One of the most pleasant surprises on my recent trip to Africa was the number of Giraffe we encountered. Southern Giraffe, Chitabe Camp, Botswana
Southern Giraffe sitting while eating
Here are some interesting facts about Southern Giraffe:
Giraffes roam over large areas of bush and savannah, living often in semi-desert regions where they get most of their water from their food. Similar to camels, they can go 2-3 days without water.
Giraffes are browsing ungulates, feeding almost exclusively on the new shoots of shrubs and trees. Acacia trees are their favorite food source. The Giraffes use their long prehensile tongue and lips to strip the leaves off the thorny branches.
While Giraffes can live in herds of up to 15 animals we only witnessed small groups of 2-6 during our safari.
Given how busy we all are in our daily lives it saddens me that we don’t have adequate time to appreciate certain aspects of our wild heritage. I was one of those people until I made a conscious effort over the last 2 years to change that. I have been deeply moved by what I have seen and where I have traveled over that period of time. I can’t wait until I get a chance to go back to Africa!
I recently saw several images a friend of mine took of some models that I thought were excellent. His name is Barney Streit. I know Barney as a very accomplished landscape and nature photographer. However the shots I was reviewing were portraits. Oddly enough I have been interested in increasing my proficiency in portraiture so we started exchanging information on how he got more involved in this aspect of photography. I have attempted a few portraits and head shots and really like the results. Martina Rebecca
Both of the above images were taken at Joe McNally’s Dobbs Ferry Workshop. If you are interested in improving your flash skills there is no one better to learn from than Joe. He is funny and one of the most knowledgeable photographers I have ever met. Joe’s assistant Drew Gurian is an awesome photographer as well. Joe has a host of books, DVD’s and workshops. If you are interested check out his website and blog.
Oh yeah, back to Barney! When I asked him how he improved so much in this new area of photography he gave me two websites he used. Both of which had to do with networking. One of the sites I had heard of, the other I knew nothing about. The one I didn’t know was Meetup. This is a website where people with similar interests organize and post public gatherings for the purpose of meeting, collaborating and networking. I have already joined several Meetup groups and think this will help accelerate my portrait photography as well as be a lot of fun. If you already clicked on Barney’s link above I’m sure you have figured out that the other site was Model Mayhem. I also plan on joining Model Mayhem with the goal of doing some TFP work.
One of the best things about photography is that most involved are very helpful and knowledgeable. They are usually very willing to share what they have learned. Thanks to my friend Barney, I have some great new tools with which to try something new!
Regardless of your business, preparing for and encouraging growth is an essential part of success. In order to encourage growth in my photography I have created a list of goals for 2010.
1)Visit and photograph another National Park: A highlight of 2009 for me was visiting Glacier National Park. I attended Moose Peterson’s Wildlife Photographer’s Base Camp and learned more in 5 days than I ever imagined I could. Moose and his son Jake did a great job of combining wildlife biology and practical photography knowledge with business experience. I will definitely attend another Base Camp in the near future. As a result of Moose’s teaching I have read about and researched our National Park system since that visit and have become obsessed with visiting these national treasures. Ken Burns put together a fantastic series called “The National Parks: Americas Best Idea” that I highly suggest everyone watch.
Swiftwater Lake Reflection at Sunrise
2) Create photographs that illicit emotion: One of the true tests of being a successful photographer is whether your images are able to pull at someones heart strings. Good photographs capture moments, great photographs illicit emotion.
3) Get published: I will attempt to have one of my photographs or a text/photo package published in 2010. I will also explore having my images exhibited at some of the local Fairfield County art and framing galleries. I will also enter at least one judged photography contest.
4) Experiment with different forms of output: I would like to try new print media and video capture (I need to get a DSLR with video capabilities first)! I believe the advent of devices like Amazon’s Kindle and the rumored Apple Tablet will make “moving pictures” an important part of a photographers output capabilities. If you have not seen the Sports Illustrated Tablet Demo it is well worth your time and really cool. While the origin of this mockup is being questioned, the capabilities described are real. There is an old Wall St. traders saying, “Don’t fight the market, go with the flow for resistance is futile”. While I like creating and viewing photographs the tide in the industry is definitely trending toward moving pictures.
5) Attend Photoshop World: I have never attended PSW. Based on my current level of proficiency I think the educational and networking opportunities will far outweigh the costs.
6) Attend at least one Wildlife Workshop: This doesn’t have to be a photographic workshop, although it can be. The goal is to learn more about wildlife. Having just returned from Africa (I will definitely visit Africa again) I have an even greater interest in learning more about the biology of wildlife. I have started to investigate volunteering for a local wildlife organization to help them with their research by taking pictures.
I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season, surrounded by family and friends. This has been one of the best holiday seasons I can remember. I have spent some significant quality time with my family and this feels like the first time in I don’t know how long that I have been able to enjoy the season.
Now to some photography! We had about 5 inches of snow yesterday making everything look very festive. Given I was itching to make some clicks the snow was the perfect excuse to get out and ring in the New Year. With everything covered in snow and the bird feeders full, I had my pick of subjects.
