Moving Pictures

On our last shoot at Maun Lodge with Kathy Jay Naval, I took some time to capture some short video clips. Cinemagraphs are another way of making images more interesting on the internet without the download time of a video.. I like the effects and am working of some more creative ways to get my clients noticed ! its sad that FaceTube dosen't allow this kind of file but its an old internet standard with a new twist . . Working on a new add for a hotel.

keep watching as it may take a moment to get working :-)

Getting into it

With all the parts arriving form various countries including the US, the UK and Germany I got busy in the workshop building a motorised dolly for a couple of Time-Lapse sequences that I'd planed. that turned out to be the easy bit, getting up long before dawn (I'm not really a morning person) and driving to locations also not so bad. launching my boat at 04:45 to catch 1st light or sleeping out on it for a sunrise, assembling all the parts and setting up the camera in waist deep and quite cold water also not so bad.. 1 eye out for the croc's n hippo's that go with the location is now second nature, but to get all this done before a coffee, well that's the hard part. But I think it was all worth it and a little warning here, Time-Lapse work can be addictive believe me...

my home made dolly with the eMotimo TB3 and D700

Then it was time for the fun part, editing and making a sound track, putting all the pieces in the puzzle is when it all comes together and that's when I can get to smile at all the work that can go into 3 1/2 minuets of video, I think it worked out quiet well... here's a link to the finished film 
Have a look and enjoy  :-)

Getting a better veiw...

8M mast with Nikon D800 and powered pan & tilt head

It only took about 5 weeks to get permission to Photograph the new BOCODOL building in Maun but then it was the dry season and the dust from the calcreat road to this wonderful building created a dust bath each and every day, so we waited for some rain to wash the building so it may sparkle like new.
At last the rain came and at first it was too much, then the conditions changed and the 2nd clear morning in some weeks, today was going to be the day. As the day progressed the clouds were forming at about the right rate so as to make the sky interesting but clear enough to get some light on the building...
The Nikon D800 mounted on a powered pan & tilt head with a small video camera & remote release, all hand cranked to the max 8M height...
Within 15min the clouds got themselves into position and the image was in the can. I set the camera to bracket the exposure + & - some stops, just to be on the safe side. The resulting image can be seen on Kalahari Images new website and as the banner on our facebook page. I think you'll agree it really was worth the wait (4 months total).

3 Tusks 1 Elephant

Some months back, I was invited to join a friend at one of Kwando’s lodges in Nxai Pan National Park, just for 2 nights, it’s a wonderful area and so I jumped at the opportunity to play client at a lodge.

My normal roll is somewhere between client and staff. I am lucky to get to some of the best lodges and camps in Botswana and to be paid at the same time keeps the wheels on my small wagon from falling off most of the time… However it can be most frustrating when seated at the diner table and having to explain to inquisitive safari goers.  I’m a ‘photographer of tents’ and for the most part wildlife is out of reach of ordinary people in Botswana . . And then listen to the wonderful tails of the day and the leopard sittings, the lion stories and just how the bush just outside the lodge is teaming with wildlife, my usual response is to keep quiet and just enjoy the tourist tails and try to interject interesting events from my own experiences from the bush from time to time.

This time I was the tourist and enjoying all the game drives. With the other 8 clients in the land cruiser and absolutely no room for my 400mm photography was taking a bit of a back seat, literally. And then you have the guide talking the talk! African Massage (its bumpy but I’m not going to slow down) flying banana (yellow billed hornbill) etc etc. It was at this point that all my time it the lodge seamed to be just as wonderful and at time much better than the clients game drive. One time at Savuti as soon as the clients went out on a game drive, there’s a welcome silence that falls over the lodge, at which point you appreciate that the lodge is in the bush, and the bush is in the lodge, a snake, an elephant and in this case 6 wild dog came right past the tent I was working in, oh happy days.

