What has isolation/lockdown taught you? There are many ways in which people over the last year and a bit have had their lives changed. Whether its socially, financially, and other ways it most definitely has changed our lifestyles. However, how has it changed photography? For some and I should say most, travel has been restricted. Only now are international borders starting to open, whether you travelling to the many reserves and private lodges within South Africa or travelling further into the Masaai Mara, Uganda, Mana Pools, Okavango Delta or the… read more →
Shoot what you enjoy A great part of becoming successful as a photographer is shooting what you love. There is nothing more rewarding than shooting what you are passionate about and seeing the result displayed and recognised by your peers and those that appreciate what you do. When you are shooting what you enjoy, you will never feel constrained or limited to a certain style or type of photo. It will always be rewarding; you will constantly learn or see something new. Develop your own style and perfect it There… read more →
My name is Trevor McCall-Peat, I am one of the Sigma South Africa Ambassadors and over the past couple of years I have been afforded the opportunity to work with a variety of their new sports and contempered lenses. I recently hosted a private safari to Uganda to photograph the gorillas and then onto Amboseli in Kenya. A couple of days before I left, I received the new 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS E-mount lens to give it a try. Normally when I travel my camera back can way up… read more →
The Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sport is Sigma’s newest lens in the “Sports” series. The “Sports” lenses are focused towards, you guessed it; sports, but also action, wildlife, and general long-distance photography. The emphasis is largely on the lens’s impressive focusing speed, tough and resilient build quality, all while maintaining excellent optical ability. Technical information Lens: 25 elements in 15 groups with nine diaphragm blades Angle of View / FF: 4.1° Angle of View / APS-C: 2.7° Minimum Aperture: f/22-29 Minimum Focus: 280 cm / 110.2… read more →
I have no claim to fame as a knowledgeable person on aircraft. I don’t even like flying. I am however a sport and action photographer and a self-confessed petrol-head, so I love the sound of aircraft engines, the bigger the better, and photographing them doing their thing which is making aircraft fly. I do plane-spotting and go to airshows to listen to the aircraft and photograph them, along with the weaponry they can carry which is also of interest to me. In this brief article I will discuss planning your… read more →
What is photography, really? Here I sit, its early morning approximately 05h30 and I have just checked guests out for their departure from the lodge. This is the time I have before new guests to write these blogs for the public. Its tough when it comes to time as a full-time lodge-based safari/field guide, nevertheless its rewarding as I have the honor of being a Sigma Brand Ambassador. This blog discusses “What is photography really?” We will of course portray it in a different way or have different opinions, that… read more →
I believe every birding photographer, after getting all the regular ID type shots, will work his way towards photographing birds doing some sort of activity. This would imply the typical foraging or eating photos, building nests, birds in flight (also see my previous article on this topic), even birds doing the natural thing of ensuring their species will continue to exist, birds on the hunt and so on. When catching those birds in flight, it invariably leads to birds landing and perching again, which is fairly easy to do; the… read more →
Welcome back everyone to another Photographic Tip part of the Learning in Lockdown series brought to you by Sigma South Africa. It has been a while so where have I been? Well, the last few months have been interesting… from testing new gear from Sigma SA to receiving guests back at all the lodges across the country and to the enormous amounts of rainfall received. Based on the above you can see what I mean by ‘the last few months have been interesting.’ I have decided to change up the… read more →
I regularly see many photographers posting their birding images on social media, websites etc, in the typical ID pose – full body, cleanish background, head turned slightly sideways to show off the profile of the head and bill, feather detail and colours, and legs with claws. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this, I do it too, there is more to bird photography than just the typical poses. The detail in facial features and bills of birds are just waiting to be captured. Over the years I have done just… read more →
After using a 150-600mm Contemporary Sigma lens for most of my time as a wildlife photographer I thought it would be quite difficult to find something not only on performance wise for the price of the lens but the durability and all-around performance from image quality to the specs based on a lens which copes quite well in different conditions such as rain and dust which I have experienced while up in the Kalahari. This lens is a little heavier than the 150-600mm Contemporary however it is made from a… read more →