There are 2 new species I have seen in mass numbers over the last few days/week, White Throated Sparrows and Dark Eyed Juncos. White Throated Sparrow White Throated Sparrow waiting for turn at feeder Dark Eyed Junco in Snow
There seems to be around 10-20 White Throated Sparrows and 20-30 Dark Eyed Juncos. They are both beautiful birds and very fun to watch.
And one of my all time favorites: Downy Woodpecker in snowy tree
The Downy Woodpeckers and Woodpeckers in general are difficult to photograph. They are very skittish as are the Cardinals. There could be 10 outside when I look out the window but they take off permanently when I go outside. I guess I need to work on my technique!
Its amazing how beautiful the Impala is. Botswana’s population seems to be thriving. When we were there, mothers had recently given birth to many calves.
Impala Calf Approaching Male Adult
Several things make identifying Impala’s easy. The most notable is the “M” shape marking on the hind end. Many people think it looks like a McDonalds sign. Many of my readers know I love movies. To me it looks more like the McDowells sign in “Coming to America”!
Unfortunately, one of the real purposes the Impala serves in the circle of life is food for many of the predators. We witnessed many kills where the Impala was on the menu as the daily special. The most notable of these kills were the dog kill featured in one of my previous blogs and a leopard kill from my last day at Chitabe.
Leopard Kill of Impala in Tree, Chitabe, Botswana, Africa
Its hard to imagine that a creature so beautiful as the Impala serves mostly as food for Africa’s wild predator population.
We were very fortunate to witness a pack of 22 wild dogs on 2 of our game drives. This was one of the most exciting parts of the trip for me. I will keep the pictures here to just pack behavior as I know many children read this blog. I will have some scenes of the kill in the website gallery shortly. African Wild Dog Pups at play, Chitabe, Botswana
You can tell by the image below that these hunts take their toll on the animals. Look at the right front leg on the dog to the left. African Wild Dog with Injured Leg, Chitabe, Botswana
This pack had 14 new pups in the 22, 2 of the pups had already not survived the last few months. That said, our guide told us that this was one of the largest African Wild Dog packs in Africa. African Wild Dog pups at play, Chitabe, Botswana
Flying around the dog kill was this beautiful Yellow Billed Kite. When the dogs were not looking he swooped down and grabbed a piece of their kill which is actually still in his talons in this picture. Yellow Billed Kite in Flight, Chitabe, Botswana
Sunday was an intense day, not only was it our first full day in Africa (after roughly 30 hours of flying) but it was a day with 3 scheduled location shoots, 1 more than we would have on any other day. After we photographed in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park we were off to Victoria Falls. As many of you know, Victoria Falls is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Victoria Falls from the Zambia entrance
Above is a picture looking at the falls from the Zambian entrance. You can visit the falls from either Zambia or Zimbabwe. Given that this was the beginning of the wet season, the falls were almost dry. In another 2 months the falls would cover the full length of the photo along the right wall. We were told that when the falls were in full force, we could not stand where we were taking pictures because the mist and force of the water would overwhelm us. Man sitting on dry Victoria Falls
If you look closely at the above photo, you can see a man sitting on a dry section of the falls, this will give you a perspective of just how massive an area the falls cover. I would estimate that the section in this photo was approximately 1/8 of the full width of the falls.
Victoria Falls across the foot bridge
Many of you have heard about people bungee jumping from Victoria Bridge. Here is the bridge. If you look closely at the photo below, you can see the building on the bridge people jump from and the bungee as it hangs down from the bridge. Victoria Falls Bridge
Later in the evening we took another sunset cruise down the Zambezi River. In the photo below, we were looking down one of the rivers tributaries that led to the falls. You can see in the photo the mist from the falls. Victoria Falls Mist from Zambezi River
African Crocodile along the Zambezi River, Zambia
All in all, our trip to Zambia was very memorable albeit short.
First of all I would like to thank everyone for the notes I have received since my return. I am feeling better and expect to make a full recovery shortly.
The itinerary for our trip was a fairly simple one. Each day was comprised of an early morning activity (4:45 AM wake up) and an early evening activity. This left the heat of the afternoon (this was the summer in Africa of course) for education, naps, inter-camp travel or individual game reserve exploration.
The exception to this itinerary was our first full day. We had an early morning game drive in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park, followed by a trip to Victoria Falls and then another evening boat ride on the Zambezi River.
The main purpose of our stop to Zambia was to have the group acclimate to the time zone and check our gear before we headed to our main photographic destination, Botswana.
The Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park was full of wildlife. However park management never stocked or reintroduced predators in this park due to its proximity to a large orphanage at the main gate to the park. The prime subjects for us were the White Rhino herd, 5 in total, that were recently reintroduced to the park.
White Rhinoceros Grazing
It is hard to appreciate the majesty of these animals until you are up close and personal!
Male White Rhino checking out his audience
Unfortunately for the group we only located this lone male, the females were nowhere in site.
