As the new year kicks off and I look back on what I did or didn’t achieve in 2011 I certainly have mixed feelings. Some goals were achieved, some were surpassed and some were miserably abandoned!

On the photography side I feel quite stoked though. I saw and photographed many amazing places in S.A and Namibia. Good business removed any doubts I had about pursuing this career. I got a 4×4 vehicle which has opened many of Southern Africa’s very best landscapes up to me. I was planning to leave on a 5 week trip at the end of this month, but I’m involved in certain publishing projects that require a lot of shooting close to home.

I also came to the stupidly obvious realization that I live in the cradle of one of South Africa’s most amazing mountain ranges. A treasure chest of towering granite peaks that have barely been photographed. I feel extremely ambitious to get serious about hiking this year in an attempt to create a portfolio of the Cape’s mountains that might some day be compared to John Hone’s work of the Drakensberg. There are many places on my destination list this year, but my top priority is to find my way around the Cape mountains’ best hiking routes so that I’m prepared for misty Autumn sunrises,  Winter snow and Spring flowers. Other places I long to visit are the Richtersveld, Drakensberg, Kubu Island, Pondoland and Lesotho. I’ll be spending About three weeks at Namibia’s best locations again this year hosting workshops and some shooting by myself.

Workshops

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be working with the legendary Chris Fallows this year to offer his clients landscape add-ons when they come to shoot great white’s sharks with his company. There is still one spot left on the C4 Namibia workshop from 18-25 March. It’s truly the ultimate landscape photography experience in Africa. We’ve got special access permits for Sossusvlei and the whole of Excelsior farm in the Namib Rand to our self.

If you can’t take 10 days off to make it to Namibia, check out my seascape workshop for Cape Town in April. An easy and convenient learning experience with some of the best seascapes in the country to shoot while learning. I will advertise a similar Gauteng workshop shortly, but a lot of the learning lies in shooting a photogenic landscape, which Gauteng doesnt have. Coming down to Cape Town for the weekend will be a much better learning experience. I would appreciate if any people interested in a Gauteng workshop similar to the Cape Town one would be interested? Just mail me or comment here!

Tutorials??

Part two of the Namibia guide will be published next week. I’ve run dry with ideas for tutorials so if there’s a specific field or Photoshop trick that someone is interested in then they’re welcome to shoot with suggestions! Just comment below

An Exciting Year Ahead

The whole photographic industry is on the edge of it’s chair to see the the 1Dx and D4 in action and for the release of the D800 and 5D III. Technology is advancing and I can’t wait to get one of these new cameras and see how they will help me improve my photography! I’ll end of with some recent images from the Cape.