Travel Photography Scholarship to South Africa (18-25 JAN 2012)

Photos: Travel Photography Scholarship 2011 - Day 7

walidrsd — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 05:48:00 GMT

Photos: Travel Photography Scholarship 2011 - Day 6

walidrsd — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 05:42:00 GMT

Photos: Travel Photography Scholarship 2011 - Day 5

walidrsd — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 05:34:00 GMT

Photos: Travel Photography Scholarship 2011 - Day4

walidrsd — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 05:28:00 GMT

Photos: Travel Photography Scholarship 2011 - Day 3

walidrsd — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:07:00 GMT

Photos: Travel Photography Scolarship 2011 - Day 2

walidrsd — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:53:00 GMT

Day 8: A Rush Departure

walidrsd — Sat, 3 Mar 2012 08:22:00 GMT

I lifted my heavy head out of bed for a refreshing shower and before I headed downstairs for some coffee, I thought I’d take one more vengeful glance at that cloud above Table Mountain. But it wasn’t there! We could finally go on top of Table Mountain. This would definitely be part of Jason’s plan for the day (after our quick Photoshop editing session) and Guts would surely welcome the idea before Jason departs since he never minds another close call racing to the airport.

On my way to meet the guys, I passed by Jason’s room and saw him packing his gear! It turned out he had issues with his travel booking and his flight was actually leaving from Johannesburg, not Cape Town. Luckily, after making a few calls over a quick breakfast, it was all sorted out, but this meant he had to be at the airport in the next 20 minutes. We helped him finish packing his heavy gear and broke a new speed record as we made it to the airport. Everything happened so fast that before I knew it I was bidding my farewells to a great photographer and a good friend. I’d been very fortunate to assist him and be mentored by him on this learning trip which has reshaped my approach to photography but it was over now.

We were feeling a bit disappointed and out of synch but we nonetheless made our way to Table Mountain to take it off the list. However, we soon saw that the 1-km road leading to the bottom of the mountain was packed with hundreds of visitors’ cars and tourist buses so we reluctantly changed our minds. Instead, I decided to walk around Long Street and be a tourist in the few hours I had left while Guts finished some errands in the area. Due to a little delay, we ended up having our last seafood lunch together in the minivan, racing once more towards the airport! Even that last meal was ruined thanks to a sharp stop at a red signal that sent our fried calamari flying onto the dashboard and landing on our lap. Still, we made it; we cleaned the mess laughing about the events of the day, I bid Guts farewell and he ran to catch his flight. I got my ticket and walked through the boarding gate bearing a wide smile on my face. What a trip! What a trip!

Day 7: A Nice Morning Drive

walidrsd — Sat, 3 Mar 2012 08:18:00 GMT

This morning, the sun was up and the sky was clear… well except for that damned white cloud still hanging above the mountain like a table cloth!

I joined the crew on a morning drive to the informal settlement of Red Hill located outside Cape Town. On the way there, we took a road that was the most beautiful road I’ve ever driven on by far, Chapman’s Peak drive; the road is literally cut out of the side of the mountain for over 115 curves, winding its way along the coast with the scenic Chapman’s Peak on one side and a rocky drop-off leading to the chilly Atlantic Ocean on the other. As we drove by people walking, jogging, cycling and walking their dogs along the way, I was secretly hoping that our minivan’s engine would fail so we could continue our journey on foot – I know it’s terrible! Especially since we had to drop Dan at the airport on time to kiss his bride on the following day – his wedding day!

We made our way to Red Hill and we soon were escorted by volunteers from Planeterra, a non-profit organization dedicated to community development through sustainable tourism. The settlement houses approximately 2,500 displaced Africans and refugees living in poverty in iron and wooden shacks. Many are unemployed and are unable to provide their children with food or proper education opportunities.

We also visited the Red Hill Pre-School and met with the teachers and had some great time with the kids who also eventually got hold of my camera and started taking photos with it! It was all too short a time and we were really disappointed when Dan gave us the “it’s time to go” look.

We raced towards the airport and made it on time. We bid our farewells to Dan, a great videographer and travel companion, and wished him a many happy married years. For the rest of the evening, Guts recommended heading to the town of Stellenbosch in Western Cape which is famous as the home of around 200 wine and grape producers and is the primary location for viticulture research. The town also hosts a number of leading universities. We visited 4 (or was it 3?) famous wineries and cheese farms in the area, enjoying great food and sipping on some of the greatest wines the area had to offer. By the time we finished our visits, the amount of wine in my blood made me switch off my camera mind. We walked around the town lined with Dutch-style buildings across the river. Stellenbosch oddly reminded me of Europe.

