May
05
2024SVALBARD RE-LOADED
Halfway between the northern tip of Norway and the North Pole, at around 78°N lies the archipelago of Svalbard. It’s most famous and well known island is probably Spitzbergen, that’s where we started our tour.
The two of us, posing in front of the Virgo parked in the ice
We did this trip before, but crazy us, we wanted more ice, so this time we decided to go earlier, the middle of April. As we arrive in Longyearbjen there is definitely more snow and ice, and it is bloody cold. Temperatures are at -15°C and there is a strong wind blowing, chill factor double plus. That’s what you get !
We got what we wanted…
Feb
11
2024Sacred Masks and Voodoo Festival
with FROST PHOTO TOURS
Benin, West-Africa. Not your average tourist destination, that’s exactly what I like ! It is hot, it is humid, I have never sweated so much in my life, but it is sensational, so colorful, friendly and laid back easy, this country is very special and so totally cool. To be honest, before I traveled, I had to look it up on the map, West Africa is big and has many countries….Now I know where it is, and will never forget !
Didn’t know much about Voodoo either, but we soon learned that Voodoo is a religion, not some scary cult. It is a peaceful way of life aligned with the natural elements. They have divinities like Christianity has angels and a God they call the Fa, and when they celebrate it is like the carnival in Brazil or Venice, with splendid dresses, tons of spectators and lots of music and ecstatic dancing.
I jumped at the chance and joined this cultural photo tour with Kirsten Frost. I am picked up at the airport by our driver Moise, (pronounce Moh-iz) in full body, extremely colorful dress. Just that made me smile, and I had really good hopes that this trip would become awesome, which it definitely did.
Welcome to Benin
In case you didn’t know where it is
DAY 1: GANVIÉ, GRAFFITI & THE AMAZONE
Read More»Dec
10
2023A portrait masterclass with Pawel Lipski
I’ve always wanted to go to India. All these beautiful people with dark almond eyes and thick, dark, black hair, the colorful sari’s and intricate decorations on palaces, temples and fortresses. This must be heaven for a people photographer, which my husband isn’t, so I go alone, I just have to go !
The most beautiful people to photograph
DAY 1
After an 8 hrs flight I land in Delhi at 1 am or so. Now find the hotel’s driver between about 60 guys waving signs with names. After quite a while I find him in the far left corner, great, let’s go ! There is so much traffic even in the middle of the night, and all are hooting and driving like crazy, overtaking in spaces I didn’t believe there was space, and this guy is doing some funny shortcut, or am I on the way to some involuntary organ donor place ? No, all is good, we reach the SHANTI PALACE HOTEL, which isn’t really a palace but a hotel on a strip with lots of hotels and flashy signs, somewhat like the red light district, I don’t care, all I want is a bed.
Read More»Nov
06
2023KENYA with GAMEWATCHERS SAFARIS
4 Porini Camps in 4 different parts of Kenya
Paka Kubwa means big cat in Swahili, and we saw a lot of big cats, they are cool, but we enjoyed the little cats even more. Baby lions are just the best thing to watch, especially when they are playing, fighting and running around. They are beaten in cuteness only by hyena pups, which are getting to be my top favorites.
NR.1: NAIROBI- Nairobi tented Camp
I’ve visited Kenya before, now for the first time, I’m traveling with Gamewatchers Safaris, I must say, I’m impressed. From start to finish everything worked flawlessly. We arrive late, at 10pm and take about an hour for the passport control. Edith, a lovely, friendly, very helpful lady from Gamewatchers Safaris is there to greet us, help us exchange money. We don’t really need much money, just for tips and souvenirs, everything else is included, food, drinks, flights between camps and game drives. We drive 30min on the outskirts of Nairobi to the park gate, then another 30min to camp, which is in the middle of thick bushland, we get there in the middle of the night, but all the staff is there waiting for us, if we would like dinner. No thank you, I just want to sleep. So 2 Masai guys with torches take us to our tent, see you tomorrow.
The lounge area at Nairobi Tented Camp
Sep
03
2023A photographic tour into the Namib Desert
with Hougaard Malan
A trip into the sand, no roads, no tracks, just sand
I like crazy trips, extraordinary ones. So when I saw the photos from this trip last year, and had a chance to book a spot for this year, I jumped at it. Six nights of camping in the Namib Desert, no phones, no internet, no people for miles around but our little group. Jürg loves it for the astro-photography, no light pollution at all and an amazing African sky. I am in it for the experience, for the camping and just for the adventure, I will do travel photography.
We take everything: water, petrol, food, tents, bedrolls, stretchers, firewood and booze. The latter we had to go shop ourselves, so we didn’t take along too much weight. Now what, and how much, do you drink in 6 days in the desert ? (except the water which was provided for). This led to an interesting trip to the supermarket. At the SPAR they asked us if we were having a party, so much alcohol…. Well, sort off. If we didn’t need any meat ? No the other guy is bringing the meat, we just need drinks. They helped us carry everything to the jeep, I’m not telling how much, but two guys helped us….in the end the whole SPAR knew us. Short extra stop at the liquor store for gin. Also very, very important ! Then to the hotel for our last night in „luxury“ and a super dinner at the Godenfang Restaurant. Tomorrow the adventure starts.
