Picture a Week (PAW). Week 2. Black Consciousness

Picture a Week (PAW): Wk 26. Struthio camelus, Addo Elephant National Park

Struthio camelus, Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa.
Canon EOS 7D. Tamron 70-200mm at 200mm. 1/2000 @f4. ISO 100. exposure compensation +1stop 

Picture a Week (PAW): Week 25. Mo Africa, JHB

Canon EOS 7D. Tamron 24-70mm at 24mm. 30sec @f16. ISO 200

Picture a Week (PAW): Week 23. Last Resting Place

Canon EOS 7D. Tamron 24-70mm at 33mm. 1/180th sec @f4. ISO 200.
Panoramic stitch of four images. 

Picture a Week (PAW): Week 17. Elephant Cell

Canon EOS 7D. Tamron 70-200mm at 70mm. ISO 3200. f11@1/250th sec

Picture a Week (PAW) : Wk 10. Thanda Lodge. March photographic workshop.

Thulani, "the quiet one".

An African Impact

African Impact is a volunteer organisation that I have been involved with for a number of years now. On a recent wildlife and landscape photography workshop in KwaZulu-Natal we had a very special encounter with one of the well known old bull elephant. Tori, hailing from Manchester, UK, was especially privileged. She had been waiting most of her young life to see an elephant in the wild and told me she had always avoided zoo's so that her experience wouldn't be tainted. We had been on a few drives and the elephants had left their calling cards but we hadn't been able to find them. Then we did.

We spent some time sitting with three bulls all known to the guides and staff at Thanda and African Impact. An old favourite pulled a huge branch down right next to the vehicle ate for a few mins then walked behind the vehicle. Perhaps it was because he felt we weren't paying him enough attention, but he then walked right up to the vehicle and said "Hello!" in a silent elephant sort of way.

It wasn't dangerous at all as he had been with us for nearly 40 mins before he wondered up to the vehicle but it is not the sort of behaviour one wants to encourage nor condone as continuous close encounters with wild animals blunten the authenticity and capacity for the animal to respond and behave 'naturally'. It is for the same reason that Uganda does not permit physical interaction with habituated gorillas. If they come too close, even if the gorillas are choosing to approach, you'll be firmly but safely moved away by the guides.

Elephant are real gentleman and should be treated as such. Too often (and this is a pet peave of mine) nature is constructed as savage and extreme. Everything is either dodging death in a headlong and unavoidable quest to pass on a genetic package of some sort or is primal-y focused on killing to survive so as to deliver on the same mandate. A sad simplification in my opinion.

In any case the round about purpose of this post is to show how images (and their henchmen - text) can lie to us so spectacularly. As people we tend to feed our egos and there is evidence of this all the time. Almost everyone these days it seems, gets 'charged' by some 'rogue' animal or other. Guides sometimes feed this 'heroic-narrow-escapeism' with angry shouting and diminutive language. What a pity! Often these 'dangerous' encounters are nothing more than a conversation. Elephant saying 'hello - but I'm a little nervous'.

The first picture (below), with the creative blur etc, looks super dangerous, like a full on charge, ears out, the trunk is even rolled up (people who think they know often flag a rolled trunk as evidence that separates a mock from a real charge). Impact certainly seems immanent.

The second picture (below) reveals more of the truth. The 'rushing-elephant-look' (above) is the result of a relatively slow shutter speed and a 'walking head nod' by the elephant. Was the elephant close? For sure. Was it dangerous? Not at all. Encounters like this should be seen for what they are - a privilege. Not a prequel to ensuing triumphant self congratulation. The wild is not out to get us and we are not special when we emerge unscathed. We should be critical of media that suggests otherwise as it is sensational and sad (take a look at the titles of almost any NatGeo Wild or Animal Planet daily line up and you'll see what I mean: here is the names of the top four titles in alphabetical order: Africa's Deadliest; Alpha Dogs; Animal Fight Night and Animals Gone Wild). Lets rather be honest and, like Tori, lets enjoy the privilege.

