that the most mundane can become the bewitchingly captivating.



On the great plains of Africa the opportunities abound. Promises of encounters with the huge, the magnificent, the fast and the dangerous overpower the real magic of what lies in every corner just waiting to be seen. It is true that it takes time to peel back the layers, to search ever deeper, to learn more in order to appreciate what it is that reveals itself every day and it is this search that keeps the tyres on the road and the campfires burning on these great Plains.



The secret to unlocking this magic wonderland lies in the eye of the beholder and how much that eye can really see. On a trip to Mashatu over Easter of 2011 the leopards, who are normally so very visible, were playing hide-and-seek and they were winning. The elephants appeared to have taken off on a migration away from the Reserve and the usually abundantly teeming bush was hauntingly empty. Until, that is, when you looked a little closer, concentrated a little bit more and grabbed at every opportunity that came along.



We spent longer times at sightings and there was very little incentive to be off to another, perhaps better sighting. We were able to observe animal behaviour that previously would have been ignored. A very frustrating fact for a serious photographer is that twenty minutes spent at a sighting is, quite honestly, ridiculously short and the commercial aspect of the guaranteed sightings that bring the droves of tourists through the Reserves is hopelessly inadequate to capture meaningful images.



We could bask in the moment waiting patiently for a bird to fly from its perch, a cheetah to yawn or a squirrel to dart off to play because there was no dramatic sighting in the offing. The unfortunate demise of a giraffe brought in a huge flock of vultures and being the only vehicle remotely interested in this rather odiferous event we were privileged to sit for a few hours and photograph the birds coming in to land, the mean spirited pecking and hissing presented a whole host of action shots rarely captured. The posturing that various individuals in these groups display in an effort to demonstrate their supremacy provides opportunities that the lens simply devours.



The desire to capture something special always remains a challenge and even though the shutter keeps up its steady rhythm there remains a constant yearning to capture that elusively tantalising moment.
The unassailable fact that the Safari can be prolonged for many weeks afterwards lies in the arduous task of editing. Each day that I spend with the images afterwards brings me back to each moment as it happened and the more images there are on the flashcard the longer I can prolong the moment. My Safari’s last for weeks and weeks and even though I spend little time travelling and being there I am, really there, almost every day.







Christine Lamberth's Blog


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C4 Guides portfolios in Go/Weg magazine.

At C4 Images and Safaris we strive to be the best in what we do. It is often difficult to gauge where you stand without having an outsider compare you to the rest.



Click here to view Greg du Toit's portfolio


Each month the excellent and extremely popular GO/WEG magazine publishes a portfolio of images featuring a certain photographer. It has become quite prestigous to be featured and all the top photographers aspire to have a portfolio of their images published by GO/WEG.
In the first half of 2011, the magazine picture editor independently contacted four of C4’s photography guides to feature them in their magazine.
It so happened that for the months of February, April, May and July 2011, all the portfolios were by C4 Images and Safaris photographers.
It is good to know that while we at C4 plan to associate only with the best photographers and guides, magazines such as WEG/GO feature four of our guides in 6 months; giving us and you the security of knowing you are dealing with the best.


Click here to view Shem Compion's portfolio




Click here to view Isak Pretorius' portfolio



Click here to view Hougaard Malan's portfolio

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All Hail To Them l’ill Critturs - by Christine Lamberth

The question begs! Does anyone go on Safari to see the little guys. I have yet to hear someone alighting a Safari vehicle asking to see a shrew mouse, a dung beetle or a striped mongoose. Standard answers expected by Game Rangers are either of the large feline variety or perhaps those lumbering giants of the African Plains. Yet any guide to the animals of the world reveals an overwhelming number of little mammals that inhabit the earth.



How many Safari goers will have seen a honeybadger, a bat-eared fox, an African wildcat or even a hedgehog? Is there any tangible excitement when the opportunity to spend some time with a colony of ants presents itself?
On a recent photographic workshop with C4 Images at Mashatu Reserve in the Tuli Block in Botswana it is hide-and-seek time with the big boys and the challenges are laid down at every turn. Amazing results are testament to the sheer magic of the African bush.



The first opportunity presents itself with a family of banded mongoose (mungos mungo) whose focused intent to find food overwhelms the urge to run and hide in the presence of a vehicle. However, the challenge remains with the right position close enough to produce images free of foliage in front of eyes and ears. Essential to the exercise is a Game Ranger with the patience of Job and a starter that will put up with being turned on and off at short intervals. Both of these are present with Jake (aka Job) patiently checking that the distance and position are correct and a trusty old African stalwart the Toyota Landcruiser playing along.

After repeated starts and stops the images of curious eyes and frantic agitation in the vegetation are banked on the flash card as the sleek silvery troop disappears into the wooded area where we can’t follow.

A short drive a little further down through the woodland on the riverbank takes us to a once mighty tree that has fallen victim to the power of Mashatu’s largest inhabitants. As we approach a small family of ground squirrels (Xerus inauris) momentarily stop their activities to inspect the intruders. The vehicle rolls silently towards the prone stump now hollowed out to provide shelter and a home to one of the smallest inhabitants of the African Savannah.



We settle into quiet observation and the squirrels relax. As they become accustomed to our presence they continue with their antics that include eating, playing and grooming and the opportunities that present themselves to a photographer are quite breathtaking in their diversity. With the light remaining a soft glow in the normally harsh African skies the camera records a whole host of images that gently reveal the beauty and complexity of nature.



Another of Africa's more shy inhabitants becomes very visible. The blackback jackal (Canis mesomelas) appears from behind every possible bush. Their gritty determination to survive is apparent at a sighting where a dead giraffe is slowly being consumed by just about every scavenger in the reserve. They bravely stand up to their big brothers the spotted hyena, ignore the hissing of a hundred or more vultures to ensure that their allocation of the spoils is not wasted. Each day we see one or more of these brave little prairie dogs their gorgeous black flecked coats dotting the plains as they scuttle from one opportunity to the next. Even on our last drive where we head into the bush to see some more indolent, sleeping lions we find yet another couple of blackback jackals patiently waiting for the lions to leave so that they can move in for the scraps of the kill. We get so close that the lens of the camera almost seems too long.



In the absence of the adrenalin pumping action that a visit to the African bush can reveal the little critter has saved the day. In a world where time has become the master it is only when we set aside these modern persuasions and take the time to slow down and patiently become the observer that we are rewarded with wonderful memories and images that are imprinted forever and life is enriched by the experience.

Christine Lamberth Blog



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Some more from Namibia

One of our clients, Hennie Conradie, has just sent through a couple of images taken by him whilst on our Namibian Desert and Landscape Photo Workshop in April. We are running the same workshop in 2012, you can read more about it here.














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Japan Winter Tour Footage

A C4 Images photo tour led by Shem Compion and Go Yamagata to Japan where we photographed the amazing wildlife of Japan. This video highlights the Japanese wildlife wonders including Japanese cranes, Steller's sea eagle, white tailed eagle, whooper swans on a frozen lake and of course the stunning snow macquaces (snow monkeys) in the hot water baths.



C4 Images and Safaris will be running another Photo Tour to Japan in February 2012. See here for more information.


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