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Namibia Photojourney 2017

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Namibia Photojourney 2017 NAMIBIA 1st - 15th October 2017 Namibia is an unforgettable, ancient land of incredible and stark contrast. From vast open deserts and rocky plains to sweeping savannah and rolling hills. By way of a perennially battered subantarctic coast, we make our way through the richest landscapes this underrated and under visited country has to offer. Plains Zebra So, what does it have to offer? To the average tourist, lots. To the travelling naturalist, a lot more. To a photographer with an open mind and a thirst for adventure? Well, the possibilities are quite literally endless. It’s perhaps clichéd but the question is often not should you point your camera, but at which unfolding opportunity. Do you shoot the approaching Springbok, or the bathing Elephant? The agitated Brown-crowned Tchagra, or singing Cinnamon-breasted Bunting? Or maybe it’s a case of shooting the mother or calf Black Rhino. The choice is always yours, but there is always a bevy of options to chose from. Sociable Weaver On this tour we travelled our tried and tested itinerary. Beginning in the desert-surrounded demi-city of Windhoek we travelled first through the heart of the Namib Desert to the fossilised dunes of Sossusvlei. From here we hit the storm-beaten and significantly cooler Atlantic coast. Heading inland we then spent an idyllic couple of nights in the Erongo Mountains. All of this, though, was only leading up to the grand finale… Etosha National Park. Legendary in status, mythical in the whispers it generates, Etosha never fails to live up to its reputation. Greater Flamingo No tour is ever the same as another, and that is especially true here where water, or the lack thereof, often dictates where animals congregate, in what numbers and in what composition. This year we did exceptionally well on every front. In Sossusvlei the dunes lit up like never before. At the coast swathes of pink flamingoes were only outshone by some amazing reflection work and obliging Chestnut-banded Plovers. In Erongo we laughed as we all shot different bird species from the same spot, and in Etosha we shot 3 species of cat in a morning, which only here can be outdone by photographing 8 Black Rhino bathing in a moonlit waterhole. Black Rhino The whole premise of our ‘photojourney’ concept is to travel with cameras in hand, photographing in a variety of situations. This often means we, as experienced field naturalists, use our field skills to put you in a position to photograph a much wider variety of species than often encountered on a standard photography tour. To show you the results of this type of photography tour, I want to focus not so much on words, but on the images achieved, over the next few dozen pages. So, grab a cup of coffee or a cold beer, and see just a fraction of what we achieved in 15 days. I say fraction, because there are still 1,000 images on my hard drive that I haven’t even looked at yet. - Lisle Gwynn (Tour Leader) Lion Sossusvlei The Living Desert The dunes of Sossuvlei light up every evening and every morning, burning an ochre red and casting captivating shadows. The light constantly changes, and with it so do the dunes. As such, no two visits here are ever the same and you are always guaranteed great shots. During our two mornings in the park we focussed on both wide-angle and telephoto shots, bringing out the grandeur and the intimate detail of the landscape. It is a common mistake though, to think that the desert is devoid of life. It most certainly is not. To prove this, once the light had passed on the dunes, we spent the rest of our mornings and our evenings in gorgeous light shooting myriad birds and mammals in the surrounding area and even around our hotel. Amongst them we found, to name but a few, Red-eyed Bulbul (pictured right), Dusky Sunbird, Sociable Weaver, Great Sparrow, Black-chested Prinia, Southern Masked Weaver, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver… Red-eyed Bulbul …Helmeted Guineafowl, Rosy-faced Lovebird, Red-faced and White-backed Mousebirds (pictured left), Benguela Long-billed Lark, Red-capped Lark, Chat Flycatcher, Greater Kestrel and the larger, louder residents like Rüppell’s Korhaan and Ludwig’s Bustard. The mammal representatives included the ghostly pale and dark-masked Oryx (or Gemsbok), iconic Springbok, Black-backed Jackal and an absolutely amazing encounter with a Bat-eared Fox. White-backed Mousebird The absolute stand-out highlight of this section of the tour came straight out the gate on day one when we were unbelievably fortunate enough to encounter two Cheetah in the grassy agricultural lands on the edge of the Namib. The photo opportunities were absolutely phenomenal as they approached within a few metres of us. This was the perfect introduction to Namibia, and just a sneak peek at how special this place truly is. Cheetah Dusky Sunbird Dusky Sunbird Pale-winged Starling