C4 Photo Safari: August 2010

Landscaping Reconnaissance

We are always looking for excellent destinations where we can take you. Recently we have moved into landscape destinations. The first workshop we are offering is the September Sea and landscape photography workshop with Hougaard Malan in Walker bay. This proved immensely popular and was very quickly booked up. Subsequently we have researched and marketed a new workshop in Namibia with Hougaard and Shem Compion for April 2011. Again, there is a lot of interest in this landscape workshop.

hougaard malan, landscape workshop, photo workshop, shem compion

However, we are will never sit still when it comes to delivering the best product to you. Thus Shem and Hougaard recently went on a 3000km journey to research and reconnoitre new landscape destinations.

We went as far west and north as you can go in South Africa- to the Ai-Ais/Richtersveld National Park, where some brilliant landscape photography greeted us. From there we scouted the west coast all the way down to Cape Town and then onwards to Betty’s Bay.

Not every location will be a great destination, but in amongst it all we found some excellent spots. You can rest assured that when we take you to a destination we will have already travelled there, photographed there and know the area. This is to ensure that you get the best photo opportunities while at your destination. This is just another aspect of the service we supply to you, our clients.

Below are a few photos from the "reconnaissance" tour we did.

Namibia Tour Feedback

C4 Images and Safaris led a two-week photo tour to the wonderful desert country of Namibia in July. We planned the tour to move through the desert areas, showcasing the various types of arid environments that this country has to offer.

c4 images and safaris, etosha, photo tour

Of course the landscapes are world-renowned and we worked hard to maximise out time there. One aspect of this was organising early and late permits into the parks. This allowed us to relax in the quiet desert environment during the twilight hours and photograph to our hearts content without the pressure of having to run for a gate. Being out in the middle of the desert photographing stars all alone was a fantastic experience!

From there we moved north to Swakopmund where we had booked flights over the Namib Desert. This proved to be a real highlight. Again, we had the door specially removed for photography. This helped an immense deal in getting our images, and added the necessary contrast to the image that a window takes out.

After that we had a private guided tour with Tommy from Living deserts tours. Tommy is a legend in the deserts and he runs faster up a dune than any animal I know. A fantastic morning with Tommy revealed all manner of beautiful endemic and unique desert creatures.

We continued our journey north to see and photograph the desert elephant in the Aba-Huab River and then on to Etosha. Of course we all knew what to expect at Etosha, and of course it delivered again. The procession of animals coming in to drink is just a sight to see and although I have seen it so many times before, it never fails to impress.

From there it was back to Windhoek, but not before we had spotted an Aardvark and Aardwolf on our last drive. What a spectacular way to end the tour. Namibia offers excellent diversity of habitats and photography. This is only half of what makes it special though. The other half is the pure quietness of a morning in the dunes. Once you have experienced this, you will no doubt be coming back to this wonderful country, with C4 Images and Safaris of course!

Mashatu Workshop Feedback

The 16-20 June workshop is always a highlight- and this year’s was no different. Booked over the winter solstice to give the lowest angle of sunlight, you just know that you are going to get excellent light during this Photo workshop.

If the sunlight is good, well, then the sightings were just amazing on this photo workshop. Leopard Cubs, Lion cubs, wild dogs, cheetah at dawn and of course an elephant or two thrown in made it one of the most diverse 4 days of wildlife photography we have ever had.

Not even the ice cold wind blowing from the south could dampen the early morning starts, such was the enthusiasm.

The other highlight was of course the night photography we did. With such cold, crisp skies, we were able to get some spectacular images of the stars and milky way. We guided our clients to the exact settings so that everyone could get “the shot”.