This is lake Natron, an aerial picture, which is not as red as the pictures below because there is little vegetation. Only the mountain and the horizon show the infrared look.
Here is more red tones thanks to the grass and the trees. The triangle on the horizon is the volcano Lengai.
I was surprised to notice the rocks turning pink.
shot on a medium format camera, a Rolleiflex 3.5F and Kodak Aerochrome EIR slide film (most likely not available anymore)
Monument valley.
Bryce Canyon under snow. It was in May 2010, some storms had burst in the area, lucky us.
An impressive thick arch.
On the superb scenic highway 12 in Utah.
Grand Canyon.
Near Zion.
Kodachrome was the 1st color slide film, produced in the 30’s, was the best film ever made and was unceremoniously dumped by some bloody short-sighted marketing or economist punks at Kodak a few years ago. My camera was a Leica M6.
Northern Tanzania is the main living and grazing area for Masai herders (with a big swat of Kenya), which is also the area I fly mostly over.
Cows, goats and donkeys will be seen all over.
water holes are still numerous after a good rain season but they’re shrinking fast already.
The Kodachrome was the best film ever. The first color slide film to be used extensively by the great photographers, including the National Geographic Magazine. Then 2 years ago Kodak, among many weird decisions decided to cut its production. Sometimes you can’t help thinking the bankruptcy is not really a surprise. On top of it, the film department was the only one still making profits, quite a wonder after all the products they’ve thrown out…
Monument Valley.
Zion.
Arches NP, same view, different lenses, 28 and 90 mm.
On the road near Telluride, Colorado.
Grand Canyon.
Best film? Then one of the best cameras, a Leica M, was used for these shots.
Northern Tanzania, here is lake Natron, one of the salt lakes wedged in the Rift valley. This mountain is Shombole seen from an unusual location, that is low level middle of the acid lake. it is also an extinct volcano that lies on the border with Kenya.
Some deltas...
Flamingoes would use this unique lake as their only breeding place in Africa.
Along the shoreline, these parallel lines are due to daily evaporation leaving clear marks.
Salts and cloud reflections.
Villages in the Rift Valley.
Active volcano Lengai in the Rift Valley.
A non-perennial lake at Olbalbal, Ngorongoro area.
2 different views of Mt Makarot in Ngorongoro area.
A little Masai herder runs after his goats near Mt Masonik.
A shy Masai herder at the foot of volcano Lengai.
And a classic Serengeti sunset to end this post.
Old Masai men wise under a big tree. They’re having a meeting and in turn, women are not attending.
Serengeti sceneries below.
Wildebeests passing by...
As usual, shot on Kodak Aerochrome film and Rolleiflex 3.5F. Initially that was a scientific and/or military purpose film.
I’ve seen much better marketing than that….
those cars had character, right? Look at the ugly shapeless donkey behind the blue Bel Air…
road side letter boxes, unseen in Europe.
pick a US map and pick all the European names, it will keep you busy for a while. Then the identical names will show by dozens. Like Sacramento. We’re here in Arizona, not near San Francisco.
this car wreck must be part of a road safety campaign. Such an old piece of junk must have been left there on purpose. Route 66 near Oatman, Arizona.
Ok I’d change the paint but I wouldn’t mind such a toy in Tanzania.
typical landscapes nearby towns. Billboards all over. The ad for gun is mind blowing for Europeans….
Green foliage turns pink whereas red, like the red cross on the tail or Masai clothes, turns orange
Again I used a now defunct slide film, the Kodak Aerochrome EIR, a red or yellow filter, and a medium format Rolleiflex.
What’s the point f shooting people or landscapes in Africa with infrared films? Well why not? Anyway I saw one picture in a Nat’l Geographic magazine some months ago, shot in the Congo with the same film, the defunct Kodak EIR Aerochrome. These shots are from 2010 with a Rolleiflex 3.5F.
The striking difference is the foliage getting red. On black people the skin is getting red too.
Some old Masai men having a reunion under the big tree. Women forbidden! In Masai culture women are second class citizens and are kept in the dark... I once landed and complained about the bad airstrip condition to my Masai colleague. I wanted a message to be delivered to the leader to sort this out. My colleague answered that there was nothing he could do since only women were present. Just to deliver message?? I had to insist to give a try but I clearly saw he rolled his eyes!
