Ben Wilhelmi

with the Leica M6, part VI

since I’m going to spend a few days in Nairobi and that I won’t be able to work on the blog, I’ve put a few posts to make you keep patient ;-)

 

check the light, think of corrections, set the aperture, set the shutter speed, come closer or further as there is no zoom, focus, and click once, maybe twice, but then reload the film in between. This is still common knowledge for many people but for many youngsters, this must sound like prehistory. And I’ve got to be patient as there no screen to show me the result, hope that the picture will turn OK, hope that I won’t screw up during film processing at home…

why do I still bother you might ask? Well like any vintage stuff that is use in the world, there is an attraction that can’t always be explained…maybe the Leica hasn’t been used that much since I bought it. Maybe I haven’t forgot how much I wanted that camera and the Rolleiflex too by the way.

 

 

these ear rings never cease to amaze me..

 

 

Tanzania, vast empty landscapes…

 

something that I don’t always appreciate: a man would sit on the stool, doing nothing, leaving the female patients standing up with no moral problem.

 

and these below in Lengijave again.

 

scenery at the footstep of Mt Meru.

 

 

2 shy kids, already carrying their own stick like adults.

 

with the Leica M6, part V

still on that medical flying trip. After more than 7 years away, some people recognized me! And I recognised quite a few too. Believe it or not, if all black people look the same to us as the saying goes, all white people look the same to them. I’ve been confused by some staff with one colleague pilot for the 3 years I was there. A cop didn’t notice the driver’s license was not mine. Of course the differences were minor, just a skinny 60 year old with white hair, no lips, hawkish nose and glasses.

keeping 2 kids quiet. The knife is there in case…?

 

 

 

 

 

doesn’t that kid look a bit big for breast feeding?

 

 

 

 

 

wondering how a pile of metal can fly….

 

 

with the Leica M6, part IV

 

I had used film cameras for 3 years when I was a full volunteer for Flying Medical Service. Digital photography was still in infancy and very expensive by then. Still in March for these pictures below, though I had shot a lot in digital of course I couldn’t resist the urge to shoot a few film rolls.

 

 

  

with the Leica M6, part III

for those who follow, I had been on a flying medical trip in Loliondo and lake Natron in March, with Ezra, a fellow pilot from my old team of Flying Medical Service. I had already published by then some pictures but all were digital. These below are from films, straight out of the camera except some contrast corrections, as I would have done in the dark room.

 

 

kids coming for show time, they’re not necessarily sick, but hey, ugly white people with a steel bird…worth having a look.

 

 

  

this one salvaged a bottle from us. Even empty, it’s a prize as it will become a precious container.

 

 

Ezra giving a jab, the mom cringing. typical scenery.

 

no tissue, cleaning her nose…

nurse collecting the personal medical cards.

 

  

 

 

a Masai woman with hair means the child is less than one year old and hasn’t received a name yet. The process is very important and the people don’t waste first names away. Since they know by experience that one year means better chances of survival for a toddler, they just wait. Then she’ll shave again.

 

with the Leica M6, part II

 

with a Leica M, one can  pretend to play in Henri Cartier-Bresson’s or Larry Burrows’ shoes…. If I don’t bring pictures as good as theirs, I can only blame myself. With the Rolleiflex, the same concept applied to Robert Doisneau for instance.

 

this is still Lengijave area. As opposed to previous post, that kid was scared at first…

then cooled down.

 

agave. I bet they hold the terrain there

photogenic plant, no?

 

parched terrain…

few trees. Here a homestead hiding in.

 

looking westbound or north-westbound towards the volcano Lengai: the land is even more desolated there, less people and then only tough Masai tribes.

 

 

the dirt track had to be carved through these hills. It must have been some hard labour!

with the Leica M6

north of Arusha, a remote bushy desolated place called Lengijave. Because of the usual wind patterns, the moisture tends to stay a bit south of this place, on the other side of the ridge. The people in turn here only get the strong chilly wind coming down the hills. Lengijave means “strong winds” in Masai by the way. I like this place though, people are not too numerous and are not too much polluted by tourism. Harvests are not great of course. We were even greeted once by a chief who was pleased to see finally some visitors just enjoying the place.

curious kids, not bothered by the camera apparently…

 

though when I pulled out my Digital Nikon with a big zoom, they got scared…weird.

