Mashatu Photographic Workshop

What a blast! The latest C4 images and Safaris Mashatu workshop could hardly have been more fun. And again, credit to everyone who made it such fun for us all. Amorien and Johan, Melissa and Graham, Gary and Paula, Ed and Nicky, David and Judith, you made our trip most memorable. And also a special thanks form me to Villiers. It was great working with you and your knowledge of the Tuli area proved invaluable. I am looking forward to many more trips in future. Thank you everyone.

Dappled shade can prove difficult to photograph but even this was overcome.

As normal the workhop was packed with action and after an initially slow start the predator sighting started filling our drives and it wasn’t uncommon to find more than two of the apex predators on a single game drive. In the end we managed to photograph Lion Leopard, Hyena and Cheetah (with a kill on our last drive as cherry on top) under various conditions ranging from the most fantastic evening light to dappled shade, all of which posing its own range of photographic challenges. At the end I am happy to say that everyone managed to overcome these challenges and walk away with some striking images

Although predators are always the indisputable highlight of any photographic safari no one passed on the opportunity to photograph Birds, Impala and even the enigmatic Boababs that dot the landscape of Northern Tuli. Again thank you guys and we are looking forward seeing you all in the bundus sometime soon.

Even with all the predators around the birds never disappoint.

The big guns in action!

Richard our local guide is very well experienced in getting into the best position for photography.

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Wilddogs Up Close

Portrait of a wilddog.

After spending more than a decade in the bush and hardly having seen these animals, let alone photograph them, it was indeed a privilege to get to know Africa's second most endangered carnivore. These highly social carnivores never fail to impress and must rate as the most interesting of animals to view. It was quite a surprize to know that after all the publicity they have received over the past few years many if not most tourists were hardly aware of them. Many thought that they were mere feral dogs from the neighboring village quite likely as a result of them being referred to as "dogs". Anyway we did manage to swing that opinion. Below a few pics from Northern Kenya.

We often had sightings on foot.

To view the drama of a kill from below eye level at ten metres is just surreal.

Only in Africa

Make sure you take the right offramp.

Yield to oncoming traffic!

Its always a good idea to get a good vantage when searching for wildlife.

Once you find them you'll feel like a kid in a candy store.

More of the Mara

Some pictures just have Mara written all over them!



Birding the Mara.

One may be forgiven to think that when you are in one of the world’s wildlife hotspots why take the time to look at birds. Well even when looking at the feathered variety the big game is never too far.




Quintessential Cat
One wouldn’t like to be caught one the wrong side of this glare. For the most part of its life an average lion remains inactive for the major part of its day. However when hunger awakens them they mean business and it all start with a determined stare.



On the hoof.

In single file the herds move past on a journeys that never actually starts or ends anywhere. Mating only occurs on the day when female wildebesst comes into oestrus.
When the herds reach the northern limit of their march male wildebeest joust and jostle amongst one another in order to secure dominance and their access to mate. In a march stretching thousands of miles much of the rutting takes place on the hoof. Even at a gallop one male takes the opportunity to ascertain his dominance over another.




Thief

Probably not even properly cold this fresh Thompson’s gazelle carcass is stolen from a Cheetah by a Spotted Hyena.

Maasai Mara

Elephant Plain
Probably the most photographed animal in Africa, elephant still remain a real tricky subject to me to do justice on camera. Yet sometimes all one has to do is press the shutter. When a weak sun filtered through the clouds and lit up the bull against an approaching storm it just begged to be photographed. It was only after the image was reviewed on the computer screen that I realized how both the colours and textures of the landscape are perfectly mirrored in the animal.

Eye to eye.
From beneath the vehicle a few metres away from the kill I slowly crawl into position to photograph this primeval scene.
Having chased off hundreds of vultures the Spotted Hyena moves the carcass away from the scavenging birds and jackals nearby. At one point during its determined slow retreat away from its competitors the predator suddenly focuses on the strange horizontal shape in the grass, its piercing eyes in stark contrast to the inert gaze of the departed stallion.

On the hunt
Although not unheard of it is indeed unusual to meet up with celebrities on Safari. More impressive is the fact that it’s not just one but the whole ensemble. In this case the cast of the BBC’s Big Cat Diaries. And unlike others in the same business they were equally impressive even when the cameras were not rolling. Just after sundown we caught up with the marsh pride hunting warthogs, which after only one unsuccessful attempt managed to secure the first meal of the evening.

Big Sky Country.
Herds thousands strong, fantastic diversity of wildlife and some of Africa’s largest and most charismatic animals are all a dayly feature of this evocative place. Personally however, to me even more impressive is the fact that all of this is dwarfed by the vast ancient landscape. Clichéd it may be, but this is undeniably Big Sky Country.

