Antarctica Photo Gallery 2014 - By Peter Scheulfer

As our travellers from our recent trip to Antarctica eventually start settling back into milder climates and the going on’s of everyday life in the city, the reams of images snapped during the expedition start making an appearance on social networks and some in publications.

C4 traveller Peter Scheufler managed to snap a mere 20 000 images on the trip, this number being a tribute to the sheer beauty we were exposed to during our weeks at sea.  Here are a few photographs from Peter’s gallery that serve as an indication to the beauty of which we speak. Well done Peter, we look forward to seeing more of your work!

 

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Brandy the Leopard

Brandy the much publicised female leopard has been the subject of research by the North West Province’s conservation department’s ecologist, John Power, for the last two years. Brandy remains one of the few free roaming leopards in South Africa’s Magaliesberg Mountains, hence the reason for the department’s endeavour to keep her monitored and protected. The findings from such a study can have significant impact on the success of free roaming leopard in other more developed parts of Africa too. Although the project has been predominantly state funded, some aspects have required private funding, owing to a constrained fiscus. C4 Photo Safaris has been a proud sponsor of the leopard project collars, and this has allowed the department to monitor the progress and movement of Brandy on a day to day basis.

In September 2014 John noticed that Brandy’s signal had remained static for a few days, so he and his team set off to investigate why this was so – mindful that this was concerning. Sadly they found that Brandy had been captured in a snare and was severely injured. John and his team snapped straight into action, and found that due to the rugged terrain they could not drive up to her, and it was also too dangerous to approach her on foot, so they opted to dart her from the air via a hovering helicopter. Afterwards, while immobilised, her wounds were flushed, and she was subsequently airlifted to Johannesburg from whence she was stabilised for a fortnight. It is thanks to the satellite collar that this was all possible. After extensive medical attention from at least three veterinarians at the Joburg Zoo, she was released back into the Magaliesberg in a much improved physical condition. This was such that she could have the chance to rear her cubs – as X-rays revealed three cubs!

For a few months afterwards there was no sign of denning behaviour, until the middle of November 2014, when camera traps were placed at a suspected den – and a few days later – one cub was revealed! This was great success in that considering the ordeal that she had been through, she was still able to reproduce, which is the gauge of success for any conservation efforts. The department’s conservation efforts are visible through Brandy’s remarkable comeback. This is a significant addition of genetic material as well as valuable scientific data that is being received firm Brandy and for the somewhat dwindling free roaming leopard population in parts of South Africa. This is one step towards saving the leopards of the Magaliesberg and maintaining the populations of free roaming leopards in Africa as a whole. Well done to the department and the team for their positive impact n wildlife conservation as a whole. C4 Photo Safaris is very happy to help with initiatives that have such a positive conservation result. Since C4 Photo Safaris ultimately benefits from the photographic appeal of leopards in many of Africa’s game reserves, we see his as an opportunity to give back to leopards that are in trouble in the more disturbed parts of the continent – such as the outskirts of the metropolis of Johannesburg, which is where the Magaliesberg is situated.

We look forward to watching the developments of Brandy and her cub over the months and years and also look forward to further sponsoring of more collars for this and other projects.

Magaliesberg Biosphere, blue dots indicate Brandy's location

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Maasai Mara Photo Trips 2015

This year marks C4’s 7th consecutive year with Entim Camp in the Maasai Mara. The Mara never comes with disappointment, hence our successive photo trips to this wilderness region of Kenya over the past years.

 

Not only does the Mara provide photographers with an unlimited supply of phenomenal wildlife sightings and suburb lighting conditions, we are also fortunate enough to be guided by some of the Mara’s finest field rangers. Over the years C4’s professional wildlife photographers have provided the field rangers at Entim Camp with photographic training and tutoring, to ensure that our clients are provided with the best possible photographic experience.

 

C4 run two types of safaris to Entim Camp in the Mara, the Classic Photo Safaris and the Premier Photo Safaris. On both safaris, unless designated, you will have a personal, qualified guide that will conduct you through your safari with information and knowledge on the ecology of the habitat. The Classic Safaris can host up to 12 guests per trip with two photographic guide’s hosting the trip. The Premier Safaris are designed to give you the highest possible photographic safari experience; hence we have minimized the group size to no more than 6 guests per trip accompanied by three highly experienced photo guides.

 

Between our professional photographic guides Shem Compion, Greg du Toit, Isak Pretorius, Albie Ventre and Andre Cloete over 20 seasons have been spent in the Mara, giving the guides ample time to map out their favourite spots as well as the most productive game viewing areas on the reserve. Over this period strong working relationships have been built with the local field guides at Entim Camp, making our guided experience seamless.

