Tagged: Kwa-Zulu Natal

17Jun

Lüneburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, RSA

Posted in Architecture, Locations, Portfolio, Road Trip, Rural, Workshop | Leave a comment

After a recent trip to Sodwana I took a detour to reconnoitre the quaint village of Lüneburg (place of the moon) which lies nestled in the northern Drakensberg and is the original settlement of German Lutheran missionaries who in 1854 named the community after their home-town in Germany. The views, the buildings, the landscapes sublime and take one back to a simpler time and a slower pace. Today it is the site of the oldest German school in northern KwaZulu Natal and lies virtually on the border with Mpumalanga; Deutsche Schule Lüneburg. Its closest neighbour is the city of Paulpietersburg. There are a number of B and B’s, Self Catering establishments. Attractions; fishing, trails, cycling, birding, wetlands, mountain passes, clear night skies for star gazing. Take a week to explore and make sure you are in a 4×4 / SUV.

Northern Berg Vista

Rolling hills and mountains. Northern Berg Vista, KZN © Harvey Grohmann

I “relied” on my Garmin Nuvi and despite telling it to avoid dirt where possible it took us on mostly that. Never again! I had not planned on such a massive detour. Needless to say I have restocked the 4×4 with real maps. From Piet Retief (R543) it took us to Lüneburg then over some very challenging dirt road mountain passes to the exit just south east of Wakkerstroom on the Utrecht Rd.

4 hours (don’t believe the Google map estimate of 2.5 hours) of really poor roads both badly potholed tar and mostly dirt and logging trucks vying for space on narrow bridges with broken or no railings. Don’t let this put you off. It’s doable. In daylight.


View Driving directions to Lüneburg from Piet Retief in a larger map

Here is a link to German Societies and Institutions in South Africa.

Gear I use: Bodies: Nikon D-SLR’s / Lenses: Nikon, Sigma, Tokina, Vivitar
Filters: Hoya UV & Polarizing / Flash: Nikon Speed-lights / Bag: Lowe Pro
Tripods & Heads: Manfrotto / Grips, Triggers, Timers, Batteries etc: BandH
Editing Plug-in: Topaz Labs Noise Reduction, HDR, B&W Conversion & more!

ALL IMAGES ON THIS SITE ARE © Harvey Grohmann. Read more for Terms and Conditions:
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16Apr

Wedding – Amanda and Jacques

Posted in 2nd Shooter, 3rd Shooter, Candid, General, OS (Sigma), Portfolio, Road Trip, Wedding | Leave a comment

What a wonderful day, dawning with the most magnificent East Coast Sunrise. Hopped in the 4×4 and took off for the dunes with a whole bunch of family and friends in tow. Including the groom and best man on off road motorbikes hours before the wedding…
One of the most casual warm weddings I’ve been to in ages. I took candid images (my favourite style) and these are SOOC (straight out of camera) unedited images.

Shot details: Nikon D7000 | Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX HSM OS | Nikon D90 | Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX HSM
Post Processing: SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) via Nikon Transfer and Nikon View NX 2
Location: @ Sodwana Bay, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.

Gear I use: Bodies: Nikon D-SLR’s / Lenses: Nikon, Sigma, Tokina, Vivitar
Filters: Hoya UV & Polarizing / Flash: Nikon Speed-lights / Bag: Lowe Pro
Tripods & Heads: Manfrotto / Grips, Triggers, Timers, Batteries etc: BandH
Editing Plug-in: Topaz Labs Noise Reduction, HDR, B&W Conversion & more!

ALL IMAGES ON THIS SITE ARE © Harvey Grohmann. Read more for Terms and Conditions:
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08Feb

In-Flight Snack – DPC Free Study Honourable Mention

Posted in Digital Photo Challenge, eShop, Flora and Fauna, Locations, Photo Competitions, Photography 101, Portfolio, Print for Sale, Road Trip, Rural, Wildlife, Workshop | Leave a comment

4th / 217 entries, awarded an Honourable Mention in last months
Digital Photography Challenge January 2013 Free Study !
Contact me for tuition, workshops, photo tours and event photography or to have this image printed on canvas for your home or office, click here for pricing.

