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Anticipation
The big challenge I'm facing with this assignment is how to capture a place that's been photographed by thousands of people—and make it my own. There's literally no place on earth like Victoria Falls. The entire flow of the Zambezi River plummets over a 108 meter drop into a gorge only 80 meters wide. We'll be covering a lot of ground to shoot the Falls, the river, the canyons, and wildlife reserves. My videographer and I have been using OneNote, OneDrive, and SurfacePro3 to plan the trip. Having maps, locations, and itineraries in one place for the whole team to see and share has simplified things a lot. It still blows me away to pack for a photography expedition to cover the world's biggest waterfall by sticking a little Lumia smartphone in my pocket.
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Anticipation
The big challenge I'm facing with this assignment is how to capture a place that's been photographed by thousands of people—and make it my own. There's literally no place on earth like Victoria Falls. The entire flow of the Zambezi River plummets over a 108 meter drop into a gorge only 80 meters wide. We'll be covering a lot of ground to shoot the Falls, the river, the canyons, and wildlife reserves. My videographer and I have been using OneNote, OneDrive, and SurfacePro3 to plan the trip. Having maps, locations, and itineraries in one place for the whole team to see and share has simplified things a lot. It still blows me away to pack for a photography expedition to cover the world's biggest waterfall by sticking a little Lumia smartphone in my pocket.
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9-15-14 Chobe Reserve, Botswana
Wow what a day! We arrived at Chobe and went straight to the river. We spent the afternoon cruising up and down it, looking at elephants, crocodiles and even a leopard. It was incredible being around these huge, powerful animals—and the light! It just kept getting better and better. We saw an amazing number of elephants. Some crossed the river in front of me walking on the bottom with their trunks held out of the water snorkeling. I've been a National Geographic photographer for almost 20 years, and this was the greatest profusion of large animals I have ever seen. It is humbling to know that animals like that and places like this still exist. Up at 5:00 tomorrow to go out and look for more.
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9-16-14 Chobe Reserve, Botswana
Up before dawn this morning and out on an early game drive. It was chilly, clear, dry, and beautiful in the open land cruiser. We saw herds of elephants and impala; then a solitary leopard hunting guinea fowl crossed and re-crossed the road just in front of us. I cannot believe how close he came. When we are in the vehicles the animals are completely habituated and have no fear. But shortly after shooting this, I had fear. We were watching a pride of lions eat a young elephant. These are huge, muscular animals. One of them was looking at us just a few meters away from our land cruiser. I moved too quickly to get in a better position, and she let out a short roar to warn me I'd better back off. It's the most viscerally intimidating sound I've ever heard. The fear it triggered in me was deep seated and primal. Suddenly I was very aware that I was in the back of an open truck with only three meters of air separating me from this huge cat. It made me feel very small and vulnerable.
9-18-14 The main Victoria Falls from Livingstone Island
Made it to the main Falls today. So spectacular! We took a boat out at about 9:00 a.m. The approach to Livingstone Island is scary; a long horizon line in the river with mist rising high above it. The rainbows were fantastic in the early morning sun. But most impressive was the sheer volume of water and the force it generates going over the Falls. Monumental. Stunning. Superlatives don't do it justice. We swam in Devil's Pool, the most dramatic swimming hole on earth, perched right on the edge of the Falls. It's definitely one of the most intimidating places I've ever been. The approach is a long swim down river, heading straight toward the thundering mist the whole way. I hadn't brought anything to carry my smartphone in, so I borrowed my friend John's hat and swam with it on top of my head. Small camera comes in handy!
9-23-14 Elephant Camp outside Victoria Falls
Meet Sylvester. He's a rescued cheetah that spends his days as a big cat ambassador visiting schools around Victoria Falls. He is an incredible animal—at once huge, svelte, beautiful, and deadly. Raised by humans after his mother was killed by lions, he is habituated but not quite tame. Sylvester tolerates, even likes, people's attention. But when you've spent too much time too close, he lets you know it with a growl or swat of a paw. The key to shooting an image like this is angle. You've got to get the camera low enough to lift a perfectly camouflaged cat out of the dried grass that he's designed to blend into. With a smartphone it's pretty easy to crouch down and put the phone on the ground to shoot, giving me that low angle without lying on my belly—something I don't want to do with even the friendliest carnivore standing over me.
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9-24-14 Devil's Pool
Some places you just have to go back to. When we went to Devil's Pool during the first part of the assignment, it was too late in the day and we didn't have enough time to really shoot. So I made arrangements to return and spend several hours while the light was right. Some days everything just comes together. This morning was the clearest we've had on the trip and the cool weather produced strong rainbows. When we were there before, I'd been told the most dramatic time to see it was between 8:30 and 11:00. So I booked two tours back to back starting as early as possible. Wow did that ever prove to be the right thing to do! The wind had shifted from the previous days and mist was rising higher into the air than before. The rainbow was arching high over the Falls and we could see the light deep inside the canyon. The power of the Falls is palpable up there. I find the edge very disorienting with all its swirling water and blowing mist. It's as if my eyes can't decide what's solid and what's not. I've never had vertigo but I imagine that this is how it feels. My guide David doesn't get that sense of disorientation at all. He's out here every day, happily walking back and forth across the Falls with no fear of falling. I had enough fear for both of us! To shoot this image I held the Lumia up over my head and out over the Falls as far as I could stretch. So much easier to get in that position and take this shot with a little smartphone than with a bulky, heavy DSLR. In this situation the phone rules!
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9-26-14 Last day
Places are always different. Intellectually, I know that as a photographer. Practically though, I forget. I've seen Victoria Falls a lot in the last week and I was pretty sure that the final morning it would look the same as the morning before. But subtle changes in light and wind make for very different views. This morning was cool and clear and mist was blowing straight up from the gorge. The clear light made for tremendous rainbows, but it's this photo with the mist and shadows that I really love. Sitting there getting soaked, watching the Falls emerge and disappear, and constantly hearing the rumble made this my favorite morning at the Falls. You always have to go out and take a fresh look because something will be different. The light is never the same. Something new is always revealed in the morning sun.
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Final Reflections
My big takeaway from this assignment is the vastness of it all. The force and flow of the mile-wide Zambezi River, the massive power and volume of the Falls as they thunder next to you at the edge, the huge size and strength of Africa's iconic animals. And once again I was amazed by how utterly reliable the Lumia smartphones are. They got completely soaked with hard blowing spray from the Falls…shot in dust and heat for hours on end...and performed with no problems at all. They just stayed rock solid the whole time. Being able to handwrite notes on the run on my Surface3 tablet, save and share shots with OneNote and OneDrive made it all easier, less stressful, and let me concentrate on getting the best shots of this awesome wonder.
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