We are currently in the midst of one of my favourite times of the year. The reason: the unbelievable mornings in the African bush. The bushveld is always pretty, but it is now that I think it is spectacular! Each morning, I jump out of bed, enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and then drive out of camp, hoping for mist. The day is thick with opportunity and potential; so much so that you can nearly taste it in the air!
The mornings are fresh and cold; but they are rejuvenating. They make for the most marvelous photographic opportunities, allowing one to get creative and to capture a different mood of safari. Even if I don’t see a single animal in the first half an hour I am still grinning from ear to ear. After all, I am driving around on the most beautiful patch of planet earth! Come join me and experience the thrill of the morning drive…
A dead tree in the foreground often helps to add to the composition of the picture
Yet another distnat view over the Kruger National Park. For this shot I used ISO of 400, F-stop at 2,8, Auto WB and the picture style set to landscape.
The glorious view out across Stwise Koppie
The fog that forms here is classified as radiation fog. This is formed by the cooling of land after sunset by thermal radiation in calm conditions with clear sky. The cool ground produces condensation in the nearby air by heat conduction. In perfect calm skies the fog layer can be less than a meter deep, but turbulence can promote a thicker layer. Radiation fogs occur at night, and usually do not last long after sunrise. It is common in autumn and early winter.
Animals, such as this Zebra, look wonderful when bathed in fog
A distant view of gentle colours
What also makes for a wonderful image is if you can get to some water in the early hours of the morning. Here, at first light, a darter can be seen sunning itself whilst a pod of onlooking hippos snort in dissaproval
Nothing beats a misty sunrise. All the colours amplified by the surrounding haze and moisture. And with the rising sun comes the reassuring warmth of another spectacular day in the bushveld
Did you know : Fog is defined as cloud which reduces visibility to less than 1 km, whereas mist is that which reduces visibility to less than 2 km.
Written and photographed by Adam Bannister
