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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Supporting Your Photography

C4 Images and Safaris have just returned from a very successful photo safari to the Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru. Again, excellent sightings were had and time was spent at sightings carefully making sure we got the best angles as well as watching the animals’ behaviour to make sure that we captured the best images when the animals were doing things. As per normal, the Mara was in fine form. Large cats greeted us every day and we managed to see 5 different leopard, a species that the area is not that well known for. Nevertheless, we made sure we got our value of these special cats.

One sighting remains very special. We were watching a leopard eating a wildebeest in a sausage tree, which, typically was standing alone over an open plain. Well hidden, this large male did not offer a clear view for photos, but we sat and enjoyed the sighting. Then, just as the sun was dipping towards the horizon, the leopard stretched, got up and walked to an outer branch. Plonked himself down and started grooming himself. We rolled the vehicle down the slope and were right at eye level to the cat. Some patience had really paid off and we were now facing this cat at eye level, watching him lick and groom himself. Wildlife photography at its best!

What this blog is about though, are the supports and brackets that C4 Images and Safaris provide our clients to mount their lenses onto- making your wildlife photography that much more easier and better.
Good wildlife photo technique dictates that support is essential. Beanbags are great as support, but panning and rotating a large lens is difficult on a beanbag. For pure panning smoothness and quick horizontal-portrait changes a proper tripod mount is needed, preferably fixed to a solid platform so that you have stability, which is critical for image sharpness. Thus we provide a variety of clamps and vertical and horizontal mounted brackets to cater for all events when on safari. Of course the ever-useful beanbags always come in handy, especially when photographing from low down on the ground or from tricky positions in the game drive vehicle.
See the photos attached for examples of how our brackets work.

This is just another aspect of coming on a photo safari with C4 Images and Safaris. We provide you with the support so that you can relax, enjoy and concentrate on taking excellent wildlife photographs.

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Kalahari Excitement

My last entry on the Kgalagadi was about Splendour. Well if that was a splendid trip, then this was all about excitement and exciting times. November is the beginning of the rainy season in the Kalahari. Not much rain really falls- or at least the main rain season is in January and February- but there is a lot of barking. Each day is a build up of thunder clouds which reach their peak around15h30- where they either start dissipating or build up to a large crescendo lightning and thunder- and what a show they can produce!

Pockets of isolated rainfall also occur, leaving swathes of green and flowers in their wake. Experiencing rain in the Kalahari must be one of nature’s most instant turnarounds. A desert like landscape, after a rainfall, will in just one night change into a scene of new life, with flowers and animals appearing everywhere.

So you can imagine my excitement in heading to this wonderland in the heart of November! Arriving in the park everything was drab and brown- the last remnants of the dry season. However, each day the clouds built up and over the last few nights, we witnessed some great storms thundering over us with their life bearing rain. This brought immediate change and we witnessed some amazing sightings- faunal and floral.

Perhaps the sighting that represented the coming of rain the most, was seeing a springbuck giving birth. Not 6m from the road, we watched the whole scene of new life coming into this world- an amazing experience. Other sightings were: watching cheetah hunt, jackal pups playing with a dead bat eared fox pup, 11 lions feeding on a fresh kill with interaction between another pride of 11, springbuck running through water in the Aoub riverbed and then playing in the early morning “spring” freshness (excuse the pun…) and lastly noticing how fast the tribulus flowers appear after the first rain. Some were up at first light the morning after a rainfall- an amazing feat of growth!

With all this activity, the photography was naturally very good. Having photographic clients also make such an experience even better, as good Nature Photographers are willing to sit patiently to see if a potentially great photograph will present itself. In doing so we always get to see small and interesting interactions that many others just don’t see. So as you can see, being a Nature Photographer has some added benefits- you go to great places to photograph and often see excellent behaviour- just due to the attribute of patience! Who thought waiting for something to happen could bring so much reward?!

The Kalahari at this time of year is just a must. I am so convinced of this, that I Have booked a whole camp there for a Photo Workshop next year- during the exact same season. The camp is called Urikaruus- right in the middle of the reserve and far from other vehicles and disturbances.

Have a look on the C4 Images and Safaris website for more details. I definitely know I will be there!

Oh and did I mention the lightshows we witnessed?

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Photo Workshops

As you might have gathered over the last few posts, C4 Images and Safaris advocate Photography Workshops as the best way to Improve your photography. Well, those and Photo Courses, and this was in no fuller illustrated over the last three weeks.

