The Power of Black & White

The shrinking wilderness of Africa has a timelessness that is very rare to find in todays developed world.

As a photographer capturing this often involves going back to classic techniques and what is more classic than Black & White.

Botswana is that rare jewel which of a country where this unspoilt beauty is abundant and incredibly varied.

Elephants crossing the Chobe River to feed on the Islands between Botswana and Namibia.

Photographed from the river a lone elephant stands guard while the herd returns to the mainland

Under the Baobab, the smoke haze from local fires creates a surreal world for a sundowner

Rock Paintings Ngomakurira in Zimbabwe

I had arrived at my B&B in Harare with an overnight stopover before carrying onto Kariba and my  5 day photoshoot on the banks of the Zambezi River and  Mana Pools National Park .

I had nothing planned as it was a quick stopover due to plane timetables.

When my hosts suggested a afternoon hike to photograph  stone age  rock paintings I jumped at the chance.

40 ks out of Harare is the Ngomakurira Monument area named after the local words for "beating drums".

 It is a popular 4 wd area for the Harare locals but the area we were heading had to be walked. My guides were two young university students home for the holidays who loved trekking and rock climbing and this was their local wilderness area.

Coming from NZ the idea of seeing something from the stone age was truly exciting and I really had no idea what to expect..

We had about a 40minute hike in from where we parked the 4wd through a very pretty area covered by large rocky outcrops.

Rounding a bend my guides pointed to a large overhanging cliff face as the home for the rock paintings. 

I was surprised to find the area was not roped off and that locals still camped  at the base of this overhang as it was completely sheltered from the prevailing weather

My guides took off to do some rock climbing nearby and i spent a couple of hours photographing and just taking in the area. Sitting at the base of this cliff beside the rock paintings all on my own was a truely humbling experience, and a surprising and unexpected highlight of my African adventure

Photographing the light - What I do when on location shooting landscapes

Normally I photograph alone but recently people have asked me how I get my particular style of landscapes, apart from living in a tremendously scenic country New Zealand. In the last year I have had the opportunity to shoot with many very talented photographers and have now distilled a process that I use consistently and works for me.

When shooting  landscape I will scout the location first , the middle of the day is a good time for for this as you need strong light to check for dangers also I want to be able to cover a lot of ground quickly to try different angles and locations.

Normally I will just take photos with my smart phone as i can move fast and it gives me an idea of possible compositions. I use this time to look at where the sun will be rising and setting and also if it looks as though it could be a clear night I check one of my Astro phone apps to see moonrise and moonset times.

Note if taking shots very close to the water with waves involved I will also check tides, and if it is a rough location will also visit at high and low tide so I know the currents and just how far the water moves in and out. Shooting close to the ocean on an incoming tide when there are strong waves can be  extremely dangerous and having a good understanding of the location is critical for your own and your gear's safety.

Using this information and also the latest weather forecast I then decide whether the shoot will be sunrise, sunset or nighttime or maybe at incredible locations like the Little Church Lake Tekapo NZ all three. ( not much sleep)

Once I decide when I am going to shoot I make sure I arrive on location one hour before the  likely decisive moment eg sunrise, select my location, this may change from the planned location as light or weather influence this,  setup my camera to Aperture Priority, lock it onto and  tripod and wait.

Whilst waiting I take test shots checking ISO, Focus and Shutter Speed understanding that it will be constantly changing as the sky lightens or darkens. This ensures my camera settings get closer and closer to the settings needed at time of the decisive moment.

With my second camera I move around  take handheld shots testing different compositions. This ensures I don't get stuck as is easy to do once your camera is on a tripod

I select my composition by breaking the scene into 3 layers

background

middleground

foreground

and the one main subject (in this case the lighthouse)

and then look for compositional elements  like circles, triangles , repeating patterns etc

When I am structuring my shot in camera this is my normal sequence.

1) compose the background layer first
2) Choose what is above and below the horizon line.
3) micro compose to ensure separation of foreground, middle-ground and background.
4) only focus on one element for the decisive moment of taking the photo (in this case the sun rising


In this particular photo I arrived before dawn, the sea was surprisingly calm and so I decided to use a 5 stop ND filter to help accentuate that smoothness.

I knew from my sunrise app where the sun would be rising so set my composition, set my focus and aperture and waited.

Waited for the decisive moment (the sun touching the horizon line), with landscapes this is normally when the light is right. e.g creating  strong tonal contrast in the scene. 

Shot Location: Nugget Point Lighthouse, Catlins South Island New Zealand
 

The shot is a single exposure taken on a Sony 6000, 10-14m wideangle set to F11 , Exposure 4 seconds processed in Adobe Lightroom.

Kenya Masai Mara

Crossing the Mara River, Mara  Triangle , Kenya

River crossing Mara Triangle Masai Mara Kenya.

The Masai Mara Reserve on the border of kenya and Tanzania is recognized as one of the top locations for wildlife photographers in Africa.

This river crossing photo is a good example of why it is so popular.  There is a backdrop of beautiful landscape, a selection of Hippos , Wildebeest, Zebras , Topi , Elephants and Crocodiles all in one photo.

To the left out of frame we had just been photographing Leopard and 5 minutes drive away we were later in the afternoon filming  a pride of Lions.

After visiting 5 African countries and many other great wildlife reserves the Masai Mara remains my favourite.

Best time of year to visit: Late August , September, early October when the 2 million plus wildebeeste are visiting on the annual migration. 

Best photographic travel company to book with: The team at www.wild-eye.co.za