Trip report: Giants Castle, October 2012

A week of two ago my wife and I went for a long weekend to Giants Castle in the Drakensberg for a weekend with the vultures at the famous vulture restaurant. We were joined by a friend of ours (Margaret) who is an excellent photographer. Last year she introduced us to the hide. We’ve booked the vulture hide one year in advanced as it is very popular with wildlife photographers. This was our second trip to the hide and the previous trip (exactly one year ago in 2011) was a huge success. I’ve used a few of the photos taken during that trip in salon competitions with great success. So, our expectations were high as we left Bloemfontein on the Thursday afternoon just to arrive at Giants Castle in the early evening (and can you believe our luck) in rain. Well, that was the settings for the rest of the weekend. Misty, rainy conditions with a bit of sunshine of Saturday. Needless to say, there were not that many photo opportunities and we had to make the best of the rest.

Just something about the accommodation – there are well-equipped self-catering lodges even equipped with a microwave oven. The rooms are spacious with a view up into the mountains – not that we saw the spectacular views on a regular basis. The weather did not permit such luxury. However, it is still worth taking a trip into the mountains – just to relax en enjoy the quietness of the mountains. O, by the way – there is also a restaurant for those who do not believe in the self-catering “thing”.

Our routine was to go up the mountain around 06H00 – just to arrive at the hide around 06H40. It is not that far but it takes time to drive up the “twee spoor pad” to the hide. Please note – do not try to reach the hide with an ordinary car. Rather use a “bakkie” of a SUV. However, a 4×4 is not really necessary. We stayed up in the hide every day until around 14H30 and afterwards went down to the lodge for a nice afternoon nap before tackling the photos of the day.

Here are just a few of the photos taken during the two and a half days. As you can see – not the ideal circumstances for taking wildlife photos.

We had limited photo opportunities from the Bearded Vultures but the Cape Vultures kept us busy for a while – with interaction like these:

 

Get away

(Nikon D3S, 600mmf4 fixed lens, ISO800, f5.6, 1/2500, exposure = -0.33, WB = sun, Aperture mode)

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Vulture bite

 (Nikon D3S, 600mmf4 fixed lens, ISO800, f5.6, 1/2000, exposure = -0.33, WB = sun, Aperture mode)

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We had a few fly-by opportunities provided by the Bearded Vultures and one landing session from a sub-adult. Unfortunately it was just too misty and I could not get a clear shot.

Juvenile bearded vulture

(Nikon D3S, 600mmf4 fixed lens, ISO800, f5.6, 1/3200, exposure = -0.33, WB = sun, Aperture mode)

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The Jackal buzzard kept us busy on Saturday with three or four visits/landings. For this raptor, one can use the 1.4 converter shooting from the hide – such as the photo below and I still had to crop it a bit.

 

The bone collector

(Nikon D3S, 600mmf4 fixed lens with 1.4 convertor = 850mm, ISO500, f5.6, 1/3200, exposure = -1.00, WB = sun, Aperture mode)

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This time around we had a lot of rock doves/speckled pigeons around and they provided us with some opportunities to practise our bird in flight (BIF) shots. Not that easy because they are very quick.

Rock pigeon taking off

(Nikon D3S, 600mmf4 fixed lens, ISO1600, f5.6, 1/3200, exposure = 0, WB = sun, Aperture mode)

I had to push my ISO up to 1600 to get the required shutter speed. I did not want to use my exposure compensation to increase my shutter speed as the pigeon is already of a darkish colour. Noise becomes an issue if one decreases the exposure compensation too much. With the Nikon D3S, it is better to increase the ISO to get a high shutter speed because the camera tends to handle noise at high ISO levels.

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And then there were the ever-present Red-winged Starlings – these two decided to have a quiet moments together and the male wanted to steal a kiss from his wife. My personal opinion – I think this was my shot of the weekend.

 

How about a kiss?

