Biting the Dust Photo

Photographer’s Note

So here I start with my latest East African trip. Might not upload the most interesting photowise first, but I usually like to get it in the correct time order.

We spent our first week on a luxury trip (but complementary, one advantage of working in the tourism industry...) to Kenya and Zanzibar.

It was a long time I hadn't been to East Africa, 35 years to be precise, I only had left child memories of private game safaris in Tanzania, the sound of the hippos humming at night, catching giant catfish in a river, the hardness of antelope meat and a photo of me at 6 years old, sat on a dead elephant (Yes, these were the times of elephant hunting, and it happens that I belong to a professional hunter dynasty..).

What I didn't remember was the dust in Africa... Amboseli National Park is like a giant dust bowl in Kenya, just below Mount Kilimandjaro at Tanzania border... and boy, there was some dust indeed, changing lens in the open car would have been a suicide. (I only know of Dolin, "the Sandman", who would have tried a lens switch in these conditions).

So that's what you'd see on the end of the day from the back of the car, your mouth and hair dry, covered with Amboseli dust.

That two days safari didn't have the magic of my childhood, but I appreciated the smiles on my daughter's face when she saw a group of 4 cheetahs running, when we stopped near the lair of a hyena family as the cubs walked around the car or when we stared at a group of elephants walking to us, as clouds were unveiling the remaining snow on top of mount Kilimandjaro.

happypoppeye, Clairedelune, anes_lc, andante, green, Wandering_Dan, broglia, luisafonso, brevbrev14, AnimeshRay, AmiBe, Galeota, coco, tamatree has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

happypoppeye (4060) 2007-08-29 14:57

Great looking "dust shot" Luko...with a great note to back it up. Love the silhouette effect the dust has on the jeeps and land in general. Great looking, darkr type exposure with that nice big sun and almost all orange and black color palette.

Great work.
John

bracasha75 (22127) 2007-08-29 15:04

Hello luko
Very nice and beautiful
TFS
Cheers,Braca

andante (7092) 2007-08-29 15:10

Feels like I'm holding a book, and looking at the cover... anxious to see the other pictures... looking forward to see the rest of the presentation.
Regards,
Enrique

Wandering_Dan (3237) 2007-08-29 16:23

I remember the dust, all right. Some of our clothes will always be red from our time in Kenya (but then, we lived there for over a year).

I don't remember the roads ever looking like this, though - so dark in the daytime. (At night it's a different story when you have to live without electricity!) The shot certainly creates a mood, though.

Furachan (0) 2007-08-29 22:55

THE dust shot, a filmic shot, the opening of a great movie about Africa. The thumbnail tells nothing - it's a sunset shot, why would Luko upload a "sunset shot", he doesn't even like them...?
Then we open the thing and...the vehicles appear, caught with astounding delicacy by the sensor of your little 400D.
Epic.

cobraphil8 (11652) 2007-08-30 0:02

Salut Luko,
quelle ambiance ici !
Le stabilisateur a du bien t'aider durant ce voyage surtout si tu as pris des shoots depuis le 4x4.
On sent une puissance très particulière dans cette photo, mais elle ne vient pas du 4x4 mais plutôt du soleil qui semble tout écraser à ses pieds.
a+
Philippe

broglia (3347) 2007-08-30 0:30

Great start Luko - you've captured the conditions perfectly. Very cinematic. Looking forward to lots more. Best regards, Roberto

luisafonso (858) 2007-08-30 0:40

Incredible atmosphere here. Might not upload the most interesting photowise first, but I usually like to get it in the correct time order. To be honest, this photo is the perfect way to start because - don't ask me why - it has an intense prologue quality. Maybe it's the simplicity in its tones, the rising/setting sun, the trucks making the trip. The true is that, for me, you couldn't have picked a better starter than this one.