Picture a Week (PAW): Week1: Moonlit whelk watch

Expecting a great sunset after a busy day, I headed towards Port Elizabeth's King's Beach hoping to capture the firmament. The clouds turned a little yellow, then faded to grey as the haze swallowed up light. I was disappointed but waited to see if something would come of the full moon. It was a busy beach scene which I captured with a few tripod mounted long exposures. But I kept being drawn to a woman, on her own, constantly combing a small area of the beach. I wanted to imbibe a sense of her solo activity so it was just a matter of timing to isolate her. A large ship in the far distance seemed interesting but in the end proved a distraction to the mystery of what the woman was doing. When she left I wandered over to her scene and could see nothing unusual. I guessed she must have been collecting whelks (Bullionidae) and tossing them into the ocean (where they belong?). I'm glad she went to the effort because otherwise she wouldn't have captured my attention and I wouldn't have captured this moonlit assisted shot.

WEEK 1: A woman gathers welks (Bullionidae) under a full moon. Kings Beach, Port Elizabeth.
Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 70-200mm @ 70mm. ISO 800, f2.8, 1/90th. 

New for the blog: 2015 - Picture a Week (PAW)

Since 2010 I have been sure to be photographing at least every week. Sometimes this is easy, it happens as a matter of course. But sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the photographic work that I do is just that - "photographic work that I do". I love photography, but I don't love all photography. A lot of my pictures a week (PAWs) emerge out of what I do for fun. Often, but not always, they emerge out of places where I have no clients to please, no deadlines to meet and no pressure to perform. It is important that I find these spaces and places for without them I run the risk of becoming an unenthusiastic, uninspired and uninspiring photographer. The possibility of this abhors me. So I make sure that I am shooting what I want at least every week and posting a picture. They are all on my website, but this year I've decided to add them to my blog too. Now in its sixth year, it has become a kind of visual diary for me. Like most photographers I remember the times, I remember the mood, I remember the circumstances and I remember my intentions. I hope you remember to come back and have a look at the progress.

Rinkhals and all

A few weeks ago I had the rare privilege of spending time with an exceptional South African snake. I was spoilt because it was the first time I’d seen a Rinkhals (Hemachatus haemachatus) and it really was a beauty!  

The Rinkhals is a venomous snake from the mamba and cobra family and does closely resemble a cobra, spreading a hood and rearing up lifting as much as half the body off the ground. It is however not a true cobra as, apart from some skeletal differences, it has keeled dorsal scales (this means that they are rough to the touch – but don’t try it!) and gives birth to live young (normally 20-30, but up to 60). True cobras lay eggs (oviparous), not being viviparous like the Rinkhals.

Our specimen was caught by doctor of herpetology Chris Kelly, in a built up residential area in Grahamstown. This is not uncommon habitat for the snake and despite its biggest threat being urban development it is still found on small-holdings in and around Johannesburg. The snake prefers grassland, moist savanna, lowland forest and fynbos where toads are plentiful, but it is also partial to lizards, rodents, birds and other snakes. They’ll also take eggs which they swallow whole.

At over a meter and a half this Rinkhals was on the large side, far exceeding the average 1 meter length for the species. Size is a testament to age and there is no doubt that she (it was probably a female) was mature in years and well experienced. This might explain her aggressiveness when caught but when we released her about 8 kms out of town she was very calm, rearing up and standing her ground, spitting only once.

Rinkhals spit their venom in two jets, one from each fang in the front of the mouth. It is effective over 2-3 meters but is sprayed generally in the direction of their attacker, and only from an upright or reared position. Although a dangerous neurotoxic venom that mostly affects breathing and respiration, human fatalities from bites or spitting are rare. Flushing the eyes with large amounts of fluid is the best treatment for spits and an antibiotic ointment can be used to treat potential secondary infections. If treated, and unless infection occurs, normal sight should return after three or four days.

