Into Africa
Marc Muench
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No CF card will ever be large enough for an African safari!
In the 13 days on safari in Kenya we sited and photographed over 100 species of animals: mammals, birds, reptiles. In just one day we sited over 40 lions. On another over 25 types of birds.
There were many times where, at one single location from the jeep, there were over 3 totally different images to be taken, all equally compelling.
Andy Williams and I lead a workshop through three wildlife preserves in Kenya with the guidance by veteran safari guide James Robertson of Ker & Downey. Ten guests accompanied us along with guides David, Sean, Tari and many Maasai guides from their local regions. I will be expounding on all their talents as this post continues in the hopes of sharing with you the quality of the people involved.
After flying from London together, we met with James and Abigail at their home and guest quarters called the "Hog House"
Throughout this structure, which James built himself, are tree trunks, branches and fanciful cut pieces of wood for all the built in furniture, stairs and decks. Just behind me is their private Giraffe preserve. ( Like I said most of the time there are multiple pictures to be taken from one vantage point )
Just before dinner one of the participants, Chris Roberts, all the way from Australia, met up with us to stay the Hog House. James and Abigail took the three of us on a walk through the preserve and between the many paths leading through the dense bush. As the light got dim on the way back for dinner the woods became a bit spooky especially for Andy. Just after asking James what lives in the holes in the ground....... a mad angry Wart Hog jumped out at him. I promise you the Wart Hog was just as scarred as Andy! The workshop was off to a great start! :wink
The next morning we were off to the airport where we met up with all the others for our short flight to Lewa Downs.
James assisted others with failed attempts to describe the type of photographers on this trip.......
Fred, Jim, Jacques, Lars and Kathy all on their way to meet me on the tarmac in Nairobi.
Soon all were aboard Air Muench to Lewa Downs, flying right over Mt. Kenya.
The plane ride was spectacular and we all were given a brief glimpse at the hidden world of Mt. Kenya with its rain forest filled with endemic plants.
Soon we were back on the ground being greeted by the local Maasai.
More luggage issues!
Moments after being told to stay in the vehicles these girls forgot:D
I do think James was showing them a tortoise.
After a brief ride in the jeeps we checked into our digs at Lewa Downs.
A Maasai coming to save us from melting
After a brief rain during lunch we were off to see the lions play on the savannah!
I know you expect this to happen while on safari but when it finally does after many hours of travel something happened to my mind. I suddenly felt as though the rest of the entire world did not exist. All that is, is in front of me! Wild lions in their environment is one of the most memorable sites of the entire trip. To have the opportunity to view this on the very first afternoon of safari was surreal. My camera was working, thank God for the auto focus and zoom and and and, I got this picture. I dont even recall looking at the settings or thinking about composition or considering bracketing or pressing the shutter at all :huh
Andy and I will be posting many more stories and pics in this thread so be sure to subscribe to it.
In the 13 days on safari in Kenya we sited and photographed over 100 species of animals: mammals, birds, reptiles. In just one day we sited over 40 lions. On another over 25 types of birds.
There were many times where, at one single location from the jeep, there were over 3 totally different images to be taken, all equally compelling.
Andy Williams and I lead a workshop through three wildlife preserves in Kenya with the guidance by veteran safari guide James Robertson of Ker & Downey. Ten guests accompanied us along with guides David, Sean, Tari and many Maasai guides from their local regions. I will be expounding on all their talents as this post continues in the hopes of sharing with you the quality of the people involved.
After flying from London together, we met with James and Abigail at their home and guest quarters called the "Hog House"
Throughout this structure, which James built himself, are tree trunks, branches and fanciful cut pieces of wood for all the built in furniture, stairs and decks. Just behind me is their private Giraffe preserve. ( Like I said most of the time there are multiple pictures to be taken from one vantage point )
Just before dinner one of the participants, Chris Roberts, all the way from Australia, met up with us to stay the Hog House. James and Abigail took the three of us on a walk through the preserve and between the many paths leading through the dense bush. As the light got dim on the way back for dinner the woods became a bit spooky especially for Andy. Just after asking James what lives in the holes in the ground....... a mad angry Wart Hog jumped out at him. I promise you the Wart Hog was just as scarred as Andy! The workshop was off to a great start! :wink
The next morning we were off to the airport where we met up with all the others for our short flight to Lewa Downs.
James assisted others with failed attempts to describe the type of photographers on this trip.......
Fred, Jim, Jacques, Lars and Kathy all on their way to meet me on the tarmac in Nairobi.
Soon all were aboard Air Muench to Lewa Downs, flying right over Mt. Kenya.
