NICOLÉ MARÉ
iPhone 6s
NICOLÉ’S HUSBAND HUGO WRITES: We live in Sandton and recently drove down to Cape Town. But we decided to take the back roads through the Northern Cape and avoid the main routes.
JACOBUS DE BEER
Canon 200D Canon 18 – 55 mm lens
JACOBUS WRITES: I took this photo at a picnic site in the Kruger Park. I could move around on foot and get close enough to snap the chameleon’s portrait. We had just finished our picnic and I was carrying our cooking gear back to the car when I noticed kids in the parking area trying to catch the poor thing. Luckily it managed to get away and climbed into a tree.
TOAST SAYS: I’m glad the chameleon escaped unscathed… Except in designated areas, you’re not allowed to get out of your vehicle in the Kruger Park (for good reasons). This does make it hard to spot and photograph small creatures like chameleons, however. When you’re driving along the Even though the trip took a few more hours, the views made it worthwhile. This photo was taken near the Botterkloof Pass, south-west of Calvinia. We pulled over because we could see the road stretching all the way to the horizon. The highlight for me (being from the city) was not game-viewing routes, you’re more likely to search for big cats, antelope and elephants, and you’ll tend to overlook less obvious animals perched on branches nearby. But there are hundreds of great seeing another person, house or vehicle in the landscape. I enjoy cellphone photography because the technology has become so advanced over the last few years. You can now even change settings like aperture and shutter speed to take nearprofessional photos. photo opportunities in the rest camps and the picnic sites where you can wander around freely. The contrast between the Blitzbok green of the chameleon and the grey of the twigs works well TOAST SAYS: The Northern Cape (and the Karoo in general) is South Africa’s secret back-road weapon. For every highway in the region, there are about three detour options. Your travel time might be longer, but your soul will feel lighter. If you have a smartphone, you also have a pocketful of tricks at your disposal. Keep it on auto and 95 % of your photos will be good, but spend a little time getting to grips with all the settings and your photos will be even better. For example, figure out how to use the touch screen for focus and exposure, learn how to turn the flash on and off, and read up about how to activate and maximise the High Dynamic Range (HDR) setting. A road disappearing over the horizon is a landscape photography classic. The line it creates naturally leads your eye from the foreground to the background. That’s what you want in your photos: something to look at in every corner. You can almost feel the silence of the landscape in this photo. You can smell the Karoo fresh air. Nice work, Nicolé! and makes the chameleon stand out. I also like the diagonal lines created by the twigs and the body and legs of the chameleon. All these elements combine in a photo that makes you look twice.