 

mamas going home with all kind of burden on the head.

 

parched area, and that was in May, during the rains, but as I said, the moisture doesn’t reach here.

 

barely any tree. And the plant on the foreground, agave I think, looks like  a typical dry climate plant. No large leaves, just huge thick kind of thorns to reduce loss of water.

 

the dirt track is winding big time to circumnavigate these endless hills, doing a long loop left after the sunny part, then coming again to the right on the further slope in the shadow. Fatherland must a strong notion for people here.

 

agave again

 

mount Meru.

 

  

this patch is so well trodden, so eroded by cows that the dust looks like flour. Each step puffs some dust away in a little cloud.

with the Mamiya C220, II

a bit of abstract art in the garden.Those palm trees are so visual, so geometric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

another plant. I’m crap at flora names,sorry.

 

and in Lengijave area, a peaceful man and his 2 donkeys. Mount Meru behind.

 

 

with the Mamiya C220

when I was patiently waiting for the Rolleiflex, I managed to grab Karine’s Mamiya, a similar type of medium format camera.

 

Lengijave, the bush north of Arusha. Mount Meru in the background

 

agave plant. Some funny square gardens on a steep slope. The local people are mainly called Warusha, “people from Arusha”, a mix of Masai culture and whatever culture surviving the Masai invasion some time ago.

 

 

mamas carrying baskets on the head. A bit shy….

 

 

the joy of a TLR, a twin lens reflex that is, is the opposite viewing. Obviously I was struggling between him going right and me having to go left with the viewfinder to keep him and the donkey in the frame. The picture would have been much better with a full donkey.

with the Rolleiflex, III

 

baobab details with a silver aspect. No clue how I did it, SOOC (straight out of the camera)…

 

in the garden.

and below, some scenes in Lira, Northern Uganda. Not easy to shoot subjects in motion with the Rolleiflex, a bit challenging but I like. The inverted viewing is quite tricky, that is you have to move the camera to the left if the subject is moving right and so on. The best photographers managed last century to bring extraordinary shots with the twin-lens reflex system. So I can’t blame the camera but me…keep on working!

bicycle-taxi.

 

 

I had seen this man with a mattress and other bags, or a similar man, a few weeks back, going the other way. Still the same question haunts me: has he been kicked out of his girlfriend’s place?

in many cultures, some men will wear white socks with a black suit…

 

that’s it for the Rolleiflex so far, more pictures with another camera tomorrow.

with the Rolleiflex, II

 

near Tarangire Park, in Tree Tops camp. the guy stands there for the clients. Which I hate but Masai with masks are pretty rare…

 

elephant throwing dust, in the Tarangire park

 

 

looking up a baobab tree

 

 

 

just outside the park, near Tree Tops camp

with the Rolleiflex

 

sorry for those who only swear by the latest newest modern things but the next posts will be about antique cameras…

 

some close-up of roses. The Rolleiflex is a fixed lens that can’t be changed. But these bright engineers have developed an array of accessories to help out. Including sets of special  magnifying lenses to add on the camera itself.

 

 

baobab, Tarangire Nat’l Park. Straight out of camera (SOOC as the jargon goes by), I had added a red filter, which makes the blue sky darker. This is thus not a photoshop modification, so “SOOC” as I said.

 

same red filter here, same park, elephant passing less than 15 m away. With that kind of camera it’s not that easy to follow up action, even a slow elephant is considered action so far in my practice with the opposite viewing.

 

 

SOOC, without filter. Notice on the trunk the missing strips of bark. They’ve been ripped off by elephants for food.

Karine au Rolleiflex

 

we were going out, Karine had just put a light touch of make up, and a beautiful sunset glow came in for 5 min. So pronto an impromptu series of pictures with my superb Rolleiflex. The background is not perfect but we had to go quick to enjoy the precious light.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m quite pleased with the results, and Karine too, quite a feat heehee

 

this one was taken by Karine, while I’m fiddling with the Rolleiflex. She used a digital camera for this but edited the picture to give a vintage touch.

around Arusha.