C4 will be hosting 7 trips to Entim Camp in the Maasai Mara this year, to read more on these trips take a look at our photo calendar for the year here:

http://www.c4images-safaris.co.za/photo-safari-calendar-dates.asp

 

Here are some images taken during our 2014 Maasai Mara photo trips, we look forward to having you join us in this wilderness paradise soon!

 

 

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C4 Photo Vehicle

 

Designed and built by the same wildlife photographers who built the world famous underground photo hides at Mashatu, the C4 photo vehicle is a fully customised vehicle built exclusively for Mashatu Game Reserve. Its design and concept stem from wanting to give clients unparalleled access to the excellent wildlife of Mashatu and allow them to photograph uninhibited and unconstrained. Our many thousands of hours on safari vehicles have been the best research and combined with our photographic experience we have produced a specialist photo vehicle that is simply the ultimate experience in photographing from a vehicle.

C4 Photo Safaris has been hosting photo safaris across Africa since 2005. Over this time we have seen thousands of game drive vehicles, each one with its advantages and pitfalls. No one vehicle was ideal for photography, so we went forth and built the definitive photo vehicle that caters perfectly for wildlife photographers. Using our extensive experience of driving on vehicles in the field whilst taking photos, we used this knowledge to design a vehicle that is unique in its kind and that offers you unparalleled photographic ease, speed, stability and comfort. No element of design was left out. We designed this vehicle to be our perfect photographic vehicle and we demanded perfection based on our many years photographing in the field.  Only once it was good enough for us, did we allow it to be enjoyed and used by our clients.

C4 Photo Vehicle

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C4 Photo Tour - Antarctica 2014 (Part 2)

How does one show a destination that's gives the viewer an overall impression of what life is like in a true wildlife heaven? Do you go in close and make your images intimate? Or do you go wide and give the overall impression of the scene, but then remove yourself a bit from the scene?

South Georgia island was part of our recent Antarctica safari and it is the most overwhelming scene a naturalist can ever encounter. Having master photographers art Wolfe and Frans Lanting travelling with us ensured that we were adequately prepared for what the islands were to offer us. They even covered how to use your tripod to defend yourself against the aggressive fur seals as you walk by them!

South Georgia is definitely quite overwhelming but because we were well prepared for what to expect, we were ready to capture the magical scenes in all their glory, and more importantly, we knew what areas to head to.

 

This resulted in images that give an intimate, yet a wonderful overall impression of what life is like on South Georgia island.

 

I can assure you that it is the greatest wildlife experience in the world. Enjoy the images.

 

 

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C4 Photo Tour Antarctica - 2014 (Part 1)

 

Over the last few years C4 has begun taking its excellent reputation in leading photo tours into the Arctic regions. This was based on demand from our clients who wanted to travel to new destinations and wanted to do it with C4. The Arctic trips were so successful that we have now done 4 trips in our own chartered boat. In May we will do our 5th Arctic charter. But the demand did not stop there and Antarctica was the next polar region being demanded. Maintaining our goal of always delivering the best photo workshops and tours on offer, we negotiated to run a photo workshop to Antarctica with Art Wolfe and Frans Lanting to join C4’s Shem Compion and Iconic Images International’s Denis Glennon.

From the moment everyone stepped on board our vessel the spirit was one of highly charged anticipation having such wonderful photographers to help run our workshop in such a magnificent location.

The results were not disappointing as we had brilliant weather at all the major landing sites resulting in world class photography and sightings. 

The sheer numbers of wildlife on South Georgia and the vast ice scapes of the peninsular offered all our cameras a continuous buffet of photo options. Art and Frans helped immeasurably in the field with their experience, tutoring and deep knowledge of the locations we were visiting.

 

18 days moved very quickly and before we knew it we were back on land with bags and bags of images to work over. 

Antarctica and South Georgia are both places that make you realise the true potential beauty of our planet. Everyone on this C4 trip was touched many times by being in such close commune to a wilderness area and such close proximity to so many animals.

 

These images will give you an idea of just what Antarctica is all about.

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C4 Valley Hide

It’s been an impressive start to the establishment of our newest hide edition on Mashatu Game Reserve, The Valley Hide.  The hide has been created using the same design principles as the existing Matabole Hide, which has served many photographers in capturing the renowned low angle intimate shots the hide is known for.

The Valley Hide is no different, and in its first few weeks of operation has proved to be a very active little waterhole drawing a variety of species to the hide. The visitors include; multiple visits from the valley’s resident leopard, giraffe, zebra, jackal, hyena, steenbok, impala, eland, warthog and of course a variety of bird species.

