MY FAVOURITE PHOTOS (1)

The photos I'll be posting here come from a personal archive that goes back to 1979.  Technically they aren't particularly outstanding - far from it, at times. They just happen to be the ones I like best. All photos copyright Dick Pitman.

Let's start where it all began, for me - in the Matusadona.

Ok, that was  a recent - and of course digital - photo, but way back in 1979, I'd pitched up on Fothergill to write "Wild Places of Zimbabwe" after spending six months travelling within the country's National Parks, and ended up staying on Fothergill with Rob and Sandy Fynn for almost three years. Back then I was using a Canon FTb loaded with Ektachrome 200, which was about all one could buy, and I took this pic after sunset, lying prone on the Fothergill runway. I later included this photo in an exhibition of 25 Cibachrome prints (remember those?). It was the only one that didn't sell, and the framed print has pride of place in our home today.

Here's another favourite - 1979 again, same place, different day.

Fast-forward to November 2011. Early rainstorms have cleared the dry-season haze, and no spectacular mammals are visible - intentionally - as I wanted to try and convey the sheer beauty of those Matusadona bays and their mountain backdrop, without other distractions. When I first visited Matusadona, in 1978, Lake Kariba had only existed for 18 years. By 2011, another 33 years had passed and the lake was over 50 years old. Anything could have happened to this "living laboratory" over that time and, biologically, a lot has. But the Matusadona's scenic loveliness is as fresh as it ever was.

And anyway, all I had to do was get into a small boat, equipped - most importantly - with a paddle, to get a classic shot of a majestic bull elephant feeding on submerged vegetation.

Going back to 1979: I'd already been to Mana a couple of times, while researching "Wild Places", but I hadn't got into bush photography by then, and all I had from those visits were a few very bad black and white pics. I returned in 1980, with the Canon FTb and more Ektachrome, and took another longstanding favourite -  these buffalo at Chine Pool.

I used to park off for the day near the eastern end of the pool and snap whatever came along. Quite a lot did, including nyala and black rhino, but I'll post those some other time. Instead, let's come up to date again and go digital with the shot everyone gets at Mana Pools, simply because it's so hauntingly beautiful; that grey-blue haze in the albida woodland, the sun already hot, the air filled with the scent of dust and dung and the constant calling of turtle doves. Taken in September 2013 during a visit with the ffrench-Constant family; Canon 30D, 90-300mm lens.

I think this is one of the most poignant photos I've ever taken. It's November 2007, right at the end of a long, harsh dry season. Momma is alive - she got up some time later - but she's exhausted from the strain of finding enough food to survive, in temperatures that rose to the mid-40's ; and her calf's concern and anxiety are plain to see.

That very night, the first rains fell at Mana Pools. We were in Mcheni 4 with Craig and Sharon Chittenden when a massive storm developed upstream. Shortly after I took this pic the wind rose to near gale force, bringing with it a sand- and dust-storm that persisted for several hours. Sally and Sharon took refuge in the cars, while Craig and I huddled in the lee of Craig's trailer, where it was possible - just - to light our ciggies. The wind finally dropped at about 9pm, and was followed by torrential rain. In the morning we got the hell outta there, for fear of being marooned by mud for the duration, and managed to reach Nyamepi and occupy a vacant Parks lodge.

Rain. It all depends on rain. And whether it's true or not, the bull on the right does look as if he's welcoming the storm clouds.... This was one of the very first shots I took with my Canon 30D, back in 2006, and it certainly shows. But as I said, these are pics I like, not technical masterpieces.

Of all the Mana seasons, I love the early summer most of all, and Sally and I make an annual pilgrimage to see Mana's incredible transformation from dry-season desert to brilliant emerald Eden.

Another summer pic - plenty of grazing for a lactating hippo and her calf, photographed with a longish lens across the "safety barrier" of the channel outside Hippo Lodge.

Two of Mana's aristocrats out for a stroll. Can't you just see it in the expressions, body language and inherent assumptions: some of us are just - well - superior, and the lower classes ahead will make way for us.

I particularly enjoy this Mana pic because of the way a a low sun picked out the two lions against a dark thicket background. I'd like to say it took a lot of careful positioning, on foot, but it didn't. Sal and I drove into Stretch Ferreira's campsite one December day, after he'd packed up for the season, and there they were. Stick the camera out of the car window, rattle off a couple of shots, and that was that!

And one for Matus - the pic everybody's got, but no less lovely for that. November 2012, and the lake still quite high. Strange: when the lake was low, during the tourism boom of the 1990's, only older guides could remember what it was like when it was high. Likewise today, younger guides can't imagine what it's like when it's very low. I'll show you, next time I add to this blog.