I should have said just around the neighborhood in fact.

 

houses, even huts, are usually very clean, derelict or worn out but clean. The paint or plaster may be long gone.

 

many of these little businesses around. Business is an overused word here. A guy selling 3 pairs of flip flops or a bunch of fish will tell you seriously that he is running a business. I sometimes wonder how they survive on such a little stall. Like in western tales with the poor little girl selling matches….

 

 

a few corns here, not much either. But if the spot is highly frequented, why not. Lots of people have their lunch with a cob of grilled maize.

 

 

 

 

mangoes and fruit here in this shop. And cigarettes obviously.

 

sure this little boy is proud of his flashy blue shoes, making his buddies jealous, but I’d rather have the Pirelli shoes instead, stronger than Chinese crap plastic, and rubber doesn’t catch  smell as easily.

 

 

  

getting a free ride. Lira, Uganda.

 

St Joseph church, Dar es Salaam.

bus ticket offices, Dar es salaam. Not much…

 

 

somewhere outside Nairobi.

 

 

in the Rift valley, little boys in charge of the goats.

My little contribution to the Smithsonian Institute about the volcano Oldoinyo Lengai

 

not much but I have to admit but I was extremely pleased to participate a little bit to that famous institution, so big and diverse.

below is an extract of the bulletin.  Just in case, to see the whole longer article, go to: http://www.volcano.si.edu/ Volume 34, Number 5, May 2009.

and for most of my volcano Lengai pictures, go to http://www.oldoinyolengai.org/. That is the most complete website on Lengai.

 

Ol Doinyo Lengai

Tanzania

2.764°S, 35.914°E; summit elev. 2,962 m

All times are local (= UTC + 3 hours)

Conditions during 2009 visits were
generally calm, although minor eruptions on the crater floor
continued. This is in contrast to explosive eruptions during September
2007-March 2008 (BGVN 32:11, 33:02, 33:06, 33:08, 34:02).

Most of the groups that arrived at Lengai in 2009 did not ascend to
the active crater and the SE route remained difficult. 

Comments on aviation hazards during 2007-2008. Comparatively few
pictures or comments on aviation hazards have emerged from the recent
episode of Plinian eruptions during 2007-2008. Ben Wilhelmi took a
series of photos of the ground surface at distance from the volcano
during a week in November 2007. From the air he saw ash as far away as
70 km from the volcano, including in many cases, over Masai villages
that dot the landscape.

Wilhelmi's discussion and photos follows. "[During] 2007 and 2008 ...
smoke and ashes sometimes [rose] up to 50,000 ft, 15 km high. It
looked like a Hiroshima mushroom [cloud (figure 8)]. Here is ash
deposit on my aircraft [(figure 9)]. Often the ash was invisible in
the air though. [Three] turbine engines died in different companies
because of ash intakes. It happened one of these engines [died] on me.
Luckily I could finish the flight, but I didn't like the feeling to
see the engine temperature in the red and [flying] on reduced power.

Figure 8. A tall (roughly 15-17 km altitude) Ol Doinyo Lengai plume
from the 2007-2008 eruptive interval taken at unstated date and
directional bearing. Short burst of lightning were visible in the
plume but were not captured in this photo. Courtesy of Ben Wilhelmi.

 

Figure 9. Two photos of Ol Doinyo Lengai ash deposits on leading
surfaces of a small propeller-driven airplane from encounter with ash
while in flight. Photographer and pilot Ben Wilhelmi commented that
the ash was often invisible during the encounter.

"In other countries, such an activity [as seen in figure 8] would have
imposed the area to be closed within 200 miles [~ 320 km], that would
have included Arusha and all the Serengeti [and] Ngorongoro [park and
conservation areas]. "Competent" authorities were asleep, the regional
companies happily kept on flying ... and subsequently lost 3 engines
as I've said earlier. Costs could go up to $350,000 for a new turbine
engine ... I certainly didn't complain as I could shoot [photos at
will and] got to see incredible spectacles like this day with a 55,000
ft or 17 km high plume of smoke with an electric thunderstorm inside!"