Luckily, Guts didn’t drink, so we made back to the hotel in one piece. It was our last night together so we headed to a sushi restaurant for more drinks and raw seafood. Two of Guts’ colleagues from Gap Adventures joined us and although I was quite drunk, I clearly remember we had a blast!

Day 6: Cape Town Through the Eyes of Mandela

walidrsd — Sat, 3 Mar 2012 08:16:00 GMT

We finally made it to the airport and caught our re-booked flight to Cape Town. When we got there I was taken aback by the amazing scenery there; the city is nestled along the slopes of Table Mountain and bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.

As we planned our day, Guts notified us that Table Mountain was closed due to cloudy weather. We went up to the rooftop of an upscale apartment villa which had a great view of the city to take some shots. Jason advised me to be sensitive to the direction of light as this can increase contrast, shadows, textures and reflections in the picture. High levels of contrast can fool cameras into exposing the scene incorrectly but you can easily overcome this with exposure compensation.

We collected our tickets to Robben Island but we found out that they were normal tourist tickets and due to paperwork complications, we were not granted photography passes. This meant that we would be joining tourists on a tour around the island. We had a quick bite at the port while watching seals swim in the water underneath us then took the ferry. Not holding any photography passes and with the amount of gear we carried, we ran into a bit of trouble with the security guard but luckily, we were finally authorized aboard. Throughout history, Robben Island had been mainly used to isolate political prisoners. It was here that Nelson Mandela spent decades imprisoned during the Apartheid regime among other political prisoners.

As soon as we arrived at Robben Island, Jason confiscated my digital camera and had me use his Hasselblad Xpan Panoramic film camera instead! The first thought that crossed my mind was to flee into the group of tourists ahead! It’s not that I don’t like film cameras; I own a Holga CFN 120 and I love it. It’s just that I got used to shooting digital since I find it faster, more convenient and flexible. Anyway, I only had 10 photos remaining on his film camera, which should suffice for the prison visit, after which I could get my camera back. He briefed me about its functions and control buttons as we evaded the tourists. We got to the prison’s back entrance door only to find out we couldn’t proceed without a guide. So we spent the wasted time outside in the burning sun. The repetitive shutter release sounds coming from Jason’s two DSLRs finally decided me to take my first shot! I framed my shot onto the prison’s wall, chose the appropriate aperture bearing in mind the depth of field, depressed the release button to get a reading of the shutter speed, changed the ISO for correct exposure then focused and took the shot with minimal hand shake – I hope. Too bad I couldn’t see what took me 4-5 minutes to compose and freeze, but I enjoyed every second of it.

We took some shots inside the prison and I asked Jason for my DSLR camera back to get some shots of Mandela’s cell after I took one with his film camera. He gave me his permission to take 3 shots only. To be honest with you, I couldn’t help it and had to take 5 shots to finally get the one I liked... but I hated myself for doing so. Shooting film, I quickly noticed that when shooting with digital cameras, you don’t take enough time to think before taking the shot, since you can be taking as many shots as you want and let the camera figure out the math or eventually like only one photo out of dozens – a single photo you could have achieved in a single shot with film. We left the prison joining the tourists on the tour bus around the rest of the island and we only had 5 minutes to leave the bus and take close photos of the quarry where the prisoners used to mine.

We concluded our day by driving around the area close to the shore at sunset, then drove to a view point overlooking the city to take some night shots. It was so windy that I was shivering and shaking as badly as my tripod but we pulled it off nonetheless and headed home with a sense of satisfaction.

Day 5: Flight Missed

walidrsd — Sat, 3 Mar 2012 08:15:00 GMT

After a few days of living the life of a professional photographer, I was getting used to it; I was up and ready before 5:00 a.m. We had our breakfast then set out for our last game drive before flying to Cape Town in the evening.

We caught sight of some impalas and various types of birds, such as the Lilac Breasted Roller Bird, one of South Africa’s most colored birds. At one point, I saw everyone stop to examine… a pile of elephant dung! That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for a photo subject but things got more interesting when I took a closer look: there was a dung beetle digging its way into the pile. This may sound like nothing, but I had never seen a live dung beetle before so I lay with my belly on the floor next to Jason and intently watched that little guy form its ball of dung and roll it away towards its burrow for food storage.

A bit further down the road, we stopped to take some macro shots of orb weaver spiders and I was amazed by their size. Time was flying by and we still wanted to visit a nearby village before our 7-hour drive to Johannesburg’s airport.

