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The attractions of South Africa are well documented: the big five, Table Mountain, the cultural diversity and massive open spaces. Traditionally, the Western Cape is the tourist Mecca with Cape Town being one of the top ten holiday destinations in the world. With its neighbour getting so much attention, the Eastern Cape tends to be ignored, which makes it the perfect destination for savvy travelers.

The Eastern Cape is packed with underrated attractions that could keep travelers busy for months. This is part 1 of a four part series on the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

The Wild Life

Arguably one of South Africa’s biggest draw card is her wildlife. Whilst tourists flock in their hordes to the Kruger Park, all sorts of fascinating creatures can be spotted in the Eastern Cape.

The largest of the national parks in the Eastern Cape is Addo Elephant Park. It claims one of the few places on earth containing the big 7 (whales and great white sharks making up 6 & 7). To me, the most obvious attraction of the park are its elephants. What makes Addo a special place to see elephants is the vegetation. There are many wide open plains, virtually guaranteeing elephant sighting.

An often overlooked Eastern Cape park is Mountain Zebra National Park near Cradock. One reason a visit to this park is a must is its location – almost the entire park is on top of a mountain, providing a breathtaking backdrop for the rare mountain zebra. There are about 700 mountain zebras in the world, so seeing them in such a beautiful, wild environment is well worth the trip.

Travelers with deeper pockets are especially well catered for in the Eastern Cape with 6 star lodges in private game reserves where big five sightings are guaranteed. Shamwari and Kariega are popular, but travelers willing to take a risk will be well rewarded visiting a lesser known lodge. If you’re on a budget, camping is very affordable and the weather in most of the Eastern Cape makes camping a popular and viable option.

With such a diverse amount of parks to be seen, it is easy to overlook the less glamorous species found naturally, all over the Eastern Cape. Dolphins outnumber surfers in most lineups, completely different eco systems within the Eastern Cape host a diverse range of bird life and a macro lens will reveal a fascinating world of insects.

Next up – Eastern Cape, the Wild Coast.

London is full of great spots to visit, but if you only have a day in London and want to get a “feel” for the city, spend some time at the South Bank.

Immediately recognisable by the London Eye, the South Bank stretches for about one kilometre along the river Thames. The South Bank is full of cafes, resturants and tourist attractions but perhaps the most interesting attraction is the people.

The South Bank is a hub of artists, musicians and performers many who are sublimely talented and others who seem to be facing up to a dare.

The character in the photo was actually acting for what appeared to be a student movie project. He spent the best part of an hour walking up and down the South Bank through the massive crowds, tailed by an indie film maker. Such things are common place at the South Bank. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the show.

I’ve been quite taken back at how much moving location has influenced what I photograph. I grew up in East London, a South African city  between Cape Town and Durban. Whilst living there, my primary focus was capturing the beauty of the coastline. East London has one of the most un-spoilt, beautiful coastlines in South Africa. In the 10 years that I lived there, never once did a venture into the slums, which were literally within 5 kilometers of my home.

When surrounded by poverty, I had the mind frame that it was completely normal, why would anyone want to see it in a photo. Moving to London has completely changed my point of view. I would love to photograph the slum in East London, not to document the poverty to cause sympathy, but rather to capture the beauty and joy found there.

Steve McCurry has recently become my favorite photographer. I’ve always been taken back by his Afghan Girl portrait, but browsing through his work, I see beauty and sense feeling of joy and contentment that inspires me even more.

Most of us are of the opinion that people who live in slums are desperately unhappy and cannot wait to get out, but from what I’ve seen, most are completely content. If contentment and joy can be had in the slums, why not in affluent cities? Most city dwellers I observe always seems to be striving to improve their lives, never content with what they have.

In December we are visiting East London, South Africa for a few weeks and I can’t wait to get into the slums.

We spent last Saturday at the London Tattoo Convention. Proof that sometimes the best travel photo opportunities happen on your doorstep.

Instead of covering the event like a journalist, we concentrated on shooting portraits. Asking strangers to pose for photos is always difficult but the crowd who attended the convention were so down to earth and friendly, they actually made it easy.

For photographers interested in travel portraits of people, it is one of the best opportunities to take place in London. Hope to see you at next year’s event.

Of all the French resorts along the Mediterranean coast, Collioure stood out as our favorite. It seems to have a bit of everything, perfect swimming beaches for relaxing, tanning and show boating (if thats your thing), fascinating old architecture and a colourful, vibrant maze of streets.

Collioure is quite close to the Spanish border, which means that Collioure has a good mix of French and Spanish cultures. These seem to blend perfectly to make a colourful, arty and relaxing village.

We found Collioure by chance. Whilst visiting a far less interesting resort, we saw a picture of Collioure on a postcard. I wrote the name down because it looked interesting, punched it into our GPS and one hour later, we were walking through Collioure streets.

If you are ever planning a trip to that side of France, be sure to check it out.

The podcast is quite an eye opener(literally) and if taken to heart, will definitely push your photography up a notch. Rather then spoil the podcast by summarizing it here, take some time to listen to it.

This image was taken on the main beach in Plettenberg Bay  as the sun should have been rising. The dramatic clouds evident in the picture blocked the sunrise, but ended up creating the perfect conditions for a dramatic seascape picture. The building in the picture is the Beacon Isle Hotel, surrounded on three sides by the ocean.

The main beach in Plettenberg Bay is well worth a visit. Situated in the heart of South Africa’s Garden Route, it offers a tranquil setting for a relaxing week away or a world class surf spot for the more energetic.