We look forward to witnessing the Valley Hides first full year in the bush, and capturing and sharing the cycle of visitors the waterhole attracts to it.



Drinking giraffe close up

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Mashatu Photo Workshop - November 2014, By Trevor Kleyn

Some more great feedback and images from C4’s last Mashatu Photo Workshop of the year. Some incredible moments where shared in the bush during this workshop, despite the ‘far from ideal’ weather conditions.

With a little bit of applied patience and excellent guiding, shots such as these by workshop host Trevor Kleyn where achieved.

Hide activities

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C4 Workshop, Mashatu Game Reseve - November 2014

With the onset of the rainy season and the first rains the weather proved to be challenging in terms of photography, but there is one very famous saying, “Mashatu always delivers”, and that it did indeed.

In anticipation for the bad weather, we all decided to head into the underground hide on our first morning with the hope of getting lucky before the rains. Luckily we had 3 different processions of elephants come down, who where elegantly dwarfed by the moody skies.

 

Elephants at the underground hide with moody skies

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The Hide's Gone Cuckoo

Over the past 2 weeks here at Mashatu Game Reserve, there has been a huge influx in bird species as all the migratory birds start returning for the season. This change has brought the underground hide some special new faces in the form of a variety of cuckoo species. Knowing that this festival of cuckoos at the hide has a very fragile time limit, photographers visiting the hide have been going wild at the opportunity. As soon as the first solid rain falls arrive in the area the concentration of cuckoos will disperse around the reserve.

This far spotted at the hide: Klaas’s Cuckoo, African Cuckoo, Diderick Cuckoo, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Levaillant’s Cuckoo and Jacobin Cuckoo.

Heard at the hide, but not yet seen:  Red-chested Cuckoo

Also seen at the hide:  Burchell’s and Senegal Coucal.

 

Great Spotted Cuckoo take off

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Maasai Mara Safari Dairy - Isak Pretorius

Safari Diary - 2 October 2014

Private photo safari, Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya

 

We finally arrived in the Maasai Mara and I was pleasantly surprised to see it so green from this week's good rains. This is great news as the wildebeest might return to graze here during the next few days before heading back to the Serengeti. In fact, people at our camp saw a massive crossing close to our camp over lunch time. Our plan was to look for Malaika, the cheetah with the five cubs. We found my favourite cheetah with her cubs and spent the afternoon with them. Our memory cards filled quickly as they finished a meal and went looking for another one, although not successfully. What a great way to start the trip!

Cheetah   |   1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800   |   Canon 1D X + Canon 600mmf/4 lens   |   Aperture priority, 0 ev

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Svalbard Trip Review, September 2014

20 days in one of the last true wildernesses of the world is quite a sensation. When was the last time you travelled out and saw no other person other than your small group for more than 10 days?

This is one of the overwhelming emotions that hit you when you depart to the northern reaches of Svalbard. Here you are on the edge of the world at the mercy of nature, the ocean and the weather in a small vessel. Luckily that small vessel is one of the strongest kinds in the archipelago and can take you almost anywhere.

This is the nature of Svalbard and why we run our voyages here as "expedition style cruising". We go where we want to, exploring the many faces of this wonderful land searching for landscapes, glaciers and of course, polar bears and other wildlife. This was C4's third trip to Svalbard and once again it did not disappoint. Walruses, foxes, bears and magical landscapes all were part of the magic that was lit up by the arctic light. 

Svalbard grips you with a polar bug that is hard to shake off. I will be hosting our 5th voyage to Svalbard in May 2015. Unfortunately there are other clients who also have the polar bear bug; the voyage is already sold out with all berths filled.

 

If you would like to join us on a future voyage to Svalbard please contact us and we will put you on the wait list for 2016.

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Mashatu : Photo Workshop with C4 Images and Safari's - By Astrid and Juerg Bluemel

We were here before, little over a year ago. It was so absolutely fabulous that we had to come again, come and share it with friends. So we booked a photo workshop with C4 images, hoping to learn a little more and improve our photography, and we did ! Plus we made some new friends, had a great time, fantastic wildlife sightings and a very enjoyable stay at Mashatu Tented Camp.

Mashatu Tent Camp Tents
 

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C4 Images and Safari's September Workshop - Mashatu Game Reseve, By Kyle de Nobrega

During our last 4 day photography workshop hosted at Mashatu Game Reserve’s Tent Camp, we were treated to some incredible sightings with our guests that Andre Cloete and I co-hosted.

With the onset of summer, the weather was inconsistent which made it challenging for a few days with very overcast conditions. However, this worked in our favour for the multiple times we spent with the mother Cheetah and her four 3 month old cubs.  Without the worry of harsh light we all spent a number of drives following these 5 Cheetahs as they walked, stalked and played over the dusty baron areas which are so unique to Mashatu.