DAY 1
Briefing at 07:30, then breakfast. We leave at 10:00. It is a long driving day today, about 200km of desert lie ahead of us. We turn off the tarred road shortly after the airport, from now on it is sand only ! We drive in Convoy, 6 jeeps. In Nr 1 is Ruedi, who sets the tracks, in Nr 2 with driver Jandre, it’s Jürg and me and young Alex his assistant. Nr 3 is the girls car, 3 ladies and Mornay at the wheel, Nr 4 with driver Marius is the boys car with 2 guests, and Hougaard. Nr 5 is the camp chef Martinez, the best guy on the tour, and cook Andre. And in the back, Nr 6 is Dennis the concession guy, controlling us, so we behave, don’t fly drones and don’t litter.
The start of an adventure
Apr
15
2023LOFOTEN’S LITTLE SISTER
ARRIVING
Senja, Norways second biggest island lies about 350km above the Polar Circle at 69° north. We arrive around 22:30, at Bardufoss airport, which suitingly is called Snowman Airport, once again a place hardly anybody knows, just the way we like it ! To be honest I didn’t know it existed until I needed a flight to Senja. We get the car, definitely a 4WD, at the SIXT desk. Okay, that’s new, the guy stays inside and we get the car key: your car is outside, deep frozen… with the motor running and the heating at 28°, to defrost I guess. We still can’t open the hatch, so we dump everything on the back seat and head for the hotel. It is minus 18 degrees or so.
HUSØY
Welcome to the polar circle
After breakfast, and scraping ice off the car for about half an hour we leave for Senja. The drive itself is already an adventure, the weather is sunny and we drive through snowy forests, past cute red cabins, see beautiful mountain peaks gleaming white against a blue and sunny sky. This is great.
Read More»Jan
28
2023But only if you are ready for at least
15’000 steps a day
Venice is an absolutely magical city. Beautiful old buildings, cultural highlights around every corner, the huge Grand Canal winding through it like a big fat snake, framed with majestic palaces, the overly richly decorated Palazzo Ducale, the Markus square, gondola floating through quiet little waterways, basilica and towers (most of them tilting slightly) around every bend of the canal, and be prepared… tons of tourists ! There are great little restaurants away from the main tourist hub, with sensational pastas and seafood dishes and for the shopping queens there are shops everywhere selling anything from Dolce&Cabana, Prada and Chanel to second hand, there’s something for every girls heart ! And if you are a photographer like we are, this city is simply heaven !
The famous Rialto bridge built in 1588
Sep
25
2022THE FUNKY SAILORS ARE BACK ON THE BOAT !
Our katamaran anchored in Baie Ternay, Mahe
DAY 1 : The Marina
Trip starts in the Eden Island Marina. We will be sailing a Moorings 4000 katamaran, pretty big I tell you ! The guys get the briefing, the girls go shopping. Takes about 2 hours, the guys were already slightly worried we took off with their credit cards. Got everything from the list, cost a small fortune, and just a few minor mistakes, coke zero instead of normal coke and one other bad one, will tell you later. Thank God for the guys with the golf carts who helped us get everything to the boat.
Our very BIG boat
and lots of food and drinks
Jun
26
2022CHOBE- OKAVANGO DELTA- KALAHARI
and meerkats and a helicopter
PART 1: THE CHOBE RIVER
ATTEMPTS TO TURN ME INTO A BIRDER
Around noon the plane lands in Kasane on Botswana’s northern border, Zim & Zam are mere miles away. As we approach the land below us is very green, great rivers and lots of flooded land, they must have had lots of rain here. As there are only about 30 people on the plane the arrival procedure is fast. On we go to the Pangolin Chobe Hotel, which is a famous photo hotel. Great photo pro’s there to assist and guide us, and big lenses for us to try out. Our trip is called the Best of Botswana Photo Safari, check it out here: https://www.pangolinphoto.com/safaris/11-day-best-of-botswana-safari
The Pangolin Chobe Hotel
Mar
16
2022The ultimate Lofoten experience
A photo tour with Christian Hoiberg
Auroras or northern lights are hard to find. You preferably need to be way up north, better even to be above the polar circle, in a dark night without much light pollution, (meaning far away from everybody and everything). Then an aurora of 5+ on a scale of 10. Plus you need clear skies, which is probably the biggest problem.
Our first night here, and already an aurora
So we went to the Lofoten, way up in the north of Norway, in February. The trip was postponed twice because of covid, but when Norway opened up on Feb 12th 2022 and we were offered the option to go on very short notice we said: yes please ! If this trip was meant to be, the good Lord could have given us a bit nicer weather though. We counted it all together, the sunny and not totally clouded times and we came to about 2 hrs in a whole week. We were told later that is pretty much the normal thing here, we were lucky. To be honest I’ve never had such lousy weather and in spite of that, such a fabulous time !
Red cabins and cloudy skies, as always
Oct
27
2021UGANDA: Part 2
From tree climbing lions to gorillas and gorgeous lakes
TO THE QUEEN
We leave Kibale Forest for the Queen Elisabeth N.P. Soon we turn off the main road and take a mildly bumpy dirt road along crater lakes and through banana plantations. The scenery is simply the best.
Bananas, bananas, bananas
We started with bomasa palms, woodlands, rainforests, followed by maize fields, high grasses, swamps, then the tea and coffee plantations and now the bananas. To be honest so far I like this part the very best. The landscape is very hilly and we keep seeing slopes full of banana trees, interspaced with little houses where colorful laundry is drying outside, kids run towards the road to wave at us. The weather is sunny and not too hot yet, it’s just perfect. All to soon we reach the main road again and are back on the highway 70 south from Fort Portal (at 1480m) to Kasese. From Fort Portal away, the Rwenzori mountains are dominantly present in the west. No snow capped peaks to be seen at the time, at over 5000m they are almost always in the clouds.
