Fiji Teaser

We're about halfway through the maiden voyage of Fiji Siren. The weather hasn't been 100% cooperative, some wind and waves to contend with, but the conditions have been better UW than above. Tomorrow we should arrive at Taveuni, one of my favorite Fiji locations, for some classic Soma Soma Strait diving.

Fiji is known for its soft corals and the sides and tops of the Bommies are very colorful.


The Coral Trout in Fiji are quite docile compared to other regions, and easier to shoot. This one was shot with a 10mm lens and is just inches from the dome.


I love Tomato Clowns (Amphiprion frenatus) and have been finding lots of them on the tops of the Bommies.

Switching Gear(s)

I'm back in Bali and today has been all about re-grouping and preparing for my next trip in a few days to Fiji. It's time to put the topside stuff away and dust off the UW stuff that has been languishing for 3 months. Away with the Telephotos, it's back to Wide Angle and Macro lenses. I stripped down the RED to prepare it for use US in the Rouge housing. No need for the side handle or Bomb Viewfinder.

New version of "Green Africa" uploaded

I did a quick re-edit of 'Green Africa" yesterday for a live presentation. I just uploaded this new version to my Vimeo channel to replace the older version. This new version includes some Lion and Rhino footage that was inaccessible to me when I did the edit in the field. I had a Drobo Mini failure in Kenya and was unable to access the footage that I shot on my first visit to Lake Nakuru NP. When I got back to the US, my replacement Drobo Mini was waiting for me so I now have access to that footage again.

South Africa Wildlife video online

I've just posted a video titled Pondoro to my Vimeo channel. It includes some sample footage from Balule Private Nature Reserve in South Africa. Balule Reserve is a large private reserve that borders Kruger National Park. It is unfenced, so that Animals are free to wander back and forth between Balule and Kruger as they wish. Pondoro is the name for Lion in a local dialect, and also the name of the game lodge that I stayed at while I was in this area (a truly fantastic lodge, see previous posts!). One of the nice things about a private reserve is that you aren't restricted to the existing roads. If your guide and tracker spot some interesting activity off in the bush, you can off-road to get a better look. This film was mastered in 4K on RED and has been scaled down to a size that is presentable on the internet. Most of the footage was shot with a Sigma 50-500 lens (Bigma) and a Sigma 17-70 lens.

You can view the video on my Vimeo channel at: https://vimeo.com/74241815 or watch it on FishTalesFilms.com in the "Shot on RED" section.

A Day In Amsterdam

I can make it from Cape Town to Portland with just one stop, Amsterdam, but it's a long layover because the Amsterdam/Portland flight leaves just before the Cape Town/Amsterdam flight arrives. So I had a "free" day in Amsterdam today. I have a hotel near Central Station, so it's convenient to get to and from the Airport. I spent the afternoon wandering the city and dodging rain showers. This evening it was raining pretty steadily, so I decided to stay at the hotel and work on the South Africa wildlife video. It's rendering as I write this, so hopefully I can upload it later tonight. Tomorrow morning, I'll be off to Portland for a few days.

Bikes and Canals, Typical Dutch!


Now this is Amsterdam! If you don't know what Patat Met is, you don't know what you're missing.


Only the dutch would give a restaurant a name like this. I'll bet these guys also have a Hot Dog stand called "Bite Me"

Jackass

I made a trip down the Cape Peninsula today to shoot the colony of Jackass Penguins that live near Simontown. Cute little guys, their call does sound remarkably like the braying of a Jackass. They don't smell nearly as bad as a seal colony either. Also saw some Ostrich with the Atlantic in the background down near Cape Horn.

A couple of Jackasses


A female sitting on a nest


Some chicks waiting on the beach for Mom and Dad to come back with dinner.


Cape Horn Ostrich

Balule Nature Reserve Day Four

Today was good for Elephants and Cape Buffalo. We had a group of four bulls drinking at one of the waterholes. Then we had a family group ripping some trees apart for a late afternoon snack. Just before sunset, we had a herd of about 300 Cape Buffalo making a watering stop at another waterhole. This is my last full day at Balule Reserve. Tomorrow I will do the early morning game drive and then fly down to Cape Town.

