Posted on 23rd September 2009 by admin in Articles |Lightning |Magaliesburg |Night Photography |Photography |SA Photographers |South Africa
gauteng, highveld, Lightning, rain, relief, South Africa, spring, struck, summer, thunder, thunderstorms
The Spring Solstice could not have been a better time for the first thunder and lightning storms to arrive on the Highveld of South Africa. After a very long and dry winter, you can hear both man and nature breathe a sigh of relief. With more rain apparently on the way we can only hope that we have a good rain season this coming Summer, it sure is very much needed. For a big portion of South Africa it is now time to start unplugging modems and computers or risk losing them through a lightning strike.
The First Thunderstorm of 2009. Lightning, thunder and rain, there is quite simply nothing quite like it. From Mitchell Krog's Lightning Photography Portfolios. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)
Posted on 1st September 2009 by admin in Articles |Insects |Macro |Magaliesburg |South Africa
Africa, bees, birds, butterflies, gardens, human, Insects, lens, Macro, spring
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant and if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome ~~~ Anne Bradstreet (1612 – 1672)
Spring has arrived in full force in South Africa, it’s the 1st of September and already we are set for day time temperatures reaching near 30 degrees. As Spring returns so does a plethora of life return to our gardens and there is no better time for Photographers in South Africa to get their Macro lenses dusted off and get crawling around in their gardens. Macro photography is one of the most enjoyable forms of photography.You can also get started in Macro Photography without breaking the bank.
A Banded Bee Captured in Flight Near a Salvia clevelandii x leucophylla Flower. From Mitchell Krog's Macro Photography Collections. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)
Only once a photographer has crawled around their garden for a few hours with a Macro lens do they realise how much life is in the garden normally unseen to the human eye and the more you start crawling around as a photographer the more you actually see. Of course it goes without saying don’t go sticking your fingers into dark places and watch out for spiders and snakes. With Macro Photography it is quite essential to learn to use flash to freeze action and ensure sharper images. There are many ways of doing this. You can use a standard flash unit attached to your hot shoe or you can make yourself a bounce card to force the light down towards your subject. The best way however is to purchase a Macro Ring Flash unit which sits around the lens itself and pushes light directly onto your subject.
A Mantis/Stick Insect Photographed in the Dead of Night using Macro Flash Techniques. From Mitchell Krog's Macro Photography Collections. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)
The night time garden is full of life, most insects come to rest at night and this is one of the best times to get out and photograph them as it does not involve you chasing them around the garden in the daylight. This however requires that you absolutely positively need to have flash lighting to assist you.
If you are relatively new in photography and have wanted to experiment with Macro photography there is no better time to get started. A good quality Macro lens is relatively affordable and Macro ring flash units are also not too badly priced either. I can assure you that Macro photography is very addictive but also very enjoyable and rewarding and you get to appreciate a whole part of life that most people do not take notice of.
A Bee in Flight Coming in For Landing on an Aloe mutabilis Flower. From Mitchell Krog's Macro Photography Portfolio. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)
Watch out for more Macro Photography Articles and Image from Mitchell Krog
Posted on 31st August 2009 by admin in Articles |Environmental |Landscape |Lightning |Magaliesburg |Reviews |SA Photographers |South Africa |Storms
Africa, getaway, Landscape, Magaliesburg, mohale, Photography, sunsets, Travel
With views stretching forever and a day across the North West Province and some of the most magical sunsets anywhere in South Africa, it’s no wonder that the Magaliesburg is one of Gauteng’s top weekend getaways, the Magaliesburg is a truly magical place. South African Photographer Mitchell Krog who resides in Magaliesburg has spent the last four years photographing the beautiful environments of Magaliesburg and has achieved much acclaim with his photography.
You Can See Forever and a Day. The views from Magaliesburg stretch far into the North West province. From Mitchell Krog's Magaliesburg Photography Portfolio. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)
The Magaliesberg Range has a very long geological history. Its quartzites, shales, chert and dolomite were deposited as sediments in an inland basin on top of the 3 billion year old Archaean Basement Complex. This process of sedimentation lasted for about 300 million years. About 2 billion years ago a massive upwelling of molten magma resulted in what is now known as the Bushveld Igneous Complex. The enormous weight of this intrusion depressed the sediments that lay beneath and tilted the sediments along the edges so that the broken scarps faced outward and upward, and the gentler dip slopes inward. During the same period these sediments were fractured and igneous intrusions of dolerite filled the cracks. With the passage of time these intrusions eroded, especially on the dip slopes, forming deep kloofs or ravines providing excellent rock-climbing potential to modern man. This large dogbone-shaped area is now termed the Transvaal Basin and includes the lofty escarpment of the Transvaal Drakensberg overlooking the Lowveld in the eastern part of the country. Massive outpourings of igneous material of the much younger Karroo System later covered the Transvaal Basin, but this was subsequently eroded so that it only remains along the Transvaal Basin’s southern rim.
The Beautiful Golden Winter Colours of a Winter Sunset Over the Magaliesburg Mountains. From Mitchell Krog's Magaliesburg Photography Collection. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)
The Magaliesburg Mountain range forms a natural barrier between the lower lying Bushveld to the north and the cooler Highveld to the south. The range receives rainfall in summer in the form of thunderstorms, with an average of 650mmm annually. In winter frost occurs frequently in the valleys on the southern side of the mountain, but almost never on the northern slopes. Mitchell Krog, a specialist and award winning lightning photographer has produced some incredible lightning images from Magaliesburg.
Fire and Ice. The First Electrical Storm of Summer Sets The Grass Lands Alight. From Mitchell Krog's Lightning Photography Portfolio. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)
Watch our for more in photos and articles in this series about Magaliesburg.
~ Mitchell Krog
Posted on 30th August 2009 by admin in Articles |AstroPhotography |Landscape |Magaliesburg |Night Photography |SA Photographers |South Africa
AstroPhotography, international, iss, photographed, South Africa, space, station
South African Photographer Mitchell Krog on Sunday 30th of August 2009 captured the International Space Station (ISS) flying across the night skies of Southern Africa. Mitchell, an award-winning photographer and specialist in Astro-Photography had selected his location for the shoot several days beforehand and planned things well in advance. At 6:51pm, a time specified by the Johannesburg Planetarium, the ISS appeared as a bright yellow star low on the horizon and in a matter of a minute was already directly overhead and out of the frame. Through his past experiences with photographing astronomical events Mitchell had everything in place to pull of the image below which shows the International Space Station like a shooting star across the sky. Says Mitchell, the Space station was moving at an incredible speed and those people who did not take the time of viewing this event seriously would have missed it had they come outside a minute later. It moved across the sky from horizon to horizon in under 2 minutes. The conditions for this particular glimpse of the ISS were nothing short of perfect, the moon was currently waxing around a half moon phase giving just enough light to illuminate the foreground. The Space Station moved from the horizon in the S-S-W to the horizon in the N-E in approximately 2 minutes.
The International Space Station Fleeted Across the South African Night Skies on The 30th of August 2009 at 6:51pm. From Mitchell Krog's AstroPhotography Portfolio. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)
More photos from other astro-photographers here.
A discussion on the SARL web site here.
