The business of wildlife photography Nikon Workshop

Join wildlife photographer, Shem Compion and Nikon South Africa for a talk on what is means to run a successful business in wildlife photography. Shem, the owner of C4 Photo Safaris, is an internationally recognized award winning photographer with an expansive knowledge on nature and brand building. Shem will share his invaluable knowledge of how to successfully combine nature and business with photography.

Come and join Shem as he shares his knowledge on how to run a successful photography business on Saturday, the 20 February 2016 from 09h00 - 13h00. For more information and to make a booking please click here.

Topics to be covered:

• How to start a business
• Brand uniqueness in a saturated market
• Freelance or Full time?
• Selling images vs a brand
• Marketing and branding
• Pro’s and Con’s
• Photographic business etiquette

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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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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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Reflection by Heinrich van den Berg

 "This is not just a book of wildlife. It is a book of thoughts, reflection and candid philosophy."

Heinrich van den Berg is a full-time wildlife photographer and has travelled the world photographing wildlife and culture with a uniquely artistic eye. Van den Bergs photographs are known for breaking boundaries and depicting the natural world in a fresh and evocative way, proven by the numerous awards and publications his photographs has received.

Being one of C4 Images & Safaris' most experience guides, it comes to no surprise that some of the Photographs featured in the book Reflection was taken on Safari to places as beautiful as Mashatu and the Underground Hide.

I urge you to take a moment to click on this page and watch the video on his new book. It will expose you to one of South Africa's creative geniuses in the photography book world. Heinrich is currently the only photographer in SA that takes great concepts and turns them into stunning books full of excellent images and worthy words. Some beautiful examples featured in the book Reflection.

 

    

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Client feedback on our Premier Predator Tour...

Tom and Pam Holmes recently joined Greg Du Toit on C4 Images & Safaris, Premier Predator Tour and had this to say about their experience:

"Our safari exceeded our expectations! Greg Du Toits companionship, leadership instruction was outstanding. It was clear that he engaged the best drivers in Bashi and Roan. They amazed us in their ability to find wildlife the lengths to which they go to ensure we were in the right spot. We appreciated Gregs bush school where he reiterated basic photography techniques. Gregs reminders of the starting point settings while on location was also very helpful. We also had great fun photographing predators by spotlight flash. Greg even taught us to photograph the night sky. Mashatu and Mala Mala were outstanding in all aspects. The variety quantity of wildlife could not be bettered! We greatly appreciated Vernon Swanepoel in Sossusvlei. Vernon is very adept at dealing with the park bureaucracy. He also willingly shared his in depth knowledge of natural human history. At the end of 3 days we had our fill of dune photography from the road so on the 4th day we took two walks into the dunes for a closer look. This was fun showed a very different side of the Namib Valley. We were pleasantly surprised at the amount of wildlife we saw in the dunes oryx, jackal, springbok, ostrich many bird species. We even saw a bat eared fox family an aardwolf. Of course the photo opportunities were much better on safari. Shems recommendations assistance for our independent travel were invaluable. He even helped us obtain a rented ball head because Pam left hers at home. If hopefully when we return to Africa, we will certainly choose C4 Images & Safaris and Greg Du Toit again."

 - Tom & Pam Holmes -

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C4 Hides Update

The C4 hides at Mashatu Game Reserve are in full swing at the moment. The elephant hide has been teeming with bird life, everything ranging from guinea-fowls to fire-finches and parrots. As the great Matabole River slowly dries up the mammals on the reserve – especially the elephants – are becoming more and more dependent on the waterhole as their permanent source of water. Regular visitors this past month include impala, baboons, elephants and warthog, the more occasional visitor’s include vervet monkeys, eland, hyena, banded mongoose and lion.

Mashatu's towering giants having a drink at the elephant hide

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Puku Ridge with C4 Images and Safaris by Willy Schoots

After meeting most of the workshop participants (Vicky, Barbara, Heike, Isak and Hilton) at the Johannesburg airport, it took us 2 flights and a drive to get to the Puku Ridge Lodge in South Luangwa. The remaining two participants (Judith and Rudy) were already at the lodge when we arrived. That first night during our dinner we already got treated to some leopards. The puku and impala's were very alert on the plains in front of the lodge. One of the leopards went down to the waterhole and gave us a preview of what to expect on this trip.



We got special permission to leave before sunrise so we could utilize the best light in the morning. This meant that our wake up call was at 4.15am every morning and that we left at 5.00am. The first day we got our first impression of the South Luangwa valley and its wildlife. One of the favourites for most if not all of us was the Carmine Bee-eater colony. Hundreds of birds flew on and off the nests to feed their chicks. We got some great tips on how to shoot these very fast birds, the key was to use a high shutter speed (1/2500s) and to use manual metering as the background could change during their flight pattern. We visited this colony multiple times during our stay.

