Rounding off the year with the magic of Chiefs Camp - by Isak Pretorius

The scenic beauty and wilderness feeling that Chiefs Island offers makes it one of my favorite places in Africa to visit. It was quite fitting to end the year for C4 Workshops at such a great location.






With the early December rains, the area has transformed into beautiful green, different from what we had seen five weeks earlier on our previous workshop to the island. It was quite noticeable how much more water was around from the local rains they've had - a beautiful sight to see and exactly what one always envisage the Okavango Delta to look like.





The workshop was a great success - from the flight into the lodge over the Okavango Delta that gets the excitement going at the beginning of the workshop, to the sharing of photos during our afternoon informal workshop sessions. Anywhere in the bush where you have great game-viewing and a relaxed atmosphere is a great place to learn and put the theory of wildlife photography into practice.





December in the Okavango Delta means lots of birds, and we had great sightings of raptors, waders and the all the migrant species. Some of our highlights included seeing Pygmy Geese and Rosy-throated Longclaw, and in addition we got great photos of kingfishers and the African Painted Snipe to name a few.

We made the most of the variable weather conditions we experienced as we photographed everything from early morning backlit buffalo, carmine bee-eaters in the rain, to lions shaking their head after the rain. I loved the variable weather and mild temperatures and I like in particular how it forces you to be creative and experiment with all the different genres of photography to make the most of the trip.





Chiefs Camp is one of the best camps in Africa. Having cocktails on the deck while watching elephants bathing in the water right in front of you makes you realize that this is a special camp. It's not just the location, the luxury, the quality of the service or the food, but also the homey feeling that it provides that people always enjoy the most. Besides game drives, the camp also offer a variety of other activities. A flip over the swamps with a helicopter was a great way to end our workshop and we were all very sad to leave Chiefs Island. We are already looking forward to visiting there next year again. We'd like to say a big thanks to Rory, Jade, Basil, Petra, the rest of the camp staff, and our fantastic driver guides Rex and Jonathan who made this such a memorable trip for us all!

Happy shooting everyone and see you next year!
2-6 November Chiefs Island
7-11 December Chiefs Island






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Experience Wilderness - By Isak Pretorius

Chiefs Island in the heart of the Okavango Delta is pure wilderness and a land of incredible beauty. Vast open seasonal floodplains with palm tree islands. Herds of animals roaming free and wild exactly like they have for thousands of years. Unspoiled scenic beauty that stretches as far as the eye can see. To experience this and to have it all to yourself to enjoy is pure magic! The recent C4 photographic workshop to Chiefs Camp offered our guests exactly that. This is my favorite destination in Africa.





Our photographic workshop was a great success, especially because we're such like-minded people, having a lot of laughs together, and enjoying the good photography and nature experience that this wilderness had to offer. Game viewing was fantastic with great sightings of the general Delta game, the big five, and a rare glimpse of a leopard carrying a week old cub. This leopard is close to camp and very accommodating towards photographers, a beautiful poser. We are looking forward to seeing her more during the upcoming safaris to Chiefs Island. Although we didn't do serious birding, we unofficially tallied more than 130 species for the trip. This included numerous lifers for most of the guests.



Chiefs Camp is tucked between beautiful big Jackalberry, Sausage and Apple-leaf trees on the edge of the actual island, overlooking a seasonal floodplain. The camp has recently been renovated and the accommodation, food and comfort that the camp offers are exceptional. It's easy to see why this camp has been voted the best lodge in Botswana for three years in a row now!



As a photographic safari our objective was to get top wildlife photos as much as it was to experience this untamed wilderness. Chiefs Island delivered superbly in both categories. Apart from the good photography, we also extended our experience into the air with a flip in a helicopter over the Delta, and an afternoon's mokoro experience on one of the main channels in the Delta.



Thanks to all our guests, my co-host Albie Venter, our drivers Ishmael and Sky, and all the staff at the camp who made this such a memorable experience for all of us!



Albie Venter's Report
Mark Dumbleton's Report
Chiefs Island 2011


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Chiefs Island Report by Albie Venter

It seems like the bars are continuously raised on the safaris. Not even the heat of Chiefs Island could dampen anyone’s adventurous spirit as we disembarked the Cesna Caravan at Chiefs Camp’s bush airstrip in the middle of absolute supreme wilderness.





Once settled into our quite spectacular rooms it now feels like the adventure never stopped until our return to Jo’ies four days later. Everything from leopards carrying new born cubs to intricate painted reed frogs kept everyone busy with photographic opportunities jumping at you around every corner (if you’ll excuse the wisecrack).





Every photographer has a wish list, often not the easiest of subjects. But when Trevor wished for a leopard on a termite mound you can’t help smiling when one actually peer straight at the lens from atop one. Surreal stuff! The only real problem everyone had was not finding enough time to capture it all and unanimously everyone wished for more time in the Delta. Hopefully this will come in the not too distant future.





