A new day in Pilanesberg

A familiar sight in the park are the hot air balloons that are seen at dawn, when they take off in the park. It was early one morning, I saw the balloons over the lake. I decided to go in that direction, but came across one of the Big Five, I just had to stop and photograph this magnificent lion. Sadly by the time I was finished taking pictures of the lion, the hot air balloons had drifted further away. I was however able to get a couple of pictures of them over the water. This would seem to me to be an incredible way to view the game park, as the balloon is silent and above the ground, which would give a different perspective to that from a vehicle window.

National Zoological Gardens/Pretoria Zoo

Pretoria Zoo is the largest in the South Africa and covers 85 hectares of land. For those who would prefer not to walk the 6km length of the zoo, there is a cable car which takes visitors to the top of the hill from where there are excellent views of central Pretoria.
The long term strategy is to develop the zoo's research, training and conservation of Africa's biodiversity. The NZG supports Countdown 2010, a campaign by various governments worldwide to save biodiversity by 2010 and helps put words into action.








The black rhinoceros is native to eastern and central areas of Africa. It is critically endangered species and approximately only 3000 exist in the world. Conservation efforts have helped to stabilise their decline but a lot more is needed to secure the future of this magnificent animal.







The hippotamus, pictured here, had her calf with her which highlights the successful breeding of this animal at the zoo. The cheetah is extremely rare and I have not yet been fortunate to see this elegant and graceful animal in the wild.







The zoo is home to thousands of specimens of mammals, birds and fish species. It also has an reptile park and is home to the largest inland marine aquarium in the country. For further information visit http://www.nzg.ac.za/.

Golden Gate National Park

The rainy weather in Johannesburg was chasing me away. I decided to go to the Golden Gate National Park. On my previous visit to South Africa I had collected a couple of brochures of this park and had decided it would be a must to see on another trip. The park boasts beautiful landscapes which are a must for anyone wanting to learn how to shoot landscapes. The views are incredible. I have done a couple of panoramic shots here. The cloudy weather also offering some challenges, at times I have had to wait up to 30 minutes to take a single picture. One thing that I have discovered about this area is that it can get rather cold, so you would need to go prepared for anything, including cold weather in the middle of summer. I have taken the shots of Golden Gate National Park and the surrounding areas using my Canon EOS1DS Mark3 with 24-70 2.8L and 70-200 2.8LIS Canon zooms. I have visited the small town of Clarens which is a short distance from the park. The town is an artist’s paradise. There are several art galleries and the town is rather touristic. The roads to the town are extremely scenic and I have spent a lot of time shooting these views. I do have to mention that I spent a couple of nights at Jastelle Self Catering Cottages, where you will find the accommodation to your satisfaction, with the three well maintained cottages. There is space for campers here aswell.

Pilanesberg National Park

Saturday afternoon I took a drive to Pilanesberg National Park. The park is about 50 km north of Rustenburg. It hosts a large variety of game, including the big 5, as well as cheetah, hyena, the rare sable antelope as well as hippo. I spent a day and a half in the park. I found the park attractive with the scenic landscape and the hills all around. I have captured some stunning pictures of zebra and blue wildebeest here. These are two species which have previously eluded me in other parks. I have also managed to get one shot of a herd of springbok, which unfortunately took off right there after. I once again realize that a larger lens is a must when shooting wild animals.

Monte Casino Bird Park

Thursday morning I awoke to more gloomy weather, but surprisingly at around 10 am a couple of breaks appeared in the clouds. I decided to visit a Bird Park I had heard about. Situated off William Nicol Drive, Monte Casino hides a treasure in Gauteng! I was surprised to find one of the most beautiful animal parks I have ever seen. I would highly recommend this park at Monte Casino for both young and old!
Firstly I did not need a 500mm lens here. The birds were close enough, sometimes even too close, to shoot, which is not a normal occurrence with wildlife! There are many different species of birds and most of them are used to being close to people, so they don’t fly away when you take shots of them. The birds are enclosed in what one could call an enormous cage, which has been created with a very large net. Under the net you will find what would appear to be natural habitat, with various species trees as well as a water feature which creates a wetland habitat.











There is a bridge through the trees, which makes it possible to view the birds at eye level in the tree tops. I have taken so many incredible pictures of the birds using my canon EOS1DS Mark3 with a Canon 70-200LIS 2.8 plus Canon extender 1.4 and a 580 Mark2 flash. I decided to return to the park for a second day of wonderful shooting.

