The joy of the Devil (thorn)

I never knew I could get so excited about flowers… Was up at Mashatu on a photo workshop for C4 Images and Safaris this weekend. After the flash floods they experienced there 2 weeks ago, I was eager to see what was happening now. What I didn’t expect was the area to be transformed into a wonderland of yellow, purple and green. And if that wasn’t enough, the flowers also attract all manner of herbivores. Exciting times out in the bush- just the way I love it…

And so it was with much anticipation that we went out on our daily drives. The bad weather affecting South Africa kept the sun away (luckily no rain), but it didn’t affect the viewing. We had lion, cheetah and leopard all in the first day.

However, for the first time ever, I was in search of that little devil, Tribulus terrestris: These tiny flowers are a phenomenon- they carpet the ground in a flood of yellow and green. They are extremely nutritious, attracting all herbivores in to feed them: Steenbuck, baboons, warthogs, kudu, impala and of course, the ubiquitous elephant! It provides one of the most wonderful scenes in nature- animals in a playground of flowers.

It’s by far the best bloom of these flowers I've seen. The flowering of these is very rain and climate dependant. To be able to witness these in such profusion was a privilege I wont forget soon. It may be another 5 years that I see such a show.

For once, I was very happy to be in the company of Devils...

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After the rain

Rain. On safari, this is not the most pleasant of climes. A rainstorm here and there is stunning. But incessant rain over a few days changes things a bit. Make it 190mm in 48 hours and animals move to higher ground, elephants move into the thickest mopane and roads become impassable- making driving a lottery.

If your mindset is not right, then it can be frustrating, but as a photographer, it also forces you to change perspective, and with that, comes opportunity…

I was recently on safari with two clients in Central Kalahari and Mashatu Game Reserve. Mashatu in particular had received a massive amount of very late season rain. The result? An area transformed! Instead of a dry, arid landscape, we were greeted to flooding rivers, mud and half the area impassable.
With more rain on the way we had to change tactics. We worked the smaller things and kept our eyes out for the unexpected. And what interesting sightings the rain brought us.

The storks, herons, egrets and hamerkops arrived almost overnight- coming to fish out the small fish migrating up the rivers. The above hamerkop kept us entertained for quite a while in the fast flowing river, even allowing some experimentation with slow shutter speeds to blur the water.

We also saw 4 snakes in 9 days (not your usual numbers seen in the bush!). This rock python was the only one that allowed us to get close enough for photographs. Fascinating sighting and great to have such a different subject pose so well!

The beauty of arid areas is seeing how fast they respond to environmental change. Within 2 days, flowers of all sorts were blooming: Simply stunning to see! With the flowers come the insects and we spent many an hour working on blister beetles, crab spiders and shield bugs.

Just goes to show that a safari does not necessarily have to be ruined by damp conditions. In fact, if you are willing, it opens up a whole new world of photographic opportunities! We learnt some good lessons on this last trip!

If its not working for you. Change your perspective.

Enjoy, more to come soon.



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C4’s birthday – You get the present.

Here is a shameful plug.
Its C4 Images and Safaris' (my company) 5th birthday this beautiful month of April. So to celebrate, we decided to work around the word share.

Share your great images with us, and we will return the love by awarding the best image 4 night accommodation for 2 people on one of our Photo workshops at Mashatu Game reserve.
Its as simple as that. So please get out, get creative and send us your images.

The operative word here is share, so please tell as many people about this via e-mail, twitter, facebook and good old word of mouth.

For the full low down on sending your details through, look below the jump.



Yes you read correctly, C4 Images and Safaris is 5 years old this month. In these past five years we have shared many excellent nature sightings, photographed beautiful animals and birds and travelled to exciting wildlife destinations with you. To thank you for all the special moments we've shared, we're giving a little back: a 4-night photo workshop at Mashatu game reserve for 2 people sharing, worth R16 140.00 ($2250).

Got your attention? Good, because you're going to have to work for your prize. We are running a wildlife photo competition for one month from today (till 20 May). The winning image will be awarded the prize of a 4 night workshop at Mashatu for 2 people sharing valid for one year.

The concept:
We want to encourage authentic nature images with an emphasis on good camera use to create compelling, striking images. We want the winner to be a top class wildlife image that encompasses creative camera use coupled with good technical’s. We want to encourage creative, beyond the normal clean images photography.

Your benefit:
If your image is the winner, you will get to come on a photo workshop for 4 nights with us at Mashatu game reserve. You can bring a friend or partner or give your prize away to your parents if you like, but we can't give you the cash. We will organize all your Travel from Johannesburg or Pretoria to Mashatu.
You get there, we will take care of the rest.
Here is an example of one of our workshops and what you can expect: http://www.c4images-safaris.co.za/index.php?page=mashatunovember2010
You will only have to pay for your drinks during the workshop.

Our benefit:
The simple joy of sharing our passion of nature and photography with you, the winner.

Here's how it works:
1. The theme is wildlife and nature. It can be birds, mammals, landscapes, underwater, insects etc. You can submit images from any continent or country. We will be judging on the aesthetic appeal, creativity and impact of the image.
2. Two images per person allowed.
3. Entry is free
4. At the end date we will judge the images and announce the winner.
5. We will announce the winner on
6. We will post the winning image on the C4 blog and website as well as the 5 runner up images and other special mentions.
Here are the submission rules:
1. Any one may enter
2. Images are to be submitted as 72dpi jpgs, sized at 800 pixels on the longest edge.
3. Images are to be labelled with your name and the title of the image. ie. JoeBlogs-Eagle.jpg
4. Send your entries to minette@c4images-safaris.co.za
5. Closing date: 20 May 2010
6. We want true nature images represented via the camera. Thus, no sandwiches, HDR, or stacked images. No post processing selections, layers or layer masks.
7. Because we want true nature images, Post processing manipulation is limited to levels, curves, basic cropping, saturation, contrast and dust removal.
8. As we want authentic nature images, we reserve the right to ask for the RAW/original image if need be.

Dates:
1. Closing date: 20 May 2010
2. We will announce the winning image on 24 May 2010 via our newsletter and blog. (If you enter you will be added to the newsletter)
3. Please share this with as many people you know via twitter, facebook, e-mails and good old word of mouth. We want as wide a scope of entries as possible!

It’s as simple as that.

The Fine print:
Our decision on the winning image is final, of course. Copyright remains with you. We take no responsibility for images used from our website/flickr site. We will credit all images used on our website/blog.
This is about sharing your great images with us at C4 Images and Safaris and receiving something in return. We are really excited about this competition as we know how many excellent photographers we have worked with over the years.
So get out there, dig in those archives or get out and get creative. You’ve got a whole month to find that winning image. Wildlife is all around us. We can’t wait to see your images!
May it be an enjoyable, creative process for you. It has been for us.

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