Drinking Elephants


Cape Buffalo at waterhole

Balule Nature Reserve Day Three

The day started out sort of slow. There was game to see, but it was mostly in brushy places difficult to shoot. I did get a distant Black Rhino and sone nice Giraffe, however. The afternoon game drive made up for it. About a half hour before Sunset, we came across a fairly large herd of Elephants. I filmed them for a few minutes, some of them made a really close pass by the 4x4, then we got a radio call about Lions 20 minutes away from our location. It seems that the mamas of the cubs I shot yesterday and the day before had collected them and were on the move. We got to them just as the sun was setting, so I only had a few minutes of useable light, then I switched to the DSLR like I did last night. There were 7 cubs and 6 adult females. There happened to also be a herd of Elephants very close to them, and one of the females was stalking a small Elephant. An adult caught wind of it, trumpeted loudly, and just about stomped the female in chasing it away. We stayed with one female (the babysitter) and the cubs until long after dark.

Easy to get just the right moment in time when you're shooting 30 fps


Watchful

Balule Nature Reserve Day Two.

More good wildlife, more good food!. Today we had two Black Rhinos, a really nice herd of Elephants, a large herd of Impala, some Wildebeest and Giraffe and three sightings of a large male Leopard who was out cruising his territory. The first sighting was just after sunset, but while there was still barely enough light to shoot with the RED, so I have a video scene. The last two sightings were after dark and I shot some DSLR stills. I only had the little built-in flash on the DSLR, but I cranked the ISO up and did a few "Hail Mary" shots and they aren't too bad. We also saw a pair of Honey Badgers after dark, but not shootable.

Black Rhino Grazing


Kind of a spooky shot of a backlight Leopard coming down the road


Not a happy kitty (scented another Leopard in his territory)

Balule Reserve Day One: Living High on the Warthog

I'm now at Pondoro Game Lodge in Balule Nature Reserve on the western edge of Kruger National Park. I could get used to this place. My suite is a stand-alone chalet with a deck overlooking the Olifants River that flows through the reserve. The deck has a Jacuzzi and the bathroom has a tub deep enough to get DCS if you stayed in it too long. The food is spectacular too. I arrived in time for lunch followed by an afternoon game drive. The Holy Grail of a game park is to be able to see "The Big Five" which consists of Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. We were five for five on the first game drive. We started out with a very close White Rhino, then some Elephants and a Cape Buffalo (both too distant to shoot), followed by a batch of 8 Lion cubs that had been "dropped off at day care" while the mom's were on a hunt. That got us to sunset and just a bit beyond. Se then stopped for "Sundowners" and snacks (including some pan fried sausages cooked on a gas burner on the 4x4's bumper). After drinks and snacks, we continued on a night game drive on our way back to the lodge and sure enough, we found a leopard (I was going to say we spotted a leopard, but that would be a really bad pun). Not a bad start.

White Rhino


Just a-lyin in the grass

Dry Africa Video Uploaded

I managed to get my video of Chobe (Botswana) and Etosha (Namibia) edited while traveling between Swakopmund and Jo'burg. It's called "Dry Africa". At this time of year, the desert is taking over and the only available water is along river courses and at waterholes. Some of the waterholes are natural, and some are manmade. The natural waterholes also start to dry up late in the dry season, but some of the manmade waterholes have wells with solar powered pumps to keep them active during the driest months. These waterholes become the focus of all the activity. This film was mastered in 4K on RED and has been scaled down to a size that is presentable on the internet. Most of the footage was shot with a Sigma 50-500 lens (Bigma) and a Sigma 17-70 lens. This is a rough cut and will be updated at a later date. Editing 4k in the field on a MacBook Pro can be challenging and time consuming.

You can see the video either on my Vimeo channel at: https://vimeo.com/73585259 or on my website in the "Shot on RED" section.

Music for this video is Expeditionary by Kevin MacLeod