From dense forest in Kibale to papyrus and candelabra in Queen
Soon after Kasese we reach our lodge on the shores of Lake George. Lots of British royalty represented here in the lakes, starting with Lake Victoria, then we passed Albert, now George and soon we will do a boat trip on the Kazinga Channel joining George and Edward. Only Charles is missing, ha ha, he probably has to die before he gets his lake.
Read More»Oct
16
2021PART 1 : From the source of the river Nile to the chimpanzees in Budongo and Kibale
Where exactly is Uganda again ? It is smack in the middle of Africa. Right on the equator, flanked on the right by Kenya, on the left by the Democratic Republic of Congo. The experienced traveller will say there are better places to go for an „average“ wildlife safari. That may be true, but Uganda is sensational for gorilla and chimpanzee tracking, has great national parks, and on top of that it is the most beautiful country I’ve visited in all of southern and eastern Africa.
This is a matoke country
If I get the driver to stop to take „just landscape“ photos, something is seriously wrong ! I do people and wildlife photography ! But here I just had to stop over and over again, it is so lush and green, so spectacular and ever changing, I am so glad we booked a road trip and didn’t do the fly in&out. Beside that, it is also a very safe country to visit, with incredibly friendly people.
This is not really a „Banana Republic“, but boy they do have lots of bananas here. Call them matoke, which is also the name of our tour company: MATOKE TOURS. Lets hit the road, we’re here for a three week trip, in which we will cover almost 3000km, in an old Toyota Land cruiser with Anatoli our driver.
The trip
Anatoli, our driver
Sep
01
2020Hike, but remember, the only way is up….baby !
The Cinque Terre in Italy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Five little coastal towns, spread out over 20km or so on the north-west coast of Italy, about 1 hour east of Genova by car. I had wanted to go there for ages but was put off by the horrendous tourist numbers, but now seems to be the right time. Because of corona their tourist numbers have dropped to one third of their normal, still more than enough if you ask me.
There are 5 towns from left to right:
Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarole and Riomaggiore.
Monterosso, for beach lovers
Vernazza, the pretty one
Corniglia, on the clifftop
Manarola, surrounded by vineyards
Riomaggiore, the tiny photogenic one
No matter where you stay, they all have their charms and the next town is always close. You get to the next town in minutes by taking the train, the longest you’ll be on the train is 16min from Monterosso to Riomaggiore, or take it easy and hike, as we did.
Read More»Dec
28
2019AN ISLAND FULL OF SURPRISES
Usually all it takes is one photo. I see it, and my mind is made up, I want to go there. Madagascar has been on my mind for a while, and as I was told to go there rather sooner than later, well there’s no better time than right now. So we went on a photo tour with Oryx Photography, with photographer Dale Morris and our Malagasy guide Nono Tianamalala. Between them these two guys made just about anything possible, and this trip one of my best photo holidays ever.
Jun
28
2019Part 2: Chile
PARQUE NACIONAL TORRES DEL PAINE
Mon 22: to Chile and Torres del Paine
It is a long and boring drive, the first 2,5 hrs so we simply sleep. We do a coffee stop at Estancia La Leona, the coffee is not too bad, and Jürg treats himself to a gigantic piece of lemon meringue pie, it is about 20cm high, no kidding ! Best of all, it really is good !
On the road again
This thing is huge, but look how happy he is !
From there 1,5 hours to Esperanza for more coffee and super good empanadas, freshly made and still warm. This sounds like a gourmet trip right ?
Another 2,5 hours gets us into Chile and to our hotel, the Hosteria Pehoe, probably the most scenic lodgings in the whole park. It is located on a little island 100m off the shore of Lake Pehoe, and you can only reach it by a foot bridge. Drag along your own bags please, and do pray the bridge holds.
Pray the bridge holds our weight
May
30
2019Part 1: Argentina
Parque Nacional los Glaciares
This National Park was created in 1938 and declared a World Heritage Site in 1981. Its 726’900 hectares host 356 glaciers that cover a total ice surface of 2’600 km2. The beauty of lakes and mountains combine with spectacular glaciers to shape a divine landscape. A photographers paradise you might say. So lets go see.
Hougaard Malan is the best landscape photographer I know. I’ve travelled with quite a few photographers, and each and every one taught me something, but from Hougaard I learnt most. So when he asked us if we wanted to come to Patagonia for 2 weeks in April, and gave us just about 2 days to think it over, it took us 2 minutes to say: yes please !
Feb
09
2019The horse races at St. Moritz
We don’t have a clue about horses, don’t ride them and don’t know a thing about them, just that they look gorgeous when racing by at full speed. I’ve wanted to come here to photograph them for years, and finally we made it. Bad luck: the weather is lousy, it is cold and snowing heavily and visibility is bad, no or little light, but that won’t spoil our fun.
White Turf, the races at the mondain winter ski resort of St.Moritz. The only place I’ve heard of, where horses race on snow on a frozen lake. These races have been held here for ages, always the first 3 Sundays in February, this year is the 112th issue ! To get there take the bus Nr.1 from your hotel to St.Moritz Bahnhof and walk across the road, or come by car and park in one of the assigned (free) parking lots, just follow the signs. Walk to the race area and pay the entrance fee: CHF 85 for a premium numbered seat on the stands with of course the best view of the finish line. CHF 45 if you like to sit and have a good overview, free choice of where you sit, or CHF 25 for standing but then you can literally go anywhere around the outside of the track. Which seemed a better option for us to photograph.
Read More»Feb
07
2019The Dalmatian Pelicans of Kerkini
I love wildlife photography, but I really don’t do birds.