All of you, who made our time so much fun, as always from Isak and me, thanks a mill!! It can never be fun without great guests and we are looking forward hosting you all soon when we catch up in the sticks.





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Okavango Delta - Mark Dumbleton

C4 Images and Safaris has just returned from another successful photo workshop at Chiefs Camp in the Okavango Delta. Here is what Mark Dumbleton, one of our clients, had to say.

Chiefs Island in the Okavango Delta, Botswana was the destination of my previous safari, staying at a camp called "Chiefs Camp". The safari was run by C4 Images-Safaris and all I can say is the delta is one incredible photographic destination.

We caught a flight from Johannesburg to Maun, and from Maun a short 25 minute chartered flight to Chiefs Camp. We would spend the next 4 days exploring and photographing the beauty of the Okavango Delta.



Its very hard to explain to someone that has not been to the Delta before how truly amazing it is. The abundance of life is incredible, and I would highly recommend any nature lover visit the area atleast once in a lifetime.

The camp we stayed at was very well serviced, with very friendly staff and we were very well looked after. The safari was hosted by Isak Pretorius and Albie Venter, and everyone got on great and a super time was had by all.



The photography was superb. We had numerous sightings of Lions, Leopards, Elephant, we sighted a massive herd of about 700 Buffalo, Hyena, huge herds of Red Lechwe, Jackal, Impala, Zebra and many other. The birding was excellent, with many sightings of rare birds and delta specials - Slaty Egret, 4 types of Coucal, Wattled Cranes, and huge amounts of Kingfishers and Fish-Eagles to name a few.

Two highlights of the trip were a helicopter ride over the delta photographing the beauty from above, and also a Mokoro trip down one of the channels at sunset, which gave a very unique perspective on the delta in super afternoon light.



Thanks to C4, the hosts, fellow guests and staff of the camp for a superb photographic safari. Certainly a huge highlight in my life as a naturalist and wildlife photographer. All images by Mark Dumbleton - www.markdumbleton.com



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Mashatu Workshop, Client Feedback

One of our clients, Jordi Fernandez, joined C4 Images and Safaris to Mashatu for a Photo Workshop back in April of this year. Here is a selection of images taken while on the workshop. You can view the whole collection here. Jordi will be joining us on our Chiefs Island workshop in November, so watch this space for more images after the workshop!











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The Chiefs Island Experience - Isak Pretorius

Chief’s Island in the heart of the Okavango Delta is known as the predator capital of Africa. C4 Images and Safaris has just concluded its first of many safaris to the island and the place had more than lived up to its reputation and everyone’s expectation. We met our guests at O.R. Tambo International from where it’s a two hour flight to Maun and then a 20 minute flight into camp. Flying low over the Delta is always thrilling with spectacular views of this unique waterway system alive with large herds of elephants, buffalo, giraffe, and zebra which are easy to spot from the plane. This got the safari off to an exciting start.

We were looking forward to sunny weather and good photography. Chief’s Camp is located on Chief’s Island on the edge of a large floodplain hidden away between beautiful Jackalberry and Sausage tree woodland. The lounge, dining room, bar and pool are situated on a large wooden deck overlooking the floodplain and became our general meeting area for the next few days doing everything from our afternoon photo workshops, eating, relaxing and talking photography while watching nature unfold in front of us. Growing up amongst the animals in the surrounding areas, our guides Ali and Ishmael were masters of predicting animal behaviour and locating our photographic subjects. They had obviously dealt with many photographers before and knew exactly how to position the vehicle for us to get the perfect shot. Chief’s Camp is also different from anything we’ve experienced before in that they’ve modified their vehicles for driving through water. A lifted suspension and snorkel did the trick but occasionally we had to lift our camera bags and feet off the floor during the deeper crossings. Twice during the safari we had water over the floor of the vehicle that drained away quickly once we got through. Apart from the thrilling sightings this added some additional exhilaration.

The game drives took us onto both the floodplains as well as the higher dry areas of Chief’s Island itself. It provided typical Okavango Delta scenery of wide open plains with grazing herds of animals and islands of woodland vegetation and palm trees. Game viewing and photography were excellent with numerous sightings of lion, leopard, huge herds of buffalo, elephant, lechwe and the other general game like zebra, wildebeest and giraffe to name but a few. The Delta is of course also a bird paradise that provided us with terrific photographic opportunities of many “specials” like wattled crane and slaty egrets. The water level on the floodplains was dropping quickly, leaving behind numerous pools with trapped fish. We came across a number of pools with hundreds of yellow-billed storks, marabou storks, hamerkop, and egrets all trying to make the most of the fish’s misfortune. One afternoon we did the makoro experience where you get close encounters with birds and some of the Delta’s smaller subject while gliding quietly over the water.