One of the challenges that the group faced photographing in Zambia and Botswana were the busy backgrounds. Many people associate photographing animals in Africa with the cleaner backgrounds common in Tanzania (Serengeti) and Kenya. Here are two examples of images doomed by background.
Southern Giraffe in ZambiaCommon Waterbuck
Both of the above pictures are nice “mementos” but not valuable for a portfolio. You might be able to get away with the Giraffe background but definitely not the Waterbuck’s.
One surprisingly interesting subject were the Fireball Lilies that dotted the landscape of all the parks we visited. You don’t normally think of flowers when you think of the Kalahari and other dry locales.
Fireball Lilies in full bloom
Stay tuned for Victoria Falls and the second Zambezi River trip! They will be posted soon.
Hello All,
I am back from Africa and I have a lot to share with you. I know some of you are asking why I am back so soon. Well, the short answer is I had a bad reaction to the malaria medication I was given and it forced me to end my trip 6 days early. It was a devastating set of circumstances given I had planned this trip for 12 months. However, on the bright side, I am home, safe and under the care of my own doctors. But I will admit that the 28 hours it took me to leave camp and land at JFK were extremely stressful. That all said, I expect to be fully recuperated in time for Thanksgiving dinner!
So our group had their first stop at Toka Leya camp in Zambia. This camp is fairly new, approximately 1 1/2 yrs. old. It sits right along the Zambezi River, a few miles up river from Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls are one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
Our first game drive was a sunset boat ride along the river (I know, if my wife or mother finds out I was in a small boat, in the dark, on a river filled with crocodiles and hippos I might not see Thanksgiving Day).
Speaking of hippos, as soon as we entered the water we saw our first herd. Yawning Hippopotamus in the Zambezi River, Zambia
Hippos sometimes yawn to show potential threats how fierce they are. We didn’t need much convincing!
The Zambezi River is shared by Zimbabwe and Zambia as are Victoria Falls. The ecosystem is filled with wildlife, both mammals and birds. We could have stayed in the river for several days and not had a chance to photograph all that we witnessed. Zambian sunset from the Zambezi River
The summer months in Africa are considered the rainy season. An advantage of being there during this time are clouds! The rest of the year has just plain blue or grey skies which can get pretty monotonous. Sunset over Zimbabwe, from the Zambezi River
Over the next few days/weeks, I will journal for everyone our daily game drives as well as provide information about our experiences during the trip. Many people have asked me about what I brought and how I packed. A separate post would be necessary to do justice to this topic and I will provide this information at the end (most likely after the holidays).
If you have any comments or questions about the trip either drop me a line of leave a comment. I will most definitely be around the next week.
I had the pleasure of attending the D-65 Workshop last week. It was hosted by the husband and wife team of Seth Resnick and Jamie Spritzer. Both are experienced photographers and educators. This workshop was different from most that I have attended in that it was workflow specific. Any “shooting” time that we had was on our own.
The topic of workflow comes up often in conversations with friends, family and colleagues. Put simply, workflow is the process one employs for capture through processing of your photographs. Many people struggle with this process and frankly I find it to be the main reason some people take less photographs.
If you search the web, the number of solutions available for photography workflow is daunting. The problem with most of them is they are not easily repeated nor scaleable. That is not the case with the D-65 program. Yes, there is the ability to customize aspects of the workflow to meet your specific needs, but the core workflow is the same for every situation and photographer. Think of it as an assembly line for your photographs.
The only potential drawback I can see with this system is the “investment” required in Adobe’s Lightroom. I say investment because you not only spend money on acquiring the assets (software, external hard drives) but spend significant time mastering the software. Without the desire to make that investment I don’t think you should follow the D-65 program. That said, I have tried and/or used every browser and image management software available. My two favorites are Apple’s Aperture and Lightroom and I ultimately settled on Lightroom for one reason, the massive acceptance by the photgraphic community. You can get help from a myriad of places for Lightroom, not so with Aperture. What does that tell me? In the long run, my investment in Lightroom will be protected.
Before anyone attends D-65, I would strongly suggest reading Seth and Jamie’s book or purchasing the video Seth and Michael Reichman produced on the topic. Why would you do this before spending four whole days at the workshop? Very simple. I believe the strategies and techniques D-65 employs are best understood and implemented before you attend the class. My preparation afforded me the opportunity to absorb more in the classroom and arrive at the workshop with very specific workflow questions that I needed answered. Topics that were specific to how I work. Had I not made that effort before attending, I don’t think I would have gotten as much out of the class.
I know some of you are thinking, Vinnie, this is way over my head. Well you will be glad to know that the group attending the workshop ranged from established professional photographers to the group that I call “shutter moms” and everyone in between. You need to remember that just because you can take great pictures doesn’t mean you will be good at organizing, editing and processing those images. This workshop and program will get you going in the right direction. I strongly recommend attending. One added bonus is they offer workshops in Miami (where Jamie and Seth have a studio) so you can combine the education with a little R&R!