(Nikon D3S, 600mmf4 fixed lens, ISO500, f5.6, 1/4000, exposure = -0.67, WB = sun, Aperture mode)

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On Sunday morning, we paid the hide another quick visit but nothing really exciting happened. So we left Giants Castle to drive straight to Johannesburg to catch the midnight flight to Nairobi for our trip to the Maasai Mara. And what an exciting trip it was but more about it in my next trip report.

Message to take home:

Do not just focus on the big game waiting for that wonderful shot of a life time. Look around you while you are waiting the big guys to arrive and make sure you see and capture the smaller things in life. Sometimes it makes more of an interesting photo than the big guns. Just look at the very common red-winged starling photo of mine. I just love the interaction between the two birds and it only lasted a second or two. Because I was not frustrated with the absence of the bigger birds and their actions, I was enjoying what nature was offering us in the meanwhile and I was able to capture this moment.

Until my next trip (Maasai Mara, Kenya), keep on shooting!!!

Trip report: Golden Gate – Sept 2012 (2nd visit)

I heard about a new vulture restaurant being building in the Golden Gate area in the Eastern Free State (South Africa) from a fellow photographer and Bloemfontein club member. similar to the hide at Giants Castle a few hundred kilometers away. So, my wife and I decided to pay Golden Gate a visit (just a relaxing weekend away from home) as it is only about 3,5 hours drive from Bloemfontein. I contacted Schalk (the friend who made me aware of the bird hide) earlier that week to arrange and get permission to visit the hide during the weekend. Another colleague of mine showed me the magnificent Highlands Mountain Retreat during a previous visit to Golden Gate (see more details of that trip in a previous trip report) and we decided to give it a go. And believe me, we were not disappointed. Highly recommended.

Late Friday afternoon we arrived at Glen Reenen reception and we were very disappointed to hear that the project manager of the bord hide did not leave the keys of the hide with the reception. So, we could not evaluate the hide from the inside. Luckily, as a last thought, I packed my own bird hide just before we left Bloemfontein. So, on Saturday morning we decided to have breakfast at Clarence and we came back, we sat for a about 1.5hours next to the established bird hide in our own chairs (bird hide ordered from sadectrade.com – thanks Werner for the tip) just next to the building. Unfortunately there wasn’t a vulture in sight – just one crow and a jackal. So we tried our hand at the crow but it was in the middle of the day – no good!! The jackal was scared away by other people visiting the hide.

Crow taking off with meat

(Nikon D3S, 600mmf4 fixed lens, ISO400, f4, 1/2500, exposure = -0.33, WB = auto, Aperture mode, on tripod with Wimberley head. As you can see, I did not bother to use my converter.)

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We just wanted to get a feel for the situation and just the following:

• We looked through the windows of the hide and it looks very spacious inside (not like the hide in Giants Castle which was built in the late 1960s and can barely accommodate more than 3 photographers at one time).
• It was not easy to get a flying crow in focus and keep the focus because the long grass and nearly mountains in the background.
• Ever now and then people walked up to the hide from the nearby road (Oribi loop) and I think it might chase the birds or other animals away.
• Schalk told me they are looking at the openings (shooting holes) as the openings in canvas are too small for a 600mm lens and I do agree with him.
• There is not enough rocks/boulders around the hide for the vultures to land on. More landing areas are needed in strategic places – especially for photography purposes. But I am sure the bird/vulture experts will know better.

Overall I think it is great idea to have another vulture bird hide in the Drakensberg and closer to home. The hide is due to be opened next month (November 2012) and I really want to “test drive” it from the inside before making any more comments. At this stage I am optimistic about the hide itself but a few issues need urgent attention.