After our photoshoot together, the snake was carefully carried off to some nearby brush by a river and released unharmed. It is typical for this species to disappear quickly when disturbed but will face an attacker if cornered. It is also well known for shamming death, which it does particularly well, twisting the top part of their bodies upside down or sideways, even holding their tongue out the side of a partially opened mouth! Be nervous of a shamming snake though, as they will bite suddenly and readily if handled or approached to close.

So the old dame, wrinkles and all, went on her hopefully happy way. And so did we, grateful for the experience and grateful that she had no doubt, evaded the many threats and dangers of life as a snake, especially all the many mindless plonkers who would have preferred to see her dead.

What I learnt from a Turtle Tour: Part 2 “I don’t hate non DSLR photographic devices”

Recently I travelled to Kosi Bay on the very north eastern border of South Africa just before it gives way to Mozambique. Kosi is well known for its turtles that arrive each year to lay their eggs on their rapidly dwindling protected beaches. Witnessing this cycle is an extreme experience like no other. In my last post I wrote about my disappointment with, largely, my own engagement with the experience. In this post I want to write about the epiphany I had shortly thereafter.

As a professional photographer I have been a long time trying to establish an appropriate response to the deluge of digital photography that has shaped and fixated our present times. Accessibility to digital resources means that there are, well, more digital resources. This includes of course the images themselves. There are many more photographers taking/making many more photographs which have many more audiences. Just working with ratios, more cameras means more photographers, which means more images which means more, lets not deny it, good images (there are of course many more bad images too, but the bad images tend to have abrupt lifespans (like the many hatching turtles that I’ve not forgotten about and will return to in a moment). I’ve always resented the fact that ‘we’re all photographers now’. But it is true (that we are all photographers, and that I begrudge it). We are. I’ve resented the inability to separate (or worse, defend) my position as a professional photographer: “Wow. Your camera takes really nice pictures. It’s a fancy one right?”

And so there we were, the six of us, huddled round the back end of an exhausted female leatherback turtle as she diligently laid her eggs. There were rules of course: No torches unless they were red, no flashes unless the guide said it was permissible, no loud noises or talking (there might be a third post in this series in which I’ll talk more about rules and reality), keep together and keep away from the head. So it goes without saying (read my previous post) that trying to be successful and ethical photographer in company of others is a challenge to say the least – mostly a challenge to my sanity. As a professional photographer I know how best to work the light, little as it might be. As an understanding and ethical viewer in nature, I want to. Flash is disruptive, even to animals accustomed to it (don’t let anyone tell you it’s like lightening and animals don’t know the difference. You think animals, even as prehistoric as turtles don’t know when it is about to rain? Seriously!!). So I want to use flash, as little as possible (few flashes the better) and as unobtrusively as possible (de-powered, balanced and subtle). I do this because I am a professional, I know how to, and I am intelligent and respectful.

So what do the non-DSLR users do? They take pictures. Lots of them. And repeatedly. Do they depower the flash output on their iPad, mobile phone or point-and-shoot? Do they gently take a picture or two, then step back, not just to get out of the way, but more importantly to respectfully give the turtle space? No! They crowd and they snap and they flash away like every egg being laid needs its own picture. The people have got to be in it too, “Don’t forget about me. Here I am, smiling and crouched while the eggs arrive”. Now, with fabricated fascination I place my mouth into an ‘O’ then shovel it away again to ask, “Did you get that…? Take another one, just in case”. And then, like this is some kind of two-rand kiddies ride “Do you want a turn?” And that was when it hit me: I realised that I don’t hate iPads, mobile phones or point-and-shoot cameras. I hate their users. 

*It is with a degree of jest and tongue in cheek that I mask the identities of my fellow turtlers. They are not hated.

