Those popular dead trees

If you've been following trends in landscape photography, then you would know what "Dead Vlei" means. If you're unfamiliar with the place, it's basically a very photogenic dried up lake near Sossusvlei in the Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia. In the midst of this dried up lake stand a bunch of dead camelthorn trees.

Despite having been to Sossusvlei in 1995, we didn't actually knew about Dead Vlei back then. So, upon our recent road-trip through Namibia, we just had to make a plan to visit this iconic spot.

The problem with visiting a place of which you can see legions of photos over the course of a year is that it has the risk of not feeling new when you step into it for the first time. That's what happened to me. The place is haunting and special, make no mistake. I just think I'd seen so many photos of it that it didn't take my breath away in real life. I guess that is one of the problems of the modern photographic explosion.

I also found it ironic that you need to travel around 300km of gravel road from any direction to get to the entrance gate, but then you have a lovely 57km stretch of asphalt to take you to within 5km of Dead Vlei and Sossusvlei...the impact of modern tourism demands I guess.

Be that as it may - the other challenge is that it's pretty hard to capture unique and "fresh" photos of this place by now. But then again, I think often us photographers get so caught up in wanting to capture a location in our own unique way that just being in the moment and enjoying the privilege of being in a splendid spot of nature can pass us by.

So here are a couple of photos I was able to grab on the one morning we spent there.
I hope you enjoy them...

Nikon D800  |  Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 @ 14mm  |  f16  |  1/25 SS  |  ISO-200

Nikon D3s  |  Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 145mm  |  f11  |  1/400 SS  |  ISO-200

Nikon D800  |  Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 @ 14mm  |  f16   |  ISO-200

Let me know what you think of these in the comments below.

Keep clicking!

Morkel Erasmus

Madikwe: May 2010 (Part 1)

Hey everyone! I am carrying on my huge backlog of trip reports as and when I find the time to do so - so herewith the start of another belated adventure for you to enjoy.

Back in May 2010 my wife and I were fortunate to be invited by my friend Gerry van der Walt to spend some time in the Madikwe Game Reserve, situated in the North West province of South Africa. This was the first time we visited this interesting reserve, situated in the "Marico" bushveld of Herman Charles Bosman's lore. The entire area is malaria free and the history of the development of the reserve is quite fascinating. 

We arrived late in the afternoon, and after clearing the gate permit we drove to our home for the next few days, Nkurru Lodge. En route we encountered an elephant road block (these guys were a bit feisty and held us up for a while), a brown hyaena and a lone lion (albeit these last two were found in near-darkness walking next to the road).

Day 1
The following morning, Gerry had me up early to scout for one of the local packs of African Painted Dogs with him - this park is known for its success with these endangered predators. The prime goal of this morning's venture was to collar one of the dogs for research, a personal conservation project driven by Jono Buffey, who was also visiting Nkurru and was heading out later that day. Unbeknownst to me at the time was that a few years later I would be involved in photographic safaris with Gerry and Jono, in the form of Wild Eye!

We didn't find the dogs that morning, but we had a lovely drive and I got to see the beauty of Madikwe properly...

Later that day, we were joined by Kerry de Bruyn as well, and we set off on our afternoon drive.

A large elephant bull was our first compliant subject for the afternoon...

We spent the better part of the afternoon tracking mating lions in thick bush, we had some visual but no real photographic opportunity, and we also spent some time at the famous Tlou dam and doing some bird photography.

Day 2
The following morning we set off VERY early, heading out to an area called Madikwe Plains. I wrote a comprehensive post about this morning's events back in 2010, and you can read all about it HERE.

Following our surprise encounter with the old guy in the post above, we also found his brother (by following the answered roars in the distance) - he had a drink in front of us and then passed out like a proper lazy male lion should...

We were also treated to some springbuk rams sparring. Madikwe is one of the few places where you can see springbok and impala in the same biosphere, since it's a transition zone between bushveld and Kalahari...

A lone elephant bull and a breeding herd of elephants also provided ample entertainment on this particular drive.

A young calf in particular was chock full of attitude...

The next moment the radio crackled to life and we were notified of a sighting of the elusive Painted Dogs!! We were off, hoping they would stick around for us...

You'll have to stick around for the next episode...

Morkel Erasmus

Photographic Safaris with Wild Eye

Those of you who follow me on social media would have seen that I am now a Wild Eye Ambassador. What does that mean?

First - you need to check out what Wild Eye is about. Browse around on the homepage:

www.wild-eye.co.za

So what does it mean? Effectively, it means you now have the opportunity to join me on various photographic safaris throughout the year. During these trips we will focus on maximising building your photographic portfolio, learning from each other and above all, having fun (because wildlife photography is supposed to be fun, right?).

You can see my profile, as well as those of the other ambassadors (all good friends of mine and excellent photographers) HERE.

The preliminary dates for my trips with Wild Eye for 2013 are as follows:

1 - 5 May 2013 

Samara Game Reserve in the Karoo desert, South Africa

The focus of this one will be the wildlife and landscapes of this uniquely South African biome. I will release more information once this goes live on the website.

17 - 21 July 2013

Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe

You've probably seen some of my photos from this magical place. Marlon du Toit and I will be leading a camping safari for max 10 people into this pristine wilderness, staying on the banks of the mighty Zambezi and exploring the floodplains, forests and riverbed. More details HERE.

22 - 28 September 2013

Masai Mara Migration, Kenya

The Great Migration is the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth, and once again Marlon and I will be there to help you capture this phenomenon on your camera - frame by frame. We will operate from the Wild Eye tented camp, a mobile tented camp on the banks of the Mara river. More details HERE.

If you've ever wanted to spend time in the field with like-minded people, having fun doing what you love to do, then these trips are just for you. There are many departures throughout the year, not all led by me, but led by amazing people who will help you grow your portfolio and have fun with the same passion and vigour as I will.

I hope to see some of you on safari next year!

Keep well,

Morkel Erasmus