After our morning drives we arrived back at the lodge for our brunch around 11.30. The food at the lodge was excellent and the brunch buffet was no exception. Till about 2pm we had time to sleep, download images, and shower etc. In the afternoon we got some great lectures from Isak about different aspects of nature photography. Topics he covered were technical details (expose, shutter speed, aperture), composition, lightroom basics (library and develop module). Beside these lectures we were also encouraged to share some of our pictures for an informal review. During this review we could see how we each took great pictures at the different sightings. I especially findi it very useful to see the different approaches everyone takes at the same sighting.

At 4pm it was tea time at the lodge and we got ready to go out into the park again. One of the cool things we could do in the South Luangwa park is to extend our evening game drive into a "night" drive as we could stay out till 8pm (sunset was at 6pm). It was a nice experience to drive around in the dark trying to find the more nocturnal animals. We did also see some more elusive creatures like the genet, the porcupine, and some bushbabies.



During the second evening we got our chance to photograph a Leopard drinking with some nice late evening light. South Luangwa is renowned for its leopard sightings and we were not disappointed as in total we probably saw 3 leopards, some at multiple sightings.

Of course while staying at the Puku Ridge lodge we saw our fair share of Puku's but also a lot of Impala's. After seeing a pair of lions starting their mating rituals we drove off and one Puku male gave us a great portrait session. He stood nicely on the top of a little bank and let us shoot as many pictures as we wanted. He even looked in different directions to give us the shot we were looking for. It was the first time I saw Puku's so I was very happy to take his picture with a nice clean background.



Everyone was hoping to see a kill from one of the bigger predators in the park like lions, leopard or hyena's. We did see some feeding on a hippo carcass by a leopard and some lions. However we only witnessed a kill from a much smaller predator as we saw a Yellow-bellied Sand Snake devour a frog. We were focusing on the landscape and we would have missed it if not for our great guide Malemia spotting this grim scene below us.



During the workshop we tried to utilize different techniques to improve our photographic skills. Both Isak and Hilton encouraged us to use things like flash, panning and wide-angle shots. If needed we could borrow flash units or lenses from our tour leaders to get us to try these options. Hilton even ran for one group to give them a target to practice their panning shots!!! I'm still not a big fan of flash in nature photography but I do see the usefulness of it in certain situations. I took a shot of a juvenile Carmine Bee-eater with off camera flash and I must admit I do like the result.



Unfortunately after 4.5 days of game drives it was time to go back home. Luckily we had a bunch of great pictures to remind us of this magical place. The last morning we had a great sunrise with a willing Hippo and we visited the carmine bee-eater colony for the last time. After our brunch we were on our way back to the real world in Johannesburg and beyond.



I had a excellent time during this workshop and I would like to thank my fellow participants Barbara, Judith, Heike, Vicky and Rudy for being great companions. To both Isak and Hilton a big THANK YOU for all the support during the game drives and the lectures. To all the personel at the Puku Ridge lodge for making our stay so pleasant. Especially to Don and Suku for their hospitality and for the excellent guiding by Joseph and Malemia.

Till next time !!!
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Not just about the Puku - Isak Pretorius

The Puku is an antelope found in wet grasslands in southern Democratic Republic of Congo and in Zambia. It stands about 80cm tall at the shoulders and weigh between 70 to 80kg. Puku are sandy brown in colour with the underbelly a few shades lighter. Males have around 50cm long ridge structured horns. Both territorial and alarm calls are a repeated shrill whistle sound. They are beautiful animals! The recent C4 Images and Safaris Workshop took our guests to Puku Ridge Camp in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. There are a lot of puku in the park, but we didn't specifically go there to photograph them! Our objective was to find plenty of game and other photographic opportunities. Not only did we find exactly what we were looking for, but we were also blown away by the incredible beauty and variety that the park had to offer!





The South Luangwa National Park is a photographer's dream - wild and remote it's one of Africa's most unspoiled places with enormous spaces, a wide variety of habitats and a high density of game. It is one of Zambia's largest National Parks, covering an area of over 9,000 square kilometers in the Luangwa Valley. The survival of the valley depends on the winding Luangwa River, crowded with hippos, crocodiles and waterfowl, and its numerous tributaries that course through the park. Just before the big summer rains the bushes have wilted and the earth becomes bone dry, so animals assemble along the river and at the remaining waterholes. This is the best time for game viewing.





The Photographic Workshop was held at Puku Ridge Camp, located in a remote area of the National Park overlooking a floodplain close to the Luangwa River. To reach this camp requires a two-hour flight from Johannesburg to Lusaka and then a chartered transfer to Mfuwe Aiport. It's a small intimate camp with seven luxury tents and a communal area with a lounge, bar, dining area and deck, all overlooking a waterhole on the floodplain. As at all Sanctuary Lodges, the food and service are exceptional and we were especially impressed by the quality of the guides. At the waterhole in front of camp there is a constant flow of animals coming to drink during the day, making it an attractive option to skip the afternoon drive to photograph at the waterhole instead, and this from the comfort of the lounge. When we saw a leopard drinking at this waterhole during dinner on our first night, we knew this workshop was going to be special.