Table 3. Summary of selected observations describing Ol Doinyo Lengai
during January-April 2009. Courtesy of Ben Wilhelmi and Frederick
Belton.18 Feb 2009    A.N. Zaitsev, S.V. Petrov, T.A. Golovina, E.O.
Zaitseva, G. Markl, and T. Wenzel    (CV) See text above

25 Apr 2009    Ben Wilhelmi    (A, figure 13) Photos showing numerous
hornitos with spatter widespread on the crater floor and in places on
the crater walls.

Figure 13. Aerial photo of Ol Doinyo Lengai's crater floor taken on 25
April 2009 with uncertain orientation with respect to N. The floor
contains numerous hornitos. According to the pilot and photographer,
Ben Wilhelmi, who often flies over for observations, these features
probably formed during the previous 4-5 months. Courtesy of Ben
Wilhelmi.

Geologic Summary. The symmetrical Ol Doinyo Lengai stratovolcano is
the only volcano known to have erupted carbonatite tephras and lavas
in historical time. The prominent volcano, known to the Maasai as "The
Mountain of God," rises abruptly above the broad plain south of Lake
Natron in the Gregory Rift Valley. The cone-building stage of the
volcano ended about 15,000 years ago and was followed by periodic
ejection of natrocarbonatitic and nephelinite tephra during the
Holocene. Historical eruptions have consisted of smaller tephra
eruptions and emission of numerous natrocarbonatitic lava flows on the
floor of the summit crater and occasionally down the upper flanks. The
depth and morphology of the northern crater have changed dramatically
during the course of historical eruptions, ranging from steep crater
walls about 200 m deep in the mid-20th century to shallow platforms
mostly filling the crater. Long-term lava effusion in the summit
crater beginning in 1983 had by the turn of the century mostly filled
the northern crater; by late 1998 lava had begun overflowing the
crater rim.

Information Contacts: David Sherrod, Cascades Volcano Observatory,
USGS, Vancouver, WA, USA; Anatoly Zaitsev, St. Petersburg State
University, Saint Petersburg, Russia; Gregor Markl, Tuebingen,
Germany; Frederick Belton, Developmental Studies Department, PO Box
16, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
(URL: http://frank.mtsu.edu/~fbelton/lengai.html;
 http://www.oldoinyolengai.org/); Ben Wilhelmi (URL:
http://www.benwilhelmi.com/;
http://benwilhelmi.typepad.com/benwilhelmi/).

others first solos, Belgian Air Force

 

the other day, I posted pictures of my first solo. Unfortunately, the guy who used my camera didn’t take the job very seriously. So here below is a mix of different pilots after their first solo.

all happy after landing…

 

congratulations…

 

   

 

getting undressed…

any cartwheel will carry the fresh “soloist” for some fun…

 

that is being splashed with cold water. We were then from Jan 89 till Feb 90, pretty cold.

 

 

 

I told you before, this is an armed force, expect some childish attitude…crawling on the grass, pushing that square stone ahead, being splashed with cold water.

 

 

  

the nice filthy tub…

 

waterboarding before Bush’s administration.

 

 

   

      

 

time to run to the shower before freezing.

My days in Belgian Air Force, my first solo

18 February 90, memorable date for me. I didn’t know how to drive properly a car, didn’t have my license yet but I was given that superb piece of machinery for a little flight. Some of us had been kicked out already. The stress for the rat race was seriously felt everyday. My turn would come soon enough sadly…

 

here I am after landing, happiest man (kid? I was still 20).

 

 

my instructor (left) was there to shake hands. The fuel man too I remember.

 

 

now the air forces being armed forces…

 

 

expect some childish behavior…

 

no a full strip tease but…

 

down on a cart, in my fireproof underwear, ready for the game…

more tomorrow.

my days in Belgian Air Force, Marchetti, SF 260 M, part II

 

in a tight turn. See that little “wing” or airfoil on the wing tip tank? It was one of the extra foils added here and there on the aircraft to spoil a student’s life. The plane was too easy to handle, too stable without those items creating turbulences. Since we were here to have a hard time, a bit of extra work was the rule.

 

we had increased the distance while performing a looping. He is now rejoining. A full looping in formation was not part of the exercise, too bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

the town of Tirlemont (in French), or Tienen (in Flemish). Smart concept to give 2 official names for one town in the same country…aahh Belgium and its pecularities… And there is more than this example unfortunately.

 

slowing down airspeed, lowering the landing gear, still in formation.

 

but we split for the landing though. The base is located in Gossoncourt, or Goetsenhoven ( 2 names again!). See the trailer on the left side of the threshold? There is a guy there on duty to check on all aircraft landing that the landing gear is down. If not, he’ll fire a red flare to warn the pilot. The guy in the tower is too far out and too busy anyway with all the airplanes flying around. So one day I came in for landing, all my green lights inside the cockpit telling me the landing gear was down and locked. Still, I got a red flare from the trailer. So I didn’t question the guy’s decision and I went around for another trial. The tower said the nose wheel was still up, nevertheless my green lights on. A gremlin on board probably…Gremlins have been invented by airmen people by the way, to explain the things that they couldn’t locate, reproduce, repair etc. My next approach was fine, all green lights on, all wheels out. Though there was a doubt that the nose wheel might look out but not necessarily locked and secure. It had happened a few weeks before, a plane came in for landing, all had looked fine, but the landing retracted after touch down, trashing the plane quite badly. The pilots were unhurt. The mechanics couldn’t find anything wrong in this case either…hence the gremlin thing.

 

the hangars, the classrooms, the tower…

my days in Belgian Air Force, Marchetti SF 260 M part I

 

about 20 years ago, I was lucky enough to be selected out of 800 applicants as a student pilot in the Belgian Air Force. But only 8 “seats” would be handed out in the end we were told. we were 24…since some guys were quicker students or had already flown before, I didn’t make it. I flew a bit, finally after one year of ground training, including this formation flight here below. Quite fun exercise I tell you!

I’m busy scanning my old films from Europe. Quite some memories here….

the plane is an Italian trainer, a Marchetti SF 260 M. I really loved the decoration, Flying Tigers style, that is the shark teeth, very childish I know, but what to expect from pilots huh?

 

 

getting ready for the formation take off. 260 HP roaring in a few seconds…

 

cruising at 160 knots (about 300 km/h). Looks fast but it is not for aircraft.

 

we were turning and climbing, hence the changing sky and angle behind.

 

 

Belgian flat ground below.

 

getting cloudy, better stay out to keep sight of each other.

 

wing tip tanks and the Belgian Air Force flag.

 

 

the penguin was our “squadron” mascot, by “squadron” I mean something like elementary flying school. It probably showed that we, students, were equally apt for flying as a penguin or should be reminded as such.

 

funny reflection through the canopy.

 

sleek and cute airplane, no? Lots of warnings in yellow and red painted near the pilot, but no ejection seat there. She’s a full aerobatic airplane. Notice the ‘she’ like for ships. 6 G’s is her authorised limit, which is not that bad. 6 meant that after an Immelmann figure for instance, one gets the feeling of weighing 6 times one’s weight. The blood included, so the heart has to pump a lot more to feed the brain. If not, one faints or comes close to the black veil. On top of formation flights, I got to love performing low level flights, which I practiced quite a lot in Tanzania…to the dismay of local people. More tomorrow

Tarangire park, ostriches

 

a big group of female ostriches only under a typical acacia tree, no male around.

 

  

 

rolling and scratching their neck in the dust. To get rid of fleas or whatever I guess

 

females are pretty dull, just plain brown, as opposed to the males which are black and white.

 

near baobabs, including one in full green leaves in the back.

 

  

this is a tiny but seriously enlarged part of one of the pictures above where zebras are to be seen far behind the ostriches. The blur is quite interesting and impressionist.

 

zebra crossing. That Land Rover on the bridge has been somewhat modified for heavy bush duties. It belongs to a nearby lodge and is used to get bogged down jeeps out of the mud during rainy seasons. Compare with the normal Land Rover tires just behind…

 

I thought this zebra was a bit too big for suckling…

 

and some bright colors, a lilac-breasted roller, to end this series on Tarangire park.