Wednesday 14 March 2012

Mozambique Landscapes


The landscape on the Mozambique side of the Kruger National Park is mostly bush veld. 

Two weeks before our arrival a massive veld fire had crossed from the South African side into Mozambique and to say the least the veld looked bleak. I was a bit worried that I might not get any good landscapes photographs...






One the evening of our arrival we went for a drive to a nearby dam to see if we could catch some fish. I am not much of a fisherman myself, so while the rest were trying their luck I walked around with my camera. The veld looked really burnt out but in the the last dying rays of the sun the trees looked promising and I made a few exposures before the sun disappeared, which happens very fast in Africa.


click on images to enlarge....













The images below were made from the boat one evening as the sun was setting. There was no wind and the lake had a mirror surface....these images look really great when viewed large...so click on them...





Technical...

All the photographs were made with my Canon 5dII with the 70-300L IS lens and my Leica X1. I am most impressed with the Canon 70-300L IS...it is sharp right into the corners at all focal lengths and at all apertures and with the IS (stability control) camera shake is much reduced. The IS has the added advantage that the lens is as steady as a rock when looking through the viewfinder. It really improves the handling of this somewhat heavy lens tremendously....Before the trip I also bought the Canon battery grip for my 5DII, which made shooting verticals much easier. It has the added advantage of being able to take penlight batteries. I wasn't quite sure if I would be able to charge my batteries and took a few lithium penlights with just in case...

 regards, Ivan...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I especially enjoyed images #1 and #5. Nice work. I too enjoy my 70-300L, it's a great combination of reach and compact size. The IS is amazing!

Unknown said...

Thanks! Yes the technology keeps on getting better and better...