the lion's roar - wildlife photo safaris in africa's national parks · 2013-03-09 ·...

The Lion's Roar

Photo Safari Newsletter Autumn 2013

The Lion's Roar Photo Safari Newsletter

Copyright: http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/

In This Issue...

Kruger Park Floods

Warning

Nikon D600

Nikon Pro Talk with Roger de la Harpe

New Photographic eBook

Image Theft

New Camps in Kruger & Kgalagadi

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition

Parting Shot ____________________________________________________________________________

Editorial First off we apologise for the long silence between the last newsletter and this one – 2012 was a hectic year as we published our first eBook on Etosha in March and our second eBook on the Pilanesberg in December. We also spent about three months on safaris in the Pilanesberg and the Kgalagadi getting the last material for our upcoming eBooks. 2013 it seems, is also going to be a busy year as we put the finishing touches to the Kgalagadi eBook and visit lodges in the Kruger Park concessions, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, and also lodges along the ‘African Ivory Route’ and in Limpopo National Park in Mozambique for material for our Greater Kruger eBook. This year saw floods in the Kruger once again, exactly to the day that the floods hit in 2012! Previously the worst floods were in February 2000 but the January 2013 floods saw more damage, especially in the north where the rivers burst their banks by 200-300 meters on either side! We travelled from the south to the north of the Kruger in February 2013 and photographed some of the damage. There have been a lot of news items and discussions on forums about the new hotels and lodges in the Kruger Park and Kgalagadi. Most of it unfortunately has been negative, but as ‘lodge-dwellers’ (the term used by some campers to describe the supposed wealthy people that the parks are pandering to) we are excited by these new developments and cannot wait to visit the three new camps being built by Ta Shebube on the Botswana side of the Kgalagadi. We go on to discuss image theft, which seems to be rife. In addition to images we have had whole articles stolen and uploaded word-for-word on travel websites! Do these people think that the internet is a big cookie jar where everything they see is free and they can simply help themselves? We end off with some advice when entering photographic contests – honesty is the best policy. We hope you enjoy this issue! Mario & Jenny Fazekas Kruger-2-Kalahari

http://tashebube.com/

http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/



Kruger Park Floods - 2013 In February we visited Lukimbi Safari Lodge, which is situated on a large concession in the southern Kruger Park and also Idube Safari Lodge in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve. We saw some minor flood damage in the south but as we travelled further north we saw more damage.

This is the sign at the Balule/Olifants low-level bridge buried under a lot of sand!

This is the ‘tar’ road just before the Shingwedzi high-level bridge and the camp turnoff – it is now a dirt road and you can see all the pieces of tar laying to the right of the road, which the flood waters ripped up! This is the Shingwedzi high-level bridge…

http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/lukimbi-safari-lodge.html

http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/idube-safari-lodge.html



This is the S63, S64, H 1-8 intersection looking in the direction of the Pafuri picnic site. You can see the one stone road sign in the above photo – it has been overturned (left side of the road), while the other sign had fared only slightly better… The Luvuvhu Bridge with debris and a huge tree that reached right down to the water…



A Warning – Do not check in your photographic gear when flying! When flying, take your cameras and lenses on the plane with you as carry-on luggage. This photographer checked in one of her bags while flying in the USA. She emailed the airline executives and all she got was the standard ‘sorry for your loss, please report this to the police’ email. Only when her complaint went viral on social media did the airline eventually pay her $1000,00, which did not cover all the stolen items but was better than nothing. If you are flying to Africa for a photo safari, rather leave some gear at home than risk your gear being stolen. Each person is entitled to one carry-on item – let that be your photo gear! You can read her blog post here.

The Nikon D600 We bought three of these bodies and after a 3-week safari in the Kgalagadi returned them to the dealer. They were not the normal good quality that we have come to expect from Nikon. We replaced the three D600 bodies with two D800 bodies and oh, what a difference! You can read more about our disappointment with the D600 bodies here and also about how happy we are with the D800 bodies here. We read all the negative reports about the D600 but also read a few people that said their bodies were problem-free – we should have listened to the majority! The dealer where we bought the cameras from did not seem too concerned about our problems but thankfully Nikon arranged for a full refund and we got D800 bodies that we have now used on two Kruger safaris and they are excellent!