Panoramic Stitches - A simple 10 point checklist for success

One of the great spin-offs of the digital dominance of photography is the ability to use existing technologies as a means to push ones experimentation/creativity. Panoramic stitches where multiple images are stitched together at the post production stage has been greatly simplified and resultant images have the added benefit of being hi resolution and large physical size which means great print out put and large if you like. So stitching is not neccessarily about 'getting everything in', it can also be about generating large file and physical size for printing. In this post I'll attempt to outline a simple checklist approach to taking images that will work when stitched.

This is not a post about the aesthetics of the image set up, or a post production tutorial, but it is a shooting stage checklist to help ensure the images stitch successfully.

1. Exposure. Do multiple meter readings, across the entirety of your sweep and decide on the best combination given the scene you are about to capture. When doing multiple frame stitches there is often a large dynamic range present across your scene. Shoot in manual so that your exposures remain consistent through out. Not only does this help with the stitching, but it also makes the image look uniformly better- no alternating light and dark washes across the image.
   
   
   
2. White Balance. Get out of Auto White Balance (AWB). Either dial in your own preset or pre determined WB setting or choose one that will work for you. White balance assumes that neutral white light is best and so tries to eliminate all other conflicting colour casts. As you sweep across your scene taking a number of images, the light changes, as does its colour temperature. Leaving your camera set to an AWB setting will mean variations in colour casts will be evident across some/many/all of your frames. Similar to above, but with colour washes instead.
   
3. Image Stabilization. This is not necessarily specific to doing stitched panoramics, but any time you are shooting off a tripod make sure that your lens IS/VR/VC/OC (image stabilization/ vibration reduction/ vibration compensation/ optical stabilizer) is switched off. Leaving it on will induce camera shake and resultant blurred images.
   
4. Fix your focus. Keep your focus constant. Make use of your hyperfocal distance to maximise depth of field if necessary. Allowing your camera to refocus between shots may alter the area covered by depth of field and if it doesn't cause your stitch to be thrown out by the editing software altogether, it will cause ugly blurry areas in certain areas of your image.
   
5. Fix your focal length. Whilst some image editing software can still stitch or compensate for lens distortion it is often easier, if you have the room, to minimize distortion at the capture stage. This means shooting at 50mm if you have a full frame sensor, or its equivalent if you don't (normally around 35mm for most sensors). Shooting for a 'non-distorted' series also minimzes undulating horizons which are suspicious and a giveaway for poor shooting and therefore stitching. Fixed focal length has the added benefit of more accurate composition. You can also correct for lens distortion at the post production stage too.
   
6. Overlap each frame by about 1/3rd. Stitching software works best with an overlap on each frame of about 1/3rd. If you are careful, about a 1/4 is sometimes better.  The overlap gives the algorithms something to chew on and will help ensure they spit out a decent stitch.
   
7. Shoot portrait, not landscape. The algorithms used to correctly match pixels work best when they can build up a bit of a stride. The long axis of the frame helps with this and gives the stitch a greater and more importantly, longer surface area to work along.
   
8. Keep your horizon level. It goes without saying that shooting off a tripod is very preferable, not only because it helps by keeping the camera steady, therefore minimizing camera shake, but also because skew horizons are even less forgiving on a stitch.
   
9. Make global adjustments across all of your images at the post production stage prior to stitching. This way you will not reintroduce colour and/or exposure changes between images that you have worked so hard to avoid by sticking to the above points. Rather stitch the image then make localised adjustments.
   
10. Previsualise and be methodical. Look with both eyes and 'see' the completed image. Don't just shoot a bunch of frames and think you will decide on the exact composition later by doing a post production crop. You will neaten the image up with a post production crop anyway but invariably what would have been your 'perfect frame' has a chunk of sky missing or not enough tree on the left etc. Think through the dominant elements in your frame and compose them. You'll avoid awkward central dominance and visual imbalance.
    

Thanda Lodge. May's wildlife workshop

For reasons obscure I didn't post images from this workshop that I ran in may this year. Surprising because we had some really great sightings and a really great bunch of volunteers. just a couple of catch up images from the trip.