In-Flight Snack © Harvey Grohmann 2013 All Rights Reserved

In-Flight Snack © Harvey Grohmann 2013 All Rights Reserved

Shot details: Nikon D7000 and Sigma 100-300mm F/4 EX IF HSM @300mm.
ISO-800 | f/6.3 | 1/2000s | EV +0.3 | Post Processing in part with Topaz Labs.
Hand Held

Gear I use: Bodies: Nikon D-SLR’s / Lenses: Nikon, Sigma, Tokina, Vivitar
Filters: Hoya UV & Polarizing / Flash: Nikon Speed-lights / Bag: Lowe Pro
Tripods & Heads: Manfrotto / Grips, Triggers, Timers, Batteries etc: BandH
Editing Plug-in: Topaz Labs Noise Reduction, HDR, B&W Conversion & more!

ALL IMAGES ON THIS SITE ARE © Harvey Grohmann. Read more for Terms and Conditions:
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10Jan

Amethyst Sunbird II

Posted in Flora and Fauna, Portfolio, Print for Sale, Road Trip, Wildlife, Wildlife, Workshop | 1 Comment

Extremely elusive, here is the female nest building. Photographed in KZN near Assegay / Hillcrest. (Note: No feeders used to attract the birds!)

Amethyst Sunbird (f) © Harvey Grohmann 2013 All Rights Reserved

Amethyst Sunbird (f) © Harvey Grohmann 2013 All Rights Reserved

Shot details: Nikon D7000 and Sigma 100-300mm F/4.0 EX IF HSM.
In the shade so centre weighted average metering.
ISO-1600 f/5.0 and 1/1250s. Cropped 50%. Curves, Brightness, Topaz Labs DeNoise 5.

Contact me for tuition, workshops, photo tours and event photography.

Gear I use: Bodies: Nikon D-SLR’s / Lenses: Nikon, Sigma, Tokina, Vivitar
Filters: Hoya UV & Polarizing / Flash: Nikon Speed-lights / Bag: Lowe Pro
Tripods & Heads: Manfrotto / Grips, Triggers, Timers, Batteries etc: BandH
Editing Plug-in: Topaz Labs Noise Reduction, HDR, B&W Conversion & more!

ALL IMAGES ON THIS SITE ARE © Harvey Grohmann. Read more for Terms and Conditions:
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09Jan

Amethyst Sunbird I

Posted in Flora and Fauna, General, Portfolio, Print for Sale, Road Trip, Wildlife, Workshop | 3 Comments

Extremely elusive, I tracked the mating pair around for a week till I got some usable images. Wild Bird photography is not for the easily disheartened! Photographed in KZN near Assegay / Hillcrest. (Note: No feeders used to attract the birds!)

Amethyst Sunbird (M) on Honeysuckle © Harvey Grohmann 2013 All Rights Reserved

Amethyst Sunbird (m) on Honeysuckle © Harvey Grohmann 2013 All Rights Reserved

Shot details: Nikon D7000 and Sigma 100-300mm F/4.0 EX IF HSM.
In the shade so centre weighted average metering.
ISO-1600 f/6.3 and 1/800s on Tripod. Cropped 50%. Curves, Topaz Labs DeNoise 5.

This male Amethyst Sunbird is extremely tiny and very elusive (in the wild) and due his predominantly black feathers, stays out of the sunlight like the plague making accurate overall exposure WITH feather detail very challenging. After spotting them I tracked the mating pair around for a week till I got some usable images. I will add the female next week :)

I prefer to portray an animals environment with the shot as this provides scale and interest. They are so small that even with a telephoto (my 300/450mm or my 500/750mm) I have to be within a few (2) meters to get them occupying 50% of the frame. This male would not let me get closer than about 5 meters. One of the reasons why I recently acquired a near new D7000 which has 30% more pixels and a higher pixel density per mm² than my D90/D300s. Naturally the 1.5x crop factor when using full frame glass helps too.

Whilst it is all to easy to attract then with sugar water feeders I do not like the hand of man in my wildlife images. No feeders or other tricks used to attract my birds.

This is a lifer for me (1st sighting of this species) and I hope you enjoy my portrayal of him.

Contact me for tuition, workshops, photo tours and event photography.

Gear I use: Bodies: Nikon D-SLR’s / Lenses: Nikon, Sigma, Tokina, Vivitar
Filters: Hoya UV & Polarizing / Flash: Nikon Speed-lights / Bag: Lowe Pro
Tripods & Heads: Manfrotto / Grips, Triggers, Timers, Batteries etc: BandH
Editing Plug-in: Topaz Labs Noise Reduction, HDR, B&W Conversion & more!

ALL IMAGES ON THIS SITE ARE © Harvey Grohmann. Read more for Terms and Conditions:
(more…)