SOLITARY HIERARCHY # 3

Once, I certainly had my creativity tested on a short trip to the Molopo Nature Reserve which borders Botswana . Although the ambience of the park was remarkable with wide open spaces, tall grass, camel-thorn trees, thick sand and abundant wildlife, photographically it proved to be a challenge as the landscape was extremely flat bragging only the occasional dune.

Animals regularly frequent this area as not only can they find shade in the heat of the day and easily spot predators approaching, but they can also take in essential minerals from the soil to supplement their limited diet. I love exploring these types of pans, especially in the heart of the winter with temperatures dropping below zero causing the pans to be extremely dry.

I have always loved simple, stark compositions, particularly when the colours complement one another. That day, besides a very strong wind blowing, very little was happening. I decided to make use of the movement by photographing a solitary thorn tree blowing in the wind by using four reflector boards to bounce some light back onto the subject. I also used grey filters to extend the exposure time to eight seconds which helped dramatize the movement of the branches. Combined with an extreme wide angle lens to create depth and a polarizing filter to darken the sky the effect helped to bring the picture alive. Through years of photography I have learned that weather can certainly assist to bring interest into ones pictures.