On the way back, I realized that so far I had come across 3 animals of South Africa’s Big Fives: I had seen a lion, an elephant and a buffalo – all that was left were the leopard and the rhinoceros. Not bad! Then Guts said that I missed the Small Five! I found out these were the elephant shrew, the lion ant, the red-billed buffalo weaver, the leopard tortoise and the rhino beetle.

We arrived at Shalati Pre-School in the Mnisi community where we were welcomed by a few students and the only teacher there. Shalati provides support to children and prepares them for the transition into primary school. The kids were fun; I took some photos of them and showed them how they looked in the picture, then it wasn’t long before they were posing and making funny faces. After that, I grabbed my notebook and started drawing while they watched then tried their hand at sketches too. As we were making to leave, I gave my pen to a very shy kid and joined the team while the kids were shouting to us “ChupChup, Chup Chup”, which means “everything is alright” in Xhosa, a South African language.

As we drove towards the airport, we stopped repeatedly to take photos of the beautiful landscapes along the way. It was raining a lot and we had to hurry to catch our flight to Cape Town. I felt we were going to miss it; I think we all did and were cool about it. We finally arrived there only 15 minutes before departure and Jason grabbed our passports for the check-in, while we unloaded the ton of material we were carrying. We went in loaded like pack mules only to find out that we had missed our flight!

Oh well, we spent the night at a guesthouse owned by Guts’ family sipping Amarula and wine, laughing as we recounted the adventures of the day.

Day 4: The Rescue of the Valkyries

walidrsd — Sat, 3 Mar 2012 08:14:00 GMT

After only two hours of sleep, I was a zombie at 5:30 a.m. We checked out but I still wasn’t sure where we were heading. We stopped on our way for snacks and I grabbed 2 cans of Red Bull when I remembered our talk about a ride in the South African Defense Force Oryx helicopter, which Guts had arranged with a colonel he knew! Fantastic!

A 5-hour ride to Hoedspruit in Limpopo got us to a hospital helipad. The helicopter arrived and we met with the rescue team and a rescued couple whose house had been completely destroyed. South Africa hadn’t witnessed anything like that in the past 30 years but the team reassured us that there had been no fatalities since everyone had been rescued from the area.

We then boarded the huge Oryx helicopter with its side doors removed. It was my first time in a helicopter and that was not a normal one either. We were about 12 people inside and there was still room for more. I parked myself in the back with Guts, Jason buckled up in the middle and Dan was filming from the front. Soon we were up in the air. I wasn’t fastened to anything, but the sheer force of the air coming in from the side doors helped me balance myself. Feeling safe and confident, I started enjoying the scenery and moving from one side to the other. It was hard to focus, compose and shoot photos while standing steadily; the easiest way was to crawl towards the doors and kneel. Very little communication is possible in this noisy setting so it’s good thing I remembered Jason’s advice to increase the ISO to benefit from faster shutter speeds.

We arrived above the flooded area and I could see the aftermath of the floods; areas soaked in water, washed-out trees and shattered houses. It was a mess. Then the rescuers demonstrated a rescue drill for our benefit. The pilot hovered towards the Three Rondawels peaks, the Blyde River Canyon – the 3^rd largest canyon in the world – and the Lowveld view point.

On the way back, the pilot went crazy and performed exciting maneuvers in the sky that made my day! Imagine a full wide view of the land on one side of the door, and a view of the vast open sky on the other side. That is one heck of an adrenaline boost!

We finally made it back and landed after almost a 2-hour helicopter ride. We collected some more information about the rescue operation and headed to Manyeleti Game Reserve.

We arrived there and made it straight into the park, as we had only 2 hours before the park closed and it was getting dark. When we stopped, Jason started filming eagles eating fire ants in the middle of the road but I gave my attention to a wildebeest behind us and walked towards it with camera in hand after Guts reassured me that it wouldn’t charge. I framed my shot, chose a shutter speed of 1/13 (ISO 1000) to motion blur the wildebeest as it ran into the bushes.

On the way back, we stopped to listen to the sounds of insects and various animals at a swamp, then made it back to the lodge for dinner by a campfire.

Day 3: A Chilling Roar After Midnight

walidrsd — Sat, 3 Mar 2012 08:12:00 GMT

A loud banging at my door finally got me out of bed at 5:00 a.m. I don’t know how Jason does it, but a mere 3-4 hours of sleep mean I’ll be dozing off behind the shutter while waiting for a good shot. Still, I know that photography’s Golden Hours are paramount. We made it to the park around sunrise and we soon faced a diversity of animals: a wildebeest uninterruptedly grazing; a kudu breastfeeding its calf; zebras staring at us with bewildered eyes; and storks stretching their wings close to a small pond. A pregnant giraffe also stood in our path to show off its majestic height and beauty, as if modeling for us; I made sure she had her share of shots, and we got good footage of animal behavior.

