Robin visits South Africa, part I

Let me begin by expressing my gratitude for the overwhelmingly positive response to my recent announcement about joining the Olympus Visionary team. I am grateful to have such supportive readers and have come this far thanks to your support. So please do continue to visit the site regularly as MT and myself endeavour to produce content.

From December 7th to 13th, I traveled to South Africa with a group of Olympus Visionaries from Asia Pacific. This photography trip was fully sponsored by Olympus with the objective of encouraging the 19 photographers from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia to share ideas, inspire each other and to work more closely with Olympus. We went to Madikwe Game Reserve for safari shoots and stayed at the Tau Game Lodge. We spent 3 days going out in the field, trying to capture wildlife and nature shots. This particular trip was full of new experiences for me. For this first part of my South Africa series, I will share wider landscape and environmental photographs of the locations we visited.

All images shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and M.Zuiko PRO lenses (300mm F4 PRO IS, 40-150mm F2.8 PRO and 7-14mm F2.8 PRO).

This was my second time visiting South Africa (my first time was in 2016, you can find my previous article here). I visited Kruger National Park back then and with my experience, I was a little more prepared this time. My biggest mistake previously was bringing only the M.Zuiko 300mm PRO lens, which didn’t allow for wider compositions. I didn’t realise how close to the animals we would be – less than 5 meters away, if you’re wondering. This meant that all I could shoot were extremely tight close up shots. This time, in addition to the 300mm PRO lens, I also brought along the 40-150mm F2.8 PRO lens for more flexible framing. Therefore, the images shown in this first article are all wider shots, showing the beautiful scenery of Madikwe Game Reserve at different times of the day and the animals in their surrounding environment.

The light at Madikwe Reserve was beautiful during our entire stay. We started as early as 5am, just as the sun was rising, which allowed us to shoot some dramatic sunrise shots. The landscape was covered by mist on one of the mornings, resulting in a moodier but very interesting outcome. The rest of the mornings were clear and the entire land was bathed in golden light that magically turned anything it touched into beautiful photographs. Having great light and breathtaking vistas on location, I shifted my focus to shooting the landscape.

It was interesting to observe the animals in their natural environment (we also had some man-made features such as the watering holes). Obviously the roads and tracks were created to ensure easy access of vehicles and permanently integrated into the living environment. Safaris are a thriving business, with tourists from all over the world coming to see the Big Five in Africa. Having so many close encounters with humans, I wonder if the animals are truly wild anymore? Regardless, I was focused on getting my shots and making the most of my time there.

The desert-like terrain of Madikwe Game Reserve is almost completely open with no tall trees. The bushes and short trees offer little cover or protection and I can’t help but wonder how the prey survive and evade the predators. It was because the landscape was so different from the tropical rainforests I’m used to that I found it fascinating. Everywhere we drove, there was such unrestricted openness.

The skies were clear at night allowing me to shoot some stars. I shot the above two images within the lodge itself – in fact, the star trail was shot from my room balcony. I used Live Composite for the star trails and this was my first successful shot. It was incredible to experience the cold of the desert at night (temperatures dropped below 10 degrees Celsius!) and observe the clear skies and bright stars. Unfortunately, this was not the Milky Way season but that didn’t dampen my experience by much.

This was the first ever annual gathering of Olympus Visionaries. I was privileged to be included in this trip and to interact with other bigger names in the industry. I learned so much by listening to their experience and watching them hone their craft during the drives. Each photographer was an expert in their own specific genres and had something to bring to the table. I only wish we could have spent a few more days exchanging ideas and skills.

With carry-on luggage restrictions being 7kg and enforced strictly, I was relieved to fit in the E-M1 Mark II and three PRO lenses together with a lightweight laptop. For a detailed breakdown on how I packed for this trip, check out my post here. The big advantage of having a lightweight camera with smaller footprint is evident on trips like this. I cannot imagine how I would bring an equivalent 600mm, 80-300mm and a 14-28mm lens with a full frame system and still fit under the 7kg limit. Checking in your gear is an option, but given the huge risk of damage and theft – I’d rather not. There’s also the added advantage that you can carry all this gear around all day without feeling like a mule.

I hope you enjoyed the scenery of South Africa. I thought it made a nice warm up before I jump into the next article with lots of close up portraits of the wild animals.

To be continued in Part 2 tomorrow

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Images and content copyright Robin Wong 2018 onwards. All rights reserved