January 3, 2013

Many of you may already know that Panasonic recently released the Lumix GH3, their newest addition to their growing line of Micro Four Thirds cameras. Being a big fan of the Micro Four Thirds system I scrambled, searching the web, calling contacts and eventually got my hands on this highly anticipated photographic tool. It was hard to come by. All local channels received none on initial release. The Internet sellers were all sold out. My last chance was a newfound friend at Samy’s Camera in Los Angeles, and it was Ray who put it all together for me. Thank you Ray and Samy’s Camera. You can see some of my favorite images shot exclusively with the Panasonic Lumix GH3 by clicking on the following link, Into the African Bush with the Panasonic GH3. If you want to see our guests having a great time there’s a gallery of images here. Our Guests Enjoying Kenya

The Canon 600mm F/4 with photographer attached is on the left. On the right is me shooting the Lumix GH3 with a 100-300mm F/4-5.6 lens. In the Micro Four thirds world all lenses are multiplied 2x so the Lumix 100-300 is actually equivalent to a 200-600mm lens. The same long magnification as the massive Canon lens.

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I recently left Kenya having finished our latest photography tour, workshop, adventure or whatever you might want to call it. It’s one of our ongoing Invitational Photography Tours in a land I dearly love.

This blog entry is a miniature snipit of what our small group of African travelers experienced while in this wonderful land of wildlife, landscapes and interesting culture.

As many of you know, much of my work revolves around wildlife. However, I’m very fond of documenting people and their cultures as well. My early college years introduced me to the world of journalism as I worked my way through school shooting for a small newspaper and a very successful commercial studio in Duluth, Mn. My two dear friends, Tim Slattery and Dan Grandmaison taught me a lot about the world of capturing pictures. Those formative years gave me my first introduction to the world of small strobes and the power they have for making creative images.

On our last evening in the Masai Mara Game Reserve our group was treated to our annual Bush Dinner on the last evening before we all headed back to Nairobi. The lodge we stay at goes all out with grilled meats, vegetarian pastas, and sumptuous deserts.

Masai Dancers. Photo taken with Nikon D700 with Flash to stop action

An added highlight to this nights festivities was the ever present group of young Masai dancers that are on perpetual call for birthdays, anniversaries or other special events at the lodge. Tonight they followed us to the outskirts of camp to add an ambience of traditional song and dance much to the delight of everyone present and an opportunity for interesting images.

More Photos of Masai Dancers

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Last night, when we arrived in Nairobi, my wife Tanya and I followed our yearly tradition by stopping by the lounge for a nightcap at the Norfolk Hotel. The Norfolk is part of the Fairmont Hotel chain and it’s one of our favorite places to wind down throughout the world. We always come to Kenya at least two days early to make sure we  have time to acclimate, get rid of the jet lag and enjoy this amazing facility that Hemingway used as a launching pad into the African bush many, many years ago.

As I sat in the comfortable couch sipping my first Tuskar of the trip, the warm lights and the beautiful old world furniture stirred my creative visions.  I just so happened to have my trusty little Lumix GX1 sitting on the table beside me that gave me the option to capture what I was seeing. In this post I’m going to present the images I saw as they first began to develop. There will only be three or four pictures but I want to show you how first saw a potential image and how I eventually added or subtracted visual elements, camera settings etc. to make an picture that I really liked in the end.

This first image was what I initially saw, it was the inspiration to grab the GX1, turn the camera on and take a look at the back LCD. What I sometimes first react to isn’t always as interesting when I review it through the lens of a camera, so I sometimes check myself before working to make it right. After taking a look I new it was a go, it just needed a little something to make it come alive.

Image #1-This was the initial scene. I loved the lamp in the left, the warm inviting light, the framing of the drapes along the window and the reflections on the table. It just needed something to give it life ISO 200, Program Mode Metering on Pattern Shutter Speed 1.3 sec at f/3.5

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The text, photos and video are from our annual adventure to Kenya. The daily updates were originally sent out to friends and family of our guests to help keep them up to speed with our travels. Most places in Kenya do not have great internet connections and at most camps one email could take 15 minutes or more. With such slow internet connections it was easier for me to create a single email to loved ones back home than to have all our guests try to do individual emails themselves. In my original emails we didn’t have any photos or video. Dan added the visuals upon returning to Montana. Hope you enjoy and if you have an interest we plan to do it all again in 2011. There’s still a few openings. We would love to have you along.

Tanya Cox

Join Us in Kenya in 2011

Dan and I are in Kenya for our 4th Annual Kenya photography trip. There are many of you that have family traveling with us, friends and others that might be interested in joining us in early 2011. We thought we would share with you day by day our experiences:)

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