South Africa trip

[Hunkgarian]

Hi Raiders

My fiancee and I just returned from South Africa (my first visit there) where we indulged in our favourite pastime - wildlife photography. We do have a joint web presence on Facebook under 2 Mad Photographers, but the actual website is still under construction. At this stage, my original website hosts some of my images that I had gotten around to processing. Sorry, we did not go fishing. No time in between safaris and image processing etc...

Feel free to browse here

[big Neil]

7 hours ago, Amatteroflight said:

Hi Raiders

My fiancee and I just returned from South Africa (my first visit there) where we indulged in our favourite pastime - wildlife photography. We do have a joint web presence on Facebook under 2 Mad Photographers, but the actual website is still under construction. At this stage, my original website hosts some of my images that I had gotten around to processing. Sorry, we did not go fishing. No time in between safaris and image processing etc...

Feel free to browse here

I had a look at your site and the photos are AMAZING. You must have some serious quality camera equipment and an excellent knowledge of how to use it to optimum effect. I love taking photos but have no idea of how to operate the camera manually. Too old to learn so I'll leave it to the younger folk like yourself. Excellent work young man. Keep in touch on the site, I'm sure there are a lot of other Fishraiders who will be interested in your work. Cheers, bn

[fragmeister]

I took a look at your photos today.

They look terrific. Clearly, you know what you're doing.

I went to South Africa on business a few years back but I didn't fish or take and wildlife pictures!

(BTW Neil,  your photos aren't are pretty good too!)

Cheers

Jim

 

[Hunkgarian]

Thanks guys. If I had to sell my camera gear to buy a boat, I would still have some change I reckon. 

??

Admittedly, I use pro-level cameras and lenses. It makes all the difference. A bit like anything, you get what you pay for. When we were in Kruger National Park, on our last morning at dawn, there was an opportunity to photograph a pair of lazy lions in the dim light. My fiancee was not able to get the shots, as she could not push her equipment. She uses a Canon 5D MkIII and 7D MkII cameras with a more affordable Sigma zoom lens, that is fantastic, but not an f/4 prime super telephoto. Whereas I was able to, because I can still shoot at ISO10000 plus to get very useable images with my camera body and a 500mm f/4 prime lens.

Digital image capture is an animal by itself and I could talk about my passion for wildlife photography forever, so I better shut up now.   

 

Sadly, fishing got away from me about 20 or so years ago, so I am just starting to get back into it. I figured, there is not enough time for all the things I would love to do around the ocean. But fishing is something I will make time for.

[big Neil]

On 7/30/2018 at 10:28 AM, fragmeister said:

I took a look at your photos today.

They look terrific. Clearly, you know what you're doing.

I went to South Africa on business a few years back but I didn't fish or take and wildlife pictures!

(BTW Neil,  your photos aren't are pretty good too!)

Cheers

Jim

 

Thanks Jim. They are representative of the subject matter and suit our purposes, but pale into insignificance stacked up against ones taken by someone who knows what they're doing. I may be heading to Sydney Sept /Oct sometime, would be great if we could catch up. I want to see more of your art capabilities and maybe wet a line. Cheers, bn

[fragmeister]

1 hour ago, big Neil said:

Thanks Jim. They are representative of the subject matter and suit our purposes, but pale into insignificance stacked up against ones taken by someone who knows what they're doing. I may be heading to Sydney Sept /Oct sometime, would be great if we could catch up. I want to see more of your art capabilities and maybe wet a line. Cheers, bn

No worries Neil.

Let me know when its definite

[Volitan]

Fantastic shots, amatteroflight, as I’d expect.

question. Was it an organised safari or did you do it yourself. If diy, how easy was it to do without local knowledge, and if organised how accommodating were they to photographers?

cheers

 

[masterfisho7]

Your photos are great is the camera in your profile the camera the one you used .

[JonD]

On 7/31/2018 at 10:36 AM, Amatteroflight said:

Thanks guys. If I had to sell my camera gear to buy a boat, I would still have some change I reckon. 