Nikon Pro-Talk We attended a talk at Nikon’s head office in Centurion, by Roger de la Harpe. He discussed how he prepares for a shoot, the daily challenges that he and Pat, his wife, experience and how it eventually all comes together in a wonderful book. Roger has just published his 24th photography book; In Search of the African Lion.

http://www.jessdugan.com/blog/13699650

http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/nikon-D600-camera-review.html

http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/nikon-d800-camera-review.html

http://www.africaimagery.com/lion_book.php

http://www.africaimagery.com/lion_book.php

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=N0X4IUhDVHzSWM&tbnid=Xou6_dehCW07uM:&ved=0CAgQjRwwAA&url=http://myona.com/2012/01/12/nikon-d800-unofficial-specs/nikon-logo/&ei=w6E5Uc_4MqnWygGa8oDYDQ&psig=AFQjCNHMH8-XDDM674fUdQh4qF5-j3Vafg&ust=1362817859878466



New Photographic eBook

We are pleased to announce our second eBook The Photographer's Guide to the Pilanesberg National Park. Jenny and I compiled the eBook with Edward Peach, whom we met while staying at Ivory Tree Lodge.

Edward spent 18 months as a ranger in the park and he knows the Pilanesberg intimately. He was one of the best field guides we have had and he is an excellent photographer. He knows the best spots for sunrise and sunset shots, the best routes for finding predators, the best hides and he provides good advice for visitors who go on guided safaris.

With our combined knowledge this book becomes a powerful tool that will enable you to find the animals and then know how best to photograph them.

And the best part is that the book costs less than one night's camping!

Some reviews of the book from

around the world:

"This is the perfect book for people like me! What I

really like about it is that it gives very specific, down-

to-earth ideas that non-specialists can actually

understand (and I am a writer by trade, so I demand

high standards of clarity)." - Harriet Morris, eBook

author and copywriter, USA

"I have visited many national parks in South Africa

and read extensively on wildlife and nature related

subjects and whether you want to visit Pilanesberg

National Park or just want to learn how to photograph

wildlife, this is the book you have to have. Trust me!” - JV Cronjé, Mossel Bay, South Africa

"As a photographer and someone who has visited and taken photographs in the Pilanesberg

National Park, I can safely say that with the knowledge gained from this eBook, your experiences

and photographs will be much more memorable."

- Alastair Stewart, British Colombia, Canada

“Photographer's Guide to the Pilanesberg National Park is the BEST book and source of information BY FAR!” - Amanda Ellis - Wildlife and Avian Photography Enthusiast, South Africa

Please click here to see some photographs & read the stories from people who used our Etosha eBook to capture some exciting images in the Namibian park.

http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/photographers-guide-to-the-pilanesberg.html


http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/photographers-guide-ebooks.html

http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/photographers-guide-to-etosha.html




Image Theft

We have been reading a lot of articles on theft of images on the internet so we decided to see if any of our images have been ‘borrowed’. We chose this baobab image taken in the Kruger Park with the rising sun and used Google Images to search for the same image. We got 3 pages of results with nearly 30 websites in the USA, UK, Germany, Spain, India and also Facebook pages who had stolen our image.

Our next step was to post comments on these websites saying what a lovely image it was and asking where they got it from with a link to our web page containing the image. Within a few days the 3 pages had been reduced to 2 pages but the others ignored our post. We don’t think you can ever eliminate image theft but we are going to make it uncomfortable for those thieves that do take our images! If you have images we would suggest you do regular checks using Google Images or Tin Eye. People have been sued for ‘using’ other people’s photographs without their permission but it is a long process. This blogger learnt the hard way – she ‘grabbed’ a photo off of a Google search, which was from a photographer’s website. The photographer contacted her and told her to take it down and he successfully sued her. You can read her story and advice here

“Nothing happens when you sit at home. I always make it a point to carry a camera with

me at all times…I just shoot at what interests me at that moment”. – Elliott Erwitt

http://images.google.com/

http://www.tineye.com/

http://www.roniloren.com/blog/2012/7/20/bloggers-beware-you-can-get-sued-for-using-pics-on-your-blog.html



New camps for the Kruger and Kgalagadi I’m sure that most people would be aware of the new hotel developments in the Kruger National Park. There are two hotels being built in the south, one near Malelane gate and the other near Skukuza rest-camp (Paul Kruger gate). What many people may not know is that there are rumors of other hotels that are planned for Orpen gate, Phalaborwa gate and also in the north near Punda Maria! In addition, there are new camps, new units and refurbishments being planned in the Kgalagadi:

Re-design Nossob Rest Camp 10 x units, re-alignment of road and upgrade of bulk services. Project is funded and EIA in process.

Re-design Nossob Rest Camp 10 x luxury camp sites and associated infrastructure. EIA in process. Project not funded.

Gharagab 3 x luxury 4x4 camp sites. EIA in process. Project not funded.

