Photo Workshop 12 - 16 June 2009

In quick succession, we have another photo workshop at Mashatu Nature Reserve, and what an action packed one it proved to be. Again, I will list the highlights by the drives we did.
Due to the exceptional rains over the wet season, there was still a lot of water in the rivers. This has turned the reserve into a dry season paradise, with herons, storks, egrets and hamerkops all feasting on the drying pools filled with trapped fish. Fish eagles even bred along the river course and we saw the young juvenile also enjoying the buffet available in the Mojale River.

1. First drive is normally a look around to get a feel for the area- although we all had to get into action photography mode very quickly when a herd of Wildebeest stampeded through one of the rivers, creating beautiful backlit splashes in the afternoon sun. What a great start. Then it was off to a Lion kill, with an interested leopard not 60m from the lions. At one stage the leopard walked up to within 12m from the male lion! I thought it was going to get ugly, but the leopard thought better of his intentions and disappeared to fond his own dinner. The photography highlight was sitting with a lioness in the last golden rays of the sunset, upon which she decided to crouch at something in the bush. Perfect.

2. The morning was characterised by elephants. Once again this place never fails to disappoint with regards elephant sightings. The highlight was elephant herd walking on top of a ridge. We parked low down and got great and unusual images of these well-photographed animals. An elephant walking through grass with a blue sky is not your usual image!

3. The wild dogs are denning. C4 Images and Safaris organised that we were to be the one vehicle allowed to the den site. This is to minimise disturbance and the guides are under strict orders to follow certain protocol around the den site. This is very important because under the ground there are a few blind pups that need the packs help to survive. We found the dogs relaxing at the den. A half hour before sunset they decided to head out for the hunt. They moved out of the thick bush and into the open area. Brilliant light greeted us as they moved over the flat grasslands. What a sight! We lost them in some thick vlei thorn and heard their frantic calls 10 minutes later, some 3 km away. Following up we found that they had killed and eaten an impala in that short time. Not 5 minutes had passed and the impala was gone!

4. Elephant morning. Herds of mothers, sisters, cousins and babies passed within 3m of our vehicles. Lenses were strewn everywhere with people ditching the long lenses for the shorter wide angles! If any one had not photographed an elephant before, well this was the time to get all the images you could manage. I have never seen so much activity on a vehicle before- with clients swapping cameras and lenses at the elephants feeding at the vehicles tyres!

5. Mating warthogs were the highlight with backlit queleas adding to the afternoon’s activity. The other vehicle was having their time with the wild dogs, which they also out hunting. We had located a very well positioned baobab and set up a star trail while having our sundowners: It really is a great feeling to be working while having your evening drink!

6. Before finding our customary elephant herd, we spent some time at one of the drying pools in the Mojale River. It led to great images of hamerkops and pied kingfishers feeding on the fish trapped in the pool. We spent some time with another herd of elephant before finding this good-looking leopard relaxing on the cool sand of the riverbed. A great way to end the morning’s proceedings. Of course the cards were filled again and everyone went back to camp more out of necessity to download rather than brunch!

7. We checked up on the leopard in the afternoon and found him lazing in a tree not far from the mornings spot. We decided to stay with him, as we knew he would head down to drink soon enough. The other vehicle headed on towards the wild dogs. Their highlight was to come: witnessing the wild dogs hunt, catch and eat an impala. An extremely rare sighting and one that will stand out for many a month here at Mashatu! We enjoyed beautiful time with the leopard, watching him come out the tree and drink in a clear pool in the river. He then proceeded to groom himself right in front of us, sitting in the open riverbed. Lovely stuff and the cameras were working overtime again. The light faded fast and it was a good time to work on flash technique at night; making sure that everyone got the shots in very difficult lighting conditions. The drive home was notable for the sighting of a flap necked chameleon, which almost caused as much activity and excitement as the leopard!

8. The last morning was one to stock up on the landscapes and wide-angle images of Mashatu. We spent time photographing the river courses filled with water, the rocky cliffs and the huge Mashatu trees with kudu and impala feeding on the fruit below them.

All too soon it was time to go. The days had been their usual winter self- clear days with excellent light for photography. Each time we come here, the sightings seem to get better and better. I almost tend to think that the last one is always the “best” workshop I have ever been on!

