Hutewälder am Edersee, Germany

A weekend with photographer friends took me to Edersee, a reservoir in the northern parts of Hesse, two hours from Frankfurt. Some people call it "Hessian Kongo" because it is sparsely populated and has been forgotten by industry in the past sixty years, no motorways pass the mainly rural and heavily forested area. It is all the more interesting for tourists - this summer the more so because due to the extremely dry weather here in Germany, the reservoir Edersee is at its lowest level for decades. Villages and bridges usually covered with water are reappearing.  

The Dam and reservoir were built around 1910 to provide water to the nearby shipping routes on Mittellandkanal during the summer months. The dam gained sad fame when during WWII the British in 1943 tested a new "rotation bomb" on the dam which tore a huge hole in the wall. The resulting flood wave killed 68 people further downstream and caused a huge destruction in the valley. 

The village Berich reappearing

a boat is still cruising

At Asel bridge further upstream the Eder is reduced to a small rivulet.

Close-by the "Hutewälder" of Bad Wildungen are photographically interesting. They consist of oak and beech forest with century-old trees where farmers' pigs used to run loose to mast on the fallen acorns and beech-nuts in autumn. We set out to photograph these old characterful trees.

the innards of an old beech tree

After an early dinner we spent several fun hours in the dark forest with torches and head lights trying the technique of light painting. The camera is fixed on a tripod, with low ISO and a long expore of up to several minutes while a helper shines a torch light at the trunk and whereever you want the image to be exposed.  It is a fun experiment and you can never predict how the picture will look. I tried  to shape the old gnarled trunks and give them a personality with a "Rubens"-like effect of stark contrasts. 

For this image I used a high ISO  of 800 and a 25 sec exposure to get a glimpse of the starry sky in the background

 in black and white

Here we had planned to give the trunk a silhouette - when the torch inadvertently shone right at the camera, we thought that the exposure had been spoilt. However, this picture has turned out quite perfect! With this technique you never know the result until you see it on your screen. 

There is so little light in this area that even the milky way can easily be seen on such clear nights.

Victoria Falls, Zambia - River Safaris and more

For a river safari so close to the falls it is best to take a boat with a spare strong engine just in case ... or many strong rowers!

Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park ("The smoke which thunders") lies on the Zambian side. There are no cats but antilopes, giraffes, zebras and many birds. We also saw a few hippos and crocs in the water. On the Zimbabwean side of the falls the protected area continues as the Victoria Falls National Park.  

These hippos were very relaxed.

well hidden in the dappled shade

Reed cormorant (Phalacrocorax africanus)

White-fronted bee eaters (Merops bullockoides)  

Black egret (Egretta ardesiaca)

Hadeda Ibis (Bostrychia hagedash)

Whitecrowned Plover in flight (Vanellus albiceps)

 

Cattle egret at their morning toilette 

Redbilled Firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala)

Close-by a little upstream is an "elephant encounter" enterprise which is very well managed and elephant friendly. A family of African elephants lives here that visitors can interact with, feed and watch. Most were saved from culling or droughts as young animals. They are free to roam; in the evenings they often go down to the river Zambezi to take a bath. Elephants have long memories. One lady elephant left for a few months and came back with a young one that was integrated into the herd. 

 I know this motion from my horses ... 

... he is begging, he is hungry!

Good-bye, Zambia! 

Victoria Falls in Zambia - Wildlife around the Royal Livingstone Hotel

Victoria Falls in Zambia is not the typical safari place where one would go to photograph wildlife. People travel here to see the falls, to relax after a safari in the bush or to have an African experience in the excellent "Royal Livingstone Hotel" with safety and all the amenities of civilization. Or for a conference and all of the above, as we did in this instance. 

zebra roam freely on the property

Many birds can be seen without leaving the hotel grounds:

 Pied kingfishers, the "helicopter birds" (Ceryle rudis)

Blackeyed Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus)

Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) , female

Trumpeter Hornbill (Bycanistes bucinator)

African Pied Wagtail (Motacilla aguimp)

A brightred dropwing dragonfly - Feuerroter Sonnenzeiger (Trithemis kirbyi)

On my walk along the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls inside the park, to which the hotel has an extra side entrance, I met a large family of baboons who live there on the left-overs from the food of their human relatives. I observed them for a while going about their business as all families do, sitting, talking, scratching, thinking, feeding, carrying or making children, quite undisturbed by me but not bothersome either. 

admiring the falls?

"help me up, please"

"ouch!"

   "The Thinker"

Under the canopy of the imposing jackal berry trees (Diospyros mespiliformis) that grow on the lawn reaching down to the water ....

... one can relax in one of the swings there and doze off after a day out in the sun. 

Although the city of Livingstone is near, nights can be very dark. 

The lights of Livingstone illuminate the steam of the falls at night.

The Milky Way in the Southern Sky