Antarctica 2016 - By Shem Compion (Part 2 of 2)

Part 2, of Shem Compion’s Antarctica 2016 image gallery. If you would like to take photographic journey with us, take a look at our website for 2016 destinations!

C4 Photo Safaris

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Intimate Namibia Landscapes 2016

Namibia is a massive, desolate landscape and boasts the title of the 4th least populated country in the world. With an average distance between towns of 200km, its endless vistas will be permanently etched into your soul. Namibia’s desert winds have sculpted the world’s highest dunes out of red sand and it is these dunes that make the Namibian landscape like no other on earth. In some places the dunes rise out of endless fields of grass and in others the dunes are as high as mountains. In a special place the sand cut off the water supply to a seasonal wetland and today the result is the petrified trees of Deadvlei. In the far South, fine silica sands are now reclaiming what was once the site of a great diamond rush - the ghost town of Kolmanskop. To the West, a special combination of rocky ground and hot, arid conditions have created one of the most alien plants on earth; the Quiver Tree. Where the Fish River flows over an ancient plateau, it has cut the 2nd largest canyon on earth into the rock. Join Namibia landscape specialists Hougaard Milan and award winning photographer Isak Pretorius for an opportunity to experience and photograph these one of a kind landscapes, from the ground, road and air.

For more info on this trips itinerary click on the link to our website below:

Intimate Namibia Landscapes 2016

A small photo gallery from our guides below, is just a glimpse to what photographs are possible to capture on this safari!

 

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Iceland Photo Safari 2016

Iceland is one of the world most popular landscape photography destinations, and for a very good reason! Situated in the icy North Atlantic, one is surrounded by frozen waterfalls, lagoons and beaches strewn with icebergs, glaciers, glacier caves and so much more. Perhaps the most magical attraction of this far north destination is having the opportunity to witness and photograph the Northern lights, one of the nature’s magnificent wonders.

The trip will be hosted by Iceland and landscape photography expert Hougaard Milan, and C4 Photo Safaris’ award winning photographer Isak Pretorius. Hougaard has previously spent time in Iceland, exploring and scouting out only the best photographic spots and accommodation the country has to offer. This photo safari is one of ultimate convenience, photographers will travel in comfort and the group size will be limited to 10 participants to allow for individual creative freedom.

Come and join us in the breathtaking landscapes of Iceland, and stand the possibility to capture some shots like these...

 For more information on this photo safari follow the link below:

Iceland Photo Safari 2016

 

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A Productive Morning at the Hide

After a night of strong winds, we were unsure of what the morning would hold for our regular Matabole Hide session. We set off from the lodge before dawn into the crisp morning air, all wrapped up for our 30min drive towards the hide. As the sun slowly rose where excited to see the many puffs of scattered cloud cover slowly illuminate creating a fantastic backdrop to what we hoped would be a great hide session.

On arrival to the hide we set up our camera gear, we even experimented with a more artist approach to shooting with a Go Pro that we had lodged inside the waterhole. All set up and ready to go, and right on queue an elephant bull arrived. The bull gave us a good show before meandering off back into the Mopane. He most certainly set the tone for the morning with great birds following pursuit, as well as, herds of impala, a troop of baboons, a terrapin and a shy squirrel.

Feeling very content with our morning spent at the hide, we decided to head back to camp for brunch. Jokingly we mentioned between us that all we needed to top off an already top class morning in the bush would be a leopard ... and in true Mashatu style a leopard we did see!

 

Clouds making a perfect backdrop for the morning activity

 

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Patagonia Photo Tour 2015

Hougaard Malan has just returned back from an unbelievable two weeks safari with clients in Patagonia.

Situated on the outer fringe of the Antarctic Circle, Patagonia remains one of the most remote and unspoilt wilderness destinations of the world. The sheer grandeur of Patagonia’s landscapes is what magnetises photographers towards it as a world class photographic destination. The landscape of  ice-capped mountains towering 3500m above sea level, surrounded by Magellan Beech forests hosting a pallet of autumn colours and not to mention the cascading waterfalls and crystal blue lakes, create a platform for some of the most picturesque landscape images a photographer could ask for.

Our recent Patagonia landscape photo safari,  co-hosted by C4 Photo Safaris and Capture Earth was one of ideal weather conditions that allowed for some amazing images. The beech trees painted the mountains with their thousand colours and the clear crisp evenings and mornings highlighted the clouds and reflections with dashes of pink and orange.

C4 Photo Safaris will be running another Patagonia landscape tour in April 2017. We will keep you posted. Enjoy the beautiful images below with lovely Autumn colours due to the exellent timing of our tour.

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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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Landscape and Seascape Photo Workshop by Hougaard Malan

We hosted our very first landscape and seascape workshop at the beginning of September this year. Our venue was in Gansbaai, which lies right in the middle of the Overberg between Arniston, Hermanus and the Farmlands stretching from Botrivier to Swellendam..


Shaun Ross

We kicked off with a sunrise at the Kleinmond lagoon on the first morning. Conditions weren’t bad, but not spectacular. It gave everyone a bit of a chance to accustom to the concept of auto exposure bracketing and how landscape photography works. Everyone was quite taken aback by the fact that you drive to a place, get your compositions and equipment ready, wait for the light to peak, take a few shots and then you’re done. It’s usually quite a change for people who are used to doing travel style photography where you walk around for hours taking photos of everything you see, or shooting wildlife where you drive around all day in search of animals. Landscape photography is like a military mission. You go to your destination, do a reconnaissance of the area, decide on the best option, wait for the right moment and make sure you get a single shot that justifies that moment.


Michelle Kalp

We went to the Walker Bay nature reserve that afternoon, an endless white beach with sandstone cliffs that stretches from Gansbaai to Hermanus. The weather was looking dramatic and promising, but a spring rain storm quickly approached and we made it to the cars just in time.


Cindy van Wyk

The second morning gave us a stunning lightshow as we shot sunrise from atop the cliffs of Arniston, while golden rays of light poured through moody dark clouds over the turquoise waters. Each day’s sunrise shoot was followed by fresh filter coffee and a filling breakfast, then some photoshop work. We paid our first visit to the farmlands that afternoon, just enjoying a calm and relaxed sunset between the endless rolling hills.


Glynnis Salvado

Saturday morning everyone decided to sleep in and recharge their batteries, which also gave us some time to work on the photoshop while enjoying more of Linda’s brilliant coffee. The afternoon we headed back to the farmlands for another tranquil, but icy sunset. The following morning we had a brilliant sunrise at the old Hermanus harbour as a phenomenal beam of pink light shot through the mountains to illuminate gray skies. A Perfect display of light to end off 4 very productive days.


Shaun Ross

We learned as much from our first landscape workshop as the clients did and we have already taken those lessons to improve on our future workshops.

• Although Gansbaai is centrally located, we found that it necessitates too much driving to get to the locations, so for 2011 we will be hosting separate workshops on either sides of the Overberg to minimize the time spent on the road.
• We will provide all transport between locations.
• The 2011 farmland workshop will be earlier as the weather balled us with the timing of the canola this year.
• We are looking into providing our workshop clients with Lee graduated filter kits, which will avoid having to teach the complex process of auto exposure bracketing and layer blending in such a short time. This will cut down on time behind the computer dramatically and allow us to spend more time out in nature.
  
  
  Michelle Kalp
  
  
  Cindy van Wyk
  
  
  Glynnis Salvado
  
  All images by clients that went on the workshop.
  

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