That is not necessarily true, but it does emphasise how each time I am reminded of why C4 Images and Safaris uses Mashatu for its photo workshops.

View a video taken whilst on workshop in Mashatu here.

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Photo workshop report back. 30 April -4 May

4 days, 8 game drives. That is what it boils down to, and what bliss it was. Ill list each drive below.

1. First game drive everyone in the vehicles with anticipation. Isak Pretorius is hosting a workshop with us for the first time, along with Shem Compion, the owner of C4 Images and Safaris. Two vehicles, 7 clients and we find a leopard with a fresh impala kill in a dry riverbed. It is dusk, so the lights are on, but that does not stop the photography. The leopard climbs a high tree with a nice blue sky behind him. Lovely. Just then a hyaena arrives. The leopard decided to go walk about and we anticipate that he will head towards some water. We motor ahead and he walks right up towards us, within 2m of the vehicle, silently padding away into the night. Some excellent images are had of him drinking in a pool. By now it is getting late and we head off to camp, heady with the first evenings excitement.

2. Mornings are for anticipation, and this one is no different. Everyone is up and fresh faced ready to photograph. The first animals we see are two bull elephants feeding on mopane trees. The leaves are starting to turn a nice golden brown, and the first light of day does them a lot of justice. We practice working out the various compositions with elephants and also emphasise using different lenses- as these large animals have so much to photograph! The rest of the morning is filled with elephant. About 300 to be exact! Elephants crossing riverbeds, elephants drinking in riverbeds and elephants drinking milk from mothers. By the time we head back to camp everyone is famished and memory cards are full.

3. This drive will go down as one of the legendary drives of all time. It starts with great fun as a pearl spotted owlet peers down at us from a dead Leadwood tree. Its inquisitive face making wonderful portraits. Then off to the bee-eater colony where we watch these beautiful birds flutter and sand bath spectacularly in the setting sunlight. THEN, comes the big call for the leopard on the log. It was what any photographer has ever wished for- the perfect set up. Leopard lying on log, in the open, head high and with the evening light creating a beautiful glow on its face. Stunning. For a full explanation see this entry on the shemimages.com blog as well as the video here. It has to be one of the best leopard sightings ever, but then the porcupine had to come along and really add some spice to the evening…. What drama and action. I have never see so many excited photographers at or after the event!

4. After the evenings sighting, I don’t believe any of us were expecting much for the morning! We headed out south and found some lions that had killed an eland. They were lying in a gully and difficult to photograph, although we did get some images of the cubs and one lioness as they went for a short walk. Probably the highlight of the morning was some elephant’s backlit against a hill in some dust. The warm morning colours and the characteristic shapes of the elephant made for some nice compositions.

5. During the day, the wind started to pick up and by the time we headed out on the afternoon drive it was very blustery. We managed to do some motion blur with some running impala (they are always skittish in the wind) and we did find a leopard with her cubs at an impala kill, but the conditions were not good and the leopard was lying in some thick bush. So we headed back to camp for a quick session on post processing and dinner.

6. The wind had brought in some bad weather. It wasn’t so cold, as more overcast. As the sun rose, a gap opened in the clouds and some beautiful light shone through allowing a few very nice landscapes. The clouds lifted throughout the morning creating a very dramatic effect over the landscape, allowing us to play with some landscapes. Probably the highlight of the morning was photographing a running eland that all of a sudden jumped high into the air. We’ve all hear about the jumping prowess of an eland, but this was a sight to behold- and we all got it on camera! It was a fitting end to all the panning practise we had been doing on running impala.

7. Unfortunately the afternoon clouded down deep with shadow and some rain, making photography very difficult. We did find a leopardess with her cubs again, but they were so deep in the fever berry bushes that photography was impossible. So we did as all the other animals hiding from the cold and wind and headed back to camp.