Well, maybe there’s one exception… if they are extremely colorful, very big, or come in huge numbers. One day, I saw just one picture of a strange animal with orange around the eyes, and a sort of wild and hairy hairstyle… Shit, it’s a bird. A pelican. I just had to go and photograph one.
A photo like this really got me going
So I did some research. These are Dalmatian pelicans, they are the rarest of the world’s 7 pelican species, and they are BIG ! The second biggest bird species on the planet : 1.2m tall, weight 6-10kg and a wingspread of up to 3.2m. And lucky me, they are not so far away ! About 10% of the mating pairs are found in northeastern Greece, close to the Bulgarian border, on a lake called Kerkini. The name Vasilis kept showing up in the reviews I read, so I decided we needed him too. A few months later, when everybody else was getting ready for the skiing season, we boarded a plane to Thessaloniki, Greece.
To photograph birds…
But very cool and very big birds !
Sep
26
2018A leopard a day keeps the doctor away !
We were in Zambia in 2011, nobody knew where it was…
Relaxing in a sausage tree
We returned 7 years later, still nobody knows where it is !
I believe it is the best kept secret in Africa, this country is a gem, with beautiful national parks, lots of wildlife, gorgeous lodges and friendly people. I promised in 2011 I’d return and I am so happy I did ! The first night we stayed in Lusaka at the very cool trendy, funky Latitude 15, it’s like living in an art gallery. This is the place to stay ! and ist only 30 min from the airport in the quiet suburb of Kabulonga.
Our safari in South Luangwa
We spent 4 nights at Mfuwe lodge then 4 at Chindeni camp
This time we travelled in the company of some good friends, and our pro-photographer Isak Pretorius, who was once again willing to share some of his secrets with us, show us his favourite place, and help us get even better pictures than last time. That part should be easy because last time we were still shooting on fully automatic and didn’t have a clue about photography.
Read More»Jun
05
2018Namibia in the “RAINY SEASON”
Well it’s not all that rainy, just a lot of clouds and thunderstorms building up, we only got rained on once… or twice, and it usually clears real quick. The good thing is that the backgrounds are simply amazing with all these clouds !
Ready to capture some nice clouds !
That is, as long as we had them… which was just about during our first week.
But then, we really needed clear skies for the night shots at the quiver tree forest, so all turned out rather well this holiday if I may say.
Quiver trees at night
And the company was brilliant of course, us doing a private tour with Hougaard Malan and his lovely girlfriend Marlee, who turned out to be my favourite model !
Read More»Feb
24
2018ICELAND 2018: 50 shades of blue
We return to “winter-wonderland” only 2 years after our first trip. This time in the company of my sister & brother-in-law, and in possesion of our own 4×4 Jeep Cherokee, no limits to the driving- and photography times ! If only the weather plays along and my sis doesn’t kill me…
P.S. Click on the blue links in the following text for more information
Sisterly love
Dec
23
2017What do you believe Ethiopia is like ?
I expected poverty, drought and famine, a landscape somewhat like the Greek Islands, barren and empty. No way ! The Omo Valley in the south west of Ethiopia took me by surprise. It has mountains like Switzerland, is lush and green like the Caribbean, colourful like India and friendly as only Africa can be.
Roads can be challenging but most are rather good
To the Suri Tribe, but getting there takes some effort !
It takes us 3 days to get to our first photo destination. The first day we fly from Addis to Jimma. I’ve decided that I like this place. Horses stand smack in the middle of the street, we must drive around them, there are goats and cows, donkey wagons, people walk along the road, not just one, no dozens. It is poor but absolutely exiting, colourful, green and exotic !
It’s Africa and I love it.
Roadside scenes
Remembers me of the Caribbean
The second day we drive for 9 hours till we reach Mezan Teferi. First stop after 2 hours (of very slow driving) at the home of a family which welcomes us in their hut. Unbelievable, they live here with 10 people, plus at night all the cattle comes in as well. The hut is maybe 20m2. Second stop at another family, they pose just as happily, but even better, they make us coffee, and I mean coffee straight from the beans. First they roast, then they grind, then pour water. It is awful strong, the spoon almost stands straight up, but I rather like it.
The Ethiopian coffee is sensational
Sep
24
2017MASAI MARA PHOTOGRAPHIC SAFARI
Ready for the wildebeest migration
I love this landscape of rolling hills, big plains dotted with lonely trees, an escarpment in the background, rivers like green snakes winding through, and crossing these rivers, especially one big river called the Mara, is the wildebeest migration, and that’s what we are here for.
Wildebeest crossing
Our camp is lovely, situated on the bank of the Mara River at a bend, so maybe if we’re lucky we’ll get a private crossing right in front of camp. Check out the webpage : www.entim-mara.com. Before we leave for our first gamedrive a dazzle of zebra gather on the little flat plain just across camp. Will they cross ? Good thing we didn’t wait, they told us the next morning they crossed at 03:30, would have been a long wait !
Our very big and comfortable tent
Jun
28
2017Charming Puglia
That’s what it said in the advertisement….and it is true ! This is a region in the southern part of Italy which isn’t very well known to mainstream tourism. One of the reasons which makes it so special! This is where Italians spend their holidays.
Monopoli, the beach
There are beaches for the beachbums, «spiaggas» where they have beachchairs, showers, umbrellas and restaurants, or discover deserted coves with crystal clear blue water. On the highway south you drive past olive trees for miles and miles, past olive groves with olive trees that are more than a thousand years old, with stems so thick you need three people to embrace them. There are tiny white walled towns on hilltops, looking out over the landscape and down to the sea, with narrow alleys going up and down, left and right, till you don’t know which way you are heading or if you prefer… there are flashy cities with incredibly beautiful buildings and churches ( to be honest they have tons of those) and modern shops. Or would you prefer small ports with cute little harbours filled with fishing boats in different shades of blue. It’s your choice, the options are endless.
