THE EAST

Hi First name / everyone I hope this newsletter finds you well? If you have been following me on social media, you will know that the the last month was mostly spent in Kenya and Uganda. Kenya for our yearly Masai Mara trips and Uganda working on a video for Pangolin on Gorilla and Chimpanzee trekking. So it is unsurprising that this months newsletter is full of new images from East Africa. I hope you enjoy #57 and thank you as always for viewing!

 

- William

Taking to the sky. Join me as I share what it is like to fly over the Masai Mara in a basket suspended by hot air! This short video is a visual journey of the splendour that is hot air ballooning. Make sure to subscribe to the channel as I will be posting more and more trip videos going forward.

I will start this off by saying I have not even scratched the surface of sorting, never mind editing, my Masai Mara images. In fact I quickly skimmed through them to find a few highlights to share. 

 

I can confidently say this was the best week of sightings I have ever had in the Masai Mara! Here are a few images that show the array of great sightings we had. From a mega crossing to an amazing cheetah kill, it had everything you could wish for. I filmed more than I photographed this year so definitely subscribe to my youtube channel above as you don't want to miss that video!

Where do I even start with Uganda… What an incredible country that will stay in my mind for a very long time. In truth I am not someone who has ever had a bucket list. Most people that do, who love wildlife, include Gorilla trekking high on that list. If I had a bucket list, I don't know if this would have been on mine before this trip. Now that I have done it, it was such a monumental life experience that I think its made me want to start one. 

 

I hope I don't sound ungrateful with that last paragraph. I know how unbelievably lucky I am to have had the chance to not only trek gorillas but also chimpanzees. I have always thought about it, but because it is a rather expensive endeavour, I always blocked it from my mind as I never thought I would be able to justify the hefty expense. On reflection it is worth every penny.

 

I will do a full newsletter on Uganda, as I will soon be posting not one but two Uganda videos on the Pangolin channel, but for now, here are a few of my favourite images from the trip!

Spring is a time when Southern Africa comes alive. The weavers are one of the most striking symbols of Botswana’s spring, their elaborate nests resembling Christmas baubles hanging from nearly every Acacia tree. The setting sun illuminates this creation of labour, as a female Southern Masked Weaver swoops in to assess the males’ handiwork.

 

This image “coming home” was taken almost 10 years ago (4th of January 2015) in my back garden in Gaborone, Botswana. It both doesn't feel like it can be that long ago, but at the same time what a lifetime of photographic experiences I have had since. 

 

For me there are a handful of images that I attribute to the growth of my photography. Principal moments when I had that "aha" breakthrough. This was one of them. I am not afraid to say it, but up until this moment I was very much a “snapper”, pointing my camera at things I thought were beautiful, but having very little understanding of the technical side. 

 

To get this shot, it involved a little more technical know how, and the thing I learnt the importance of was: exposure compensation. This seems like a simple thing now, but I hope this highlights we all start somewhere and all it takes is time and experience to learn and grow! 

 

This image was one of the first images that was acknowledged in a competition. I believe, and I may be wrong, it was shortlisted in a Go! Magazine competition and commended in the BPOTY competition. This wasn't really meant to be a boast, but I wanted to share the importance of individual images in inspiring me to continue this journey and grow as a photographer. 

 

Gear: Canon 70D - Sigma 150-500mm lens

 

Thank you as always for reading and I cannot wait to hear what you think of this months newsletter! The next newsletter is coming soon, so make sure you have signed up and feel free to forward it to your friends!

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