Just read your report to Francis. Boy, you really left me with "água na boca" about those photos from Mozambique. On the other hand, didn't knew that they were so keen on money. That's just not something I consider a Portuguese legacy. We don't care about money that much. Strange. Glad to know that your language course saved you rightly from the start. :)

nicoz (1963) 2007-08-30 1:25

Salut Luko,
Le Kenya c'etait mon premier grand-voyage. Ma premiere grande aventure. C'etait cool. J'ai ramene 4 photos prises avec un AP jettable...
DEpuis j'ai commence a prendre plus de photos pour documenter ce que je fais, peut-etre influence par "the snows of Kilimandjaro" du cher Ernest...
Elle est sympa cette photo, un cote expedition avec ces grosses caisses sur les toits des 4*4.
Il manque peut-etre la silouhette d'une girafe ou d'un elephant a l'horizon, a gauche des voitures.
Les tons chauds et ce genre de vignetage qui rend tout sombre (alors que je devine qu'il y avait de la lumiere en-veux-tu-en-voila) donne bien une impression de chaleur ecrasante au bout du monde.
Nicolas

anes_lc (14768) 2007-08-30 2:31

i don´t know much about your experience back there but the picture look magical...it makeme dream
great shot.thanks share
regards,anes

vapours (7913) 2007-08-30 4:55

From the thumbnail it didn't seem too much, and I dreaded having to give you a negative critique, but I was happily surprised upon viewing the larger version. Some good colour, and I like the subtleness of the image from an area I'll probably never have the fortune of visiting.

Darren (6819) 2007-08-30 7:06

It's a nice photo Luko. Maybe not your typical style, to say the least, but a good exposure and I can see just enough detail in the bottom half to set the mood and let my mind wander a little bit. Kind of a romantic shot. Was wondering where you had been.

stevep (556) 2007-08-30 8:24

you did it! you've posted a sunset ;)

ahh, but this one tells a story, doesnt it...? for me, it conveys a definite mood akin to the feeling of longing I get when someone great is gone in my life...... it just so happens I've had that feeling all day, so yours is a timely post for me indeed......

what a beautiful light though. another fruitful trip for you eh luko?.... congrats. As I toil in my daily labors I can only hope that the months pass quickly enough that i dont do myself injury waiting impatiently for my next trip come august 2008...... ugh, thats a long way off.

take care.

AnimeshRay (8886) 2007-08-30 8:40

This is quintessential Africa for me! The dust raised by safari caravans, view stretched to the horizon, low sun...magical

I am afraid of going to East Africa lest my imagination of it gets a rude interruption, but seeing this photo of yours I think should go.

Why is it that so many photogs today had hunters in their ancestry? ;-)

naxius (16679) 2007-08-30 10:30

lol, Luko qui poste une carte postale! On aura tout vu décidemment!!! Et en plus, le soleil est surex! ;o

Une superbe image pour commencer ton aventure..ca donne envie d'y aller, c'est sûr!
a+
Alex

AmiBe (6042) 2007-08-30 10:50

Roooooooooo qui voilà qui publie un coucher de soleil !
35 que tu n'y étais plus allé, l'est plus tout jeune le père Luko ! :)
Ben ça donne envie, et moi, c'est dans une semaine que je vais dire bonjour à l'Afrique australe... ça me donne encore plus envie !
a+

brevbrev14 (372) 2007-08-31 1:33

Hi LUko, the orange tones here are fantastic..
there is in this image all the atmosphere of this country...
the light and the exposure management are superb...
GREAT

ciao!
Valeria

markoci (3917) 2007-08-31 8:28

i like this... definitely not a typical "luko" except for the awesome metering and warm "against the sun" colours... nicely layered, and yes, you can almost feel the dust in your lungs... now if we could only see the silhouette of a giraffe or elephant :-)...

Polonaise (5636) 2007-09-03 12:10

Africa was created out of dust, and dusty still remains...

Great photography.
Bold presentation.

'Out Of Africa' it must be and 'Out Of Africa' it is.

Gutsy...
g.

Galeota (10334) 2007-09-03 21:09

J'ai lu ici et là tes aventures africaines et, à défaut d'avoir été bon marché elles ont néanmoins relancé ta verve de raconteur, ou d'écrivain voyageur, ou d'écrivain photographe, tu as le choix. J'aime beaucoup cette première photographie, pour tous les éléments qui ont déjà été relevés (surtout le tunnel de lumière, le vignetage amplifiant considérablement l'atmosphère poussiéreuse à laquelle tu fais référence).

kensimage (8541) 2007-09-07 23:39

The image certainly feels like dust, Luko, dust that goes everywhere no matter what you do, dust that permeates every pore--I feel like I should dust off my monitor after viewing this one! You found an ideal time to shoot into the sun, as you recognized, to bring that dust to life. Regards, Ken.

coco (27866) 2007-09-18 5:09

Hi Luko.

Splendid. I love how you use the light and how the combination of the dark parts and the lightn create a wonderful atmosphere.

Well done.

tamatree (241) 2008-04-17 13:31 [Comment]