1: This was shot when the Chobe River in Botswana?s banks overflowed. A few months later there was only grass here. It was very still and as there was a crocodile 4m away I had to drive the car into the water, which came up to the doors. In order to avoid any ripples, I had to keep very still, trying to achieve that perfect calm I was looking for. I shot this straight against the light source using a grey filter (4 stop) to compensate for the bright sun. 8 reflector boards were also used to reflect the light back onto the tree to avoid it becoming a silhouette. I also shot this when the sun was lower but the stark blue of the sky that can be noted here disappeared.
2: This was shot in the Molopo Nature Reserve in South Africa when the wind was blowing extremely hard. It was shot as a part of a series on the park, but in the area (Kalahari) there was not a lot happening. So when I saw this, I went flat on the ground and saw the shot. I placed 8 reflector boards that would bounce the light back onto the grass. I was then able to make use of the hard wind on the grass, also using a grey filter combined with second filter of one stop blue which brings in the contrast between the yellow and the blue.
3: This was shot in Moremi in Botswana. I scouted throughout the day looking for the perfect place and light. I measured where the sun would set as I wanted it coming through the grass with the tree as a strong visual element in the background. This was then balanced with the sun on the other side. 8 reflector boards were used to emphasize the colour on the grass.
4: At first glace this was a fairly non descript scene. This is a place that the elephants come to drink water and walk paths through the tufts of grass. It was difficult to reflect the light back on to the grass. In the end I used four reflector boards on either side. The weather was overcast and I was lucky to get a moment to grab this shot when the light came through. I shot it at a slightly elevated angle using a central grey filter to compensate for the light fall off.
