Another week, and another trip down memory lane in terms of my photography. I’m really glad I made the decision to work on images already captured for this month, as we got rather buried in the snow the past week, and I haven’t had the time, or the energy, to get out and try and capture anything new.
This week is a mixed bag of images, shot locally and in Africa, in colour and black and white.
From 2014, a sunrise image of the Golden Ears from the dikes in Pitt Meadows where I used to walk my dog. Flying over Victoria Falls on the way into Livingstone airport in Zambia. Previously, I wasn’t really able to pull out any decent texture from photos shot through windows. Zambia, April 2013.Victoria Falls from the Zambian side. I was very fortunate to see it with just the right water level; enough so the falls looked incredibly impressive, but not so much that it was completely shrouded in mist. Zambia, April 2013.
For my then and now image, I chose this zebra from my first trip to South Africa. The original black and white conversion was done in Lightroom using a few basic adjustments, not long after I returned from my trip. The updated image was edited recently using a combination of plugins in Photoshop, including MacPhun Tonality and Topaz Detail. I’m sure I could achieve similar results simply using On1 Photo Raw (I’m not using Lightroom any longer for processing), but I like the ease of using Tonality for black and white edits.
Then – a basic black and white conversion lacking a lot of contrast.Now – the zebra stands out much better against the foliage, and there is a lot more detail throughout the image.
For February, I have decided that my topic for the month will be revisiting old work. It was one of the shortlisted topic ideas that I had come up with back in December, and lately, it is a concept I have been encountering over and over in the educational resources I am working through, in articles that I read and podcasts that I have been listening to. I think it is an excellent concept as there have been improvements in photo editing software over the years, plus I’ve added a lot more tools into my editing toolbox and my skills at editing have improved with time and practice.
I am going to try to look for a mix of images that I can show both a then and now edited version of an image, and also work on images for the first time. I am sure there are many images that I passed over throughout the years because I simply didn’t have the skills to correct for errors in the field, difficult lighting scenarios or heavy noise.
Here is my first instalment of revisiting old work:
I originally edited this giraffe image upon returning home from a trip in 2014. below is my revisit to the image.Today’s take on the same image; the changes are not dramatic, but textures in the images are definitely a lot more apparent.I love the surreal nature of this deer at sunrise in thick fog. Taken along to Pitt River October, 2013.Way back to the first trip where I had a DSLR camera, a Nikon D5100 with kits lens. I was on a Caribbean cruise and spent loads of time shooting images off the balcony, but never edited any of them till much later. January, 2012.Wild horses on Grand Turk, January 2012. This was a shore excursion on the same trip as the image above. I took a short walk from the main tourist area along the beach and found these two horses grazing. It felt like a rather improbable sighting at the time, but during my travels I have come to learn that many animals can survive quite well in areas that seem to have rather meaner resources.
It’s been fun rooting through my photo catalogues for old images to work on. Pop by next Sunday to see what else I turn up.
I could have gone two ways with a topic of Beloved for the photo challenge of the week. And since I try my best not to post photos of my dog all the time, I went with my most beloved animal of the African bush, the elephant. Now, anyone who has followed my blog for a while knows that I love elephants, so this should come as no surprise. They are my favourite animal to spend time with (besides my dog, of course!).
I selected the images below because they represent all ages and a variety of different habitats that elephants make their homes in. I hope you enjoy.
A herd of desert adapted elephants in the Hoanib River in Namibia. April, 2017.A bachelor herd of elephants in the Boteti River in Botswana, May 2017.Mama, Auntie and a precocious little baby seen in the Khwai concession of the Okavango Delta. May, 2017A couple of youngsters wrestling alongside a waterhole at Phinda in South Africa, May 2017.A moment that I will treasure in my heart forever. Being inspected by a baby elephant whilst on a morning game drive. Londolozi, May 2017.
You never know what you are going to find when you are out on safari. It gets said time and time again, along with the concept of heading out without expectations of specific things that you want to see. Just being out in the bush is heaven for me, and anything I see is a bonus, so it is pretty easy to stay in that mindset.
While staying at Londolozi, we were on our morning game drive, and our ranger Dave heard about leopard cubs being spotted fairly close to where we were, so we headed off in that direction. We ended up doing a lot of 4 x 4’ing through the bush, and ended up stopping the vehicle at a rather severe downhill angle, to be able to view the cubs at the bottom of a ravine area. Soon enough, they decided that napping next to Mom was boring, and began playing with each other, running around fallen logs, chasing each other and generally acting like rambunctious little kids. The late morning light may have been a bit harsh, but the moment was absolutely epic to experience.
This week’s photo challenge topic, Variations on a Theme, seemed a great opportunity to share a few shots from this wonderful sighting. I hope you enjoy them; editing them has certainly brought back many happy memories for me.
Effortlessly moving amongst the tangled roots and branches of a fallen tree.Stalking and ready to pounce!
Heading back down to check on Mom.I think that look says “Don’t you dare!”
I posted a few other photos from this sighting, as well as other images from my last visit to Londolozi. You can find that post here if you missed it before.
An oryx seamlessly blending in to the surrounding vegetation. If he hadn’t lifted his head, we would have driven past without ever noticing him (which would be a shame, because they truly are a stunning animal that I love watching and photographing).
A oryx spotted on a game drive along the Boteti River in Botswana, while staying at the wonderful Leroo La Tau Camp. May, 2017.
I have a bit of a love / hate relationship with night photography in winter. The biggest pro is the incredibly short days which means I don’t have to stay up late to capture night sky photos. The biggest con is the possibility of incredibly cold temperatures, which makes being outside for any length of time taking photos rather painful. And of course the trouble is, the clear sky nights tend to be much colder than the overcast ones.
Last night though everything lined up rather nicely. A beautifully clear sky, temperatures only in the -12C to -15C range, which isn’t tough to manage, and a lovely recent dusting of snow on all the trees. I find the fresh snow and the moonlight a beautiful combination, and I am glad I had the chance to try and capture it.
This was the first time I used my Fuji camera for night photography and I am quite happy with the results, though I definitely need a lot more practice with it. I was surprised that my 10mm – 24mm lens produced a starburst effect from the moon at f4; that is something I will need to do more research on as I was used to getting that phenomenon at apertures in the range of f16 and smaller with my old Nikon set up, though to be fair that was with a 28mm – 300mm lens; I have no recollection what my old Nikkor 10mm – 24mm did.
I did have one major missed opportunity yesterday evening. I only brought out one camera with me, and while my camera was busy processing an image with the long exposure noise reduction, a deer popped out of the woods and stood highlighted by the moonlight for a few wonderful moments before heading off. Of course, the camera wasn’t able to do anything while the processing was happening, so I missed the shot. Note to self, always take both cameras when doing longer exposure work.
A few random thoughts on night photography in winter: dress appropriately, know your gear, make sure you can operate your gear with gloves on, and stay safe!
I only have two images to share today, I hope you enjoy them.
The moon was behind me, lighting up the snow on the trees, and allowing for a faint view of the stars. 10 sec, f4, ISO 1000
A moon bright enough to cast shadows in the snow. 8 sec, f4, ISO 1000