Each day usually starts with a wakeup call from staff who also brought us coffee in bed. This is followed by a light breakfast, morning drive and early lunch after which there were time for relaxation. The afternoons were spent doing the photography workshops that included lectures on light, composition, technique, digital workflow and processing. Afternoon tea and game drive followed, after which we had time for relaxing drinks and dinner.

This safari would definitely be remembered for a spectacular late afternoon fast moving thunderstorm on our last afternoon drive, and a sighting where a black-backed jackal had killed a baby impala. As a natural history sighting this was very special, though gruesome at times. It was an opportunistic kill by the jackal of a few day old impala amongst a large herd of impala. I will also never forget the water crossings that we did with the game viewing vehicles. In areas better suited for makoros than vehicles we made our way through the water en route to the sightings. In one particular incident, our guide Ishmael were driving over a dry area of the floodplain when he spotted some lions in the distance. At that specific place we had a deep water filled deception between us and the lions and it would have taken us too long to drive around and through the water at the shallower regular crossing on the other end to get to the lions. Ishmael asked me if I think we should attempt to drive to the lions straight from there through the deep water. Not knowing what difference my opinion would make anyway, I think I was more curious than anything else to see how his attempt would unfold. I told Ishmael to go for it. Amazingly with water high over the bonnet of the vehicle and tyres gripping slowly but surely at the sandy bottom, we made it through and were rewarded with great photography of the lions and then lechwe running through the water.

Chief’s Camp delivered the magic of the Okavango Delta in many ways. During our last evening we showed a presentation of the top images from the safari from every guest. It was wonderful to see everyone’s own interpretation of the last few days and how the different photographic techniques we taught got put into practice with great success. It was sad to leave the island and although the flight back to Maun over the Delta was something to look forward to, it was of little comfort. We all wanted to visit Chief’s Island again soon!

Thanks Charl, Semma and the rest of the staff for making this a trip of a lifetime.

Read Shem Compion trip report here.

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Chiefs Island Photo Workshop Trip Report, Part 2

Day 3 and 4

We returned to the leopard kill in the morning to find that the famous tree-climbing lions of Chiefs Island had climbed high into the thorny acacia and pulled down the carcass. The leopard was nowhere to be found of course, but the lions were great subjects in the early morning light. From there we spent time at one of the drying pools of water photographing yellow-billed storks fishing. The number and diversity of birds in the delta is something to behold- and it is one of the best places for bird photography.

The afternoon was a time to experience the mokoros of the Delta. This pirogue like boat is the best way to experience first hand the quiet tranquillity of the waters. It is also great for landscapes and macros photos. From there we spent time with some wattled cranes, a delta speciality, feeding and displaying. Our sunset sundowner was a mix of photographing zebra’s backlit into the setting sun and 5 bull elephants walking quietly past our vehicle, some 20m away. We almost didn’t have time to finish our drinks!

Day 4
This morning we spent 45 minutes at a small lagoon. It was a great spot for all sorts of action. Hippos fighting and yawning, squacco heron fly bys, fish eagle hunting and a slaty egret fishing nearby. From there we headed north and into some spectacular woodland and onto some open floodplains. Herds of lechwe greeted us. Three male lions and a leopard nearby also greeted us- we literally had our choice! That was until we had to pull the other vehicle out trying to cross the channel. Just another part of the delta experience! On the way back to camp we had baboons with babies to entertain our cameras- and us just the right way to finish off a drive.

The day had started with some cloud and it built up all afternoon with a large storm brewing up in the east. With the sun still shining in the west, this gave us some beautiful and intense light. First up it was some baboons backlit, their fur picking up the halo of light beautifully.

Then the wind started blowing strongly at the approach of the storm and looking in the east we saw a rainbow developing, so we hurriedly went in search of some subjects. First up was a palm tree- an icon of the Okavango, then some lechwe and impala with the rainbow right on top of them. The intensity of colour was so strong that you didn’t need a polariser to capture the beauty of it.
Nearby we found two male lions. The quality of light on them was perfect, and then the wide-angle image of a dark and moody sky with the rainbow in the background was just the cherry on top. Brilliant in all respects!

Day 5
The last morning led us out to the floodplains for the last time and we spent quite a bit of time with a herd of 500 buffalo, photographing them, the egrets and the oxpeckers in various modes. We found a very productive pool with lots of birds in, which we decided to stay at. It paid dividends as no more than 8 species of birds came within 5m of our vehicle. The pied kingfishers hovering right next to us was a highlight, as was the slaty egret hunting 2m from the vehicle. This was a perfect way to end another very successful workshop with C4 Images and Safaris.

After lunch it was I the charter flight and off to Maun for the quick flight back home. The beauty of the Okavango is that it is so remote, yet you can access it via charter flights in no time at all. Perfect for a photo workshop like ours to maximise your photography time and minimise your travel time.

Click here to see part 1 of the report.
And click here to read Isak Pretorius's feedback.

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