As part of my quest to learn to see, understand and use light, I participated in a morning landscape course with Lou Coetzer of CNP Safaris. The more involved I have become in wildlife photography the more I have realised that landscape photography is an essential foundation. While the ultimate aim is to capture extra-ordinary wildlife interaction, the number of high drama images captured in the wild are few and far between. So many of our wildlife images are in fact landscapes, wildlife landscapes.  The beauty of landscape photography is that it is an ideal method of training ones eye to see more. Everyone looks but not everyone sees.

“Learn to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.” ~Leonardo da Vinci

Learning to see in a photographic sense is not a technical journey. It is presumed that you understand the technical elements of your camera. It is more of a sensual journey where one learns to see patterns, colour, texture and visual balance in an image. No one can tell you how to see, you need to learn this sense.

We visited a cattle farm near Bethal in the Mpumalanga province in South Africa. We rose at 4h00 on a Saturday morning in mid-winter to travel to Bethal which is about two hours drive from Pretoria, to be in position before sunrise. At the expected sunrise time it was still relatively dark due to a thick bank of cloud. The cloud helped warm the temperature somewhat to minus two degrees centigrade. A few days before that it had been minus seven degrees centigrade. One aspect of landscape photography which I like is that you should not be put off by bad weather. Since you are playing with light, the overcast weather can be useful. Anyway, the weather is not always sunshine in wildlife photography so you have to learn to shoot in all kinds of weather and light.  Often adverse weather conditions provide some unique lighting opportunities.

“To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.” ~ Stephen R. Covey

The next image was taken of an empty feeding trough in a paddock where Basotho ponies were kept. These are tough horses able to endure the freezing winter night temperatures. These ponies are used to help round-up and herd cattle on the vast farm. The perimeter of the paddock was lined with trees. Being winter all the trees, except the confers, had lost their leaves.

Cast judgement aside and look. What do you see? Do you see leading lines, or patterns. Perhaps the colours are distracting or would the different tones in the image lend themselves to black and white treatment.

The sun did not manage to break through the thick layer of cloud until much later that Saturday morning.

“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” ~ Aldous Huxley

Part of the reason for the workshop was to learn to take landscape images without a tripod. Traditional landscape photography is tripod centred which dictates that you and your camera are much less mobile and flexible. Often when in position it is useful to move a short distance to change the perspective. Also the light can change quickly in a scene with the passing clouds and you need to react quickly. If the camera is hand-held you have more freedom  to react quickly. This was just one such scene where a herder with his dogs came past us unexpectedly. No time to set up with a tripod. Modern day cameras have much improved ISO (light sensitivity) to noise capabilities allowing you to shoot at higher ISOs than the traditional ISO 100 without too much image noise. Image noise is random variation of brightness or colour information in images. Vibrational reduction is a feature of modern lenses which gives a major improvement to shutter speed flexibility. The vibration reduction feature can give as much as a four F-stop benefit allowing you to shoot at shutter speeds below 1/60th of  a second.

Being able to hand hold the camera and move around easily meant that one could change position easily to alter the perspective from the edge of a river. This is the same Olifant’s river which eventually flows through Kruger Park hundreds of kilometres to the east. The scene was still relatively dark at around 8h00 in the morning due to the thick cloud.

After a few hours of shooting in low cloudy diffused light we at last got some sunshine, a natural element of which we have plenty in South Africa. One of the aspects of landscape photography with short focal length lenses was that you need a focal point in the foreground to add interest to the image, otherwise the middle and background appear far away and less interesting. The focal point needs to be at or just beyond the hyperfocal distance of the lens which in the case of a short focal length lens is close, usually just a few metres. The hyperfocal distance is the closest distance at which a lens can be focused while keeping objects at infinity, acceptably sharp.

“No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.” ~ Ansel Adams

This was a classic example of shooting a simple scene of the river looking onto leafless willow trees in the middle distance. In order to improve the interest in the image we knelt down to include some of the bushes growing out from below the bridge. All images were shot at F22 using a Nikon 14-24mm lens. The key here was that at 14mm the hyperfocal distance was around 0.3 metres. A critical element of a landscape is that the entire depth of the image should be in focus because that is what your eye sees. That is assuming you are not trying something more artistic.

