Photo Writing - Exploring Photography.

Thanda time once more. I've just gotten back from a great week with the fabulous four (it was a small group this month of only four photographers from the US, Israel, Germany and Spain).

We were lucky enough to spend about an hour with the reserve's two cheetah males that have formed a coalition. A radio call alerted the guide as to whereabouts they could be found. then for a glorious 60 minutes the photographers were able to watch uninterrupted as the two animals moved along the reserves fence-line, stopping every now and then to lie on the road or mark territory. I say uninterrupted as all the other game viewing vehicles were chasing after a potential lion sighting on the other side of the reserve, enabling the photographers to enjoy the sighting without worrying about being chased off other vehicles (most private reserves have a two vehicle limit per sighting, meaning that often the vehicle that actually spots the sighting has to move away just as things get interesting, so that other guests can also have a view. This is only fair, but can be frustrating at times).


A howling wind yesterday kept people grabbing at their hats, coats, and anything else that could grow wings and take to the air. Thankfully nothing did in the end, but it still emant for an interesting landscape shoot in the evening on the Kings Land next to Thanda proper. Heavy gusts of wind made incredible slow exposure patterns as the photographers learned to play with long exposures in landscape photography.

For me though, a highlight of this week was the final critique session yesterday evening. I always find that students on the course improve from the first day that they arrive. However, last night I was stunned at the images that were produced for an assignment that had been set. Quite simply it was one of the best group selections of images that I have seen of this particular exercise. There is nothing quite like seeing success in a student photographer for the teacher. I certainly don't take credit for what the students produced, but they had me grinning from ear to ear by the end of the session.

Which puts me in mind once more how lucky I am to do the work that I do. It is a privilege to be able to create photographs and call it a profession. To meet like-minded people from around the world, share ideas and watch other images be fomented, visualized and created is an honour.

I'll post something a touch less poetic next week methinks ;) Thanks again to a wonderful group at Thanda this week. I'm looking forward to seeing some of you again in the Drakensberg.