Grassland Jewel.
A much unexpected jewel in the grassland on an early morning drive was this Malachite Kingfisher uncommonly perched on level ground adjacent to a muddy pool in the grassland. Again, on my belly I slowly inched towards the perfect photographic position only to see the bird fly off. Short-lived was my disappointment (and very unusual in photography) when he returned to the exact same spot where my camera was aimed with a tadpole in its bill. From here it proceeded to give it a proper bashing, positioned it head first in its bill and consumed it.

Cloak of concealment.
With its fantastic light, uncluttered backgrounds, and subjects of every conceivable shape and size the Mara must rate as one of the best wildlife photographic destinations on earth. Add the perpetual dust kicked up by millions of hooves you have a natural photo filter more often imitated these days in photoshop. A lone Thompson’s gazelle salutes the breaking day as darkness retreats, dragging her cloak of concealment away from the numerous predators.

Kruger Campsite Birding

I recently spent two days in Satara Camp in the Kruger National Park. For a change there was no work involved so I decided to take it easy and just enjoy the park with a friend. Probably a good bet as the park received unusually high rainfall over the past few weeks and as a result the bush was incredibly dense and subsequently yielded very few photographable subjects.

Natal Francolin pair approaching the lens.

Just for the fun we whipped out the cameras one afternoon before the actual game drive and played around with the birds in camp. The fact that they are so habituated made it possible to shoot them at point blank range with wide angles. At times the birds were literally only centimetres away from the lens.

Birding in camp is very productive and in addition to Gabar Goshawk, little Sparrowhawk and Verraux’s eagle owl, surprizingly this Bennet’s Woodpecker also joined the crowds.

A Greater Blue Eared Starling Scans for scraps.

Some actions as two Burchell's starlings quarrel over something unknown to us.

Tuli Photographic Workshop

This male leopard was attacked by a lioness seconds after this photo was taken.

After crossing the Limpopo in a cable car at Pont Drift border post you head into the 70 odd thousand Tuli wilderness in south east Botswana. Here, Isak Pretorius and I were to be hosting photographic workshop for C4 images over the next five days at Mashatu Tented camp. I admit that I had some preconceived ideas about Tuli. Fears that it may be a drought stricken region devoid of significant wildlife densities were soon put to rest on our first Game drive. The first bouts of camera fever were soon treated with some portraits of a lioness in the riverbed. When sundowners followed everyone thought it a fitting end to a first day. However, as we were getting ready to leave the distinctive rasping call of a leopard came from the nearby woodland. No sooner had we dumped the drinks in the vehicle and dashed off in the direction of the sound when we bumped into this incredibly relaxed young male leopard and followed him into the riverbed. What could possibly beat this? In the meantime though the lioness of earlier caught wind of the intruding predator and unbeknown to us had snuck up on the unsuspecting leopard in the meantime. In an explosion of growls the two cats clashed behind dense riverine bush.

A nervous stare from the top of a Nyala Berry tree.

Fortunately the lithe spotted cat made good its escape and dashed up a Nyala berry tree out of the eager lionesses reach. And finally that brought an end to our first day.

Numerous lion sightings tested the photographers abilities under different lighting situations.

Within the next 24 hours two more top predators in the form of Spotted Hyena and Cheetah with three cubs were ticked off from our photographic wish lists.

The soft muted light allowed great for longer photographic outing. This Natal Spurfowl was photogrpahed during the middle of the day.

The photographic opportunities didn’t stop there though and great shots of a pair of Giant (Verraux’s) Eagle owls, a variety of herbivores and landscapes were covered.

The large numbers of elephants allows for a wide variety of photographic interpretation.

Tuli of course is elephant territory and one is guaranteed of their presence throughout your stay. I do find them quite a challenging subject to portray in a new way but the sheer numbers present every conceivable opportunity to hone one’s skills.

Funky Chameleon.

And then the rains came! Although the area is known to be a dry region, during our stay more than 160mm fell changing the face of the placid little stream in front of camp.

Not to be cheated out of any photographic opportunities we all set about photographing this dramatic event through everything from wide angles to macro shots of the now prolific frogs and the dramatic lightning in the skies!


And this is where the spirit of the group came to the fore. I cannot recall a single objection, not even when the stream turned into a raging torrent that came crashing through our tents and dumping the veranda furniture some way off.

Waiting out the rain.

No trip can ever be a success without great guests and I would personally like to thank Piet, Tanya, Paul, Christine, Peter, Jane, Wessel and Wentsel for your contribution, whether an impromptu geology lesson or a quick joke that made this such a truly memorable trip for me. Thanks also to Isak for presenting such a great workshop where everyone, including myself learnt so much about photography. I am looking forward catching up with you all again.