A similar perspective from the bridge looking onto the river but with a black and white treatment to better see the tonal range in the image.

“The task is…not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees.” ~  Erwin Schrödinger

Away from the river in the open lands we found this dilapidated windmill which looked as though a serious gust of wind had buckled it. Again the trick was to try various angles and perspectives, looking to see what to include in the image and what not to include. This was all part of the process of learning to see.

The cloud remained quite heavy for most of the morning but every now a then a patch would clear the suns rays would shine through creating some interesting colour variations. This is where the flexibility of hand-held camerawork came to the fore.

In landscape photography one quickly learns that clouds are photographer’s friend, not foe.

We had a fascinating morning trying new techniques. The hand-held landscape photographic technique is not a catch-all approach but puts another arrow in the technique quiver. The hand-held approach certainly improves the photographer’s productivity such that they will come back with four to five times the images in a morning.

“Seeing is a skill which can be learned. See what is rather than what you expect. Look closer and new worlds of perception will open up. In that stillness you will start to see shape, colour, textures and connections which you never noticed before and a wonderland will unfold.”~ Mike Haworth

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

In Pungwe Safari camp there are bush rules not urban rules. There are no fences, which dictates a heightened level of awareness at all times. The camp has all the comforts but without the frills – just the way I like it.

“…few can sojourn long within the unspoilt wilderness of a game sanctuary, surrounded on all sides by its confiding animals, without absorbing its atmosphere; the Spirit of the Wild is quick to assert supremacy, and no man of any sensibility can resist her.” ~ James Stevenson-Hamilton

Pungwe Safari camp is located in the Manyaleti Game Reserve, which borders the Kruger Park and is nestled between the Timbavati and Sabi Sands reserves on the north eastern side of South Africa. The Manyaleti has no fences between any of the adjacent three reserves which enables the free flow of animals between all three reserves. The result is excellent game viewing but with the benefit of less tourist traffic so you really get the feeling of being alone in the bush and wildlife sightings without numerous vehicles at a scene.

“All it takes is one thousandth of a second. The camera captures light. The photographer captures the scene and the subject. It is the eye that recognises the possibility and pattern. The soul is fed  with inspiration and memory is timeless.” ~ Mike Haworth

You arrive to a warm welcome from the staff and are given a cool drink while the camp manager explains how things will work for the next few days in camp. Thereafter you are shown to your tent and depending on when you arrive you are given 15 minutes or a few hours to settle in before the drive game.

No one is obliged to go on the game drive and often you will see a surprising amount of game and birdlife in the camp when all the guests have left for their game drive and peace has returned to the camp. On the other hand you have no idea what everyone else is experiencing on the game drive!

Camp life has a routine. Up at 5h30 and get to the campfire by 6h00 (in winter – much earlier in summer). It is still dark when you meet around the campfire and you are offered a hot drink and  something to nibble. There is normally much chatter about all the activity in the camp the previous night. By activity, I mean sounds of hyaenas, buffalos, kudu or elephant wandering around the camp or hearing lions some distance off.

You do not want a safari camp to be too commercialised, otherwise it loses some of its bushveld charm and  authenticity. Paraffin lamps are increasingly being replaced with solar lamps. Water in some of the more isolated camps is heated with a “donkey boiler”. A “donkey boiler” is a water-heating system installed outdoors. It comprises a metal drum filled with water and heated by a wood fire. Obviously the timing of your hot shower is important, especially in winter, but it reminds you of the basic necessities of life and how simple they are to create and sustain.

One has to be alert at all times in the camp – especially at night. During each of the nights we were in Pungwe camp a pair of old “dagga boys”, old buffalo bulls,  came into camp to graze on the grass and seek relative safety. These old buffalo bulls have usually been cast out of the herd and move around in small separate groups.