??

Admittedly, I use pro-level cameras and lenses. It makes all the difference. A bit like anything, you get what you pay for. When we were in Kruger National Park, on our last morning at dawn, there was an opportunity to photograph a pair of lazy lions in the dim light. My fiancee was not able to get the shots, as she could not push her equipment. She uses a Canon 5D MkIII and 7D MkII cameras with a more affordable Sigma zoom lens, that is fantastic, but not an f/4 prime super telephoto. Whereas I was able to, because I can still shoot at ISO10000 plus to get very useable images with my camera body and a 500mm f/4 prime lens.

Digital image capture is an animal by itself and I could talk about my passion for wildlife photography forever, so I better shut up now.   

 

Sadly, fishing got away from me about 20 or so years ago, so I am just starting to get back into it. I figured, there is not enough time for all the things I would love to do around the ocean. But fishing is something I will make time for.

Some great shots on those sites.

I used to have a full pro kit, several body's and a heap of prime lenses but got fed up carrying all the weight. I couldn't believe how little I managed to get for it all secondhand, at less than three years old and virtually no use it took six months to eventually sell my canon 400 2.8 at $2000 ( $12000 less than I paid).  D series body's, 7d's and a 5d mk3 seemed to depreciate unbelievably as technology moved to smaller faster cameras. Part of selling was due to the amount of copyright theft and trying to compete comercialy against amateur photographers willing to give their work away free just to get published.

These days I simply use a high end compacts that cover most subjects and the fact they are light enough to carry all the time I'm able to get shots I wouldn't of before which gets my feet back in the door comercialy again. 

[Hunkgarian]

On 8/22/2018 at 11:23 AM, Volitan said:

Fantastic shots, amatteroflight, as I’d expect.

question. Was it an organised safari or did you do it yourself. If diy, how easy was it to do without local knowledge, and if organised how accommodating were they to photographers?

cheers

 

So sorry mate, I missed this question completely.

We specifically wanted to find and photograph leopards so we chose to go in winter when trees lose their leaves, thus making for better game viewing, also winter is kind of like Sydney/Brisbane winter, so it is not too bad at all.

We (well mostly I) organised the whole trip ourselves. There is NO chance I would shack up with a photo tour or private game reserve (both ridiculously expensive and I rather do my own thing anyway than be at the mercy of other people in a group and have to compromise anything. If I want to stay with an animal for two hours, I will do that and I don't care about other people in a group, so I don't go in a group! We knew where we wanted to go so I planned the itinerary, booked things via e-mail and phone calls, direct with the lodges etc. Organised car hire through Avis in South Africa, flights from here, got very very cheap flights.

I hired a Toyota Fortuner for our first leg of the trip (about the size of a Hilux) and a Nissan Pathfinder for the second part in the Drakensberg Mountains. You have no idea how many people preached about getting the smallest and cheapest rental cars. However, there are a number of reasons for me picking the largest (within reason) for our driving around. 

1) People drive fast and somewhat aggressively and on average I was doing 130-140 km/h on the freeways, as were most people. However, overall I was most impressed with South Africans since I don't mind driving fast and with confidence so I was easily able to merge in with the locals. There are far less morons on the roads there (I was most surprised) than here in Australia! The ONLY, and I mean ONLY idiots hogging the right lanes and not doing anywhere near the speed limit were the cabbies. The local cabs are mostly like a Hiace van type thing and they cram way too many people into them. They are a law unto themselves, the idiots. No point getting into arguments with them as many people carry firearms and they will just shoot you for no reason. A flash of high beams once and if they did't get out of the way I'd just go around them giving them an evil stare. LOL The one thing I was most worried about on the roads is if we were to hit a stray animal for example a goat, sheep or cattle. They have NO FENCES in many places so animals wonder onto freeways, well, quite freely! Literally speaking. 