We continued our trip through a narrow road leading down to the other side of the reserve and stopped as Jason caught sight of a narrow stream running down the hill. I was impressed by Jason’s photographic vision, his eagle eye capable of scanning every scene and finding a frame – that comes with experience, I guess. This side of the park offered beautiful landscapes but limited wildlife except for lazy hippos swimming in the pond; the elusive cheetah that we knew to be around was nowhere to be “spotted”!

After 5 hours, the sun was getting hotter so we returned to the lodge for a late brunch and some rest before the evening drive. We talked about arranging an evening helicopter to take some aerial shots and headed back to the park, all the way to Namboomspruit Golf Course but unfortunately it was getting late and Jason thought we’d better postpone until the following morning as the weather was a bit cloudy.

We continued driving around the park for the next 3 hours. We didn’t spot anything new, until we finally came across a herd of elephants in a field of tall grass. It was close to sunset. Accompanied by “Guts” and an armed tracker, Jason decided to follow the herd on foot. Dan and I saw his bulky figure disappearing in the field and we were supposed to meet up with them at the other side of the road but after 15 minutes there was still no sign of them and it was getting dark. We remained cool and I helped our driver hold the spotlight and direct it all over the place. I admit I was worried and I didn’t know whether I was on the lookout for more wildlife or Jason’s trampled body! We finally saw him and his party walking towards us safe and sound.

It was almost midnight, and we were still on the search, I was cold, tired and disappointed. Lions, hyenas, cheetahs and other wild animals were not around! I think I began dozing off a bit in the back seat when - out of the blue - the driver spotted a lion walking past our vehicle; that was enough to wake me up from my lethargy. Finally! There he was, the king of the jungle, the famous hunter and largest of the wild cats, walking his land freely and proudly. We approached him slowly and noticed he was limping as if from a recent fight. We tried not to bother him much while he rested. As I was shooting a few pictures from the vehicle, I heard Jason say something about stepping out and taking a ground photo at a closer distance. Yeah, right! But he wasn’t joking! He actually climbed down the vehicle to get closer to the lion. Our sights were locked on the lion resting with its eyes closed while Jason was taking his shots. Suddenly glimpsing Jason, the lion moved his brown hairy mane; his piercing eyes glittered in the spotlight’s beam and he quickly stood up stretching his tasseled tail then growled with an eardrum-bursting roar. I was close to wetting my pants as Jason sprinted back to the vehicle. Jason’s eyes told me that if the lion hadn’t been tired, his advice to other photographers would be to think twice before trying such a stunt. We left the lion in peace and went back to the lodge. On the way, I dozed off for a few minutes but I woke up just in time to foil Dan and Jason’s plot to film me snoring. I dragged myself after 19 hours of wildlife tracking to my lodge for just two and a half hours of rest before the next day.

Day 2: Into the Wild

walidrsd — Sat, 3 Mar 2012 07:24:00 GMT

I was up at 7:00 a.m. and thank God the sun was finally up too. The weather looked promising and I was excited about the day. I packed my bags and joined the team for breakfast during which I kept coming at Jason with questions inquiring about his career and technical expertise. He told me about his encounters with some world-known photographers, such as James Nachtwey, Steve McCurry and many others. It’s a good thing I kept my notebook at close reach.

We loaded the 150 kilos of equipment into the minivan (interesting side note: Jason’s 80 kilos of gear alone weigh more than my actual body weight!) We had a long 5-6 hour drive ahead of us to the Entabeni Game Reserve. During the ride, Guts shared with us some facts about the history of South Africa and some of the landmarks that Pretoria had to offer. It was such a beautiful and upscale city that I wasn’t surprised to find out it was a second home for some celebrities such as Madonna and Michael Jackson whose high luxury villas are mostly lined up in Watergloove 101 street.

We then made it atop a hill offering a wide viewpoint of Pretoria and stopped to take some photos. Dan was filming Jason as he was explaining some photography tips while shooting a flower, approaching it from different angles and changing the background. I could see from the resulting images how each composed frame would change the mood of the flower. He also shared with me his personal preference of shooting with manual focus all the time. I practiced this recommendation while micro shooting a locust and I was surprised by how much better control I had and how much sharper my photos became. We also drove through Pretoria’s central district where we chalked off some street photography.

On our way, we stopped at a remote village down a dirt track where we took permission from the person in charge to take photos and document the lives of the residents in their harsh living conditions. With so little hope and in a country where they can’t be hired because of their age or skin color, they hope they can get at least the equivalent of USD 3,000 so they can start their own workshop that would provide work for the whole community. They still have rents to pay and fines to evade, yet all their income comes mostly from church donations.

