Skukuza
Kruger National Park
South Africa

Image Story:


Its sunrise and I am setup at our camp at Skukuza, hoping for a landscape opportunity of the old railway bridge crossing the Sabe River.


The forecast indicates partly cloudy at sunrise with no wind and this had got me interested.


From this aspect the sun will rise just behind the bridge and I will hopefully be able to use the river and also the bridge itself as lead-in lines to the sun as it reveals itself.


I am confident about the location, having scouted it out the previous morning......when the sunrise itself was not particularly helpful.


Luck is on my side this morning. There is not too much ground mist (that would diffuse the early sunlight) and the cloud formation is beginning to show up in a spectacular way - high altitude cloud presenting horizontal striations above the bridge.


With the camera, I am setup on Manual with an aperture closed to f16 for enough depth of field, a shutter of initially 1/32 and iso 1000. I have mirror lock-up (DSLR), camera on a tripod with remote shutter release and Image Stabilization off. I also have the histogram visible to assist me with an appropriate exposure to the sensor as I change my settings when time is short.


As the light increases I will initially adjust down my iso settings as required and if further stopping down of light entering the camera is needed, I will increase the shutter speed and/or use an ND filter.


As it turns out, when the sun does rise, the sky is changing so quickly, I find I am changing light settings every 10 to 20 seconds, checking the histogram before releasing the shutter again.


THIS his is perhaps the most spectacular sunrise I have witnessed.


The clouds are playing their part creating dramatic arrays with their layers and the sun rays begin to reach down along the river.


As luck would have it, large troop of Baboon started to cross the bridge, taking their time, playing on the super-structure.


One of those wonderful moments when all things seem to be falling into place!


Conservation:

Kruger National Park Wildlife Conservation enjoys a long heritage of proactive nature conservation.


This organisation states it has taken on the responsibility of conserving its bushveld animals and their habitat.


Emphasis is placed on the value of each species in the park, and their right to thrive within their natural surroundings without fear of interference by man.


In attempting to counter the threat of ivory poaching, climate change and human encroachment, there are a number of partnerships with leading wildlife organizations that are committed to the conservation of animals under threat