Masai women waiting in the queue for the doctor. Flying Medical Service operates about 30 outreach flying clinics in northern Tanzania.
My beautiful Rolleiflex, from 1961 and still working perfectly.
As I said yesterday, women do the hard work, that is performing water duties. 20 lt on a head. These women are somewhat lucky: donkeys are available…
…while men tend to relax, here at a food shop.
OK Masai men are a special breed. They only care to exercise for their cows that they revere over anything else. They’d see nothing wrong with the Tunisian jackass hardliners who want to modify the old law and now declare women “complimentary to men”. That has been the case in this culture for centuries… as a female friend put it mildly: “in my next life, better come back as a Masai cow instead of a Masai woman”.
20 lt in balance! Years of practice!
The well in Lengijave, the place is usually busy of course.
Few Masai women are dressed in black. I have to enquire for that dress code.
Mount Meru, one of the 5 highest mountains in Africa, at nearly 15.000 feet.
A pretty girl who pretended to be shy, just a bit.
Drive just a few miles off Arusha, a half decent town, and there is the bush right away. Karine and I spent last Sunday afternoon north of Arusha just cruising around in my Land Rover which was more than happy to see some action, since I’m always using my bicycle or motorcycle in town.
Lengijave area, women (and girls) still do the water or firewood runs. Men? Well, the few we saw typically didn’t seem to do much except chatting up under the shade of a tree or in front of a shop.
Mount Meru culminating at nearly 15.000ft.
Little boys are also at work albeit an easier one: lead the herds of cows or goats.
Kids were usually more than happy to pose for us. Last time, a teacher even thanked us for visiting their remote and forgotten village. Obviously no tourist ever wander out there. Marketing is the key…
Dust! Fine dust like flour. If the wind is coming from the wrong direction, you’d better be careful otherwise a dust cloud could engulf your jeep. Tracks tend to be badly run down, Arusha municipality doesn’t pay too much attention nor anything else out there…And the next rains are not expected till November.
Drivers don’t show any respect for pedestrians…
Last picture of the day, a beautiful glow on Mount Meru. It was gone within a minute.
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.
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.
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.
I just borrowed a vintage camera from Karine’s collection and used it while on duty with Flying Medical Service in the Tanzanian bush.
Here is the beast, a Burke and James Press. So far the research shows this model would have been built between 1910 and 1920. Guess what the film format was long disused or one would have to cut it in the darkness from a larger sheet-film. Nowadays only one company does that, Efke, which is great as it saves one user a lot of headache. Efke seems to specialize in weird format, thanks for that. In this case a medium format, that is 2.25by 3.25in ( 5.7 by 8.2 cm)
One tripod is mandatory since you lose your view finder while shooting since the film holder is in the way for the picture. I could add an external visor of course.
A light-measurement cell is recommended.
Needless to say the Masai and Sonjo people were puzzled by the contraption. The Rolleiflex is already weird but then this thing…
Quite mission to handle such a camera, like any field camera. I found the viewing and focusing quite difficult on this one, maybe it’s due to old specs and materials from 100 years ago. I think the lens is also a bit fogged.
Obviously lenses back then were not treated like multicoated etc so the negatives came out really soft. I had to add some contrast after developing the films. Here is the volcano Lengai.
the funny marks in the blue sky might be me developing in a wrong way…
Anyway, I was just curious to use that thing from the past. More? Yes once in a while but most likely with Karine’s bigger but similar beast. Same technology but a recent model with better materials. Yes those things are still being produced albeit at a slow rate.
Yes! Somebody walking in the US!!
Too funny these 2…
this guy doesn’t listen to his mother! I’m sure she has told him many times to wear a helmet or at least a hat for the sun. Seriously I can’t believe some US states don’t require the helmet for riders. In a country where one sues anybody for any moronic reason, so by now some wounded bikers would have sued some legislators because they were not told it was dangerous to ride without helmet… worse in Florida, the law was reversed under Jeb Bush and it’s not compulsory anymore. Just like his bro’ he must have been rocked too close to the wall when he was an infant….
Kodak, killing the golden goose again, stopped that marvelous film some years ago, that is the Kodachrome 64 (after the 25 and the 200). It was still possible to develop it through 2010, so I used some of my last rolls on a road trip in May 2010, the rest in Tanzania. All with a Leica M6, a 28 and a 90mm lens.