“Africa gives you the knowledge that man is a small creature, amongst other creatures, in a large landscape.” ~ Doris Lessing

Breakfast after the morning game drive is a hearty affair. It is usually a “brunch”, half way between breakfast and lunch, because you only arrive back in camp after the game drive around 10h30.

Unexpected guests are part and parcel of the experience. Usually every camp has a small pond next to it to attract birds and animals to drink in the dry season. During a breakfast, a Shikra came to visit with the intention of bathing but there was too much activity and eventually it left to wait for a quieter time to bath.

The time of the year is important in a safari camp. If it is winter, it can be icy cold on occasions or quite pleasant but you never really know in advance. In summer, it can be stiflingly hot and with no air-conditioning the camp needs to have large shady trees to keep the temperature down. The Pungwe camp is located is a shallow valley with resulted in temperature inversion, so cooler than the higher areas. The early mornings were shrouded in mist due to the temperature inversion, The mist cast a moody feel about the bush.

We were at Pungwe in mid-winter and it was icy-cold first thing in the morning but warmed up beautifully by midday.

Many safari camps have tented accommodation. The tents these days are very spacious and comfortable. The dining area is the central meeting point where there is also a comfortable lounge and bar area.

Evening campfires are different to the morning ones. After a tasty meal, people invariably wander over to the fire and sit around it.  There is something mesmerizing about a fire. With drink in hand, it is a time for reminiscing on the day’s sightings and experiences. The discussions become animated as experiences are regaled with varying amounts of exaggeration. Campfires create a perfect ambiance for story telling. When you have an experienced guide like Pat Donaldson with over forty years of experience guiding in the bush, people are entranced by his tales. It is intriguing to see bright eyes watching the storyteller intently as he or she carefully unravels the story while the glow of the flames flicker on the entranced listeners’ faces.

You usually sit in a circle around the fire so everyone can see past the person on the opposite side of the fire which is useful so that someone will see if an animal wanders into the shadows.

“There is language going on out there – the language of the wild. Roars, snorts, trumpets, squeals, whoops, and chirps all have meaning derived over eons of expression… We have yet to become fluent in the language – and music – of the wild.” ~ Boyd Norton

At night, in winter, it can get really nippy in the bush. It is a wonderful feeling to pull the duvet up to your chin and snuggle under the bed clothes listening to all the noises outside the tent.

Some nights can be noisy. Not the barking dogs and urban house alarms type of noisy but the lions, hyaena, jackals and scops owls kind of noisy. The air is denser at night so it carries the sound better. In the bush you become very aware when the night shift takes over and the day shift looks for a place to hide and rest.

I always take photographs of the places I have visited and camps I have spent some time in. Years later when I look at the images I am transported back into that moment and I have clear recollection of that time.

“Stop the vehicle. Let the darkness envelope you. Not a word spoken. Let you eyes adjust. Look up and wonder at the immensity of the world above you. Listen to the frog-like purring trill of the Scops owl or the piping whistle of the Pearl-spotted owlet off in the darkness.  You will feel alive and a wave of gratefulness will wash over you.” ~ Mike Haworth

Being in the bush is a time of vivid experiences. Amazing tales are told around the campfires. There is time for reflection. Most of all it is like a mediation where you get a feeling of detachment from the “hurly-burly” urban life, where you feel restored, your hearing improves and you are able to see better in the bush. Most of all you can be quiet and feel at peace.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

The Manyaleti maybe the place of stars but it shares this place with lions. We saw lions on all three days were in the Manyaleti Game Reserve.  We heard them at night. Their roars are so loud that you think they are a few hundred metres away in the bush. In reality, the roars carry so far, particularly at night that they could be a few kilometres away.

“You know you are truly alive when you are living among lions.”~Karen Blixen

When you see lions in the early morning, you might be lucky to get an hour or so of activity and play before they seek shade and then turn into “flat cats”. As big as lions are when they lie down on their side in the grass, even short grass, you will not see them until they lift their heads. This particular morning our guide, Pat Donaldson, knew where to look for the pride. It was just next to Dixie dam. From a photographic point of view, it is always the “luck of the draw” with lions. You can arrive half an hour too late and they will have settled down in a thicket or long grass and they become very difficult to photograph or maybe one is lucky and you get there in time to see them play or feed on a kill.

