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...
As most of you know I am a big fan of drone photography and never hesitate to let you all know about it whenever I can! However this time I would like to extoll the virtues of my long suffering family and friends! It was drummed into me when I studied photography that a great picture often needs some from of human element to either give it a feel of place, size or perspective. This was considered even more prevalent with sunset pictures, and that without some form of subject matter to tie it all together they where considered 'wallpaper' pictures. I have never had an issue with creating wallpaper but did take into consideration the teachings and have always tried to add a subject matter to my sunsets.
In most cases this has been my previously mentioned long suffering family and friends. They are quite used to being ordered into place in front of a variety of backgrounds, some more life threatening than others, with a resigned but compliant attitude. In the case of the 'wallpaper' above I felt I needed some form of human element to both contrast the power of the storm as well as showcase the sheer size of it. So to the rescue came my wife and father in our small boat and I must say they took my request to go roaring off into quite a lightning charged storm with as much enthusiasm for my dangerous request as they could muster.
However I assume that you are as impressed with the results as I and my models are, however unsure they still are that is was almost worth their lives to capture! So what are my ramblings building up to, basically be kind to your friends and family as you never know when you will need them to out their lives at risk for you to get that amazing picture!
I was extremely lucky, and my models where quite frightened, by the lighting thrown around by the storm, the above capture was by pure luck and I didn't even know I had it until I reviewed the images in Lightroom after the shoot. The only thing that ruins the shot somewhat for me is the boat angling to the right of the frame leads the eye away from the storm and the lightning bolt.
I was contracted by Green Fuel Zimbabwe last year to visit their sugar cane plantations on their Chisumbanje estate in Zimbabwe's South Eastern region to create a photo library of their Agricultural, Plant and Community developments. Green Fuel currently harvest about 9000 hectares of sugarcane on both their Middle Sabi and Chisumbanje estates which is then processed at the plant to produce ethanol that is blended with Zimbabwe's imported fuel.
My brief included showcasing the various agricultural developments and activities around the estate, their processing plant as well as their various community development projects. As usual I used a good mix of on the ground pictures as well and aerial shots to showcase the size and scale of the agricultural operation which you can see below.
Green Fuel have invested a lot of time and money developing the community surrounding their estates with investments in small scale agricultural projects as well as the rehabilitation of the local library and learning centre. Green Fuel also created a sewing project were men and woman from the community have been trained to make the necessary safety garments required by the companies' agrictural and plant workers.
Lastly to the plant; its architecture is visually appealing and well light at night which lent itself to well to being photographed in the 'blue light' after sunset. A good amount of time spent observing the operations in the plant resulted in some great detail images as well as of staff working. I always make mention of the invaluable use of my drone in conveying the size and relative perspective of such a large structure and it was no less applicable here, with some great aerial images being captured.
All in all Iw as very happy with the results of my visit to Green Fuel and look forward to my next assignment for Green Fuel, I would like to thank the management and particularly the marketinfg department at Green Fuel for their continued support.
I have been lucky enough to work with some of Zimbabwe's biggest agro-businesses and for the last three years have been having a lot of fun shooting a wide variety of images for Prime SeedCo. Initially Prime Seeds and now part of the SeedCo group Prime SeedCo provides high quality vegetable seed for sale in the Zimbabwean and African markets. I was engaged several years ago to help build up Prime Seeds' image database for use across all of their marketing databases and have photographed their products in the field and studio and from the air. You can see a selection of the images I have created for them in some of Prime SeedCo's marketing materials below.
Being a sales based company its essential to have a good selection of well shot product images and we have photographed all of Prime SeedCo's brands in our studio over the years, some of which you can see in the above posters.
Prime SeedCo also operates a substantial demo plot that farmers who are interested in their products can visit to see the veggies in the field as well as ask any of the knowledgeable staff any technical questions. Due to the seasonality of the different veggies I spend a few days in the field throughout the seasons in order to capture all the varieties on offer.
Prime SeedCo also hosts farmer field days throughout the year where both large scale and small scale farmers from around the country are invited to the demo plot to learn all about the varieties of veggies on offer and to learn best farming practices and the development in current agricultural trends. These field days are a great way of educating the local farming industry as well as showcase all the seasonal veggies at the demo plot.
Prime SeedCo also have a variety of commercial outlets around Zimbabwe and before the rebrand from Prime Seeds to SeedCo was completed I photographed one of their larger stores in Harare.
I thoroughly enjoy all the shoots I have done for Prime SeedCo over the years and look forward to the assignments I will be commissioned to carry out in 2018!