Monument Valley, Arizona. Dust storm coming on the top picture.
Just leaving Zion, Utah.
Bryce Canyon, Utah. Karine and I were lucky: snow was still hanging around
Arches park, Utah
Near Telluride, Colorado.
Rains in Tanzania are quite interesting. Personally I enjoy flying in these seasons. Since we don’t have the same constraints as commercial operators, flying with Flying Medical service gives me various and challenging opportunities…
Rain showers and storms can show up with hardly no notice, be quite violent for a brief period before the sun shines again, airstrips get flooded and out of use within one hour, clear skies get obscured and dangerous in no time, dramatic lights and changes in vegetation are to be enjoyed…
This pond in the northern Serengeti area is usually dry. But filled up as it is here is being enjoyed by everybody, cows and herders of course, women and girls can use the water for cooking and washing everything without walking the usual long miles to the next water point, baths are not a luxury anymore…
Not sure these ladies and kids will make it home before the clouds crack open.
Flooded areas.
Obscured by clouds…
Rare full river…
Interesting intersection between 2 rivers bringing their own colored muds.
This is Monik not a chick but an airstrip partially flooded in lake Natron area. Yes you’re looking at the airstrip…. Luckily a large strip so the side could be just used. Just…
Monument Valley.
On the great scenic route 12 near Bryce Canyon, Utah.
the Little Colorado River near Grand Canyon.
OK here there is a trick, this is an infrared picture in Zion nat’l park, Utah.
My beautiful Rolleiflex 3.5F, a medium format twin lens reflex that uses 6x6 cm negatives. This vintage great beast is from 1961, But older models from the 30’s , barely different, are still out there doing great pictures. Not the easiest camera to use but it gives great pleasure.
I’ve visited this incredible location twice and I wouldn’t mind to go gain. There were no many visitors which is perfect so one can nearly feel the place is deserted. The absence of tarmacked road also helps a lot. It’s not difficult to imagine this desert was the shooting location of many wild west movies.
Claudia Cardinale was briefly here for “Once upon in the West”. That strikes a cord more than for John Wayne…
I can’t help being in awe and surprised when I come across a tree in this harsh environment. Monument Valley post cards don’t help either: seen from far away, it seems the desert aspect is always put forward. So scrubs and small leafed-trees are common in here.
the place is a reserve run by Navajos, so the style is different, more basic than in government-run parks elsewhere. Which is not always a bad thing: except a stall or 2 for souvenirs and a dirt track, the landscapes and vista are left untouched.
horse riding trips are available. That would be awesome, right? My bloody horse and donkey allergies…
at the end of our visit, a dust storm approached, pretty impressive soon.
one drives on the long stretches of US roads and never gets bored (well you shouldn’t in my opinion….), specially in the West.
a superb national park. Local Indian natives run the place. I was surprised to see so many US flags, even if customized, after what the Indians have been and still go through since white men set foot in and invaded their territories… Some form of resentment wouldn’t be unreasonable…
John Wayne, John Ford…mostly Claudia Cardinale came here for shooting wild west movies.
while flying for Flying Medical Service, I get to see incredible places. Places which have changed a great time lately. Green colors showed up in no time, typical tropical feat after some heavy showers. Waterholes, non perennial lakes, rivers have filled up quickly too.
One of our Cessna C206’s on clinics.
this airstrip is normally the driest of all we use. Grass got the upper hand once more, though it won’t last much past December…
from the coach window, just observing road side life.
sugar cane stall. No juice machine, the cane is just for chewing.
That’s a new type of contraption on these taxi motorbikes. Not the best way to ride with the pole straight in the face….
street sellers at an unofficial bus stands.
these little stalls are to be seen everywhere alongside roads, selling a bit of everything but mostly food.
A venerable Peugeot 104, still in reasonable shape I’d say, though she is having a bad day apparently. Peugeot managed to lose its grip on the African market. Toyota took over….
Mishkaki, aka shish kebab in swahili, whatever the spelling is, that’s the nickname given to such a travelling party. Mind you, it could be 4 adults on the same little motorbike.