2) While most drivers were pretty good and polite (another surprise) I still prefer a larger vehicle in case of a fender bender. And you can't put a price on your safety, or perceived safety due to being in a larger vehicle and also considering the possibility of hitting a stray farm animal. Had a close call with a herd of goats once on an onramp, luckily I was able to quickly slow down and avoid any mishap. Those freaking things just go nuts....

3) Elephants, elephants and elephants. They are one of the most dangerous animals and could easily crush a small vehicle. Having a larger one, again, gives a sense of comfort. But nothing can prepare better than understanding some elephant behaviour basics and identifying a situation that could escalate quickly. So we gave every bull elephant a wide berth, especially on the roads, if they were near the road or walking along it. We just stayed at a very safe distance, turned and went another way. Those things don't play games and could easily turn and attack a car, or cars. Once a crowd of onlookers gather (and mostly they park allover the road so giving very little -or NO- opportunities to manoeuvre your vehicle out of a situation, you have no chance to get away and put yourself and those in your car into a potentially life threatening situation. Again, what is your safety worth?

4) The grass in the parks is tall in places, even in winter when we went. A small car would have given us probably 50% less viewing opportunities so while I still would prefer to be as close to the ground to photograph, I would rather have the visibility over the tall grass edges.  There were many little cars and many little cars full of people trying to see over tall grasses. Quite amusing to witness. 

We just had one friend helping out locally. He is a professional guide who knows my fiancee from her previous visit. An Irishman with a top-notch reputation from customers. We hired him for one day (of two) at Pilanesberg NP and two days (out of five) at Kruger NP. His local knowledge was invaluable. Fortunately, with my local birding experience I was able to contribute loads of finds too (including the three Pearl-spotted Owlets for the entire trip among other species). David from Khakiweed Photographic Safaris is himself a keen photographer so he never moaned about (especially) me asking him to stop, go back a little to get a glimpse of something (mostly some bird LOL). At AUD 350.00 per day he was the best value! 

I believe that having years of experience here meant I was easily able to transfer my observation skills to that locality. A pair of African Painted Snipes topped off the Kruger experience on our last day, just as we drove across the small bridge over the Crocodile River. Man, if I had no observation skills I would have missed them for sure.

The most fun is the research part in the preparation, and well before we departed I knew exactly what we were meant to find and where (including nesting Martial Eagles at Kruger NP) and the smaller of the two Bushbaby species at our lodge just outside of Kruger. I am advised, that Bushbabies are notoriously difficult to photograph as they are very shy and god, they jump around the trees at night like little maniacs. 

With regards to park access, Kruger cost more to pay day by day than to get a Wild Card (which is like an annual national park pass) then  we still had to pay and pre-book every day's visit. It is also about three and a half times more expensive if you are a foreign visitor than if you are an SA residents (bastards!). The Wild Card does allow access to most NPs in SA, but not Pilanesberg, as it is not a South Africa National Parks (SANPARKS) facility. Kruger is popular and they cap car numbers every day. We stayed outside the park so we had to queue every morning to get in. There were two queues, one for pre-booked vehicles (guaranteed entry for the day) and one for ad-hoc arrivals (NO GUARANTEE OF ENTRY!).

We had no issues with photographing and using big lenses in the national parks, you can only exit the vehicles (in Kruger and Pilanesberg) in designated areas due to safety reasons (animals, not people).

In Cape Town we photographed at a place called Intaka Island and that is very safe. Then at Simonstown (Jackass Penguin colony) and at the Cape of Good Hope and in Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens and at Strandfontein Sewage Treatment Plant. All were very, very safe, although someone one of our Cape Town photography friends knew were robbed of their gear at the car park of Kirstenbosch BG. So there IS a lot of crime, one just needs to be vigilant to minimise the risks. With Giants Castle Vulture Hide, I booked 18 months in advance (and paid!!). It is best visited in winter when the Lammergeiers are breeding and need food to supplement their diet and feed their chicks. The hide gets booked out about 12 months ahead of time and they give you a bucket of bones for the vultures. Next time, I will call them about two months ahead to start organising a bigger meal, such as a dead cow or impala or something other to keep vultures in place all day, as we had small bones and the White-necked Ravens and a resident Jackal Buzzard were stealing them.