8. The last game drive, as I have mentioned before, is always a bittersweet one. This time though, it was sweet, very sweet. We found a leopard kill in a mashatu tree. The leopard was not there, but two hyaenas were skulking around. We photographed a hyaena humorously trying to climb up into the tree. It only got into the ole of the tree, but getting down was quite a sight. Then, out of nowhere, 20m away from us, the leopard popped up its head! It had been lying in the long grass… It had seen the hyaena and returned to the tree, at one stage they were within 3m of each other, with the trunk of the tree between them. The hyaena didn’t know a thing and the leopard nonchalantly chose to ignore it, alighting into the tree with graceful ease. We then watched as the leopard sat down to move the carcass and begin eating. The hyaena was directly below the branch, drooling away at the feast above it! Fantastic viewing and photography! Eventually it lost interest and moved off. The leopard lay down to sleep and we moved off to the white fronted bee-eater colony for a last goodbye- as we had been so rudely interrupted on game drive no.3! The birds were out in force and provided some great shots. On the road home we encountered a herd of 60 elephant crossing the Matebole River. A beautiful way to end the photo workshop.

Of course, whilst at camp Isak and I presented talks and slideshows on our photography and many discussions were had on the technical aspects of photography, post processing and workflow. A full 4 days indeed, and one that will go down as one of the best photo workshops ever!

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Leopard and Porcupine Interaction Video

Wildlife sightings are what make a good photo workshop. This is the one reason why we use Mashatu as a venue for our workshops. It is a 32000ha wilderness that holds some excellent wildlife viewing in an open landscape- making photography that much easier, and the ultimate results better.

This proved the case over the last workshop held on the 30 April – 4 May.


A dead Leadwood tree lying in the Mojale River was the focus off attention in the late afternoon sunlight. For on top of it, perched in the most regal of poses, sat a young 2-year old leopard. This young male is as good looking as leopards come and as relaxed as you will find anywhere.
We were busy photographing this perfect set up, when behind us I noticed a porcupine walking in the riverbed. It too, caught the leopard’s attention…
I won’t say much more, because the video below, taken by one of our clients, Guy Larin, shows some incredible interaction between the leopard and the Porcupine. This video was taken with a Canon 5DmarkII attached to a 100-400mm lens and shows the excellent quality of theses new video features that are on the more recent cameras. So do have a look!

How did it end? Both went happily on their own way, just as we did, although I believe we were more excited than the animals.
It again proves the value of the photo workshops- using a dedicated photographic safari company like C4 Images and Safaris’; you get to the best venues with the best photographers to make the best images.

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Guiding Your Photo Workshop

The second photo workshop for 2009 was held at Mashatu Nature Reserve this last weekend. It was a full house of photographers which always makes for an exciting time, as every one has something to contribute.

Little did we all know how much the animals would perform for us... That is another story (see the Shemimages Blog for more) though. Being a large party, and staying with our policy of having one photo guide per three client photographers, it was an opportunity for Isak Pretorius to work as a host photographer on this workshop.

Isak has travelled with C4 Images and Safaris before and on a more casual basis, but instantly made an impression with his knowledge of photography, its conundrums and how to solve many technical issues. Of course we listened to him once we had seen more of his images on his website, where he shows some remarkable anticipation and appreciation of light in his bird images.
Isak is also an award wining photographer, having one second place and two highly commended images in the Fuji film/Getaway wildlife photography competition in 2008.

Thus it was with ease that Isak fitted into co hosting the photo workshop with Shem Compion.
And the wildlife sightings? Well, Ill leave it till later to describe the actual workshop sightings, but will say that two of the interactions we witnessed were something you don’t see every 10 years or so out in nature areas. We were very privileged to see these in such a wonderful wilderness area.

Here are a few of Isak’s images from the weekend. It was a pleasure working with him and hope the images reflect some of the beauty and specific interaction that you can see on a photo workshop with C4 Images and Safaris.

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Safari Season

Most companies have seasons- even those that are business or corporate related. In some parts of the year they do better than in other parts of the year. The safari season is a divers thing; especially considering where you operate.
C4 Images and Safaris started out in Southern Africa, which has a defined safari season, but now, as we have expanded into Africa and beyond, the seasons have merged and the whole year is becoming safari time! That’s fine with us, because there is nothing more we enjoy than being” out there”.

In years previous, our season was mainly form March through to November, with the quiet months over the Christmas/new year’s period. Now though, with demands for photographic safaris in different parts of Africa and our expansion into full time operation in east Africa, the whole year has become one season. It’s a sure sign that photo safaris are becoming more and more popular as a travel alternative, especially as another option to the normal nature safari.

