Rwanda » Traverse Earth

The Mysterious Sunken Fence, Rwanda

Mar 282012

Trip Planning

I’m in the process of planning my trip to Iceland in June. I’ll be going for the summer solstice so will get to enjoy photographing sunsets that run right into sunrises through the night. I’ve also got a few interesting bits I’d like to do. The top of my list is snorkeling in the rift between the North American and European tectonic plates. Apparently, the water’s so clear you can look down for miles into the Earth and feel like you’re floating in space. I also need to photograph some puffins and want to go whale watching, as well as exploring some ice caves. There’s so much to do I wish I was going for longer. It’s going to be difficult coming up with a plan that won’t leave me totally exhausted. Despite the walls of my room having had sufficient insulation, I’m not entirely sure when I’ll sleep. If anyone’s got any advice on Iceland let me know.

Fish Farm, Rwanda

When setting out on a hike through a few of Rwanda’s thousand hills it’s reasonable to expect to find something interesting around every corner. You encounter sights ranging from a young boy juggling a football made of plastic sheeting and twine, to two men using a long saw to split a log (with one man standing 8 feet in the air atop the trunk being cut), as well as the subject of today’s photo.

It’s somewhat startling to find this large, man-made pool of water in amongst the sugar cane, maize and potatoes. Initially, what it is ain’t exactly clear. Then, you notice concentric ripples forming on the surface as if the water was being disturbed by a light rain. It’s not raining so the only solution is that there must be something below. The guide confirms that it’s a fish farm and begins explaining how it works. It’s quite fascinating, particularly the purpose of the fence pictured below. I’m intrigued to see what people think it is for, so have a guess in the comments section. I’ll see what everyone comes up with then add the answer in a comment of my own if no-one guesses.

This photo employs 5 exposures bracketed from -2 to +2. I had shot 7 exposures but decided that the other two weren’t adding anything so decided not to include them.

The Basket Weavers

Africa, People, Rwanda, Travel 2 Responses »

Mar 172012

Most people visit Gisenyi for the gorillas and a lot of people will trek up the volcano to see them twice. At $500 for a day permit we decided we’d only go once. As I’ve mentioned before, we made the most of it by going to the largest, and hardest to reach, group.

The next day we went on a much easier hike. We departed Gisenyi and walked along a well used path that links villages to the town. On the route we passed numerous little hamlets, crops, and fish farms. Along the way we stopped and traded a child a football for his homemade version – crafted from plastic and twine. Further along, there were grids etched into the baked ground and upon asking about them, we discovered they were used for a hopscotch type game. The children demonstrated this to us and then got a good laugh as we attempted it ourselves.

Our first official stop was in a village to see how the baskets photographed below are made. We’d seen a lot of these baskets across Africa in curio markets. They were all made of thread. These seem more authentic as they are made entirely from dried dyed grass. They work with long grass and bind it together with more grass as they spiral out from the middle. They thread the grass though a needle and push it through the thick bundle. We all gave it a try and concluded it was pretty difficult to push the needle through. I think Shannon was the only person with any luck. After this attempt, and chomping on some delicious sugar cane, we decided to play with our newly purchased homemade football. We had another real football with us, earmarked for the orphanage we visited later and the children in the village looked on inquisitively as we shunned the real football to kick the homemade one around.

I grabbed this photo on the way out. I’ve had a lot of difficulty processing it for some reason. I was combining three exposures from -2 to +2 but the results kept coming out grungy. So, I decided to try processing this image from a single raw with Photomatix. This result came out much cleaner but some of the photo was still under and overexposed. To fix this I layered all of the photos I had in Photoshop and masked in selected areas from the other exposures.

The Blue Hour, Lake Kivu Morning

Africa, Rwanda, Travel No Responses »

Mar 152012

I’ve started to really enjoying shooting in the blue hour – the hour before sunrise and after sunset. The sky gradually changes from dark blue to light blue, culminating in the sunrise and vice versa in the evening. By the time I came to take this picture getting up before sunrise had become easy. We’d gotten used to waking up at dawn while on our canoe safari and I don’t think anyone ever really adjusted back while we were in Rwanda. On top of that the church up the road began to ring its bells really early.

