Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/03/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well, we had a great time and a very enjoyable trip to Ndutu this year, not least due to the couples gelling perfectly with each other. In fact, the owners of Ndutu lodge used to come to our group regularly and remark that they had never seen anybody enjoy themselves like we were doing, and the secret of our laughing all the time! A part of the reason could be the varied duty free lubrication that was on hand, but I would like to think that the Cummers, Firkins, Thomases and Govindarajs just liked each others company a lot! This place is fast turning out to be a sort of spiritual home for me, the Serengeti ecosystem is where I seem to be most relaxed and mentally at ease nowadays. I would like to start with a quartet of Fuji XE1 images, with the 18-55mm lens, which I had taken in lieu of a Nikon normal range zoom. Serengeti, in Swahili, means "Endless Plain", and you can see why here: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/EAfrica/2014/untitled-20140316-307.jpg.html Neela liked this tree a lot, so we stopped the vehicle and photographed it (Alastair, Helen and myself). I thought the tree was something you would find in Tolkien's Middle Earth, and tried to give it that flavour in post processing: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/EAfrica/2014/untitled-20140315-280.jpg.html The last two are views of the Ngorongoro Highlands from Olduvai Gorge. Olduvai Gorge is the place where the first steps to understanding Homo Sapiens' evolutionary history was taken by Louis and Mary Leakey from the 1930s onwards, and the digs and research continue to this day. I had always wanted to visit this place, but had never done so, but this time around we took half a day off from wildlife, and went off in search of our distant ancestors. There was a storm in the air that day, and the air was crystal clear, the sky full of puffy cotton clouds and the colours especially brilliant in the magical African sun: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/EAfrica/2014/untitled-20140313-217.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/EAfrica/2014/untitled-20140313-216.jpg.html Please look LARGE Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome. Cheers Jayanand