With our bank of luck being topped to the full, we where fortunate to get a glimpse of the 3 new large male lions that have moved into the area from the Tuli Circle region in Zimbabwe. Clearly life out in their usual territory is not like that for a lion at Mashatu as these 3 boys where not having any vehicle get within 50-60m from them. As if they where never here, the very next morning they somehow disappeared from the property giving us a glimpse of hope that they might one day finally reside in the reserve.

During the course of our 4 day workshop we where spoilt with no fewer than 5 differnet leopard sightings, and in true Mashatu style the sightings were of great quality.

Myself and Andre spent some time scouting out a new ‘star –trail’ site and we where delighted to hear about and discover that the largest Baobab on Mashatu was only within minutes from Tent Camp. With this monster of a tree being very rarely visited we spent a good portion of our last afternoon/evening trying our hand at some Milky Way and star trail shots.

Over the course of the 4 days, it wasn’t just about getting images for the stockpile but rather about enjoying the wilderness and being able to capture the incredible time we had out there together.

A huge thank you to everyone who was on the workshop!

Cheetah mother and her four 3month old cubs

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Private guided photo safari in the Okavango

Trevor Kleyn guided a Private Photo Safari in the Okavango Delta fro C4 Images and Safaris during the start of September. The Trip was timed for the height of the dry season, with animals all focused along the permanent waterways, which maes this photo safari can only be termed as the “ultimate” safari into the Okavango Delta. 

What makes Botswana’s Okavango Delta most remarkable is the fact that it is a wetland paradise located within the arid Kalahari Desert. Each year floodwater flows into the Okavango from its source in the moist central African highlands over 1000km away, creating a unique wetland that supports and sustains a huge diversity of wildlife.

Have look at these great examples photographed by Trevor Kleyn.

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C4 Images & Safari Predator Tour guided by Go Yamagata.

Go Yamagata recently guided clients of C4 Images and Safaris on a privately booked Premier Premier tour at Mashatu and Mala Mala. The combination of Mashatu's open ruggedness- perfect for leopard- and Mala Mala's notoriety on the big cat front gave our clients access to the best there is to offer on a big cat photo experience such as this.

Here are some amazing examples of Go's talent as a photographer and guide and the photography opportunities the group had on their safari!

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Getaway Wildlife / Natural History Photography course with Shem Compion at the Photo and Film Expo 2014

"Wildlife/natural history photography has changed considerably over the last fifteen years. Shem has navigated these years to emerge as one of the most successful. Shem's invaluable experience and expertise will guide you through this course for you to emerge as a successful photographer."

 

This is a once in a life time opportunity where Shem Compion will be speaking about how Wildlife/Natural History Photography has changed in association with Getaway Magazine. Join Shem Compion and Getaway at the Photo and Film Expo 2014 for a Wildlife/Natural History Photography Course on the Friday( 31 Oct.) and Saturday (1 Nov.).

Please contact Sue on suew@ramsaymedia.co.za for bookings and additional information.

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Maasai Mara Photographic Safari - A Visual Diary by Heinrich van den Berg

During C4 Images and Safaris most recent photographic safari to the Maasai Mara Nature Reserve our clients where spoilt with incredible wildlife interaction, colourful landscapes, great hosts at Entim Camp and of course ample photographic opportunity.

 

The photographic group was hosted by two of our professionals guides Isak Pretorius and Heinrich van den Berg. Thank you to all who made the trip a huge success, and to Heinrich for this visual diary from the trip!



Mating lions greet one another

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Mara Magic - Isak Pretorius Safari Diary

Safari Diary - 8 September 2014

Photo tour, Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya

 

With the traveling day behind us we finally made it to the Maasai Mara for the start of our photo tour. After arriving at our camp, we had lunch and time to refresh before leaving on our first afternoon game drive. Shutters fired furiously at our first sighting of small herd of elephants walking across the savannah. That was followed by mating lions in good light and a cheetah crossing the Talek river. On the way to camp we stopped to photograph wildebeest on the crest of a hill in front of the rising moon. Not a bad way to start the week and everyone is excited to see what is in store for the rest of our time here.

 

Cheetah| 1/1000 sec at f/5.3, ISO 640  |  Nikon D4 + Nikon 80-400f/5.6  |  Manual mode, -1/3 ev

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August Winds

The August winds have once again brought change to underground hide.  New mammals, birds and herds have made regular visits to the hide this month making for an interesting viewing experience to all those who have visited the hide.

Kurrichane Thrush
 

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