I hopped out of bed, anticipating a great sunrise on Lake Kivu, but it was completely overcast. Even so, I wandered around the grounds of the Paradis Malahide looking for something to shoot. I walked out onto the bluff that I used a few times to photograph the fishermen on their way out onto the lake. I took this photo early on, just as the sun began to light the scene.

Candid Moment, Gorillas in Rwanda

Africa, Animals, Mountain Gorillas, Rwanda, Travel 1 Response »

Mar 122012

HDR Tutorial!!

For those of who have been waiting on my HDR tutorial I’ve finally gotten installment one online (thank you Brooke for the gentle nudge in the comments). This will take you as far as taking photos for HDR processing . I’ll be working on the processing portion this week. I got on a pretty good roll and am hoping to continue with that momentum. Right now I’m focusing on getting step by step instructions up. I’ll be adding screen captures to make it all a bit clearer and making changes as I get questions.

Candid Moment

I concentrated on catching the gorillas eyes while photographing them. They’re so expressive and remind us how close they are to us. Despite that, I like this photo. It really gives the feeling of looking into their world, watching them go about their daily business which is how we spent most of our time with them.

Lake Kivu Fishing Boat

Africa, Rwanda, Travel 2 Responses »

Mar 052012

As the sun sets on Lake Kivu the sound of the fisherman making their way out onto the lake, rain or shine, can be heard at the Paradis Malahide Hotel. As you’ve seen in previous posts, here and here, this was a sign that it was time for me to grab my gear and run down the road to the docks.

For some reason this canoe was left behind by the fleet, which can be seen on the horizon. This was lucky for me as I’d gotten to the dock a touch later than planned. This photo allows you to see how these triple hulled canoes are held together.

This is a combination of 7 exposures bracketed from -3 to +3. I’ve started using Photoshop to align the images prior to processing in Photomatix and have been surprised to discover that, even when using my tripod, more often than not they are out of alignment.

The Big Man

Africa, Animals, Mountain Gorillas, Rwanda, Travel No Responses »

Feb 182012

When you’re told you have to stay 15 feet away from the gorillas unless they approach you, you think that sounds reasonable. In reality though, once we were there I don’t think there was a moment that I wasn’t within 15 feet of a gorilla. The silver backs are particularly intimidating. But in a moment like the one captured here you can see their soft side, playing with one of the little ones.

The Package Tour Boat

Africa, Rwanda, Travel 2 Responses »

Feb 162012

After yesterday’s difficulty getting inspired to process any photos I came home over my lunch-break and decided to work on a photo that I’ve attempted and failed at a few times in the past. Finally, I think I’ve cracked it. Incidentally, does anyone know what the flowers in this photo are called?

This is another photo from the Paradis Malihide. Rising early, in the hopes of capturing the sun as it peeked over the horizon, I discovered that it was, once again, completely overcast. I never figured out where the sun rose and where it set while there because the cloud cover was so thick. Nonetheless, it was still a beautiful spot and I wasn’t going to let the clouds stop me. So, I went in search of photos where the sky didn’t have to be a prominent feature. I came across this scene and thought it was a great subject for HDR. It’s almost like two images, allowing your eye to wander over the flowers in the foreground before moving on to look at the boat and the hills in the distance.

People would arrive on package tours and pile into this little boat to cruise off down the lake. Navigate here to get ready properly for such a cruise. It was amazing how many people they stuffed into this thing. It was an interesting contrast watching the tourists in their bright orange life-jackets motoring back in for a nice dinner while the fishermen in dark rain jackets, t-shirts or shirtless plied their oars and sang their songs on their way for another chilly, wet night out on the lake.

I’m not a package tour person, probably because I don’t like being herded around. We spend enough time in our working lives getting told what to do. Why go off on holiday and do the same? I met a couple of Californian guys while in Prague who had embraced this concept. They’d decided they needed a break and managed to negotiate three weeks off – supposedly no easy feat in the US – to head for Europe. When I ran into them all they had planned was their flight home from Amsterdam. I spent about an hour eating lunch with them as they tried to figure out their next destination. They’d narrowed it down to Germany when I arrived, and hadn’t gotten much further when I eventually left. Once I ran into them later, at about 9pm, it was sorted. They were leaving at 6am on their way to Hanover. It’s a great way to travel, waking up in one place, not knowing where you’ll be the next day.

