Classical Etosha

Hey everyone. I am just back from a round-trip family safari with my wife and two small kids. We visited Etosha National Park in Namibia, and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa. Both parks are arid and unique in their own way and we enjoyed the trip very much, despite there being some quiet days when it comes to game viewing.

This photo was taken one afternoon as the storms were passing over the Etosha Pan. It's a classical composition and nothing unique, but I still like it. It shows a Gemsbok/Oryx alone on the vast Etosha Pan, with the nourishment of rain after a 2 year drought imminent.

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 200mm
f8.0  |  1/250 SS  |  ISO-640
Exposure Bias +0.7 

click on the photo to display properly

I am looking forward to sharing more of the images from this trip as time goes by!

Morkel Erasmus

Drakensberg Serenity

It's been a while since I posted a landscape photo, so I might as well do it today. I enjoy landscape photography a lot...it's just that those darn animals take up so much of my photographic attention, okay?

This was taken earlier this year during a lovely family breakaway to the southern Drakensberg region - more precisely to the Castleburn resort close to Underberg. It's a beautiful area and I will definitely be back there someday to explore some more. This photo shows the Castleburn lake (which is a good spot for some fly fishing) after a thunderstorm had passed through one afternoon. I love the dynamic range of my Nikon D800! This photo is a SINGLE exposure, where I was able to bring up shadow detail by more than a whole stop without introducing a real semblance of noise. Normally I would have had to blend two exposures to get this kind of detail in the entire range of tones.

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 @ 14mm
f5.6  |  1/200 SS  |  ISO-64
Shot handheld

click on the photo to display properly

Let me know what you think of this one...

Morkel Erasmus

An ancient tree...

Once again I have to apologise for a very short blog post. I merely wanted to share this photo I took this morning. It was a very emotionally loaded day for me and my wife and this tree just made me think of the cycle of life and death... 


How many summers and winters has it seen? How many storms has it weathered? How many pests has it had to endure, and was it ever threatened with being cut down?


So I share with you this tree - bearing scars that have healed well and others which are still visible.


May you stand strong and grow where you are planted despite the storms, the hardships and the turmoil. May you soak up every ounce of sunshine and rain as if it were your last. And may I do so as well...

Morkel Erasmus

Storms on the Highveld...

Most of you who've been to the Highveld of South Africa know what it's like. Endless rolling plains and knolls - green in the summer and brown in the winter. Lots of power lines, pylons, smoke stacks and eucalyptus trees (which is an intruder species in South Africa by the way).

But what you can also find on the Highveld, especially in spring and early summer, are enormous thunderstorms. And I do mean some mean storms.

I happen to live in a town called Secunda on the Highveld region of Mpumalanga, and went out to a nearby farm the other day to do some landscape photography amidst the brewing of another belter of a storm.

This particular farm offers some respite in terms of just seeing the power lines and power plants on all sides on the horizon, particularly since there are old ruins standing there. As the rain started pelting me (I had to keep wiping the lens clean), I had a great time trying different compositions and takes on the scenery around. The grass is already quite green from the continuous rain.

The clouds opened for a brief respite in the distance, and I took my shot:

I love how these ruins stand against the storm, weathered and worn, but withstanding for another year, until gradually the elements take their toll and all the man-made clutter starts to fade away.

I've always said that if I had a farm, it would be in the bushveld or the Kalahari...but being on this farm made me realise - any darn ol' piece of land to call my own outside of the confines of a town or city would be just FINE!!

I walked around some more since the rain was only coming down in spontaneous droplets crashing into my face every 10 seconds or so...(made me think of Forrest Gump, the legend, talking about "big ole fat rain"). There was a cattle pen nearby in which a lovely whitish-grey horse was trotting around listlessly, with its reign (made of nylon ski rope) dangling loosely in the sweltering wind.

As I saw this beautiful animal within the small pen - the wires around it being easily clearable with a single jump - and its reign flapping in the wind, it made me wonder how comfortable we've become in our 'cages', knowing freedom is just within reach, yet being fearful to take the 'leap' because we do so love the comfort of our chains and boundaries...hence this photo was born, one of my favourites - entitled FREEDOM...

I will leave you at that for now...some more interesting shots to be seen from this location, as I continue to explore Southern Africa in High Dynamic Range.......