The key to success for the majority of photography is knowing your subject. Something taught to us when we’re real young when it comes to writing, it totally applies to photography, especially wildlife photography. The open African woodland habitat that is Mala Mala is not your stereotypical African savannah you conjure up in your mind when picturing the bush. While I had been studying my mammal and bird ID books prior to going over, I was ill prepared for what we encountered. Besides the overwhelming sensory overload of critters ~everywhere~ you look, there is the challenge of making the photo that is more than a memory of that amazing moment. Step in the Rangers, the Boys of the Bush.
Roan, 27 and Greg, 24, grew up in this African environment of the “bush” and it shows. On top of this, they have spent their time in school, Greg with his degree in Zoology and Masters in Wildlife Mngmt. But what really makes these two rangers unique, at least to me, is their love and total dedication to the bush. There wasn’t ONE critter they couldn’t ID, there wasn’t one piece of biology I asked about they couldn’t speak about in great length. And there wasn’t ONE critter that we wanted to photograph they did’t have us on top of with the great angle. They are Rangers, they are not guides and within minutes of working with both of them they had my complete respect and admiration! If I were working a project back here in the states, they would be just like a biologist with all the knowledge and ability to get me intimate with a subject. And they are the reason the entire group on safari with Images in Africa Safari came back with the amazing images we so cherish!
When we were on the stalk for critters which you’ll see in the KelbyOne Class we shot, we were all business. But when not, well, boys will be boys! That’s probably what made the safari so memorable for me, the friendships that were made. Well, I wanted to have more than your casual clicks to remember these two by. So one chapter in the KelbyOne class is about bush portraits. Now what makes bush portraits different from normal portraits? Well, let’s just say you normally don’t get chased off your video set while shooting a class by a GIANT freakin Rhino that is charging two younger Rhinos out of his territory! You should have seen Adam’s face when he was told to jump, fast, into the Landi! You could sum up bush portraits in one word, fast! Shooting with the Df, 18-35AFS and SB-910 on a SC-28, the portrait session went like this: stop vehicle, look for critters, click to see base exposure for portrait, tell subject to look in this direction, put flash in place, click photo, drive in direction of critter. These Rangers, Roan and Greg and Brandon (not pictured here) worked wonders for us. We are so indebted to them. They made the safari so special and I will always smile when I look at these portraits because I know the story behind their making. And that’s what photography is all about!