Kigelia Bloom

The Kigelia tree (Kigelia africana), also known as the sausage tree, is native to various African countries and is renowned for its traditional medicinal uses. The tree’s fruit, bark, and leaves have been utilized in African traditional medicine for centuries to treat various ailments such as skin conditions, rheumatism, and stomach issues. The fruit extract is often used in skincare products for its potential antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and skin-firming properties. Additionally, the bark and leaves have been employed to create various remedies, including poultices and decoctions, to address a range of health concerns. The Kigelia tree continues to be an important part of traditional healing practices in many African communities. Did you spot the visitor

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III / EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM; 1/125 sec; f/7.1; ISO 3200; 400mm)

Picture ©2023 Andrew Field – Simply Wild Photography

Digital Wildlife Photographic Tips

Whenever possible, always use some form of support for your camera, be this a tripod, the fork of a tree (admittedly not that practical in wildlife photography), or the edge of your car window, but with a bean bag. Remember the windows of opportunity are usually very short and wildlife photography does not always allow the use of supports, but they clearly help you produce better, sharper images. Where supports are used, you clearly have more time to compose and focus. Use your manual focus rather than auto-focus. In the absence of a support, increase the frame speed to ensure no hand shake.

Pretty Poison

Strophantsis kombe is a shrub/vine that grows in the tropical regions of Eastern Africa, but also found in Mana Pools. It belongs to the genus Strophantsis, which has about 38 species. This plant is the source of a potent cardiac glycoside, a substance that slows the heart and may cause fatal arrhythmias. Interestingly, this poison acts by inhibiting the sodium-potassium pump in the heart muscle cells, leading to increased intracellular calcium and enhanced contractility. However, this also disrupts the electrical activity of the heart and can result in ventricular fibrillation or cardiac arrest. Agatha Christie wrote about the poison from Strophantsis kombe in her novel “The Pale Horse”, published in 1961. The seeds and roots of this plant were used by indigenous people to make poison arrows for hunting. Today, the seeds are used to make medicine for some heart conditions.

(Canon EOS 5D Mark III / EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM; 1/100 sec; f/20; ISO 1000; 100mm)

Picture ©2023 Andrew Field – Simply Wild Photography

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Photography Quotes
Ansel Adams was born on February 20, 1902, in San Francisco, California. He is best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park. He was also an environmentalist and helped found the Sierra Club. Adams died on April 22, 1984, in Monterey, California.

“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”

Ansel Adams

Stuck in darkest Africa, lost in the wild and loving it! Don’t let me out of here…

Fringed Lily

It is amazing to be able to find such a pretty specimen in the middle of an area somewhat barren of bright coloured flowers, but if you look closely, about a water pan, you are in for a surprise. This image was taken in May at a pan in Mana Pools.  The flower is actually quite tiny.  Bart Wursten kindly identifies this plant as a species from the small aquatic family Menyanthaceae being Nymphoides either forbesiana (probably) or thunbergiana.
(Canon EOS 7D / EF-S60mm f/2.8 Macro; 1/15 sec; f/8; ISO 320; 60mm)

Picture ©2015 Andrew Field – Simply Wild Photography

Digital Photography Terms
Diffraction is an optical effect and the scattering of light caused by deflection usually at the edges of an opaque object which may be the origin of a slight fizziness in an image, particularly when narrow apertures are used. This may limit the total resolution of the image, no matter the megapixels of the camera.

“I think the equipment you use has a real, visible influence on the character of your photography. You’re going to work differently, and make different kinds of pictures, if you have to set up a view camera on a tripod than if you’re Lee Friedlander with handheld 35 mm rangefinder. But fundamentally, vision is not about which camera or how many megapixels you have, it’s about what you find important. It’s all about ideas.”

– Keith Carter

 

 

Poisonous Food

The tip of a branch of the Lesser candelabra tree (Euphorbia cooperi) or its variant calidicola just coming into bloom. This plant occurs throughout the Zambezi Valley in wooded areas, in fact calidicola is exclusive to the Valley. It’s a toxic plant (containing rotonin), with a milky latex that is both pungent and acrid to the smell, causing serious irritation to skin exposed to the latex and even a burning sensation from its fumes if inhaled. The latex may cause blindness. The substance is known to have been used for fishing (it denies the fish oxygen and causes paralysis). Yet, it is on record that the candelabra tree is a favourite of the rhinoceros, which once roamed the Zambezi Valley, but since decimated by poaching. In more arid regions of Namibia the Euphobia is a staple for the rhino’s survival.
(Canon EOS 5D Mk III/ EF100-400mm IS II USM + 1.4x III; 1/320 sec; f/8; ISO 640; 400mm)

Picture ©2015 Andrew Field – Simply Wild Photography

A-Z of Photography
Vignetting may be entire intentional (in fact some may use vignetting filters in their compositions) or unintended underexposure on the corners and edges of an image. An unwanted vignetting is usually caused by an inappropriate lens hood or object which partially blocks the field of view. This was a technique used during printing to achieve a full exposure of the central area of the image with fading or darkening edges, and was at one time common with portrait work. The term is derived from the French vignete (diminutive of vigne or vine).

“But also to me, the Holga, the way these images are, that they are sharp in the centre and they vignette in the corners is more how we really see. When you’re looking at the world, you’re not seeing a scene that is sharp all the way to the edges and bright all the way to the edges and has straight lines. You’re seeing something sharp in the centre and then the rest of it is all kind of blurring out.”

– Michelle Bates

This image, and others of your selection, can be acquired from the author printed on fine art canvas of photographic paper for wall mounting.
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Stuck in darkest Africa, lost in the wild and loving it! Don’t let me out of here…

Stanhopea oculata

Stanhopea oculata up close. This image was captured with a fix 60mm macro lens. The orchid is quite a challenge. Despite opening up the depth of field there are still aspects in the foreground out of focus… and there is just too much clutter behind.  This is a lesson on how not to take a flower image… ah well, back to the drawing board… where is that user manual.
(Canon 7D; f/1o; 1/13sec; ISO-640; 60mm)

Picture ©2011 Andrew Field – Simply Wild Photography