Later that afternoon, we decided to take a ride along some of the loops and we came across a few Southern bald ibis (Kalkoen ibis) foraging in a recent burned area of the field. Great opportunity for a few photos and out came our tripods, Wimberley heads. We got a few shoots of one Ibis as the other five did not stay for the photo shoot. Not a very common bird in South Africa – if I am not mistaken, you’ll only find them in this area of South Africa. So, here are a few of my shots – it was shot around 16H00:

Southern bald ibis foraging

(Nikon D3S, 600mmf4 fixed lens with 1.4 convertor = 850mm, ISO800, f4, 1/5000, exposure = -0.67, WB = auto, Aperture mode, on tripod with Wimberley head. A bit of an overkill with the ISO and shutter speed but I wanted to make sure I do not get “soft” wings if it decides to take off)

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Southern bald ibis ready for take off

(Nikon D3S, 600mmf4 fixed lens with 1.4 convertor = 850mm, ISO800, f4, 1/4000, exposure = -0.67, WB = auto, Aperture mode, on tripod with Wimberley head.)

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Southern bald ibis in flight after take off

(Nikon D3S, 600mmf4 fixed lens with 1.4 convertor = 850mm, ISO800, f4, 1/6400, exposure = -0.67, WB = auto, Aperture mode, on tripod with Wimberley head. For the first time I was able to photograph a bird from its stationary position untill it was well in flight without losing my (camera’s) focus. What a great feeling to achieve it!!)

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Message to take home:

Never ignore a possible photo opportunity, always expect the unexpected and be prepared for it. As we drove pass the Ibis, I just gave it one look and decided to there is nothing really out there worth photographing. I just wanted to continue driving. My wife urged me to stop for a few photos. Ironically, at the end of the day, I got the shots (BIF) and she walked away with a few portrait shots.

Untill my next trip report (visit to Giant Castle) – keep on shooting!!!

Monthly salons results: Aug 2012

It is been almost one month since my last post but luckily it was my photography that kept me so busy. I had a trip the Golden Gate in the Eastern Free State, Giants Castle in the Drakensberg as well as VERY successful trip to the Maasai Mara in Kenya. But more about the trips in a later post. Let us focus on the my salon results for Aug 2012. I’ve tried my hand at three salons in Aug 2012 – one national salon and two international salons. It was an interesting month and sad to say – I had my second ever salon (since I’ve started entering salons in Nov 2011) in which I could not achieve any success. It was the 12th Malmo International exhibition of Photographic Art 2012 and not one of my 8 photos was accepted in either the colour or monochrome category. The previous salon with no success was also an international salon. But then on the other hand – 12 of my 16 photos were accepted in one of our national salons. But here are the details of the results:

a) 1st Tygerberg Digital Salon 2012 = 12 acceptances from 16 photos submitted with 4 photos receiving certificate of merit (COM) awards

b) 33rd Northern Counties International salon of Photography 2012 = 2 acceptances from 4 photos submitted

c) 12th Malmo International exhibition of Photographic Art 2012  = 0 acceptances from 8 photos submitted

My “Hippo yawn” photo taken on the Chobe River received another COM and as you’ve read in an earlier post of mine, it received a runner up-medal in a previous salon (https://willemkruger.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/monthly-salon-results-july-2012/). However, it was one of the photos that was not accepted in the Malmo salon.

But let us look at a few other success stories of the salon entries:

Side ways (details discussed in an earlier post – experiences with photography courses)

I received another COM (third COM) for this photo – interesting, it is either a COM or a non-acceptance photo.

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Bulbul My seat (details discussed in the Mashatu trip report)

One of my favourite photo so far in the my two years as a part-time photographer. Just because of the degree of difficulty to get both birds so sharp in focus and the interaction between them. The photo was accepted by both the national and international salon.

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Message to take home:

Do not take the outcome/result of a salon or competition personally – just remember, all the judges are human beings each with his/her own personal style. Keep on trying to submit the photo but if you do not get an acceptance after entering that particular photo for the fourth of fifth time, then you know – this photo is not a salon type of photo. However, do not let the rejection influence your opinion about the photo. Remember, you are taking photos for yourself and not for anybody else. You can still enjoy looking that specific photo – maybe because of the memories.

Until next month’s salon results – keep on shooting!!!