So we began 2009 with our first photo workshop in March and from there we have already been busy with photo trips to other parts of Africa. We would normally be finished with the season in December, but this year we are pushing through, and will be taking trips in January, February and March in 2010! Nothing can be more pleasurable for us, and I’m sure that you will also enjoy the new variety of photo tours that we are leading through these times. Its not about running more tours, to us its about making more opportunities for great photos in excellent locations. That is what we are all about. Watch this space for more information on our new photo safaris and photo workshops.

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Photo Workshop Report

C4 Images and Safaris is just back from its first photo workshop at Mashatu Game Reserve, and what an excellent weekend it was. The reserve was as green as I have every seen it. Rivers were flowing and pools of water la everywhere. Perhaps the best way to document the workshop is to give a breakdown of the 6 game drives we did and what the highlight on each drive was.

The game Drives on this photo workshop,

1. Breeding herd of elephant feeding and then drinking in the Matabole River. Excellent late afternoon light and the whole family not 8 m from the vehicle. Parked in the riverbed itself, we enjoyed the sighting from a prime spot.

2. Morning drive in overcast light. Found hungry lioness watching wildebeest. Elephants drinking in the Mojale River and large herds browsing along the riverine area were the other highlight of the morning.

3. This afternoon was the first real highlight. We spent the last 30 minutes of the day, in excellent afternoon light with a pack of 16 wild dogs. Upon finding them, they were quite relaxed, but as the light got better, they woke up and started their evening hunting ritual. The dogs were walking and playing right around our vehicle. Cameras were pointed in every direction possible and we were all shaking with excitement when the sun eventually dipped below the horizon. It was pure photography bliss. Perhaps an even better highlight though, was our sun downer drink. We left the wild dogs and drove about 3 km away to an open area. Relaxing in the dusk light, we were suddenly aware of some noise. In the dim dusk grey light, we watched in absolute silence as 16 dogs trotted past our vehicle; on their nightly endeavours. Perhaps it was the silence, or perhaps it was that we had just been photographing these beautiful animals, but we were all awestruck at the scene. This was a time when no camera was needed to capture the scene- it was firmly ingrained in our minds.

4. We had planned a long morning out and so booked out picnic boxes for our drive to the vlei (marsh) down south. This is another advantage of Mashatu- they can accommodate your needs very helpfully- and you know how often us photographers have special needs! We tracked a dead elephant, by smell, but found no activity when there, although there were a lot of signs around. We spent time with little and carmine bee-eaters, capturing their beautiful colours and iridescence. Breakfast was spent on a small hill overlooking the vlei- a wonderland of activity filled with water and waterbirds. You could say it was a morning of bird photography, as by the time we reached camp, we had photographed, bee eaters, reed cormorant, woodland kingfisher and Lilac breasted rollers. Of course, we also bumped into a herd of breeding elephant on the away home.

5. We knew the area in which the wild dogs were staying, so tracked them for about an hour. Once in amongst the pack, we settled in for the afternoon. Again, Mashatu delivered. The sun came out from below the clouds and again, we enjoyed these special predators in excellent photographic conditions. Excellent photography is what photo workshops are all about- and this was just proving the point!

6. The last morning is always a bitter sweet one- you want something special, but know that time is against you. I was determined to spend the first light with a good subject. So we drove quickly out of camp and 5 min before sunrise found a herd of elephant in some mopane bush. I positioned the vehicle in an open area and waited. Almost at the exact moment the sun painted the landscape a pink hue, the elephants emerged from the bush and sauntered into the open grassland. Another perfect photographic moment. The herd walked right past us and along towards the river.

It was to be an elephant morning, as more herds joined the one we were with. It resulted in a single sighting of about 100 elephant drinking, playing, feeding and just enjoying life all around us. We read the path they were headed on and drove ahead of them to position ourselves in an open river bed. After a wait of about 15 minutes- a whole herd, strung out in one long line crosses the Matebole River. It was scene reminiscent of the classic scenes of Africa and believe me, the cameras were clicking. The backdrop of large riverine trees and a rocky hill provided the perfect scene for the elephants. It will long go down as one of the best parting scenes for a photo workshop. Driving back to camp a male lion gave us our last farewell- a fitting end to another very productive photo workshop at Mashatu.