“Wildness is what we seek to escape our overloaded, time ordered urban lives. The wildness changes our sense of order. It creates anticipation because around the next bend anything is possible. This wildness provides a subtlety which invites you to look closer. You lose a sense of time and some wildness returns to your heart.”~Mike Haworth

Lions are highly sensitive sensory creatures. Despite lying close to a wildebeest kill with eight lions feeding on it, this female was testing the wind and must have picked up something, on the wind.

In the early morning the shadows are long but the light moves quickly. Once you assess which way the light is moving, a little patience can reveal all sorts of photographic opportunities.

I was captured by the vibrant red leaves of the Tamboti tree in winter. As beautiful as this tree’s leaves are, it is poisonous. If you burn the wood in your camp fire you will get sick . Tambotis grow in groves, so in the midst of the browns, yellows and faded greens of the winter bushveld you suddenly come across this blaze of red.

In the afternoon of our first day,  we found a pair of male lions lying a couple of hundred metres to the north of a reservoir where the guides had found them earlier in the morning. It is not often lions will move any great distance during the day unless there is a specific reason.

These gentlemen were enjoying the afternoon winter warmth. There seemed to  be a high concentration of lions in the area so we assumed the nights could get quite busy.

“A lion’s roar is unmistakable.  The intensity and power will resonant a primal chord within you. They use the cool dense air of the early mornings to carry their message great distances. Much information is coded in that mysterious roar.”~Mike Haworth 

That night we heard two sets of lions roaring. One was quite close to the camp and their roaring seemed to be territorial, just letting everyone know who they were and where they were. The second set sounded like a mating pair. The roaring was still going on when we gathered at the camp fire in the dark at 5h45 to get our requisite cup of coffee and a rusk. That was enough for us, we decided there and then that we would go and  look for the roaring lions. With warm bellies and heads swimming with anticipation, we drove off in the freezing cold to find our lions. We figured they were a couple of hundred metres from camp. After about half an hour of driving further from the camp, we located not a mating pair, but a pride of lion which had killed a wildebeest in the early hours of the morning. We must have found them somewhere between three and four kilometres from the camp. 

It is only when you are up close and they let out those deep guttural growls that you get a sense of the innate power of these felines. There was an adult male and seven sub-adults feeding around the kill. When the youngsters were getting agitated, they would let out a deep guttural growl which seemed to come from deep inside their stomachs. That deep resonating growl strikes a primary chord in your being.

Feeding time is never peaceful when the dominant male is on the kill. ‘Share” seems to be an unstable equilibrium when the apparent calm can turn savage very quickly. The male was getting some “attitude” from the youngsters either side of him so one firm swipe of his right paw put paid to further attitude.

Eventually this large black maned male lion had had enough of the family attics.  Sated, he got up and walked away to lie in the shade of a far tree. The youngsters were very wary of him when he was on his feet.

The clouds forced the light to dance around the carcass. These youngsters were very wary of the two large males in the periphery.

All the action around the kill gave us a chance to photograph these lions in various poses. One open-mouthed snarl showed the size and condition of the canines……not a place you want to get anywhere near.

When lions look, it is with purpose. When a lion looks directly at you it is unnerving, as it feels like it is looking directly into you, accessing……

“The danger of an adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort.”~ Paulo Coelho

When the prey has been killed the males get first take and then is a “free for all”. Lion table manners do not exist, each member of the pride will have to fight for its share.

Dirty face but satisfied look!!

Despite all the action around the kill there is usually one member of the pride who is keeping guard. This lioness saw another male wandering around about a hundred metres away and was more than a little interested in his intentions.

The lone young male, probably a nomad, was lurking about one hundred metres away. He was clearly not part of the feeding pride and would not venture closer, particularly with two resident males close by. 

The youngsters in the pride were tucking in. The images give a degree of the visual intensity but do not give sense of the noise and smell during feeding time. There was so much energy being expended that there was steam coming of the lions and the carcass in the early morning air.