Katavi nat’l park, S.W. Tanzania. At some the camps have to closed down because the grass grows high, like 3 meter high. So animal viewing is seriously hampered, and dangerous. Once, though driving slowly across the bush, we nearly touched an elephant’s bum.
all shot on films and Nikon cameras, F3 or FM2 and usually a 300mm 4.5 AIS lens (yes old gear)
one park, not that big but such a variety of colors and shapes. Not to mention the Hollywood historical past in those plains. Many wild west movies were shot here.
recent shots, taken this December.
really isolated homesteads located in the Gol mountains. Misanthropists living there?
a place I quite fancy out there, the Sonjo valley west of lake Natron. Some villages like this one are located alongside a river that stays wet most time of the year, the fields give interesting and irregular patterns like on this pictures. Various tribes live together (sometimes things get rough though) so the clinic there is more photographic subjects out there. All of this in the middle of some beautiful savannah and hills.
By the way, I’m planning a little bicycle trip soon. To reach Loliondo by bus or preferably a Flying Medical Service airplane with bicycle and all gear and bags, and cycle back to Arusha off the beaten tracks. That would include this very area you’re seeing right now, then towards Pininyi on the shore of lake Natron… it would also be nice to stay a night or 2 in the villages I normally only see as medical clinic places. Just an idea so far but working hard on it.
November-December, the short rain season in Tanzania. Not sure what the various farmers and herders have to say about this one in comparison to the previous bad years…but seen from the air it doesn’t look bad. Green fat grass is mostly spread all around, water holes are filled up as rivers and often gullies. We, Flying Medical Service pilots, experience problems on some airstrips with mud and fast growing plants…
while operating a Cessna 206 for Flying Medical Service in the bush, like here in Monik on lake Natron, an unusual ‘highway’ type bush strip, I’ve got time to walk around, meet people and get a few snapshots.
Another common way to carry a cumbersome burden is to place the strap on top of the head.
McMinus visiting the Tanzanian bush, here on lake Natron with volcano Lengai far back.
to continue the yesterday post. 11h34 for the picture below, I passed the red salted zone. Now the lake towards the north looks normal but is still heavily salted and acid, Ph close to 10!
notice the dust devil on the horizon, a small column of dust looking like a tiny tornado.
extinct volcano Shombole.
near vertical views.
looking back at Pininyi the airstrip we had just left which is here visible on the right side of the forest. The salts start here very close to the shoreline.
western cliffs with the peak Oldonyo Sambu, 4500 ft higher than the lake surface. 11h38, last shot for this selection.
I just can’t have enough of this wonderful lake. Always a new set of colors or patterns to offer. Mother Nature on LSD.
2 weeks ago, I had just taken off from Pininyi, western part. 1st shot at 11h32. This is Shombole on the Kenyan border, quite often to be seen in a mirror effect in this rainy season with clear visibility. I normally don’t put my horizon straight in the middle of my composures but here I like it.
vertical viewing.
looking back at Pininyi, blissfully located in a forest near a stream.
western cliffs, this shot at 11h35. Just a selection of some of the many pictures I shot within those 3 minutes. More soon. I realise I’m quite privileged…
lake Ndutu on the edge of Ngorongoro conservation area is a wonderful place. A Serengeti touch with the Ngorongoro in the background.
early morning, warm light on feeding flamingoes.
low approach for landing.
fluffy feathers.
shot on various locations in Northern Tanzania.
that goat was just born the boy, still wet and greasy indeed but already so big I thought?
Masai warriors just love to jump and sing or hum.
Masai school kids.
I’ve said again and again but this lake is just a marvel. All, yes all, pictures below taken on 2 legs of 5 min flights only, same day. Last week, the visibility was just exceptional thanks to some rains.
extinct volcano Shombole on the Kenyan border.
and just right of it, one Flying Medical Service airstrip, Olorbelin.
lake Natron is one those numerous lakes located in the Rift valley. Here is the lake western cliff with its highest peak, Oldonyo Sambu at more than 6000 ft. The lake bed lies at 2000 ft.
vertical and classic view of the salt and artistic pattern.