Mata Mata area 10 x new luxury camping sites at Craig Lockhardt (Kameelperd kamp). EIA in process. Project not funded.

Mata Mata 2 x family units to be constructed. EIA completed. Project not funded.

Wilderness camps Additional unit at Kieliekrankie, Urikaruus and Grootkolk Wilderness Camps. Project not funded.

Twee Rivieren 5 x 2-bed chalets. Project not funded.

Jan se Draai wilderness camp (halfway between Twee Rivieren and Nossob)

Combination of two approved sites along the Nossob River for wilderness camp to construct 10 units, access roads and bulk services. Project not funded

Stoffelsdraai – 4 x 4 camping site 5 x wilderness camping sites for 4x4 groups. Project not funded.

There are also new developments on the Botswana side of the Kgalagadi. New camps are being built at Rooiputs, Polentswa and Union’s End. Rooiputs is opening on 01 June 2013, Polentswa in July and Union’s End August/September 2013. We have been reading comments on some of the forums and many people are so negative about these developments. What it seems to boil down to is ignorance, selfishness and/or a fear of change. These were some of the complaints (and our answers): “The camp at Rooiputs is going to replace the existing camping site” – not so, the lodge is 200 meters next to the camp site. (Moral of the story – do your homework before complaining!)



“You can actually see the camp as it is so close to the road and the camp site”. So what!? You can see the lodge roofs from these two spots but you can also see most of Satara, Nossob and many other camps from the roads. At Twee Rivieren, Nossob and Mata Mata the campers look onto the cottages and vice versa and everyone lives in harmony.

“The parks are only looking after the rich lodge-dwellers” – We have found that the parks are trying to provide accommodation for all budgets. The developers had the option of building Rooiputs camp over the existing camp site but the MD of Ta Shebube is a camper as well as a ‘lodge-dweller’ and she enjoys the camping experience so it was decided to build next to the camp site. (We have seen campers driving 4x4 vehicles that cost over R1 million so to make the distinction that campers are ‘poor’ and lodge-dwellers are ‘wealthy’ isn’t an intelligent comment). We can remember that there was also much unhappiness when the original wilderness camps were built in the Kgalagadi back in 2002. People knew only three camps, Twee Rivieren, Nossob and Mata Mata and the negative visitors were up in arms about this new development but in hindsight these wilderness camps are the best thing that could have happened in the Kgalagadi! As ‘lodge-dwellers’, we are looking forward to these new developments that will bring added value to the parks and provide more choices for the visitors. For more information on the three exciting new Kgalagadi camps on the Botswana side of the park, please visit the website of Ta Shebube. ____________________________________________________________________________

Share Your Photos We would love to hear from you so please remember to share your photos with us and other visitors. It's such a waste 'hiding' your images on a computer or on a DVD where they cannot be appreciated by others! ____________________________________________________________________________


http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/share-your-stories.html




The email most Photographers would love to Receive!

I received this email in April 2012 as my Scorpion image had made it to the Final round of judging.

The organisers requested a RAW file and more information on how the image was captured.

I had read the rules and they simply say ‘do not enter images of captive animals’ but what is the definition of a ‘captive’ animal?

This question has caused much debate. The rules go on to say “With full and appropriate

disclosure of all information relating to how, when and where the image was captured, the Judges will ascertain whether the species featured is, as far as reasonably possible, living a free and wild existence”.

My scorpion image had been shot in Satara rest camp. It was living a free and wild existence but for a few minutes I picked him up (with a spatula) and placed him in a small vivarium where I photographed him under UV lights before releasing him.

I think my image was disqualified due to my declaration. I could have lied and said that the scorpion was photographed in a totally free and wild environment but liars tend to get caught out – as happened with the 2009 winner, Jose Luis Rodriguez, who allegedly lied about his wolf image and he won the title of ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ but then had the title taken away and he was banned for life from entering the contest when the organisers found out about his deception.

The point I’m making here is that it is better to miss this opportunity and still retain your integrity than to be known as the ‘liar photographer!” Who wants to do business with a liar and a cheat?

If I, or you, are meant to win this contest we will do so eventually – we do not need to resort to lies and deception. Once a person loses their integrity it is gone as people have long memories!

“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8470962.stm



Parting Shot...

Leopard Lazing in tree near Lukimbi Lodge, Kruger Park

Nikon D3s with 600mm f4 lens plus 1.7x TC resting on beanbag ISO 12800, 1/25 sec at f/6.7

(The sun had set 30 minutes ago!) Copyright: Mario Fazekas

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the lion's roar - wildlife photo safaris in africa's national parks · 2013-03-09 ·...

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