Ruppell’s Korhaan Springbok Marico Flycatcher White-backed Mousebird Southern Masked Weaver Sociable Weaver Chat Flycatcher Chat Flycatcher Bat-eared Fox Walvis Bay The Atlantic Coast The coast of Namibia is home to an incredible wealth of life. This is mostly thanks to the cold water Benguela current hitting the coast directly from Antarctica, creating a huge upwelling of ‘nutrients’ and providing food for millions of seabirds, fur seals and shorebirds. The desert and dunes just in land from the coast are also incredibly ‘alive’, thanks to the moisture provided by the perennial sea mist as the cold Benguela air hits the Namib hot air pocket. Greater Flamingo Greater Flamingo Our time on the coast was characterised by cool weather and light mist with gorgeous soft light. We spent most of our time in a series of salt pans and coastal pools shooting shorebirds, but we also forayed into the coastal dunes with a local guide to search for Palmato Geckos, Peringuey’s Adder, Namaqua Chameleon and Burrowing Skink to name but a few reptiles. On another morning we visited Cape Cross where a huge Cape Fur Seal colony provided hours of captivating photographing of life, death and everything in between. Hartlaub’s Gull Our photographic subjects were many and varied. Chestnut-banded Plover stole the show (juvenile pictured right) at the salt pans, but we also shot Kittlitz’s Plover, Greater and Lesser Flamingo, Great White Pelican, Ruff, Little Stint, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Swift and White-winged Terns, and even a deep-wading Black-backed Jackal. Chestnut-banded Plover Chestnut-banded Plover White-fronted Plover Greater Flamingo Pied Avocet Hartlaub’s Gull Great White Pelican Black-backed Jackal Cape Fur Seal Erongo Mountains The Erongo Mountains are a special place. We spent two days here at an idyllic lodge sat high above the plateau, treated to uninterrupted views of stormy sunsets. But we didn’t come here for sunsets. The stars of the show here are the Rosy- faced Lovebirds (pictured right), but the shooting is productive for a large number of species. This year, the feeder and small water source at the lodge itself offered amazing photographic encounters with birds like Pale-winged Starling, Cape and Cinnamon-breasted Buntings, Red-billed Spurfowl, Black-throated Canary, Acacia Pied Barbet and a few others beside. Rosy-faced Lovebird Shooting in the general area though is also extremely productive, and by a mixture of strolling and driving we found lots to shoot, including Pearl-spotted Owlet, Freckled Nightjar, Black- backed Puffback, Fiscal Shrike, White-tailed Shrike, Brubru, Black-chested Prinia (pictured left), Golden-breasted Bunting, Blue and Violet-eared Waxbills, Pririt Batis, Mountain Wheatear, Brown- crowned Tchagra, Southern Masked Weaver, Green-backed Camaroptera, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Green-winged Pytillia, Red-eyed Bulbul, Great Sparrow and Chestnut-vented Tit- Babbler to name just a selection. Black-chested Prinia White-browed Sparrow-Weaver Southern Masked Weaver Rosy-faced Lovebird Pale-winged Starling Cinnamon-breasted Bunting Grey-backed Camaroptera Black-chested Prinia Green-winged Pytilia Green-winged Pytilia Mountain Wheatear Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler Cape Bunting Red-eyed Bulbul Pririt Batis Brown-crowned Tchagra Black-backed Puffback White-tailed Shrike Pearl-spotted Owlet Etosha National Park Etosha National Park is truly born of legend. For a major African safari destination it is surprisingly, and criminally, under visited. It is an absolutely unique place, and for those thinking that safari is simply safari… you couldn’t be more wrong. Purple Roller Entering the gates at Etosha, you are undoubtedly shocked at the initially parched, dry, dusty and stark landscape. Soon though this gives way to the ultimate image of Africa: waterholes packed to the hilt with iconic wildlife, struggling to survive amid the lack of water and abundance of predators. Double-banded Courser (with egg) All of this makes for a truly unique location in which to create images. Once you know Etosha, any image taken there is instantly recognisable as being from this incredible place. The light is unique and reflects from the pale ground creating an amazing scenario where body shadows are almost non-existent - acting like a giant natural light reflector. The landscape is also mostly open which means achieving totally clean, uncluttered backgrounds is simply too easy. Northern Black Korhaan We spent 5 nights and 8 shooting sessions in the park, giving us more than enough time to take some great images. What follows here is just a selection of my images. Please bare in mind that the guide’s primary job is to constantly adjust vehicle positioning, consider light, watch the animals to accurately predict their behaviour and movements to put you in the perfect position for photographs, and to constantly watch for other unfolding opportunities.
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