"Its all about the light, being at the right place at the right time, make the effort" these are all phrases that are synonymous with photography and are indeed words of advise that are well headed. However there is also a lot of planning involved in a successful shoot, scouting the location, being mindful of the weather and ensuring you have all the right equipment on hand.
Most of the above was relevant for me on a brisk early morning Landscape Photography shoot in Nyanga, Zimbabwe as I was strolling down from our lodge to the waters edge, in the dark and cold. The weather had been terrible for the past 4 days and this was my last opportunity to have a go at getting a decent sunrise shoot in as we where leaving that day. The weather reports the previous evening had been vague at best but inclined more towards the weather clearing a little and thankfully when I had a peek out of the window at 445 am the rosy stain of pre-dawn was lighting up the horizon.
A short trudge through the mist and the damp grass saw me at my pier which I had scouted the previous day and worked out that the sun should rise just to the right of the end of the pier, allowing me to use the pier as a great leading line to draw the eye to the stunning colours in the sky.
I must say that I personally prefer the above landscape photography as the silkiness of the water and the cloud detail that is being reflected adds an extra layer of dynamism to the amazing colours in the sky. The portrait version below is no less dramatic but somehow just not my favourite, which one do you prefer? Leave a comment below and let me know!
The pre-dawn magentas and blues didn't disappoint and got richer and richer as the sun rose closer to the horizon, and then started to quickly and dramatically loose their saturation as the sun started to tip over the horizon. At the same time the clouds started to close ranks and in the space of 30 minutes my sunrise has been overshadowed by the persistent clouds.
So I can testify that the old adage's mentioned at the start of this blog are correct, and that if you want to create great sunrise shots then you have to make the effort and get up early as well as be prepared and scout your locations before you shoot!
Where: Loch Conn, Connemara Lakes, Nynaga Zimbabwe
How: Manfrotto tripod, Nikon D800 with 16-35mm shot at 16mm. ISO 50 f16 @ 5 seconds
I have been very fortunate to shoot for Tongaat Hulett in Zimbabwe's low veld sugar hub for the past several years and have enjoyed working with the sugar giant immensely. The scale of the agriculture and the overwhelming size of the production process offers almost unending photographic opportunities.
I was contracted by Tongaat to photograph their Zimbabwean operations for the 2017 annual report. The brief was to get as many dynamic shots of their operations, production and people as possible, with a key focus being on capturing unique and captivating images of their staff at work in all environments.
This really pleased the portrait photographer in me and I think i can say that i managed to get some honest and engaging shots of the Tongaat staff...
Tongaat have a massive agricultural footprint in Zimbabwe's low-veld, focused around the Triangle and Hippo Valley Estates with total land under sugar cane of roughly 40 000 hectares. When the operations are in full swing there are so many photographic opportunities avaiable that I was spoiled for choice. Cleary a major part of the brief was to capture the agricultural and harvesting side of the operations, which you can see below.
Each estate has its own sugar mill and combined can crush over 4.5 million tonnes of sugar cane annually, which produces roughly 600 000 tonnes of sugar! Massive is the only word that really describes this undertaking! I was lucky enough to spend a few days in the mills documenting the process form start to finish and learning all about the fascinating process that eventually results in processed sugar.
The best way to appreciate the size of the agricultural footprint as well as the mills in my opinion is with aerial pictures. This is were my drone always shines, allowing me to capture unique angles and wide, stretching vistas.
All in all I always enjoy my assignments down to Tongaat Hulett and am already looking forward to my next assignment! If you have an agricultural project that you would like photographed, please don't hesiatte to contact me.
I have been fortunate enough to have worked with the amazing team at SeedCo for the past 8 years now and within that time I have travelled to Malawi, Zambia and all over Zimbabwe with the marketing and production team covering everything from plant openings, field days and farm visits. Thanks to SeedCo I have seen areas of Zimbabwe that I would never have visited on my own and met people from all walks of life that have broadened my horizons, and for that I would really like to praise the whole team at SeedCo!
Towards the end of last year I was commissioned by SeedCo to capture engaging images of their farmers for an Africa-wide marketing campaign. It was very visual throughout Zimbabwe in the form of press ads and large billboards and many of the images where used on their group webiste. You can see some of the final visuals below...
I have spent a lot of time with SeedCo visiting their large and small scale farmers all over Zimbabwe who grow both maize (SeedCo's main crop) as well as wheat and soya. The portraits of the farmers are used across most of SeedCo's advertising platforms..
An advertising campaign would amount to nothing without pictures of the product and I have spent a lot of time photographing SeedCo's products, from maize to wheat, soya and millet. The close up shots have helped to convey the essence of quality that is essential to getting good harvests. Wide shots as well as close up and macro images help get as much information about the product out to the customer.
