Lodge photography
I was very lucky to be engaged by Chewore Lodge at the end of 2020 to photography their newly refurbished camp along the banks of the Zambezi River. It was a hectic 3 days of 4am starts and late nights, as you may well know its all about the right light!
We covered all aspects fo the lodge from the main boma area and fire pit to the rooms and food, some aerial images helped nicely to pout the lodges location right on the banks of the mighty Zambezi river into perspective.
Azzurri Pub and Grill offer some delicious food! I know this because I got to sample a lot of it while I was photographing their menu not so long ago. Azzurri not only wanted their dishes photographed but wanted to created some ambiance shots around their cocktails and dining out experience at the venue, so we used some friends to play the part of diners, and funnily enough they also loved the food! Which dish would you love to tuck into?
The iconic Nesbitt Arms in Chiredzi has recently undergone a soft refurb and so I was approached by the marketing team to help create some fresh images of the newly refurbished rooms and exterior of the hotel.
Nestled in the Imbeza valley near Penhalonga in Zimbabwe's Eastern Highlands is possibly one of the countries best kept tourism secrets; La Rochelle Country House. The former home of the eccentric Courtauld family it was generously donated to the National Trust of Zimbabwe on their passing and has recently been refurbished and offers sumptuous cuisine and unique boutique accommodation to the discerning visitor.
La Rochelle are focusing on the experiential traveller and so a large portion of my brief was to showcase, often in close detail, the unique settings, drinks, dining and more that is on offer at La Rochelle.
And it is certainly undeniable that La Rochelle is one of the most unique buildings in Zimbabwe, the original architects where instructed by the Courtauld's to create one of the most 'ambitious' homes of their time (in the 1960's). True to form and built on a large scale for entertaining their guests, the facade of La Rochelle is truly fascinating.
Thankfully I had a good amount of time at La Rochelle which allowed me to capture as many of the experiences on offer. From exceptional food and drinks to wandering through the immense and captivating gardens, sipping gin and tonics by the pool or enjoying a relaxing session in the Spa, there was certainly a lot of opportunity to create and capture some stunning marketing pictures. Because of this, I would like the images to speak for themselves, so sit back, relax and enjoy the splendor of La Rochelle!
Batonka Guest Lodge must be one of the most well appointed small boutique lodges in Victoria Falls so when they asked me to help them update their marketing gallery I was thrilled! Although the focus was to create some fresh material to be used as signature images for the lodge's new marketing strategies some more general shots of the public areas and rooms where required to replace older images. You can see some of the great results below.
The owners of the lodge really love the look and vibe of the property in the 'blue light' just after sunset so as the sun started to dip over the horizon there was some frantic activity to ensure that all the areas we wanted to cover were well prepped and looking fantastic. I'm sure you will agree that the character of the lodge is really accentuated by the soft tones and poppy colours of that magical blue hour.
In addition to the beautiful blue images above we took to the air to look for some unique angles of the lodge that really showcase the green haven that it is. As usual my drone did not disappoint and I was able to capture a stunning sunset above the lodge.
All in all I am sure you will agree with me that the shoot was a great success, thankfully so did the owners of Batonka Guest Lodge who where thrilled with some of the fresh angles that we managed to capture! I had great fun shooting Batonka and would like to thank the owners for the opportunity to shoot and showcase the lodge.
Food is certainly a large part of the overall experience that we have come to expect from modern travel and so a large part of my job when photographing hotels and safari lodges is to showcase the amazing food on offer. So when Zimbabwean hotel giant Rainbow Tourism Group wanted to showcase some of the premier dishes available at their hotels I was all too happy to rise to the occasion. I would like to let the food do all the talking here, so below are some of the delicious results...
I am very fortunate to be able to travel all over Zimbabwe and southern Africa photographing luxury lodges, hotels and BnB's but luckily for me I only had to head around the corner to photograph the luxurious no 18 Guest Lodge in Harare.
Situated in the heart of Harare's northern suburbs is offers the perfect blend of luxurious comfort and homeliness. Its spacious interiors and open plan living areas made it a joy for me to photograph as space was never an issue and I could move around quite easily to ensure that I got the perfect angle every time.
As is the norm with any shoot of a tourism product the aim was to showcase all aspects of the lodge, from the public areas through to the rooms and the amenities on offer. As you can see from the images below the public areas are invitingly comfortable and well appointed.
The rooms where equally well appointed and offered a comfortable environment in which any traveller could unwind and relax.
The exterior of the guest lodge offers a warm, inviting facade as you drive through the gates.
The lodge also offers amazing facilities to its clients including a very healthy menu to choose from.
If you have a tourism product that you would like photographed, please don't hesitate to contact us!
What could be better than ushering in 2017 in one of Zimbabwe's most beautiful wilderness areas while being hosted by a fantastic team at an awesome safari lodge? I am fortunate enough to spend a lot of time all over Zimbabwe and the region helping our various tourism friends update their marketing portfolio's throughout the different seasons and on this glorious occasion I found myself in the verdant surrounds of Rhino Safari Camp on the shores of Lake Kariba.
The camp is located on its own little haven, Muuyu point (which in the local lingo means Baobab Point) and when the lake is really full it's often cut off from the mainland by the high water and becomes an island. I have done some photography and run some photographic safaris at the camp before so was very excited when I had the opportunity to head back at a different time of the year.
The brief was simple, get some stunning marketing images of the camp, its surrounds and activities that will help promote the 'green season'. This didn't prove to be too difficult as the bush was thick, green and vibrant after a good start to the rainy season.
Kariba is synonymous with its 'big sky' which is best seen in the green season when the rain keeps the haze at bay and the cloud formations are at their most stunning.
The only slight snag was working around the weather! Being the end of December and in full swing of the heaviest rainy season in a long time it was a constant guessing game as to what we would be able to achieve. However on the plus side the sky always had some great cloud detail in it which adds a certain livliness to the pics.
Some wonderfully cooperative models allowed us to get a handful of 'lifestyle' shots around the camp which add an invaluable human element to the marketing pictures.
The sheer 'greenness' of the surrounds made it exceptionally easy to showcase how vibrant the camp is in this wonderful season.
Even some of the local wildlife played ball and allowed us to get some fantastic game viewing images. Despite the heavy rain and abundance of grazing the game on the island is never far away.
The post-sunset 'blue light' provided a moody background to the glowingly warm, inviting atmosphere created by the subtle lighting around the public areas of the camp, with the warm glow of the evening 'bush television' shouting "sit near me"!!
On new years' eve with most of the camp staff and guests in tow we headed out onto the wonderfully expansive Kariba foreshore to a spot we had picked out earlier in the day under a towering petrified Mopane tree to setup a romantic bush dinner.
The weather seemed perfect for the occasion and the only logistical challenge we faced was how to hang the lanterns in the tree. Initially there was a lot of head scratching as the incredibly hard Mopane tree repelled any attempt to bang in a few temporary nails to hang the lanterns from. After a bit of sweating in the now rapidly descending sun some clever soul had a brainwave, why not use some fishing wire to hoist them up?!
If you have a tourism product that you would like photographed feel free to check out our tourism gallery and showreel or contact us for more information.