The intensity and ferociousness of these young lions was evident in their feeding.

We all sat quietly on the vehicle just watching, mesmerised by the spectacle in front of us. According to Pat this was the Nkuhuma pride which had come through from Sabi Sands. It was really encouraging to see so many wild lions in one area.

“It is in wild places, where the edge of the earth meets the corners of the sky, the human spirit is fed.”~ Art Wolfe

According to Panthera, lions have disappeared from 90 percent of their historic range due to habitat loss, hunting and poaching, retaliatory killings by livestock owners, loss of prey and other factors. In just over a century ago, the number of lions in the wild has collapsed from more than 200,000 living in Africa to estimates which vary between 20,000 and 39,000 today. Lions are extinct in 26 African countries.

“When the lion roars in the dark of night,

What images do you see around you?

Do your senses swim in the moonlight,

Or is it just the glow of the campfire dancing on the dew around you?”~Mike Haworth

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

The Manyaleti is one of South Africa’s hidden bushveld gems. It is nestled between the Timbavati and Sabi Sands Reserves on each side and the Kruger Park on the east and civilisation, in the form of Acornhoek, on the west side. Winter is an eclectic time in the bush. Some days it can be toasty, lulling you into a sense that the lowveld is always warm. Sometimes it can be moody and misty, and other times it can be really cold.

“Africa changes you forever, like nowhere on earth. Once you have been there, you will never be the same. But  how do you begin to describe its magic to someone who has never felt it? How can you explain the fascination of this vast, dusty continent, whose oldest roads are elephant paths?” ~ Brian Jackman

On our second morning we awoke at 5h45 to be ready for the requisite cup of coffee and  a rusk around the morning camp fire. It was light but the sun had not yet peeped above the horizon. It is always great fun around the fire at this time, as the various camp visitors arrive bleary-eyed looking for a cup of coffee and regaling each other with stories about all the sounds they heard during the night. The one thing you will quickly realise is that the bush is seldom quiet during the night. The night shift is always busy and often noisy. Hyaenas were whooping and cackling in camp while wandering around in the murky light knocking over dustbins.  Lions were roaring close by and an elephant was in camp breaking branches next to our tents. When there were no “ellies”, old buffalo bulls foraged in the camp at night, perhaps for safety. Invariably, one of the camp staff would walk you to your tent to make sure you do not encounter a buffalo – something which could shorten your stay in camp!

“Nobody can discover the world for someone else. Only when we discover it for our selves does its become common ground and a common bond, and we cease to be alone.” ~ Wendell Berry

Coffee finished, we climbed onto the game vehicle. It was cool – ‘cos it’s winter. We drove out of camp brimming with expectation. After the previous morning’s elephant incident we were wide awake and not sure what to expect. The camp was in a shallow valley which was shrouded in mist due to the temperature inversion. This  image was taken at around 6h45. The moisture on my lens was evident and it was still relatively dark and very misty.

As the sun started to rise and we drove onto higher ground,  the mood of the bush started to change.

It was now about 7h30 but the light was peering in and out of swirling banks of mist. We stopped at a small dam. Pat switched the engine off and we just listened. The bush was eerily quiet with no bird or animal sounds.

“You come out of urban life, your awareness dulled by your overloaded senses. The bush can be just as sensory but it brings your senses alive. Your need someone to bridge that adjustment, to guide you, to awaken you to nature’s sights, sounds and behaviours and keep you safe. Your guide will expand your perception way past your urban vision.” ~ Mike Haworth

After listening carefully for a few minutes, Pat climbed out of the vehicle to show us some bushcraft.

As the morning progressed the sun burnt off the mist and the wildlife in the bush started to become more active. I am not sure what it is, but impala seem to prefer to jump over a road rather than run across it.

When you are driving along these gravel road,s every bend offers an opportunity to see something unexpected. For those who have been in the bush many times, just looking down a gravel bush road can be very satisfying.