Of course there were discussions and chats regarding wildlife photography and I delivered presentations on camera technique, light and composition etc. But the success of a workshop revolves around the quality of the sightings that you see and photograph. In this regard, with the wildlife sightings and the photo opportunities we had, this photo workshop passed with flying colours.

View a video taken while on a photo workshop here.

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Photo Workshop Video

In June 2008, we held a photo workshop at our favourite game reserve; Mashatu.
Having done about 10 Photo workshops there before, we decided to show those of you who have not been on a workshop exactly what we do while we are out in this arid wilderness. With the able help of Zendré and Christa Lategan who filmed and edited the video, the Mashatu Workshop Video was produced.

So with out many more words about what we saw and photographed and how great it was and what brilliant light we had on the lion kill, below is the video link.
Let us know your thoughts on the comments!

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The Firts of our 2009 Photo Workshops

The Photo workshop season is about to start- and I for one am quite excited. News from Mashatu is that good rains have fallen and the reserve is green with fresh leaves and new growth. Of course the yellow devils thorn flowers should be out- and they are always a great attraction for us photographers. I am still waiting to get an image of a warthog or steenbuck feeding deep in a carpet of yellow and green flowers. This photo workshop is the best season to get that, so I’m holding thumbs.

Of course, these palatable flowers also attract the elephants, in numbers of up to a hundred animals in a herd. Mashatu offers such contrasts in seasons. In August we photographed the elephants in dust and brown soil- now we expect to see them in a swath of green and yellow.

Lastly: cheetah. The impala young are still small and the herds are attracted to the fresh green flowers. This in turn attracts the cheetahs, which make short work of impala young- this makes for very exciting sightings and photography. C4 Images and Safaris have been to Mashatu for the last three years in the month of March and every time delivered good cheetah sightings.

So it promises to be a thrilling Photo Workshop. I for one am very excited for this, the first workshop of the year (I missed the last two workshops of 2008…). To see more about our photo workshops, check here.

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Spreading Our Wings

Wildlife photography is something wonderful. It teaches you a specific discipline within a certain field, but it also opens up a whole new world to the photographer. C4 Images and Safaris have, until now, operated only within Africa and one of its islands, Madagascar. This is because our speciality is African wildlife and nature- all our guides are excellent and Professional Photographers, but also trained conservationists who have been active in the wildlife industry for a number of years.

Japan

This ensures that you, the client, receives the best Photography Tutoring as well as nature guiding- and as any Professional Nature Photographer will tell you, “A Nature Photographer is foremost a naturalist, and secondly a photographer”. You will see that most top Wildlife Photographers are trained in the biological sciences- Its not an absolute, but it’s definitely a common thread.

So we have become specialists in our fields here in Africa. But the photography industry is a vibrant and interesting group of individuals. With wildlife and photography being a common thread, photographers keenly discuss photography and wildlife “hotspots” around the world and soon exotic destinations like the Galapagos, the Antarctic, Madagascar and Japan become dream travel destinations for the photographer.
C4 Images and Safaris’ realise this as a common need, and so, in conjunction with good colleague and professional Japanese wildlife photographer, Go Yamagata, we have spread our wings into the northern hemisphere to the country of Japan.

This will be our first tour out of the continent of Africa and it proves to be a very exciting one!
Hokkaido, an island just north of Japan offers migrating birds, cranes, storks and swans a place of refuge from the harsh Russian winter. The images of them walking on the frozen lakes amongst rising mist always provide for stunning photography- as indicated by the fact that images from here almost always end up in top wildlife competitions. Then there are the Japanese Macaques, or snow monkeys that come from the forests to relax in the heated pools- the most endearing image of Japanese wildlife.

Zambia

We are also breaking in new tours to great destinations in Africa. Zambia’s south Luangwa valley and the tour to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro in the calving season are new tours that we are now running. These are both excellent wildlife areas with brilliant wildlife viewing. You can see more about the tours on the C4 Images and Safaris website.
We don’t rest on our laurels here at C4 Images and Safaris. We constantly strive to produce tours that provide the best Wildlife Photography in the most productive wildlife areas. If it means we have to go north to Japan, we will do so…!
Keep an ear out for more destinations. You might still here about the Antarctic from us!

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