have you seen the great movie '” Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain”? Simply called “Amelie” for the US market I heard. The troll is being brought all over the world by Amélie’s friends and proof pictures are sent to her puzzled father (and troll’s owner). Brilliant idea which became fashionable since: a lot tourists seem to do the same while travelling with various fluffed toys and stage pictures. Meet Karine’s McMinus flying with me. She misses so much our real hedgehog Muffin that her Mom (Karine’s not Muffin’s) had sent her that replica as a sweet allusion.
wildebeests ( en fr. des gnous) on a river delta near Shombole.
to the south/south west lie Mt Gelai and volcano Lengai (on the right, the triangle a bit hidden by the haze and dust)
another quick series of portraits in Habere, Sonjo Valley, in the remote bush. Not the perfect time of day for good light but then I would hardly shoot anything if I were to wait for it. And clinic schedules can’t be avoided. As said before, I’ve developed a good relationship with some villagers where Flying Medical Service operates. Every model will receive for free at least one print. But no money is give to them. Funny enough I had a first this time, one shy lady was willing to pose but asked first how much would a print cost, she thought I was doing business! Those prints have been circulating for more than a year now, not to mention the ones between 1999 and 2002. In turn I have more and more women, few men, coming to pose. I have to say yes to everyone even if I don’t fancy the model. It would be to difficult to explain photogenic reasons, and it would hurt feelings I guess. Of course it costs me more in printing and it’s time consuming.
I hate those ugly woolen hats, usually I have them removed. Poor kids it’s so hot out there but every single mother seems convinced the baby’s life is at stake. This mom wouldn’t remove it.
things change, 10 years ago in this Sonjo valley, these kinds of haircut didn’t exist.
this woman insisted to pose with her vegetables she was selling nearby.
this is a typical Sonjo haircut, with razor finish to define the hairline.
an exception to the formal kind of bush studio shooting: this woman came running and yelling, took this unusual pose for a second and disappeared the way she arrived. The crowd was just laughing.
the printing will be handed out in colors, they wouldn’t happily receive b/w copies.
this was the last bit of our walking visit in our hotel sanctuary, the Aberdare Country Club. It started to rain and we had to walk back. Rain was the main feat during our week…
These are Cape elands, the largest antelopes. Brown tone shows a female, grey with a fluffy mop of hair shows a male. En français: un éland du Cap.
a few meters away from the restaurant or the cottages, some peacocks are roaming free.
The next day we went to visit another sanctuary a few km off Nyeri, the excellent Solio Game Ranch. The whole area is fenced and patrolled but big enough to feel you’re roaming in the wild. Some many rhinos are protected here from poaching. The myth of virility provided by its horn is still going on within many men who are poorly equipped in their pants in some parts of the world.
rhinos up close. Our best sighting in Africa so far. And quite a lot too: 13 at that moment. More than in Tanzania altogether I bet.
Next night stop after Nairobi was in a small town, Nyeri, wedged between Mount Kenya and the Aberdares nat’l park. We’ve noticed a different spelling, Aberdare… we stayed in the Aberdare Country Club, quite a posh and ancient countryside hotel which managed to keep a very colonial architecture and style. Golf, some peacocks, a large beautiful garden, a swimming pool…but the main thing to visit is a large animal sanctuary. Too bad the rain was a daily annoyance but we took a walking trip and didn’t regret since we saw a type of giraffe we don’t see in Tanzania, the reticulated giraffe.
they look just curious at other walkers, not really concerned.
And below is the common giraffe we get in Tanzania, the Masai giraffe. The pattern is quite different.
just a quick break from the Kenyan road trip...I just came back from some clinics in the beautiful tanzanian bush, and I'm gone again for 2 days. I just can't have enough of that bush and the interesting job I help being performed. I'm just an 'ambulance' flying so to speak, don't call me a saint. Just in case one had the idea... ;-)
above and below, taking off at Pininyi, western shore of lake Natron, Rift valley.
Olorbelin, northern lake natron.
Engoveroni, Rift valley. Kerimasi in the background is one of the numerous extinct volcanoes in the area.
a dust devil is a thing to avoid on take off or landing. Trust me. OK to cross when you get speed though, just like having a huge kick in the ass.
Sengerema, near Mwanza. Somebody with some sense of humor put an airstrip in the middle of a village. People are not always aware of the dangers of an aircraft. But somebody with common sense had an hospital built just on the edge of the airstrip. So all is well.
Olbalbal airstrip in the rain season, Ngorongoro area.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 |