After 3 more hours of driving, we finally made it to the park. We quickly checked in and took our first evening game drive. I was very excited and pleased at the sight of animals grazing in the wild, not encaged behind bars at zoos; we could spot at a close distance impalas, giraffes, zebras, kudus, waterbucks, wildebeests, warthogs and various types of birds. We spent the next 4 hours driving around the park, taking photos and filming. I was struggling with my 70-300 mm F5.6 Sigma lens to capture some sharp photos at night so Jason offered to let me use his spare zoom lens the following day. Finally, we left the park and headed back to our lodge for dinner. After dinner, Jason went through my photos and had some comments on them with regards to clipping, equidistance and exposure.

Day 1: Meeting Jason and Assessing the Challenges of the Trip

walidrsd — Sat, 3 Mar 2012 07:14:00 GMT

D-Day: I arrived at Beirut International Airport to catch my afternoon flight to Abu Dhabi. Finally, after a tense 1-hour delay, I sprinted through the airport in a blur of people and hallways until I barely felt the weight of my heavy 10 kilo camera gear load on my shoulders. You could say I was overly excited about this trip!

From Abu Dhabi, the flight to Johannesburg was smooth; after 8 hours, I arrived at O.R. Tambo Airport where I was met by Simon, the taxi driver. Although I had done my research on South Africa, what I saw was way beyond what I expected. I was fascinated by the beauty of Johannesburg: the vast green open spaces, the clean roads, nice compounds and malls. All along the way I harassed Simon with questions until we made it to the Dark Chocolate hotel.

It had been raining for the past two weeks and although it was 8:00 a.m., I snuck into my bed and get some sleep to store some energy for the hectic shooting days to come. Five hours later, I was up but Jason was out for lunch, so I spent a few hours reading in the garden and surfing the internet.

I was anticipating Jason’s arrival with mixed feelings; not having met him before, I didn’t know what to expect: what if he turned out to be serious and bossy? My thoughts were interrupted when he showed up with a big smile drawn on his face. It was a good way to start. We got to know one another and I immediately liked his straightforwardness. He sure talked a lot but he was funny as heck! We talked long and well about his experiences in Africa - one of his favorite wildlife destinations - as well as his insights about photography and equipment.

Jason heard there was a cyclone coming, a big storm with heavy showers over Kruger National Park. Several areas of the park were flooded and inaccessible. I shared his remark that a photographer is always subject to such unexpected natural circumstances that make his work more challenging. But that’s also part of the fun! We might end up covering a different story such as villages affected by the floods; on the other hand, we might also have higher chances to spot and film wild animals huddled on high grounds – or not, we’d see.

Videographer Dan Freene and our Gap Adventures guide Gerhard Swanepoel, aka “Guts” arrived in the afternoon and we sat down to plan our trip. Since all but two bridges leading to Kruger were closed, Guts recommended heading east to Entabeni Game Reserve Park. We then spent the rest of the evening getting to know one another and sharing stories over a tasty BBQ of steaks, chicken wings and the famous Boerewors sausages. I reckon I refilled my plate 3 times and Jason remarked that, although I was less than half his size, I still ate quite a lot.

Photos: Profile photo

walidrsd — Sun, 6 Nov 2011 01:03:00 GMT

Photos: My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

walidrsd — Sat, 5 Nov 2011 23:52:00 GMT

When I take a photo, it is really the child in me that holds the camera and plays the photographer. As that child, every time I look through my viewfinder, I do so with an innocent and renewed sense of amazement at nature and people’s lives to find moments calling me to “see” and not just look at them. To me, photography is the voice of that little child within me reaching out to the world, trying to make it see and feel things the way I do. I decided to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a photographer this year when I quit my banking job and headed on a 6-month trip in Southeast Asia to explore myself and other cultures through photography. The adult I am started treating this passion as a more complex process, enhancing and rationalizing the feeling behind every photo. Making photography an adventure, playing the right music, meeting interesting people and adding a few friends to give it meaning, and it suddenly becomes a real life story. My photos seem to tell this story over and over, in a different setting every time, reducing words to the frame inside which people and places share their tales and invite the imagination of others. This means of expression complemented my language studies and inspired me to tell my friends in Lebanon and the rest of the world about places and moments that should be felt like real life experiences. I accidentally heard about the National Geographic scholarship with Jason Edwards at this turning point in my life when what I need most is a sense of direction. I never imagined such an opportunity could come my way and that has motivated me to try harder to join this international community of travel photographers. Sincerely, Walid Rashid