A trip to the Northern Cape

After a rainy weekend in Johannesburg and with no signs of the weather clearing I decided to take a short trip to the Northern Cape. This was the closest place that the weather forecast predicted a little sun shine! I eventually arrived in Kimberley in the middle of the afternoon. I had chosen to stay at the caravan park opposite the Open Mine Museum. I had taken with me a tent and my sleeping bag. Camping is the most cost effective way to travel in South Africa, but do be prepared to give up some of the luxuries one is accustomed to.
Kimberley, the capital of the Northern Cape Province is one of the older towns in South Africa which was founded due to the discovery of diamonds. It has a little over 200 000 inhabitants.











The history of Kimberley is well presented to tourists at the Open Mine Museum. The main attraction is of course the Big Hole.
The story started around 1870, when this spot was still a hill. After diamonds were found on the surface of the hill, people started digging in 1871. Soon there were many people trying to get rich at the diggings. The hill, that was once there was soon gone. A town soon emerged around, what was to become the largest man made hole in the world. The buildings that were built, in those early days, have been preserved. Some still contain the original items that were in them over a century ago. I spent a day at the museum shooting the buildings using my Canon.











The Eureka and the Star of South Africa are two of the famous diamonds that were found in Kimberley. A mining company was founded and is known in the area as De Beers Mining. The company is still in existence today and diamonds are still mined around Kimberley!
My luck was not to last, the bad weather that had plagued me in Johannesburg had caught up to me! I decided that is was most probably time to make my way back toward Johannesburg. The weather had turned against me. It would not matter where I went, I would encounter bad weather!

Installing Canon DPP without the CD Rom

I found myself in a dilemma after shooting Wendy. I wanted to give her some of the pictures I had taken of her. I could not do this because I had shot in RAW. I did not have my computer or Canon CD Rom with me to be able to view or convert the images. The Canon site only provides updates. You would need DPP already installed on the system before you can use the Canon updates. I found on a few websites instructions on how to install the soft ware without the CD. You need to create the following entry on the registry then you can download and install an update from the website without any problems.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Canon\DPP

Portraits on a gloomy day

Well, what can be said about the weather! I might as well have been in England, with the cloudy sky and the drizzle during the day. I spent the morning using my imagination in shooting some fruit! I do believe that doing something is better than doing nothing at all! I used my Canon EOS1DS Mark3 with my amazing Canon 85mm 1.2L on my tripod. I needed to have the background blurred due to it not being pretty. I set my aperture at 1.6 and it is incredible as to how sharp it was.
I could not shoot fruit all day! This would have become incredibly boring, so Wendy kindly volunteered to model for me. I did several portraits of her. With a couple of clothing changes and a fan we created different effects.
Due to the continuous drizzle outside, I did the portraits in the living room in front of the window. The light was rather poor and I struggled to focus properly with my Canon 85mm 1.2L. Again with the aperture set at 1.6, the ability to focus was a lot harder. I did however manage to take some good snaps of Wendy. I took the shots using my Canon EOS1D Mark3, with only the Canon 580 Mark2 Flash and no studio lighting.

A return trip to the Botanical Gardens, Roodepoort

I returned to the gardens in gloomy weather! The sky is very cloudy and the light is not the best. The bird hide I used last time, is closed due to construction work. So unfortunately, I did not have as nice a position as the one I had on my previous visit. The light was so bad that I had to use my image stabilizer. Even with the stabilizer on I was just able to have the lowest ISO as possible to keep the best quality. I have kept from the day the picture of the Red Bishop Weaver. I have taken these shots with my usual camera gear.

Destination South Africa!

My next journey! Destination South Africa! I took a flight in London headed for Doha, where I board a connecting flight to Johannesburg. I only slept for three hours during the 19 hour trip due to all the movies I had watched. I arrived in Johannesburg on a misty morning. I nearly thought I was back in England! At least it was neither wet, nor cold. I spent the day relaxing and just thinking about what I was going to do the following day.
From my previous visit to South Africa I had discovered that private transport is a must here. So, I have the use of a rather old, but functional 95 Honda Ballade, when it decides to start, thanks to the half functioning security system in the car! I have with me my GPS which will help me get around the Country.

I decided to spend the day at the Johannesburg Zoo. I have enjoyed the photography of wild animals previously and wanted to do more shots. The zoo is a good place to start as the animals are easily accessible.

The animals still have a mind of their own and are difficult to shoot. The background here can also become an issue, as there are a lot of fences, walls and other images that a person would not want in a photograph. I have not taken very many pictures today, but those that I have kept are some close up shots, I have found that I need my flash as the light is very harsh. The sun changes position rather fast. I have used my Canon with a zoom 70-200 2.8LIS and extender 1.4.