Some highlights in the area include the Birds of Eden Park, the wild Robberg Nature Reserve, an un-spoilt beach at Nature’s Valley and the intriguing Monkeyland.

A lot of creativity these days is based on how well you can innovate off of the foundations laid by someone else. Take automotive design for example. The basic shape of a car has been around for over a hundred years, but it is fair to say that each manufacturer has a car that is fairly unique.

One of the best sources of inspiration for us is the work of other photographers.  A photographer who seems to burst with originality is South African photographer,  Mitchell Krog. His work has been featured internationally and he is perhaps best known for his lightening photography. Check out his post on lightening photography here.

The island is surprisingly large and would take at least one full day of continuous driving to circle. Quite conveniently, the island is split into four main clusters of attractions. We had four days on Skye and planned spending a day in each section, but due to the weather, decided to skip the south east. You could easily spend a month in Skye and still have plenty to photograph.

The South West

In terms of sheer variety, the South West has the most to offer. The highest peaks of the Cuillin Mountains are found in this section as well as the most breathtaking beaches. A must see in the South West is the Fairy Pools.

The Fairy Pools are a series of about 20 luminous blue pools, most if which have a waterfall. The pools are fed by a river that passes through some sort of limestone that gives it its stunning colour. The pools were once thought to have  a magical power, the ability to reverse aging.

I arrived at the start of the walk at about 8 pm to shoot the pools. I was met by torrential rain which was blowing sideways from the wind. Because of the weather, I left all my camera gear in the car and took only 1 body and a wide angle lens that I wore like a necklace. I had a waterproof jacket on, which kept my camera dry. Because the storm made it so dark, I also took my tripod and started jogging down the path.  Never in my life have I experienced such a wind-the gusts would literally blow me off my feet, then the wind would die and I would fall the other direction.

That evening was the only chance I was going to get to shoot the pools, which was why I braved the weather. I spent about 2 hours at the pools and managed to shoot 12 frames. I would set up my tripod, whip my camera out, start the 20 second plus exposure whilst I covered the camera with my jacket like a mother hen. Even with those efforts, my camera got soaked, which meant drying it after every exposure. It sounds like torture, but it was actually exhilarating – experiencing the fury of nature head on with a camera is quite an experience .

The North West

Most photographers who travel through the North West would do so to see Neist Point. It is Skye’s Table Mountain (i.e. overly photographed landmark).

Other noteworthy sites in the Northwest are Dunvegan Castle, a 300 pound per head restaurant and a pub in Stein that belongs in a Viking movie.

We had relatively clear skies when we shot Neist Point, although the wind had not lessoned from the previous day. Coupled with a temperature of about 0, it made standing still for long exposures quite challenging.

To prevent my tripod from blowing over, I placed the legs in what looked like a pothole and then wrapped my legs around them. I used this technique to avoid camera shake and managed to get a few shots that I was happy with.

My shoot was cut short by a massive storm which seemed to come out of nowhere. I had to hike back to the car in the rain again, much to the amusement of Tina who had been shooting from the car.

The North East

The North East of Skye is a dangerous place for a photographer. There are so many highlights to photograph, you may find yourself forgetting something important, like eating!

Our day started off in typical Skye weather; overcast, drizzling and windy. Our first stop on the North East was Portree – a colourful fishing village full of historical landmarks and places of interest. Because it was raining, it was difficult to find a compelling subject so we quickly moved on.

Most people would have seen pictures of Kilt Rock, the waterfall in Scotland that falls into the sea. It is the next stop after Portree and another “landmark” photograph. Because it is so popular, a fenced off section has been built for photographers/tourists to view the waterfall. This makes it very difficult to get something original. To make it even more difficult for us, the wind was blowing rain and waterfall spray straight onto our camera lenses. If you’ve ever shot with rain on your lens, you will know that raindrops don’t make the best filters. Luckily, because of the rain, a rainbow hovered over the sea and we were able to get a couple of shots that we were happy with.

Shortly after Kilt Rock is a rock formation known as the Old Man of Storr. Its unique shape and structure make it popular with tourists as well as being very photogenic. At this stage, the drizzle had turned into a mild flood and convinced us to move to the next location.

Personally I think the highlight of the North East is the Quirang mountain range. Because dinosaur bones were found here, it is known as the Jurassic mountain, but one look at the landscape and you’ll be convinced that it is “The Land Before Time”.

A tar road takes you right to the top of the peaks where a car park is conveniently situated. Good luck finding a place to park though – we arrived in the rain and couldn’t even find one!

Even though it was raining, there were patches of sunlight which made the light quite dramatic. I decided to use a technique of shooting I refined in Skye. Equipped with running shoes, a camera around my neck protected by a waterproof jacket and a lens cleaning cloth I took a jog around the top of the Quirang. Every time I saw something compelling I would stop, shoot a few frames, wipe the drops off my lens and then carry on running. This is quite a departure from the carefully composed tripod method, but works quite well in the rain.

You could easily spend an entire day in the Quirang peaks, but the lure of the undiscovered was too powerful so we moved on to find more mountain ranges, old castle ruins and pristine beaches.

To Sum Up

The National Geographic team rated the Isle of Skye as one of the best islands in the world to travel to. In terms of sheer diversity, character and history, it would be difficult to find a spot that tops it. For that reason, travel photographers will be well rewarded with a trip to Skye.

Originally published in Pix magazine