C4 Images and Safaris was contracted to present wildlife photography workshops at a “large” event. 18 days, 10 workshops, hundreds of photographs later and we were done- literally! Working with delegates every day, showing them how to take better images and what makes a good photograph can be taxing.
However, getting out into Pilanesberg National Park for four hours every day to take photographs (on the practical sessions) makes it all worthwhile.

Many of the delegates had never been to Africa, most had never had a 300mm lens in their hands and most had definitely not had a bull elephant 3 meters in front of their vehicle whilst taking photographs! At times like these, the courses were a joy.
The number of workshops might have been taxing, but there are two things that we love more than anything else.
1. Being out in Nature
2. Seeing our clients witnessing an excellent sighting and the cameras clicking away.
Which is exactly what we had each day- and that is what gives you the energy to keep going, seeing the thrill and excitement on peoples faces when they return from a game drive, happy from being ‘out there’ and with memory cards full! And of course, the fact that the delegates have taken their photographs from ‘happy snaps’ to images that have considered composition, worked with light as well as having worked their angles. For C4 Images and Safaris, that is what it is all about!

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More Workshops

I was going to stop blogging about the C4 Images and Safaris’ Photo Workshops, but then we just came back from another workshop at Mashatu Game reserve. And what a workshop it was! Once again, the rugged and scenic beauty of the Northern Tuli cast its charm over the attendants and the photographs proved it. Sightings were once again excellent: 40 minutes spent with cheetah, lion a couple of times, the quintessential leopard reclining in a Mashatu tree and of course the large breeding herds of elephant that walk right past your vehicle. These herds once again entranced all on the workshop as they slowly browse past within meters of the vehicle, allowing the youngsters to walk out in the open. I can’t think of another place in southern Africa where such close, relaxed and intimate elephant sightings can be seen.

Another highlight of the workshop was the birding. The drying pools of water in the riverbed attracted saddle-billed storks, grey herons and African spoonbills to the slowly concentrated food supply. Add to this the cacophony of the hundreds of guineafowl coming to drink and you have a very busy morning of photography.
However, the stars of the weekend, from a bird perspective, were the white fronted bee-eaters. Roosting in a curve of the riverbank, they allowed a vehicle to drive close enough for some beautiful portraits and flight photos. A great time was had and lots of technique was discussed with relation to getting the flight shots right- emphasising the value of a Photo Workshop. Which really describes the whole workshop: Nature, photographers, passion and photographic stimulation. Every one was very discussing, learning and improving their images while having excellent subjects to practice their passion on. Just what the workshops are all about.

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Okavango Birds

October, due to its very hot temperatures, is locally referred to as “Suicide month” in Africa. So why head up to the north of Botswana to photograph birds in this month? Well, a few factors combine in the Panhandle of the delta to make for some great bird watching and, of course, photography. (You can see the collection of images from the trip here)
So I headed up with a couple of Photography friends, set up a small camp and jumped onto a boat to se what we could find. I mentioned a couple of contributing factors making it a good time to photograph- well it was prime season. Almost all the birds were breeding, meaning breeding colonies, the rains had not come keeping the skies clear of clouds and lastly, the water levels had dropped sufficiently. Why Sufficiently? Well, when the water level drops, it exposes the sandbanks allowing the African skimmer to breed. This near threatened bird struggles to find suitable breeding spots, but here on the Okavango, they still breed in good numbers.

And with so many good bird species to photograph I was naturally very comfortable in the environment! Some of the highlights were working with the carmine bee-eaters. What lovely jewels of the air! I was quite happy to be amongst them again of the tried some new angles and approaches to photographing them. The results of the creative stuff will be out soon. Of course the pied kingfishers, white fronted bee-eaters, jacanas and other colourful birds were all in abundance and were photographed in their fullness.
But the star of the show for the week was working with the African skimmer. A relatively large bird, they are quite easy to photograph- so my real ambition was to get something new and different of these spectacular birds. We spent quite a few hours with these birds and I eventually ended up in the water trying out different angles. Of course back lighting came into play. I really enjoyed how these birds stood out against the sun- the way the light reflected off their wings and the colour of light on their beaks. Spectacular!
Speaking of water- if you hear rumours of me in my underpants stalking pratincoles through the shallows- it’s completely untrue…
Hope you enjoy the images. Be sure to look at the collection.

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