Monopoli, the harbour
Apr
11
2017Week 2 of our Thailand “would-rather-be-sailing” trip.
We prayed for wind and got more than our share on one day, a very cold fridge on all others. Honest guys, this is a mass tourism region and will never ever be a sailing region, the most important thing is missing: WIND !
Sat 18.3.17 – 13,2 NM
KO KRADAN-SE Bay 7°18,6 N-99°15,6E to
KO ROK-between Rok and Nai 7°12,9N-99°04,2E
We decide to go back to Ko Rok, my favourite island so far. It is 2 hours of motoring but there is some wind, maybe we can sail. No way ! As soon as we round the southern tip of Ko Kradan the winds dies down once again. Here we go again.
Oops, where’s the ocean, can’t see it because of all the boats and people
Round lunchtime we reach Ko Rok and are in shock. The pretty beach is filled with about 25 speed boats and dozens of longtails. Tons of people are on the beach and in the water. This is “Maya Bay, Phi Phi style”, overly crowded, overflowing with tourists. One of the speed boat drivers tells me they are here every day, and most will be gone by 14:00, which is true. We have the beach to ourselves again.
Read More»Apr
06
2017They told us it was a low wind region. That was the understatement of the year, there was so little wind you could almost keep up swimming! Me, I’d say that is a no wind region. We sailed 7 hours in 2 weeks, which adds up to a mere 10% sailing. Not quite what we are used to… such a pity, because the yacht was the best we ever had! The good thing was we had lots of time for other things…
Jan
07
2017The other half of avoiding a family fight over who had gotten the Nr. 1 picture for this year, our favourite 5-his & hers ! Decide for yourself which is your favourite photo !
Here’s my favourite photos for 2016. It wasn’t too hard to choose since I didn’t get to travel much after quitting my job and opening the new practise. But there were a couple of highlights, sensational highlights I must say. We both turned 50 and each picked a very special trip. So it wasn’t the quantity this year, but there was definitely quality !
5. PUFFINS
They are the cutest birds ever, and after seeing a few in Svalbard we took a trip to a famous bird island in Norway to see more of thenm close up. We didn’t see any ! So I was seriously afraid to do another puffin trip and be disappointed again. Not this time ! There were hundreds, no thousands of them on the Farne Islands (GB). It is quite a challenge to capture them in flight, they are so fast, but we got better and better. This was one of the first pictures I took, starting with the “sitting ducks”. It really looks as if they are having a chat or maybe even a family fight…
Do you want to talk about it ?
Dec
17
20162016
They say 2016 will be year of change. I didn’t expect much, but by the end of the year I had to admit…. a lot has changed.
Not much going on in January, not much snow either … we did’t even get to ski, definitely time for a photo holiday !
February
We left for Iceland, a 2 week combined C4 – Captur Earth Photo Tour with Hougaard Malan, the landscape master photographer, to at last get better at landscape photography. Now I am no great fan of landscapes, or cold, but it was Jürgs 50th birthday and he desperately wanted an aurora for his birthday. So as I asked him : warm (meaning Myanmar) or cold birthday trip ( meaning Iceland) ? He took about 30 seconds to decide. Believe it or not, he did get an aurora for his birthday, the best one of the whole trip.
Jul
31
2016Farne Islands – Puffin & Angels Photo Workshop
Believe me, once you see one you are hooked ! Puffins are the most adorable little birds, they are about the size of a duck and look somewhat like a penguin with a big round orange beak. They are cute just sitting there, truly amazing when in flight, and real funny when they land, putting out big orange feet, landing and half falling down, like they haven’t quite mastered the act of a proper landing yet.
Happy landing
May
03
2016Mala Mala is just about the best place for wildlife photography. This time we got lucky, upgrade to Rattrays, which is very, very nice ! Plus we got to drive with my favourite ranger, and because there were so few people around we even got a private jeep. Nothing can keep me in camp now, however nice it is !
Welcome to Rattrays
Our room
and our veranda
Finding the Big 5 is not an easy thing to do. Unless you come here ! Usually by day 2 you will have found them. Same for us, within 2 game drives we saw them all.
Read More»Apr
19
2016ZIMBABWE’S MANA POOLS in the green season
So here we go, 5 days in Mana Pools in a mobile camp. It will be set up for us, and after we leave there will be no traces of us ever having been there. Leave only foot prints, take only photo’s. And that’s exactly what we are going to do ! Beware : don’t try any of the things we do here in any other place in Africa, this is not a “normal safari”!
And this is what it is all about
DAY 1 : WHEN THE TOUGH GET GOING
At noon we reach Harare. We get a visa for 30$ each, then move on to domestic departures. We then wait in the very old, very worn down, and very deserted departure hall, what better to do than have our first G&T.
First round of G&T
Another 1hr flight, this time in a 14-seater, gets us to a dirt airstrip in the middle of no where. It is deserted. The camp manager from nearby Chikwenya Camp comes to pick us up, our Humphrey is no where to be seen and we can’t reach him or the camp, not on phone or sat phone, this is weird. We relax on the deck, enjoy the brilliant view, have a few beers, watch a small herd of elephants walk by. At 17:30 we decide to spend the night here, not that we have much of a choice without a jeep and driver ….