The plane ride was spectacular and we all were given a brief glimpse at the hidden world of Mt. Kenya with its rain forest filled with endemic plants.
Soon we were back on the ground being greeted by the local Maasai.
More luggage issues!
Moments after being told to stay in the vehicles these girls forgot:D
I do think James was showing them a tortoise.
After a brief ride in the jeeps we checked into our digs at Lewa Downs.
A Maasai coming to save us from melting
After a brief rain during lunch we were off to see the lions play on the savannah!
I know you expect this to happen while on safari but when it finally does after many hours of travel something happened to my mind. I suddenly felt as though the rest of the entire world did not exist. All that is, is in front of me! Wild lions in their environment is one of the most memorable sites of the entire trip. To have the opportunity to view this on the very first afternoon of safari was surreal. My camera was working, thank God for the auto focus and zoom and and and, I got this picture. I dont even recall looking at the settings or thinking about composition or considering bracketing or pressing the shutter at all :huh
Andy and I will be posting many more stories and pics in this thread so be sure to subscribe to it.
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..have to subscribe to this one!
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How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
Super stuff. Field of dreams kind of stuff!
Andy, Plz bring your pics to PDN next week!
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Rhinos are of course endangered but still rather safe here at Lewa - and we found them aplenty. I love how many of the mammals have passengers!
Here too, we encountered our first cats (in fact, I think we saw and photographed The Big 5 on our first day!)
Lewa had giraffes, of course, and these are difficult animals to shoot! Here I opted for a closeup
I was able to shoot more birds in one day than I've done in my whole life I think!
Back in the vehicles again, and we found our first Cheetah:
Carefully, if you get out of the vehicle and don't show the animals your silhouette, you can get down on the ground and shoot the animals from their level, making for much more dramatic shots - this is a beautiful Water Buck:
After a hard morning of shooting, breakfast out in field
Here are Sarah, Chris and Vicki shooting from the vehicle at Lewa:
Mid-day, when the light is harshest, we have lunch and then we do critiques and instruction:
...more to come!
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How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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Speaking of drinks, how about a "Power cocktail" ?
One of the Maasai and his decorations. Those are flowers on the top, so cool!
After the lights went out and bed time rolled around there was still shootin to be done, right from our porch.
Then we woke up a few hours later for a "tree drive" that is we lined up some Acacia Trees with stars and later with the sunrise.
More coffee was had to keep everyone from wondering off into a lion or something.....
Jacques with "french coffee in hand" The French know when the good light is over and it's time to drink!
I understand many are crazy about he mammals in Africa, but I could not stay away from the amazing variety of Acacia trees that filled my view finder with brand knew compositions all day long.
We did manage to locate some mammals though, in fact here is one image with two types of zebras ( Grevy and Plains ) and an elephant to boot.
On this day I rode with the girls "Lucky me" that is until they all formed a mutiny and demanded we find the nearest loo. Guide, Dave Simpson made a stink then finally being out numbered three to two we drove back to a nearby ranch. It just turned out that on the way we ran into these Baboons. Thank you Sarah, Chris and Vicky
It is hard to imagine this dirt road being a happy commute but that is just what it is. These three Kenyan woman are on their way into work, singing and dancing the whole way.
Once back in the park there were just way too many animals to photograph.
While others were flying I took a walk up into a cave with Simon and Jim Pickrell. The cave was lined with Candelabra trees which made for dramatic surrounding and the views were wonderful.
There were many rodent bones from an eagle that had been feasting for years.
Jim on a termite mound
It got dark soon after but just when we thought we could head back to camp a herd of elephants walked through the scene.
And then the light got even better.......
Dinner was finally had, followed by a long and arduous crit
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Then there is the other part that is totally enthralled with your images and commentary. I look forward to more images and tall tales.
One question I do have is while I have never been to Africa I have been in the woods once or twice, and viewing your breakfast layout I was surprised there weren't like a billion insects. Was this Africa or a Hollywood movie stage?
Keep the images and posts coming!
Sam
There were really no insects at all in Kenya - not in Lewa, not in the Mara, not in Amboselli. Oh you'd see the odd fly here and there, but nothing to write home about. The flies are much worse here in the US.
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We actually talked about how few bugs we saw while eating lunch along the Mara river and watching the hippos down below in the water. The temps varied from mid 60s to maybe a high in the mid 80s just a couple days. At noon the sun was warm on the skin as we were 1.25 degrees south of the equator, and had 4 bars of cell signal on my iPhone...
No bugs, pleasant temperatures, and glorious scenery.
Here are the lat and long from my iPhone
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