AIRBORNE OVER CONNECTICUT – I made the 6:00 AM shuttle from LaGuardia to Boston. This is unusual because I generally don’t prefer window seats and have a bias against shooting out of windows. This from the air, out the window with my 12 lens on my digital Leica.
On this date a year ago: 919 Third Avenue.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Feeling a bid dull today so I did a radical equipment change: I put a 16 mm Karl Zeiss Hologon on my Leica M9 and took it with me as I went about my daily business. This is an odd lens. It was not made for Leica so someone made a custom mount for it. It really isn’t suitable for digital because its exit pupil is too close the the sensor, creating all sorts of problems, primarily vignetting and truly weird color shifts. The later problem means that its use is limited to black and what. It’s pluses are that its depth of field is from real close to infinity – so you don’t have to focus. Because its very, very wide most people just point it without looking through the camera – you pretty much get everything you see. This is a rare enough lens that I’m pretty sure that I’m the only photographer walking around New York with a Holigon attached to a Leica.
Anyway, here we are on the Lexington Avenue subway this afternoon.
LONDON, ENGLAND – Today marks the end of my eleventh month of daily photos. We arrived in London this morning. I had time for a walk before embarking on a day of meetings. Here’s a reflection of Wilton Crescent off of the bonnet of a vintage Bentley (British racing green, from the mid ’50s, one off custom body so its hard to place the actual model). It was casually parked on the street. This is an above average ride, even by Belgravia standards.
Leica M9 with 28mm Summicron lens.
HEATHROW AIRPORT, UK – We left Sunday night for the trip home, via London – over 20 hours including a three hour layover at Heathrow. This was one of those days where even taking one photograph was a burden. The insides of aircraft don’t have that much to say to me, and the world in general seems colorless after East Africa. I take a few listless shots at Heathrow. We are indeed out of Africa.
NAIROBI, KENYA – Sadly, here we are loading our bush plane to return to Nairobi where we have planned a busy day
In Nairobi we visited the David Sheldrick Animal Orphanage, one of the two remarkable charities on our itinerary. Founded by Dame Daphnne Sheldrick the orphanage rescues orphan elephants (the most come cause of the mothers’ death is ivory poachers). The animals are cared for intensively for five years, and then reintroduced into the wild. You can walk among them at their feeding time.
Our constant companion on the trip, Patrick, playing soccer with an elephant.
MAASAI MARA, KENYA – Another huge game day, so I’m dividing the day into multiple parts. We started at 4:00 am, driving to a hot air balloon launch site and making an hour-long balloon trip across the bush. Zebras from on high.
Ditto impalas:
Here we are, eye-to-eye with the giraffes:
Bush:
Dry watering hole:
Hot air balloon landing:
MAASAI MARA, KENYA – Here’s where this gets intense. In the Maasai Mara we find ourselves in the middle of the Wildebeest migration. Here’s some info on the Wildebeest (also known as the Gnu): jWildebeest entry. Quoting from the Wikipedia entry:
“Wildebeest are known for their annual migration to new pastures. Many documentaries feature wildebeest crossing rivers, or being eaten by crocodiles or drowning in the attempt. Although it is assumed that this migration is a frenzy and that the wildebeest cross blindly, recent research has shown that a herd of gnu possesses what is known as a “swarm intelligence”, whereby the animals systematically explore and overcome the obstacle as one.”
Official estimates place the wildebeest population on the greater Serengeti at 2 million; knowledgeable NGOs suggest that its more like 1.2 million. The migration brings with it teaming game of all species. I’m breaking today’s entry into two parts because of the wealth of images.
Dirt airstrip at Chyulu Hills as we prepare to depart for the Maasai Mara.
Our greeting when we arrive at Maasai Mara. Poaching is a serious problem throughout Kenya and Tanzania – these animals are killed for their ivory.
On our drive from the airstrip to the Mara Plains Camp (a fairly simple tented camp where we will spend three days) we pass these hippos. Hippos are nocturnal herbavors, grazing on the plains at night. In the daytime the stay in the water as a strategy to regulate their body heat and as protection from the sun. A large group of hippos have found this watering hole. The crud on the surface is hippo excrement – they aren’t too selective about where they hang out. They are noted for their bad tempers and can move surprisingly quickly.
A lion killing a wildebeest.
Another take on the lion and the wildebeest.
A lion cub.