Canon EOS 7D. Sigma 18-50mm @18mm. 20.0 sec @f/3.5. ISO 1600. Additional light provided by painting with an LED torch and a tungsten torch.

Canon EOS 7D. Canon EF 35-350mm @270mm. 1/750th sec @ f/5.6. ISO 400.

Canon EOS 7D. Canon EF 35-350mm @350mm. 1/500th sec @ f/5.6. ISO 200.

Canon EOS 7D. Canon EF 35-350mm @ 350mm. 1/500th sec @ f/11. ISO 400.

Canon EOS 7D. Sigma 18-50 @21mm. 1/90th sec @ f/4.5. ISO 400.And we have a hyena, a lion, two elephants and I don't know ... or impersonations thereof.

Thanda and the new Tamron (SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD)

EOS 7D; Tamron 70-200mm @200mm; 1/350th; f/2.8; ISO 200

In June I decided to buy the new Tamron 70-200 f/2.8. Clearly I had agonised over the decision for months. As alway when buying more equipment, the key governing factors can be broken down into three categories. First is always budget. Second is need, and third is performance. It is a three-way seesaw.

EOS 7D; Sigma 18-50mm @40mm; 1/90th; f/11; ISO 100

Budget is self explanatory so I'll move right onto need. As photographers we are a very needy group of people. The manufacturers love us. We are so easy to hook into upgrading, expanding and spending. Need is not the same as want. I want a EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM. Can I continue to work as a professional photographer without one? Of course! When you have sorted out your budget, buying a new lens is all about balancing the budget against what serves you and your photography best. As an aspiring sports photographer, a 10-20mm lens might not be your best choice if you lack a lens with a bit of reach. Would the 10-20mm be nice? Yes! Would you probably get some decent sports images to expand your portfolio. For sure! But a longer focal length, given your aspirations and dominant type of photography will probably prove to be a better investment.


Thirdly, you have to balance the performance of the lens against your type of photography and shooting conditions. If you are even a little bit aspiring, lens performance and quality are important. Personally I do a very mixed bag of work from journalism and editorial type shoots to fine art and commercial photography. A relatively generous share of work is under poor lighting conditions. I do a lot of theater and performance shooting and other work in poorly lit galleries and in-doors. So fast lenses are important as is quick and responsive autofocus. IS/VR/VC/OC (image stabilization/ vibration reduction/ vibration compensation/ optical stabilizer) is also a must and (budget aside) you would be silly now days to consider anything less.

So it was with some concern that I read reviews on the Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 that suggested that the lens' focus was a bit slower than its twice the price canon counter part. From what I read quality was on a par, even better some people suggested. For some 'commentors' the slower responsive time was unnoticeable or negligible. Nobody, from what I read, came out particularly strongly against the lens' supposed slowness. I am a canon user and was spoilt back in the day when canon cleaned up the competition gamboling faster focus against changing their lens mount. So I gamboled a little too. I reasoned that the 'less responsive' tamron, when compared to the canon would be negligible. If the argument is merely a matter of hundreths of a second then it is marketing hoo haa and would bring little to bear to the detriment of my photography.

So I got the Tamron. And was I right? The answer is no. Having used the Canon 70-200 f2.8 II and now the Tamron I can tell you that the Tamron's slugishness is indeed noticeable. Not all the time, but in bad light, which is when I do quite a bit of photography (and when you need the rapid responsiveness the most) the Tamron takes a bit. In good light it is, in my opinion, on a par, but with strong back light the lens hunts far more readily than I am used to with the Canon version.

So what is the verdict? Do I regret buying the lens? Absolutely not. Do I wish it was a little quicker and a little more responsive? Yes I do. Will I still be able to work professionally and capture quality images that my clients love? Absolutely. I am a HUGE believer in working within your means. Too many photographers are too quick to blame their equipment (or lack thereof). Students of mine constantly claim to not be able to shoot sport or theater because they don't have an image stabilized lens. So I see red and remind them that the dawn of sport and theater photography did not begin when manufacturers brought in IS/VR/VC/OC or the like.