“Pictures do not exist, your have to create them.” ~ Unknown

We always stop in a riverbed to look both ways in the hope that we see a leopard making its way along the sandy bed  or to see some “ellies” browsing on the bushes next to the river.

We came across many elephants in the Manyaleti, a surprisingly high number of bulls. They always command respect, and the right of way.

“In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was an invincible summer.” ~Albert Camus

Winter is a time of many colours in the bush veld. The leaves of the Tamboti trees were starting to turn flame-red striking a contrast to the browns, greens and yellows of the winter flora.

By now the sun was high, the mist had evaporated, and it had started to warm up enough to just walk around in shorts and a shirt. Views like this give a sense of never ending wildness.

A female grey duiker lying in the morning sun on the edge of a riverbed. She was obviously trying to remain out of sight. When we passed, she did not move and just watched us drive slowly by.

The big things are always interesting to see but so too are the small things. We came across several groups of banded mongooses and also found a family of dwarf mongooses living in an old anthill. As we arrived they all disappeared, but after a while, sitting quietly, they slowly came out into the open and started going about their business with one member of the family always on guard.

In the Manyaleti we found double-banded sandgrouse, which I did not manage to photograph, but we saw a few pairs of Cocqui francolin foraging in the low grass for seed.

We would usually get back to camp around 10h30, just in time for a breakfast. The food at Pungwe camp was plentiful and tasty. There was normally animated discussion around the breakfast table about what we had seen. I have learnt that in the midst of the table chatter often wildlife will come into the camp and you need to keep eye open because every now and then something special arrives. On this occasion  it was a Shikra.

A Shikra is a type of goshawk. It is slightly bigger than a Gabar goshawk and has distinctive ruby red eyes and yellow legs. The barring on the breast is lighter than an African goshawk  and its has dove-grey upper parts. This character flew down close to where we were having breakfast to take advantage of our breakfast distraction to have a quick wash in the bird bath.

“Raise your words not your voice. It is the rain that grows flowers not thunder.” ~ Rumi

There was too much activity as Mark Bourne from the dog section of the anti poaching unit came and had breakfast with us and explained what was going on in the park and how they were coping with the poaching threat. The Shikra did not like the very active anti-poaching dog which was a cross between and doberman and a bloodhound so soon flew off to wait for a quieter time to bath. It is remarkable how much work goes into the anti-poaching effort and co-ordination required by ultra-dedicated people to sustain the protection. I have huge respect for the tireless and dangerous work they do to keep the wildlife safe from poachers.

That afternoon we wandered around looking for lions which we found and will be part of the next blog. As the sun started to sink, Pat took us to a site where there were three large pod mahogany trees. They were thought to have been planted many years ago when the traders we coming up from the coast to trade inland with the indigenous tribes and the few pioneers.

“Many travellers wander through Africa. Some leave lasting natural legacies such as beautiful ancient trees. They provide food, shelter and wonder for those who come upon them. They remind us of travellers long gone. These ancient trees are not monuments to egos but sustenance for the future. They talk to the wind, and oh, if only they could only tell us stories of times past!”~ Mike Haworth

We had sundowners under these magnificent trees. This is always a time to reflect on the day’s wanderings while watching the sun paint pinks, mauves and oranges above the distant horizon. As the light fades, the Pearl-spotted owls start their piping whistles and hyaenas whoop in the distance, both signals that the night shift had started.

We are often quiet for while as the sun is setting – ‘a time when the angels are flying over’. It is a sublime time when you are grateful to be alive and be able to appreciate this beauty.

Once the drinks are packed away and we are on our way, Pat would stop and switch off the vehicle’s engine so that we could we sit quietly in the dark and just listen. Invariably, you look up, and I am always spellbound by the star-filled night sky. This vista always gives me a sense that we are part of a much bigger whole …. it is  humbling.

Manyaleti – place of the stars! A wildlife gem off the beaten track. Bushveld where the wildlife is free to roam unrestricted by man’s demarcations. Even the camps are unfenced and rustic, a place where the shroud of urban life falls away effortlessly.” ~ Mike Haworth

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike