Ben Wilhelmi

infrared photography in B/W, Tanzania

 

Old-fashioned way to shoot, that is with film, here a Rollei IR 400 combined with a Leica M6 camera, a 28mm lens, a 89B filter and a tripod.

this trapeze-shaped mountain is a holy active volcano named Oldoinyo Lengai, Rift valley. Interesting how most volcanoes are highly respected and idolized in the world.

Local people are expecting our medical visit every 2 weeks on each airstrip we operate. Flying Medical Service operates about 30 airstrips in the beautiful Tanzanian remote bush. I must say I really enjoy flying this kind of operations…

The same volcano from another location.

street photography in Brussels

 

some good old B/W films loaded either in a Leica M6 or a Russian Zorki from the 50’s.

 

 

 

this lady looks like a fresh homeless. The crisis has definitely hit a large selection of people….    

One of the few artists allowed on the superb Grand-Place. It seems the laws to allow street artists are quite strict in Brussels. Very few of them are to be seen around, and on this place, they only paint or sketch the buildings around! There are a couple of caricaturists in the neighborhood though. Paris seems more lax on that issue or the policemen have a different approach....

The Zorki pictures below.

lake Natron, Tanzania, aerial photography

 

Lake Natron, last week…. while overflying it I was a bit surprised initially, and a bit disappointed because the water level was still unusually very high at this time in the dry season. But a second look made me change my mind: a few zones on the lake were already getting salted with the evaporation process. And thus, some real pieces of abstract art were zapping below my wing. Here is a selection.

 

even with lousy weather, there is a way to enjoy the scenery. That mountain is a volcano, now extinct, on the Kenyan border, Shombole.

 

aerial photography of lake Natron in the rain season

 

Zebras enjoying fresh waters

 

same dry salts in this season.

Cologne, street artists in the 80's

 

I don’t know why but Cologne was always well provided with street artists, usually located at the cathedral square.

 

shooting while driving on the US roads

 

either while driving myself or as a passenger when Karine was behind the wheel, I couldn’t help to shoot and shoot again.

funny contraption but I was quite jealous of this dude: I wish I could be on my bicycle for a long trip again and America would be a great location for that.

 

An older truck, much better looking than the modern ones. Another example of vintage design that keeps up.

 

A singer on the road. We spotted a few but they remained anonymous. Smart move if you want to avoid the fan hordes.

 

Moving a half-house. So fragile appearance, no wonder a small storm takes take away.

 

street pictures in Arusha

 

this girl is getting her feet washed before having her toenails painted.

 

motorbike taxi, the new dangerous breed in town. The hospitals have all got a “Toyo’ ward nowadays, nicknamed after the most common imported brand.

 

Hercules C130 in the bush

 

an impressive beast totally at ease on rough airstrips. The camp in which I stayed for 2 weeks was located 50m off that airstrip so I had a good look at them taking off and landing.

I used various lenses from 12mm to 400mm. Interesting photo exercise. Here on take off.

 

On landing, notice the wildebeest.

 

Distorted by the African heat.

with a 12mm, quite a wide angle lens. The wing was passing over my head. I could feel the vibrations in my chest, the noise was deafening.

portraits in sepia in the bush, Tanzania

 

while busy with Flying Medical Service, I sometimes take time to take pictures with the people visiting the clinics. I haven’t brought them sepia or even B/W pictures yet, only color ones. Maybe I’ll try one day…

Young Masai girl, who was recently excised, making her officially a woman and ready to be married. She is wearing a black toga and bead jewels on the forehead for the healing period.

 

A Sonjo woman proudly posing with her roster to sell (to us of course) and of course she brought the best one, she is sad to part from it blabla. Real saleswoman!

Tanzania, flying the bush

traffic avoidance, a Caravan on landing close to a wildebeest in Seronera in the Serengeti. Notice the hot air balloon.

 

A Caravan on the roll, Lobo, Serengeti.

 

A F406 in Grumeti, Serengeti.

 

Lake Manyara.

 

Early morning in Arusha, snow on top of mount Meru.

 

Not the bush but Kilimanjaro airport. Air Force 1 and 2 for g bush’s visit some years ago. Glad when that clown and his crew were gone. What a mess and total lack of respect for other passengers that day. Various airports and roads were closed and the crazy published schedules were not followed anyway. Total chaos in consequence. Maybe the advantages, 800 million $ a year in aid, are worth the hassle… though that aid is now used as a ‘blackmail’ leverage against Tanzania. latest example is apparently about the embargo against Iran, Iran would have approached Tanzania to register some boats under Tanzanian flag…not to the White House liking.

 

Being overtaken by a F406.

 

Seronera after a storm.

A Twin Otter.

volcano Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania, shot from the air and the ground on film

 

Those large B/W square pictures were shot with a medium format Rolleiflex camera, a vintage beauty initially designed in 1929 though mine is a later 1961 version. But the design harly changed over the decades, a bit like the VW Beetle or the Citroën 2CV. Below are some portraits of an active volcano in the Rift valley called Oldoinyo Lengai.

Not the easiest camera to use, especially for the aerial pictures below while I’m flying at the same time!

 

below are some of my very earlier pictures in Tanzania with the volcano in the background, from 1999 till 2002.

while climbing down that incredible mountain.

art, lake Natron, aerial photos

 

I do love B/W photography but some subjects would lose a lot without their colors. Here are some colorful shots of lake Natron in the Rift, northern Tanzania. Yesterday I published a post with similar aerial pictures but edited in B/W. Though I like them too, many of my Natron pictures don't turn that well without colors.

lake Natron, B/W aerial photography

 

Once in a while I like to edit some aerial pictures in B/W, just for the sake of it. A difficult exercise on these normally bright and colorful pictures. Lake Natron is indeed a salt lake and rarely dull. Anyway enjoy the pure abstract artful patterns created by various salts and chemicals.

Shombole, an extinct volcano on the northern shore.

 

Flamingoes nesting on salt flats.

photography with Kodachrome film, Tanzania

 

Kodachrome was the best film ever since 1935, most color pictures in the old National Geographic magazines were shot with that film, until Kodak stopped the production in 2009. Since the developing process is unique and special and expensive, Kodachrome users had to finish their supplies by 2010. Here are some pictures shot with that legendary film with an equally legendary Leica M6.

lake Natron.

 

Some shots while on duty with Flying Medical Service.

Pupil with special green eyes.

 

 

Volcano Lengai.

 

These giraffes in lake Manyara were shots with a Nikon FM2 and an old 300mm.

B/W infrared film photography, the bush in Tanzania

 

Rift Valley, northern Tanzania, while I’m busy flying for the Flying Medical Service mobile clinics, I always bring a couple of cameras. From a 1910 folding to digital Nikons via Rolleiflex and Leica M. I hope to use Karine's latest Contax 645 soon! The patient are usually Masai in that area.

This mountain is an active volcano, Oldoinyo Lengai seen from Ngaresero airstrip.

 

 

The volcano again from another airstrip, Engoveroni.

the medical hut, 2 rooms, quite a luxury.

The Cessna 206, a workhorse to compare with a Land Rover.

 

These pictures were shot the old way, that is on B/W film. This implies usually a very slow speed due to the dark infrared filter which explains the blurry people when in motion. In this case the Rollei IR 400 film in combination with a filter 89B was equivalent to a 6 asa film… I thus also used a tripod. The lens was a 28mm F:2.0 mounted on a Leica M6.

street life in Stonetown, Zanzibar

 

aerial shooting, lake Eyasi, Tanzania

 

Eyasi is a salt lake south of Ngorongoro. Not usually colorful but once in a while…below are some examples shot the same day.

 a tmporary fisherman settlement.

 

sun reflection in the rippling water.

 

wildlife in Tanzania, B/W photography

 

I enjoy my Nikon 80-400mm for close-ups like for this one-eyed lion but…

 

Obviously sometimes a smaller lens will suffice.

 

detail of an elephant foot.

 

a sunny day in Paris

 

London, street pictures in the 80's

 

if that guy slept like that, his hand might be numb… but his headache won’t be numb, unfortunately for him.

 

Pretty girl falling back into childhood? Suckling thumb next to Mickey Mouse…

…then a straw. Coincidence I spotted her again OK? No stalking!

 

Jesus Jones….?

 

sepia photography, people in Tanzania

 

Bush flying, Tanzania

Some of my older pictures in Tanzania.

Engine out, propeller feathered on a Piper Chieftain. I was flying alone, the plane was light weight and the other engine kept me up, I had time to snap this picture with Kilimanjaro far away.

 

Some surprises on the airstrips…

 

A De Havilland Twin Otter on short final, birds watching in the branches but unbothered.

 

 

2007 and 2008, a local volcano, Oldonyo Lengai, was erupting on a nearly daily basis. We all flew reasonably clear (well for whatever it means with volcanism) of that activity but invisible particles were floating around. Here they are, visible after landing. 3 turbine engines were lost that year from swallowing those volcanic particles. One died on me by the way, though I should say agonized for half an hour, giving me plenty of time to land safely. The turbine blades were chewed, reduced, poked like by acid, some inner parts of the chamber were vitrified.

Now one pilot had come from the Caribbean islands at the same time and he was really shocked to hear we kept on flying because for instance whenever volcano Montserrat was sneezing, there would be no flying around within 300 miles. Look what happened in Europe with that Iceland volcano. But here…not only there was no restriction on flying a few miles off the Lengai, the local ‘authorities’ ( I’ve got to stay polite, they might read me) didn’t even warn the foreign companies like KLM of the dangers…KLM comes here at night on top, so much for visibility. Luckily one of their pilots has an orphanage program here and knows the Flying Medical Service crew so she took my pictures and various information to inform her colleagues.

 

Wet take off.

 

 

A Caravan over lake Manyara.

 

ATR 42, there should be an extra part to close in the gap on the shock absorbers. Only a ferry flight should be allowed when the part is missing. Guess what, the operator just pretended nothing was wrong and made the pilots fly like that. A “notorious” company here…

aerial photography, Tanzania

 

car plates, photography in the US

 

 50 US states but many choices per state can make plate chasing interesting.

As said before, the front plates don’t have to be official so that empty space on the bumper is free for anything…

 

The Ford Mustang I had been lucky to drive a bit while studying in Florida…

 

 

 

A plate on a Mini Cooper. Sweet Home Alabama…remember Lynyrd Skynyrd?

Bruxelles, Gay Pride some years ago

 

 

a bit of contrast, isn’t it?

P.S., the socialist members came to show support.

 

colorful aerial photography, lake Natron

 a selection of pictures over the years and seasons...

Arusha, people in the streets

 

 

Trendy biker! Bono was here and gave his sunglasses away.

 

Cool shirts but the sizes. The kids can grow for a while and not worry.

 

local Easy Riders… at least they’ve got helmets. Still not a common scene.

 

B/W portraits, Tanzania and the bush

 

lake Eyasi, aerial photography, Tanzania

 

Usually a blend and colorless salt lake. Not that day…

pelican colony.

 

That silver effect is due to the sun reflection in the wet surface.

From the south comes a river into the lake. Fishermen camps were scattered all along in June. The first time I ever noticed them in 13 years…

 

Alongside the western ridge runs a long cliff, bordering the great Serengeti plain. Here is some nice erosion work at the foot of the cliff.

aerial pictures, Tanzania

 

one of our airstrips, Monik on lake Natron. Quite flooded, enough to prevent a landing anyway.

Not far, a truck got stuck in the river. River that usually dries out at some times of the year.

 

Flamingoes.

 

 

Cape elands (des élands du Cap) , beautiful and big gazelles. I won’t say where just in case hunters follow this blog…

Masai warriors

 

on US roads, photography

 

Thunderstruck Rd, cool name no?

 

Easy Rider, only the US flag painted on the fuel tank if missing.

 

Las Vegas.