As a photographic workshop our guests were not just keen to visit one of Africa's world-renowned wildlife havens, but also keen to learn all the genres and techniques of nature photography. Our workshops always attract people that have an appreciation for nature and a passion for photography, which by default guarantees the workshop to be a great success. We had great fun teaching everything from light and composition, portrait, action, landscape, slow-shutter panning blur, flash, spotlight-at-night, and HDR photography, to processing photos and managing a large photo library. The theory is put into practice during the morning and afternoon game drives where the photography guides are close by to lend a helping hand.

We were spoiled with excellent sightings of predators and general game, birds and spectacular landscapes. Highlights included three leopards trying to break through the tough skin of a dead young hippo. The cause of death was unsure, but the leopards struggled for hours to get to the meat without success and became very agitated with the whole situation. Later that night we returned to see how four lions eventually chased the leopards off the carcass. Other highlights included photographing at a carmine bee-eater colony, ebony forests, mating lions, elephants walking through the river, pools with hundreds of hippos, and spectacular sunsets and sunrises on the Luangwa River.

A big thank you to camp managers Don and Suku, our guides Joseph and Malemia, and the staff of Puku Ridge Camp who made this such an awesome experience for us all!

South Luangwa Photo Workshops September 2011
South Luangwa Photo Workshop October 2011

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Japan Tour - February 2010

It’s funny the looks you get when you tell people you are going to Japan to photograph their wildlife. What most people don’t realise is that Japan houses some very unique and highly endangered wildlife, that allow for some very close up and personal wildlife photography. So while it may not be high on animal diversity (what sub zero winter destination is?) it is high on uniqueness of species with which we spent a lot of time photographing..

After meeting and spending the night in Tokyo, we headed straight to the northern most island in the Japanese archipelago (of 3600 islands), Hokkaido.
This large island houses a large farming and fishing community as well as most of the protected wildlife in Japan- hence us staying 7 nights here!
Leaving Tokyo, the temperature was a balmy 0 C. Arriving in Hokkaido we were greeted to -7C and a fresh wind to drop the thermometer a couple more degrees.

Photographing in sub zero temperatures you need to be well equipped with the correct clothing and also the correct camera equipment. You also need to be dedicated wildlife photographers, which is exactly what our group was, with every one well kitted out with thermal gear. Even jokes were being made about -20 and no thermals!

The first specie we photographed was “Tancho”, the Japanese crane. This bird’s numbers once got as low as 160 birds in Japan. Today their numbers are up to near 2000, and gratefully so. They are one of the most graceful birds in the world. And that is before they do their courtship dance which truly one of the great birding spectacles. Their grace flows from their necks into their wings, feet and upturned bills. Photographing them is quite remarkable. Due to their various feeding and roosting spots, we were able to photograph them in many different habitats. Two real highlights were seeing them at their roosting spot and at an education centre where some come for food.

The cranes roost in the Tsurui River to avoid the freezing ground temperatures.
The goal is to photograph them at dawn as the steam is rising from the river. At temperatures of around -20C the mist from the river attaches to the trees alongside as hoar frost to create a stunningly beautiful scene at sunrise. So there we were in the dark on a bridge, tripods set up waiting for the sun to rise.

We were luck enough to get the right conditions for all the above and we captured some lovely images of the enigmatic Japanese cranes in one of the most beautiful, serene and surreal scenes I’ve had the pleasure to witness.

Photographing the cranes feeding was another highlight. Not only because of the cranes, but also due to he white tailed eagles that stoop down to steal the feed. This causes a lot of interaction and certainly keeps the cameras firing away and warm.

After we left the cranes we headed north to the whooper swans in ice. Nagano Lake is very large and very frozen in late winter, when we visited. Due to the thermal activity of the island, some to water springs leak into the lake, melting the ice and warming the water. This attracts the swans who come for a warm bath. It also allows for some very moody images with the steam rising from the water. We spent 4 sessions photographing these swans in every angle imagineable. What with the white feathers on the white snowy background, I believe we could have all spent 4 more sessions working with these very beautiful subjects.

Rausu is a fishing town that lives on the extreme edge of life. Deep snow on one side and pack ice on the other surround the harbour in winter. The wildlife here is also very extreme. Orcas, brown bears, sea lions and shearwaters in Summer and the endangered Stellars sea eagle in Winter.
These striking eagles are really a sight to behold. Very different to many other birds of prey, they dominate the ice floes around Rausu.
We spent two mornings on a chartered boat with these eagles. This enabled us to see them in different light conditions and even with snow! The eagles were a real highlight for our groups and in our spare time we even cruised the town in search of them perched in the trees!