Below are some images taken during a recent wildlife and landscape photography workshop conducted in the Thanda private nature reserve in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. Thanks to team 'Girl Power' for their enthusiasm, eagerness and humour.

Team Thanda- June 2013, 'Girl Power'. Light painting with fill-in flash and torchlight. Canon EOS 7D; Sigma 18-50mm @ 18mm; 30 sec; f/5.6; ISO 200

EOS 7D; Tamron 70-200mm @200mm; 1/350th; f/4.5; ISO 100

A particular highlight of this photo workshop was meeting up with two, otherwise shy male Nyala antelope. Normally the males are solitary and retire in thick bush. During territorial disputes males engage in the most beautiful high-heeled, circular dance, heads lilted, fur fluffed and horns ready. EOS 7D; Tamron 70-200mm @152mm; 1/180th; f/2.8; ISO 800

EOS 7D; Tamron 70-200mm @152mm; 1/1000th; f/4.5; ISO 400

EOS 7D; Sigma 18-50mm @20mm; 1/45th; f/4; ISO 100

People Snapping Safaris

Okay, so this post is really a plea. We all know that photography is a voyeuristic passion. Oh, come on. Don't pretend you didn't know! With a camera to your eye (or worse, a picture in your hand or pixels on a screen) you can stare all you like. A safari often turns out to be something similar. I don't just mean looking and picturing wildlife. I'm talking about those guys ... those other people. Shhhh ....!

Sometimes you might find bouncing about on the back of a vehicle getting a little dull. Or maybe those lions have been lying on their backs for the last half an hour, barely moving, and you've already pushed your creativity by doing the paws in the air shot and then the abstracts. You've cleaned the grease off your LCD screen and you are wondering what the time is.

And then as if out of nowhere you see them, those other guys, and predator like you become attentive and alert. You're back to being a camera slinger now and they're the rustlers. We can break these new subjects into a couple of different categories.

1. The Guy Next To You. This is often the start. Its passive and its kinda what you do with your mates and your cell phone back home, so why not here, on safari and with your DSLR?

2. The Vehicle Next To You. Unlike walking with wildlife, if you're in a vehicle you are probably not the only group there. Thankfully there are some ethically sensitive operators who have a policy of limiting two vehicles to a sighting. So your eyes will stray and you will start to stare (how else are you going to see what equipment they are using, right?)

 (And if you haven't asked it already, you should be thinking ... Where is the driver? The answer? Behind the camera - and the rhino!)

 

 3. The Mirror Next to You. Mirrors make great framing elements for other subjects but it is often a little cliché. Look for other types of images and use mirrors to add that little personal touch (and I don't just mean as in yourself). Whenever I am about to embark on a game drive, I always check the mirrors and give then a little wipe. Your driver might think you're a little hygiene sensitive and thank you awkwardly. The mirrors are almost always dirty and a dirty mirror really doesn't help an image at all. 

4.The Other Guy In The Campsite Next To You. Its not always about being confined to a vehicle. In many of Africa's best parks, fences don't really come into the picture (so to speak!) So when you downloading and 'oooing' and 'ahhing' over your previous encounter, keep a weary eye. Elephants don't knock, why would they? You are sitting in their house. In the picture below, my brother contemplates the approach of tea time and the failed departure of an elephant!

5. Just The People Next To You. So we return, effortlessly it would seem to voyeurism. (Okay I exaggerate a little). Have you ever watched, say, two people argueing in the car next to you at a traffic light, or accross the street? You see them going at it, hands and all, but you can't hear a word. So you smile to your self and imagine the words, the cause and the probable outcome. This next image is a little like that because I shot it without including in my frame whatever they are looking at. You have to imagine what it might be. Out of the eight people, there are five different directions being looked in, and with varying levels of enthusiasm. So what are they looking at?
Imagine what it might be 'cos I'm not telling you!