Read More»Mar
08
2016Because we liked Iceland so much …
Here are 10 reasons to visit Iceland in winter:
1. Reykjavik, the smallest capital city in the world. A small town with a big soul.
Harpa, the concert hall
Feb
14
2016ICY ICELAND – WEEK 2
Our trip continues, the start of week 2. Will it be as good as the first week ? Will we see more auroras ? One more day in JÖKULSARLON, one more go at the beach, one more ice cave, then we move on to the highlands and into the cold.
Ice cave nr.2
DAY 8
As usual our plans change, so does the weather, it is snowing again as we go for breakfast, damn, damn, damn. At 9:00 we do decide to give it a go. At the beach there are only about 4 pieces of ice in the water, so we decide to go to the lagoon. We climb to the lookout point and get some lovely shots of the lagoon all covered in a fresh layer of snow. We move to a second spot, the light on the mountains in the back gets better. We even stay when a snow storm hits us, we are the hardcore landscape photographers.
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Feb
06
2016ICY ICELAND – WEEK 1
A PHOTO TOUR
with Hougaard Malan & Isak Pretorius
There are no direct flights to Reykjavik for us in winter, because all the “normal” people go there in summer. We leave on January 29th, the sun will rise at around 10:00 and set at 17:00 and won’t get higher than 10 degrees above the horizon. The bad thing is we can’t pronounce any of the names of the places we are going to see, and we’ll barely have 9 hrs of light per day. The good thing is we can do sunrise shots and sleep late.
And this is what we want to see
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Jan
16
2016My personal favourites
As always it is hard to pick 10 when you have so many to choose from. These are my personal favourites for 2015.
10
Because I’m Dutch, and because I love tulips. From the first day I can buy them, even if it is still winter, I feel spring is coming. The Keukenhof near Amsterdam is a sensational place to photograph these beautiful flowers, they have hundreds of variaties there. I love the colour and the spiky edge on this one.
Dec
31
2015We were busy this year, travelled a lot, to sensational new places, found many new friends, and enjoyed being with the old friends.
January
Already in January we had a surprise visit from our friends from the Antarctica trip 2013: Frank & Silke. We spent a fun weekend, unfortunately no skiing because of too little snow and bad weather, but fun anyway.
Remembering the good old times
February
We entered the Mala Mala photo competition, hoping to win and get 2 free nights. Somehow my pics got lost, Jürg made it to the finals with his wild dog racing in the river. To see the other finalists check out the link:
http://blog.malamala.com/index.php/2015/03/guest-winner/
March
Spring got there and the travel season started.
Read More»Nov
01
2015PART 2 of the INDIAN CANYONS PHOTO TOUR with Christian Heeb
So we saw the Grand Canyon, did a photo shoot with a native Indian model, we photographed Antilope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Rimrock Hoodoos, Monument Valley and Canyonlands N.P, and that was only the first week. We were afraid it couldn’t get better…. but it did !
DAY 7: around Moab
It is rather hard getting up at 05:15 but we don’t want to be sissies, besides, I saw a photo of the Dead Horse Outlook and it looked real good. Christian drove much too fast so we get there in the pitch dark and decide to do some stars and light up a little tree in the foreground. The whole thing proceded a little messy, everybody pressed their shutter at a different time, and so one gets a lot of light, others little, it’s just practise ! As we get too much light for the stars to really show we proceed to the canyons rim. This is probably the best outlook I’ve seen so far, this is really special, I just love the scenery here.
Dead Horse Overlook, not a horse in sight…
Oct
25
2015We met in a bar. In the gigantic casino in the lobby of the Las Vegas hotel. All around us poker, blackjack, roulette, machines jingling, bells ringing, the noise level was deafening, people all around us. We are 8, the boss is the guy with the hat, his wife is the manager, maybe she’s the real boss ? The other 6 that’s us: two German and four Swiss amateurs, and we are ready to learn from him…. how to shoot…
Shoot a really good photo ! Let’s get on the road and start the :
INDIAN CANYONS PHOTO TOUR
with Christian Heeb
Read More»Oct
18
2015SAN FRANCISCO to LAS VEGAS
ARRIVING
Driving from the airport we had to cross the Golden Gate Bridge to get to our B&B in Sausalito. Easier said than done, we missed a turn off and did an involuntary sightseeing trip of downtown San Francisco, uphill, downhill, every crossing a 4-way-stop, it took ages. We finally did make it back on the Hwy 101 and onto the bridge.
Arriving and driving, with our great timing we exactly hit the rush hour
An insider photo tip to turn left and go up the hill in the Marin Headlands to get some really good views is no secret anymore. There was almost more traffic there then driving through the town at rush hour. We were told to go photograph the bridge as soon as it as visible, it would mostly be covered in clouds or fog. We had clears skies every day and night ! From there we went to our B&B, the Gables Inn in Sausalito. I can only recommend the place, a warm welcome, nice room, and lucky again: wine and cheese every afternoon from 17:00-19:00. We dump the bags in the room and go have a drink, with all the cheese we ate we decide to skip dinner.
The Golden Gate Bridge without a cloud or fog in sight
SIGHTSEEING IN SAN FRANCISCO
Read More»Sep
13
2015International balloon days Toggenburg
I did a trip in a hot air balloon years ago. Have ever since wished to photograph a balloon flying over some spectacular landscape, or lots of them together. The latter came true and it was spectacular to say the least.
There are balloon festivals in lots of places at different times of the year, we were lucky to find a 4 day festival near us in Ebnat-Kappel. Check out their webpage : www.ballontage.ch
Read More»Aug
12
2015SPOILT FOR LIFE in 5 days at MALA MALA
DAY 1 – first impressions
Elephant crossing
I am a photographer. I love coming to Mala Mala. This time I am bringing my friend Susi, she’s never been to Africa before. I am pretty sure that after this experience she will love Africa and love going on safari. The one down thing: she’ll be spoilt for life.