So back to Nxai Pan and there I was sitting on the deck all alone watching the elephants come and drink in small groups 3-5 at a time, it was a cool day we had had some light rain earlier and the light was flat and quite dull. The elephants where melting back into the surrounding trees, 1 or zebra were also coming to drink between the elephants, the odd giraffe. Then a rather distinct looking elephant was coming from the tree line, a bit taller, walking a bit stiffer, not mixing with the others, I just felt he was different so picking up my binoculars for a closed look, I looked again… Wow 3 tusks ! And my big lens was in the chalet… now running on a wet deck is not a good idea but for some reason this deck was teak oiled on top of the varnish so was equivalent to a skating ring at this point, sliding left and right as I attempted to gain some speed. But luck was on my side and the tri-tusker was going in the same direction. Now chalet 8 was approximately 120meters from the main lodge were I first spotted the elephant, so it was quite a slip n slide and this guy wasn’t hanging around like the others, he was leaving a quite a pace. Tripod, 400mm, x1.7 converter, Nikon D300 … yes… got 3 shots off … Relax. On his right side the tusk appears normal but the left tusk is growing straight down and has bee for years, male elephant tusk grow at approximately 17cm per year. He also has a second smaller tusk growing backwards on his left side. Also note an abscess behind his right ear.

Later that evening I’m seated at the diner table and listening the usual client sightings for the day, I really did have a big smile and the new story was told of the 3-tusked elephant that visited the waterhole that day.

Cigar Gallery Opens

As some will know the Cigar Gallery has been installed at Bon Arrivée. Please stop by and have a look at the portraits when you can. for those a little more off the beaten track so to speak, I've now put them on the Kalahari Images website in the 'New Work" gallery, page 2 .....

The Cigar Story Continues

The Cigar Story Continues, this is what happens when 2 Dugmore brothers get hold of cigars, throw in some speedlights and Rodger's old hat, wow ! more to come soon ...

website

Ok just a short post to let you know I updated the website for Kalahari Images, do have a good look around...

Old project New life

This little idea has been around since 2008,,, raised its head again in 2010 and only now, is about to get finished. Quite simple to find a cigar smoker that frequents Bon Arrivée restaurant and make a portrait... Klaas Boll the crazy Dutch (now Motswana) owner of Bon, (as we like to call the place) got into his chef hat and we were off, then it was the turn of Randall J Moore, that was in 2010. next came my friend Hansson... And then as if by magic, the the hottest lips I've ever seen pulling on De Cuban came into the story... Well I know that in these days of PC & BS its not the done thing to promo the smoking of any legal or otherwise naturally grown substance but hey I love my photography and this was a hoot. PC sidetrack: I was once asked to photograph/film a trophy hunt, well needless to say the elephant did get shot but there was no ego inflammation of that great white hunter from this camera. So PC & BS aside I like the images I'm getting on this project and will post them as the project progresses. Who's next ?

Camera Trap

Its amasing what can turn up in a camera trap, I found a dead zebra high on the bank of the Boteti river in the Xhumaga area of Makgadikgadi Reserve. Lions had killed one zebra down by the river but this one locked to have died from natural causes. But wait, a lion killing a zebra is also a natural cause! Ok a dead zebra not killed by a predator, it was quite intacked and bloated with 20 or so white backed vulture's in attendance. The vultures had taken the eyes and tongue and one was up to its wings in the anus, hey I'm so happy not to be a vulture ! It was then when it exploded, quite a pop and a jet of yellow liquid shot 6 feet out the back of the now deflating carcass and the poor (now yellow headed) vulture was on its back, wow! I'm so so happy not to be a vulture.

Later the same day we passed the carcass and found that the vultures had managed to open it up and consumed most of it, I decided to set up a camera trap and see what would pass by during the night. When downloading a camera trap the results are always a surprise, its a bit like having your film developed in the pre-digital days. So while collecting the camera and downloading the images, the excitement was growing. as flicking through I was seeing some good black backed jackal images at night when the camera is working with IR mode, then as it gets light some vultures return and the jackal was still around,..... Then wow up close, in my face, a banded filmmaker, Adrian!

Sunset in Matlapaneng

A beautiful sunset this evening in Matlapaneng, then I spotted a blue dragonfly resting so grabbed a picture ... then got a bit closer with the G10...