Jambo, habari? Mzuri sana! Sawa sawa
A long time ago in another life, in a galaxy far far away, I visited Kenya. A long time ago but I still remember all the Swahili my Kenyan guide John taught me. I remember the fantastic landscapes and wildlife, large wide open savannah plains alive with elephants, giraffes, wildebeest, lions, cheetahs etc. I remember standing up in the open 4WD, wind and sun in my face, bumping along on a dirt road through wide open savannah thinking “I never ever want to leave!” – a common trait of every one of my outback trips. Got to get out of this city crap!
It was my first longer trip abroad and my first trip with any sort of photography involved. I borrowed a Canon 35mm point&shoot from a friend and loved it. Most of the shots are absolute crap! I knew nothing of composition, exposure, aperture, DOF etc. I just loved light, landscapes and wildlife. My love for wide open spaces and landscapes comes from childhood, my love for photography was kindled here in amazing Kenya.
I always thought that among the crap bulls-eye composition shots there were a few keepers here and there worth restoring for sentimental value, and I would like to some day find the negatives and scan these and run them through the magic digital darkroom in Lightroom. When I recently stumbled upon a box of dusty scratchy old negatives, the old film scanner was called into service!
What I found was interesting. I certainly recognize myself: wide angle, love of the sky, wide open savannah landscape view, dramatic light. Most of the shots are typical bulls-eye, point and shoot from exactly where I was standing. All shots have far too much space top and bottom, so cropped to a panorama they suddenly work much better. I have always seen in panoramic format, just didn’t have a camera to capture it! In the next post I will go into details of how I restored these. I deliberately left in some of the film grain, just took out big scratches, dust spots etc. I like the grain! In this post I will concentrate on the photos, much more in my new Kenya gallery.
First up are some beautiful giraffes contra-jour the sunset:
Giraffes in the sunset
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography
Driving through the landscape on gorgeous red dirt, on a moody lit day:
Red Dirt Road Panorama
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography
Contra-jour catches my eye, here we have elephants and wildebeest:
Elephant and Wildebeest on the Savannah
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography
The beautiful magnificent wide open Kenya savannah:
Golden Hour on the Savannah
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography
To see the rest of the collection, go to my new Kenya gallery.
Asante sana, hakuna matata ya kwaheri!
15 Comments on “Kenya”
Hi there Flaming,
Nice to see some photos' of the Africa I didn't see while there in my younger years. It's a fantastic place and a photographers dream, it's a shame it's a hard place to visit. At least I can say I lived in Hilbrow, when it was as close to being POSH as it ever was 🙂 (That would be the late 70's!)
Hi Matthew and thanks! Some countries in Africa are easy to visit some countries should probably be avoided. Hillbrow is in Jo'burg right?
That's right, spent a year in a block of flats in the centre of Hillbrow before moving to Ponte for a year. The police don't like going there now!
Great photos, your eye was good back then. Wonderful colours.
With the top image, why not just crop the tree, do you need all that space either side.
Thanks very much James! It's really the first photos I have ever shot, so it's great nostalgia and great to have them in digital.
That first shot is just a banner for this story, real shot is here: http://www.pbase.com/flemmingbo/image/110152005/o…
They're beautiful Flemming. Good thing you kept them.
"Got to get out of this city crap!"
I so hear you on this one. Every work day morning, i walk among the rest of the office workers in the city and hate myself for going with the flow. But i keep reminding myself that this will culminate in the ultimate round-Australia trip. Some things have to be worth sacrificing for!
Thanks very much Charlene, glad you like them I am very happy I've restored them.
I hear ya on the 'reminding oneself' of why we do this city crap, the light at the end of the tunnel being travelling. I just find it increasingly hard to do these awful months of city office time in-between travelling, the tunnel is soooo long, I would like to be in the light always 😀
nice Flem, very nice!
love the Giraffe shot, and the golden hour on the savannah.
haha, if it wasn't for that "light at the end of the tunnel" i think we all would have been in trouble a lloonnnggg time ago!! 😛
Thanks heaps Stephen! Means a lot to me that others, not just myself, like some of the very first pictures I ever shot.
Very nice Flemming,
Great collection, each one a completely different story and experience. I especially love the bottom one, it's like a Eugene von Guerard painting, (artist who toured through the Grampians in the early stages of European arrival)
Thanks Thomas! The nice thing about old slides and film is they have a great painterly quality too them, a very different look from most digital shots.
wow mate… this is one place i want to go and shoot. they are all great shots but my fav is the giraffes in the sunset!!! bloody ripper. well done
Cheers Clint !
The bottom savannah shot is my favourite – the landscape looks it just had some lovely rain, but all shots are awesome! Not much longer now!
Dankie Gudrun! See ya in the desert 😀 Tot Siens!