I don’t know which of us is more nervous, she or me. Did I, in my enthusiasm, overdo it with all my stories of this wonderful place? All turns out well, she loves the plane ride from Johannesburg, and already wants to photograph the impala at the airstrip, through the planes window! I barely managed to stop her, and this only after I promised her loads of them, at very close range. Which wasn’t a very hard promise to keep.
As promised, impala at close range
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Jun
21
2015Norway in a nutshell
DAY 1: From white to green
From Longyearben we flew via Tromsö and Oslo to Bergen and left our white world behind us. Bergen has 270 days of rain per year. So naturally it rained when we got there. We have a hotel just across from Bryggen, the oldest part of town along the east shore of the Vägen Harbour, long leaning rows of gabled, mostly wooden houses, looks totally cool, let’s get outside with a camera. By the time we get out the light is gone. So a few hours later I sent Jürg out for some night shots…splendid idea !
Bergen by night
Jun
08
2015SVALBARD PHOTO TOUR – Mai 2015
We are on Svalbard in Longyearben, the capital, an ugly little town in the Isfjord on the west coast of the island of Spitsbergen at latitude 78°N. Only 1338km to the North Pole! They say there are more polar bears here than inhabitants (about 2200), so our chances of finding one should be pretty good.
Read More»Apr
26
2015Friends asked me if I could take some photos of their daughters, naturally they would be dressed in their favourite colour… different shades of pink. Of course I did, especially since they offered a brunch to start with. I arrived with a camera, flash, diffuser and a bunch of tulips for mum. Now I know about photographing wildlife, you just take what you get, get in the best position, make the best of the light and background, think ahead, hope they do what you expect them to do. So I figured with kids there wouldn’t be a problem…. Wrong ! With kids it’s a different story !
Apr
08
2015Doing Holland the tourist way
After living in Switzerland for 27 years I sometimes feel like a tourist when visiting my home country Holland. It seemed rather a good reason to go see Holland the tourist way…
I mean full style: tulips, windmills, wooden shoes and all. Since the relatives are rather photo-minded too they didn’t seem to mind.
Jan
21
2015Okay, I admit, I couldn’t decide… so it’s 12.
I mean, there were thousands, I got it down to 25 rather well but then it got really hard. They may not all be photographic highlights, but what they all have in common: they are “feel good” pictures to me. The places I took them, the trouble I went through to take them, the special light or occasion… hope you like them too.
12
This one changed my life. It was a cold winter afternoon at a little lake near where we live, I believe I was the only person for miles around, and it was so quiet, peaceful and beautiful ! If I could I would have jumped a double salto for joy, instead I jumped around in the snow, rolled in the snow and kicked my legs in the air like a turtle on its back, and shouted yes, yes, yes ! Right there I decided I wanted to be a photographer, wanted to share all these beautiful places, with whoever wants to see, through my photos and in writing.
Jan
01
201548 HOURS IN ATHENS
![20141227-Athens-[Group 1]-IMG_0272_IMG_0275-4 images](https://bluemelphoto.ch/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20141227-Athens-Group-1-IMG_0272_IMG_0275-4-images.jpg)
We came a day before the wedding, to do some sightseeing in this 4 million people metropole, and I’m really glad we did ! They told us it was easiest to take the metro to the city centre, so we did just that. Getting a ticket was one thing… once at the platform we were lost ! Everything in Greek (meaning unreadable), and not a soul around. Luckily after some time more people showed up, and we could ask. Yes, we are about to board the metro, the blue line, to the Syntagma, the main square in Athens. Once on it, it was easy, change once at Syntagma to the red line metro, and about 45 minutes later we got to our hotel.
Our hotel, the Grecotel Pallas Athena, is totally cool, wonderful rooms and a very friendly staff. It’s very conveniently located, close to the city centre, and only about 100m south from the metro station Omonia. In about 15 minutes you can walk to the Monastiraki Square, which is THE square in the Plaka, the old town.
Read More»Dec
20
2014We wish all our friends and everybody reading and watching our webpage a wonderful Christmas and a great start in 2015!
Juerg is definitely not a shop-a-holic, but creative as he is, he proves that ( from a photographic point of view) shopping centres at Christmas time are not just stress, they can be fun, inspiring and they are beautiful….
2014 was the year of change and new beginnings.
Read More»Dec
14
2014THANK YOU GREG & PIETER !
This is just a tiny blog, but for a big issue….
See, we sent in 9 photos for the Mala Mala photo competition, and were really very disappointed when we didn’t even make it in the top 10…. so we forgot all about it, well, sort of put it in the back of our minds. Till one day early August I got an e-mail : Mala Mala calendar 2015. Figured they wanted to sell me one of the calendars, opened it, and to my surprise they didn’t want to sell me one, but use one of my photos ! Yes, yes, yes ! I am going to be a famous photographer, someone has “discovered me”. Boy, I am so proud ! They even sent the email twice. As I opened the second one it turned out I was wrong again. They want to use another photo ! Even more proud now ! We still didn’t really believe it, decided to wait till we saw the calendar, had it in our hands…..and here it is.
The good thing is, one photo is Jürgs, one is mine, so we can keep the discussion going as to which of the two of us is the better photographer. Judge for yourselves !
The thank you part is the most important ! We couldn’t have done it without these two guys.