From Rausu it was back to the mainland via Tokyo and up towards Nagano for the Japanese maquaces. These intelligent monkeys have developed, over a hundred years or so, a knack for the warm steam baths that were originally built for humans. What it has resulted in are some beautiful scenes of the pink-faced maquaces in steaming water- creating a very lovely mood. And one which we took full advantage of! It was a full day of photography and by the time we had to leave, everyone was absolutely exhausted after running after the very active monkeys all day!

From Nagano we headed back to Tokyo where we indulged in some Japanese culture. This was unfortunately the end of another C4 Images and Safaris photo tour. It was also the first of our international tours. We hope to expand this aspect of C4 Images and Safaris in the future.
Many thanks to Go Yamagata who made the tour possible through his organisation and logistics in Japan. I wish to thank the dedicated photographers Paul, Pamela, Sheila, Geoff, Chris and Alan for joining us to this excellent wildlife photography destination.

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Trip Report, Stanley's Camp, Okavango Delta

By Isak Pretorius

When you go to a place where there are abundant wildlife, water and sunshine mixed together, you are guaranteed to see something spectacular! The Okavango Delta is such a place, a pure wilderness and probably the most exciting game viewing destination in Southern Africa.

C4 Images and Safaris have just concluded a very memorable photographic safari to the Okavango Delta at Stanley's Camp. The camp is situated in the heart of the swamps just below the South Eastern tip of Chiefs Island. They've had extremely good rainfall in the Okavango Delta during January and February. This resulted in unusually high levels of water on the floodplains for this time of the year. The water level was almost as high as when the flood waters push in from the Okavango river during July and August. This meant that we were in for an interesting time ahead! Just as at Chiefs Camp, Stanley's Camp uses game viewing vehicles specifically modified with bigger wheels and raised suspensions to negotiate the swampy terrain effortlessly. I've never seen so much water around and having water rush over the bonnet and over the floor of the vehicle provided an additional thrill for everyone!

The safari was led by Greg du Toit and myself. Drizzling and overcast weather on the first two days meant that we had a slow start to the safari. Luckily we were all serious photographers and this could not damped our spirits. In fact, we were excited to use the elements to our advantage, searching for unique photo opportunities of impala and wildebeest in the rain! We also enjoyed the dramatic skies for which the Okavango Delta is famous. On our second drive, a great sighting of a leopard that entertained us for an entire morning got the shutters working properly.

The next few games drives delivered sightings of elephant, buffalo, giraffe, and letchwe before we were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime sighting of a lion kill. We witnessed a pride of six lions killing a young zebra thanks to Greg du Toit who made the call to stick it out for an afternoon with the lions, watching them sleep, waking up, stalking, ambushing, and finally devouring. A complete cycle rarely seen, and of course stunning photographs by everyone! Oúr vehicle, on the other hand, stumbled onto a few wild dogs staking a herd of impala on our way to the lions. "Spoilt for choice" got a new meaning as we had to choose between following wild dogs on the hunt or lions stalking zebra. We decided to follow the wild dogs for a while but when the call came over the radio that the lions had killed a zebra we quickly rushed to witness the action.

Another memorable sighting we had on our way back to camp one evening was of a spotted hyena walking in the road and in the swampy water looking for a meal. With the dark water at night and subject illuminated only by the spotlight, this made for some dramatic images. During our final game drive of the safari we were luckily to find a big male leopard crossing one of the water channels. I was interesting to see how he very slowly and carefully made his way through the water trying not to make a sound! This is a sight that you'd only find in the Okavango Delta and it ended our safari on a high.

The Okavango Delta is of course also a bird paradise. With most of our guests being keen bird photographers it meant that everyone were in their element! Fish Eagles around every corner, Grey-headed and Striped Kingfisher, Saddle-billed Storks, Wattled Cranes and Dwarf Bittern were a few of the species that got us really excited.

When hosting a photographic safari it is important to go to a camp that can take care of our clients, making them feel at home and relaxed after a hard day of photography out in the African bush. Stanley's Camp is exactly such a camp! It is a very intimate camp gathered around a large sitting and dining area which offers great views over the Okavango Delta floodplains and one of the best camps I've ever been to. Apart from the filter coffee wake-up call, the friendly staff and exquisite food prepared by chef Harry is what made the camp extra special. The camp also offers an elephant interaction experience, mokoro excursions, and guided walks if you want to try something different.

Unfortunately all good things had to come to an end. We were sad to leave but enjoyed the last breath-taking views from the Okavango Delta as we flew back from the camp to Maun where we all went our separate ways. A big thanks to Evelyn, Harry, Jonathan, Carter, and the rest of the staff at Stanley's camp for making it a trip of a lifetime!

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