Send me a message or e-mail if you need any more info. We are planning a pilot trip to run a small instructional photo tour (maximum six photographers) to SA in 2020.  A loosely planned itinerary is to fly in, then do Pilanesberg for three days and Kruger for five then come home. 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2018 by Amatteroflight

[Hunkgarian]

On 8/31/2018 at 11:15 AM, masterfisho7 said:

Your photos are great is the camera in your profile the camera the one you used .

I apologise for missing your question earlier. 

No, I have a newer camera and lens. The ones in the photo were my Canon 1DMkIII and EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens. 

[Hunkgarian]

On 8/31/2018 at 2:51 PM, JonD said:

Some great shots on those sites.

I used to have a full pro kit, several body's and a heap of prime lenses but got fed up carrying all the weight. I couldn't believe how little I managed to get for it all secondhand, at less than three years old and virtually no use it took six months to eventually sell my canon 400 2.8 at $2000 ( $12000 less than I paid).  D series body's, 7d's and a 5d mk3 seemed to depreciate unbelievably as technology moved to smaller faster cameras. Part of selling was due to the amount of copyright theft and trying to compete comercialy against amateur photographers willing to give their work away free just to get published.

These days I simply use a high end compacts that cover most subjects and the fact they are light enough to carry all the time I'm able to get shots I wouldn't of before which gets my feet back in the door comercialy again. 

Thank you. 

I hear you. I think digital is great technology, but now so many people suddenly become professional photographers and gives away stuff freely making it hard for anyone with decent photography skills to earn any kind of income. I only ever give my images away freely for conservation organisations if my personal values align with theirs. Otherwise I charge and rather not get published than give away my stuff free. Sadly, that's the way the photographic industry has gone. I get on average one to two enquiries per month for copyright licencing and turn most away as they just want a freebie. They can get nicked. 

[snatcher]

Love those pictures mate.

 

John

[wazatherfisherman]

On 7/29/2018 at 11:04 PM, Amatteroflight said:

Hi Raiders

My fiancee and I just returned from South Africa (my first visit there) where we indulged in our favourite pastime - wildlife photography. We do have a joint web presence on Facebook under 2 Mad Photographers, but the actual website is still under construction. At this stage, my original website hosts some of my images that I had gotten around to processing. Sorry, we did not go fishing. No time in between safaris and image processing etc...

Feel free to browse here

Thanks for sharing such fantastic photo's! Awesome!

[clutch]

On 7/30/2018 at 1:04 AM, Amatteroflight said:

Hi Raiders

My fiancee and I just returned from South Africa (my first visit there) where we indulged in our favourite pastime - wildlife photography. We do have a joint web presence on Facebook under 2 Mad Photographers, but the actual website is still under construction. At this stage, my original website hosts some of my images that I had gotten around to processing. Sorry, we did not go fishing. No time in between safaris and image processing etc...

Feel free to browse here

Spectacular shots! Thanks for sharing.

[Hunkgarian]

Thank you Clutch! 

[nutsaboutfishing]

Awesome photos. You say it's just a pastime, reckon you could go fulltime with your talent.

You should contact JonD, his daughters know their way  around a camera pretty well as well

[Hunkgarian]

On 1/10/2019 at 2:35 PM, nutsaboutfishing said:

Awesome photos. You say it's just a pastime, reckon you could go fulltime with your talent.

You should contact JonD, his daughters know their way  around a camera pretty well as well

Thank you. Unfortunately, digital technology has not done photography a big favour. There are too many folks happy to give away images and too many publishers expecting to pay nothing for images. 

I am enjoying my obsession the way it is

[Ravinggg]

Great pro shots. Love Africa. Did South Africa and 7 other countries 2 years ago. Going again next year.

Took my Nikon D5500 with a 18/300mm on all the safaris. I know its a cheapie compared to pro gear, but I think it was more than adequate for achieving some amazing shots from long distances. The lens is pure awesome for under $1,000.