So here’s a very big thank you : to Greg du Toit, my absolutely favourite photographer. His photos are just something else, different, unique and inspiring. He showed me how to really use and be master of my camera, and inspired me to keep trying, wait for the light, and see with my eyes and heart.
Just as big a thank you to Pieter van Wijk, my favourite ranger ever. He tracked down and drove us to these wonderful animals, got us in prime photo position more than once, and to my opinion is one who truly sees with his heart.
In the following picture Greg and Pieter are the two pretty ones on the right !
We owe you two a drink next time we meet, I hope it will be soon 🙂 🙂 🙂 !
Nov
22
2014PILATUS :
Photo workshop with NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC photographers:
Florian & Salomon Schulz
We know this guy, went to a multi media show he did on his travels to the Arctic last year, and we’re definitely hooked !
We visited an afternoon workshop last year, and as we saw this chance…we took it. Two days on the Pilatus, a 2132m/7000 ft high mountain in central Switzerland, learning from the pro’s and the best thing is, we are going to do night shoots and learn to do time lapse, Juergs favourites !
So we left home a little early, hoping to take some photos before it got too crowded. An hour’s drive got us to Alpnachstad. The exit is well posted and the parking lot was easily found and half empty, good for us ! All right maybe this was because the weather was getting from average to rather lousy…. We got our tickets for the cogwheel railway. It goes up all 30 minutes, and we had of course just missed it, so we had plenty of time for a coffee before we could at last get up there.
Nov
01
2014Cheetah or Hyena ?
Which do you like best ? I believe most of you will spontaneously go for the cheetah, the sleek, athletic hunter, as compared to the hyena, the not so pretty and oddly proportioned hunter and scavenger, which even in Walt Disney movies is pictured as an ugly, stealing coward. But what if we look at the cubs ? All small animals are adorable, but as my ranger told me he was a big fan of the hyenas I didn’t quite believe him. That was till we got to the hyena den…
Judge for yourselves, I bet you’ll have a hard time deciding !
Cheetah…
or Hyena ?
P.S. I am very proud and honoured that this blog is also featured as a blog for Africa Geographic
Read More»Oct
22
2014This is a mountain restaurant, not like many others that I’ve seen. Location, location, location !
This tiny restaurant at about 1450m above sea level is perched like an eagles nest at the bottom of a steep cliff. It is precariously set at a small ledge, from where there is a 600m drop down to the valley, rather a steep drop I must add. The views of course are no less than spectacular, and their chäs rösti, (a swiss national dish like a big hash brown with melted cheese on top) is so good, it alone is worth the hike up there. So we started our hike…
Read More»Oct
08
2014MALA MALA : a photographers paradise
Mala Mala is a private game reserve in the Sabi Sand, bordering the Krueger Park in South Africa. I am a little prejudiced after three trips in 15 months, but I believe it is one of the best game parks in South Africa, if not the best, especially if you are into photography. I truly love to be here ! This place oozes old style British colonial charm, it is the old Africa, as I remember it from my youth in Kenya, and the wildlife sightings are phenomenal. I don’t know if our ranger Joe was so good, or if we were so lucky, probably a bit of both, but we have never had so many absolutely fantastic sightings, seen so many cubs and pups and young animals as we did this time. Maybe the champagne we started to drink at breakfast ( for good luck ) did work after all !
You can still see it was an old hunting lodge
The buffalo lounge where we meet before dinner
Our bedroom with adjoining living room and his&hers bathrooms
Our first game drive started with a beautiful eagle, followed by a tiny elephant, this little one was so small it could easily walk under mums belly. It stumbled along, bumped into its mothers legs, tried to somehow use its trunk. We sat and watched for the longest time, totally adorable !
Read More»Oct
01
2014Mashatu is in the Limpopo Valley, in the Tuli Block Game Reserve. That is on the eastern side of Botswana, like a big triangle jutting out into South Africa. It borders South Africa to its south-east and Zimbabwe to the north-east. We’ve been here before, little over a year ago. It was so absolutely fabulous that we had to come back, come back and share it with friends.
Our new South African photography friends
So we booked a photo workshop with C4 Images, hoping to learn a little more and improve our photography. And we did ! Plus we made some new friends, we had a great time and really enjoyed our stay at the Mashatu tented camp.
Read More»Sep
13
2014The Patrouille Suisse are famous in Switzerland ! They are a display team flying very precise and spectacularly in the national colours red and white. This year is their 50th anniversary. They make it possible for the average public to see and experience the absolutely impressive skills of these F-5 Tiger pilots ( which are of course backed up by a high tech ground crew ).
Now I was “lucky enough” to be sick and lying in my bed at home. See, they have to practise, and they usually do that over the Zürich Lake, on which border we live. If you don’t know they are coming… well, you will as soon as they arrive, the noise can’t be missed ! So at first I figured oh, it’s them practising. But curiosity got the best of me, and I got out of bed, camera ready and watched. This is prime photo position once again, they fly right over our house !!!
Read More»Aug
03
2014
Sylt, the island of the rich and beautiful. They come here to “see and be seen”, don’t dare show up in any clothing without fancy designer labels on them, and don’t leave the Porsche at home !
Read More»Jul
29
2014My first BLOG !
You have to start somewhere, why not in your backyard…
I discovered the MAKRO button on Jürgs new 24-70mm lens, it stopped raining for a few hours late on this Tuesday afternoon, so I gave it a go.
It is amazing, when looking through a makro lens you suddenly see details and shapes you never noticed before ! And believe it or not, you all of a sudden look forward to seeing all sorts of “creepy crawlers” in your flowers !
Colour was easy, everything is in flower at the moment so there was an abundancy of colour to choose from.
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