Some of the large scale farmers I have visited grow large tracks of crops and so the best way to convey the size of these operations is with aerial shots.
SeedCo host a lot of farmer field days that focus on educating both small scale and large scale farmers on new product developments as well as how to get the best yield from their products. Often hundreds of farmers are present on the day and it always makes for some great visuals.
I would like to sincerely thank SeedCo for their support over the past eight years and I look forward to working closely with them again in 2018 to help portray their brand in the best light possible.
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!
I have written often in the past about the conflict that I have when I go on holiday with the family. To recap briefly its the internal conflict I have in finding the right balance between being on holiday with my family and getting out and doing what I love, taking pictures. Given that we often visit wild and exciting destinations this is a constant issue for me!
Our recent trip to Nyanga, Zimbabwe in mid December this year was a bit different thankfully! The cottage we stayed in was situated perfectly on the middle Connemara Lake with easy walking access to the rest of the dams and surrounds. So instead of having to stalk off on my own I could join my family on the walks and sneakily fly my drone whenever the occasion presented itself.
Quite honestly this was one of the most balanced family holidays I have managed so far, and I hope this is reflected in the awesome aerial pictures of the Connemarra area!
Its that time of the year again when Zimbabwe, and a lot of southern Africa, is drenched in the colour purple as the ubiquitous Jacaranda trees flower in all their glory. Harare and Bulawayo are renowned for this purple spectacle and thankfully I have been able to spend a bit of time wandering the streets with camera in hand. See below a rough guide to getting the most out of your jacaranda trees...
A lot of the images I have successfully created were from just being observant when I travelled around Harare and taking mental and physical notes of areas and scenes that I thought had potential. I then revisit those places in my own time and really work the scene from all angles. Don't be afraid to move around looking for different angles and perspectives. I also scouted my own neighbourhood a lot, there is often a tendency to think that good images must be far away from home. This often isnt the case at all and I managed to get some great images 5 minutes from my front door.
This image of a typical neighbourhood scene was taken just around the corner from my house.
Typically speaking most of the photography magic happens in the "golden hours" which are at sunrise and sunset so either get up very early and be on site before the sun or plan your day so you can be on site before the sun sets. Having said that the light is still good for about 2 hours after and before the sunrise and sunset so make sure you make good use of these times. The mix of soft, warm golden light and the magenta heavy hue of the jacarandas makes for some potential eyeball popping pictures!
Golden hour light will add that extra vibrancy to your jacaranda pictures.
Due to their age most of the Jacaranda trees in Zimbabwe are huge and so the temptation is to try and get the whole tree in every picture. While there is nothing wrong with this I would also suggest making use of any other lenses you have in your kit bag. Wide angle lenses will give you a wider angle of vision that will allow you to 'see' the whole scene in front of you. However, longer telephoto lenses like the standard 75-300 kit lenses, 70-200mm f2.8 lenses or even 50mm and 100mm lenses will narrow that angle of vision dramatically and give you a more compact view through your viewfinder. The longer lenses will also compress the foreground and background together creating the illusion that elements are closer together than they are. You can take advantage of this compression to make your compositions more powerful as the background (hopefully your colourful jacaranda's) will become more obvious in your shots.
I used a longer lens (this was shot at 170mm) which compressed the background and made it more prominent in this candid street scene.
A wide angle lens was used here to give me as wide an angle of vision as possible so I cold capture this long row of trees.
Its far too tempting to concentrate on the trees themselves and forget about all the vibrant things that happen in and around the trees on a daily basis. Try and think like a street photographer and focus on what is happening on a daily basis, with the jacarandas as a colourful backdrop. Try and incorporate candid pictures of people going about their daily business (always try to ask permission if you want to shoot close portraits) or contrast man made structures that will juxtapose well with the colours of the jacarandas.
Although a lot of your pictures can and will be taken hand held try and make use of a tripod whenever you can. This will allow you to shoot with a combination of a very low ISO (good for colours and no grain) as well as a small aperture of f11-f16 (good for increasing depth of field in your shots) without suffering from camera shake as a result of the slow shutter speeds. Tripods can be cumbersome to carry around with you, especially if you are trying to capture authentic street scenes by being unobtrusive and invisible, but they can often be worth their weight in gold! Tripods will also allow you to shoot at times when hand holding wont get you the shot, like before and after sunrise and during the evening.
Having my tripod on me allowed me to stay on and shoot this scene well into the evening and capturing the light trails of the evening traffic.
I hope you enjoyed my few pointers and that they give you some inspiration to get out and shoot some stunning jacaranda images! If you would like to learn more about the ins and outs of photography why not join us on one of our Photography Workshops.