Lake Kivu Fishermen

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Feb 112012

As mentioned before, our 3 week journey through 3 countries in Africa ended with two days of relaxation at the Paradis Malihide in Gisenyi. It was the perfect way to unwind. This is another photo of the fishermen making their way out onto Lake Kivu, to work their nets through the night in search of talapia and little black sambassa. They have to fish with nets because, as Cameron discovered after an hour casting his fly into the lake, these are the only two types of fish in the lake and neither of them is carnivorous. Once Cameron discovered this, he turned to teaching one of the waiters how to fly cast. Across the lake, through the haze, you can see the hills of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

More Mosquito Repellant

Africa, Rwanda, Travel No Responses »

Feb 082012

I’ve said before that everywhere you look in Rwanda seems to present a photo opportunity. Here’s more evidence. This was taken on the way up to the national park to visit the mountain gorillas. It was our first water break. I extended it by taking my time setting up for this photo. It was a tough walk.

Youthful Wisdom

Africa, People, Rwanda, Travel 1 Response »

Feb 072012

Stepping out of my comfort zone of landscapes and cityscapes, I was inspired to shoot this portrait. The kids we encountered in Zambia and Rwanda were great. They certainly make a memorable impression. They’re also fascinated by the camera. I’ve mentioned the boy who followed me around Gisenyi setting up and packing away my tripod for me. While we were canoeing the lower Zambezi we paid a visit to a local village. As the chief’s wife gave us a demonstration in how they make flour, I snapped a photo of her toiling away with a small portion of her mob of grandchildren in the background. Without realizing, I left the screen on as I let the camera hang to my side. Suddenly I noticed all the kids were jockeying for a view of my hip. So I knelt down to show them the picture. They responded by pointing while chanting “Aye Nappa” (I have no idea how to spell this and am a bit ashamed to say I don’t even know what language it is, maybe our African language buff, Soniko, can fill this detail in). Our guide, C.B., filled us in that they were saying, “that’s me!”

Kids wherever we went loved having their photos taken, normally in a pack with huge cheesy grins. Most of these were really just snap shots to show them. As we climbed this hill in Rwanda (in a truck this time) to get a better view of the twin lakes, Burera and Ruhondo, we came across loads of kids – we were in Rwanda during a school break. As usual, they ran after us along the road and posed for photos. Then, at this verge looking out over one of the lakes there were only a few kids around. I’d started concentrating on taking landscapes before acknowledging the kids as it tended to be impossible after that. I snapped a few photos of this view and noticed that the older boy in this photo was watching me very closely, with that exact expression on his face and the littler one always by his side. I took a few photos and then called him over and had the two of them press the shutter button to fire off my bracketed photos for me. Neither asked for a photograph, which was a bit different, so I asked to take a photo of them. I’m very happy I did. I feel like this kid has the eyes of a wise old man. Regretfully, I don’t remember his name. I’m hoping to track him down. Cameron exchanged e-mail addresses with a few kids further up the hill who I need to send a few photos. They all wanted to be photographed with Cameron, who seemed a bit of a giant in Rwanda. Maybe those kids can track these guys down.

My HDR technique is based on Trey Ratcliff’s website, Stuck in Customs, where he bemoans the fact that Nikons force him to take 5 exposures in order to bracket exposures from -2 to +2. He states that the light range in the majority of scenes can be captured in three exposures, -2,0,+2. For no real reason I started using 7 exposures and have wondered what I would ever tell anyone if they asked me why I take 7. Now I know. It may be possible to capture the light range of the majority of scenes in three exposures. However, I’m still new to this HDR stuff and as such I’m not tuned to recognize when I need to go wider. For this shot, as I was photographing people (which aren’t very still), I dropped my usual 7 exposures down to 3. As a result, the background of this photo was plagued with noise. I think this is the result of Photomatix having to adjust the exposure of the background as it was not captured in the three images taken. Also, the option to mask out the sky in the Photomatix result to replace it with a noise free version didn’t work because I was missing the correct exposure. It’s come out alright after using Noiseware Pro, which is a great Photoshop plugin for removing noise, but I’ve lost some detail as a result. So, as I’m still learning when to shoot which exposures, I’ll stick to my -3 to +3 just to make sure.

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