Travel with Light - Tribal Photography workshop
Shooting with available light is something most of us do while travelling - it’s the most natural thing in the world, right? Yes, we wake up early or go to be late, we choose our angles, we stick to the shade, but anything we capture we do under the grace of the sun and its whims. This may be for many reasons - carrying additional lighting equipment is cumbersome and complicated, managing artificial lighting situations while travelling takes away some of the spontaneity and, hey, it can be challenging and difficult if you don’t know how.
This workshop intends to change all that in just over a week! Not only will we teach you to use very simple light setups to create, sculpt and capture incredible images, but we will also show you how to best adjust in challenging environments, how simple and straightforward it can be to introduce one (or more) strobes in different conditions. While photographing 5 different tribes in 6 locations across 2 different countries, you will learn how to control and balance ambient light, how to slowly build up additional lighting layers and how to set up your subjects and control light - it will be challenging but also very creatively and, we hope, a lot of fun!
Schedule:
Day 1: Arrive in Nairobi - the start of our adventure!
Arrive in Nairobi, pickup from the airport and transfer to the hotel for check-in Later, when everyone has arrived, we’ll have an initial team meeting, review our program, discuss everyone’s expectations and challenges. In the evening we will have our first team dinner at a local restaurant.
Day 2: Samburu National Reserve - meet the Samburu warriors and their families
Depart early in the morning for the 5hr drive to Samburu National Reserve. Upon arrival, check in at the lodge. Depending on the time of arrival, there may be time to review our photography approach, check our equipment (lighting etc.) and prepare for the afternoon shoot. Spend the afternoon (from 2pm onwards) with the Samburu tribe in their village to meet the tribe members, scout for locations for our shoot and take our initial shots just as the sun goes down. After sunset we return to our hotel for dinner and planning session for the following day.
Day 3: Day with the Samburu - Mount Kenya National Reserve - meet the Kikuyu
Today we start just before sunrise and spend most of the day with the Samburu, capturing every aspect of their daily lives. Packed breakfast and lunch will be provided and available on demand as we take breaks whenever we want/need. Early in the afternoon we say goodbye to the Samburu are we embark on a 2 ½ hr drive through amazing scenery to Mt Kenya and Nanyuki. Check in at the lodge and relax for the evening. There will be ample time to discuss feedback and takeaways from the first day’s shoot, explore lighting techniques etc.
Note: depending on the overall timetable and how the day unfolds, we may make a small detour to the village of the Kikuyu people to scout the area for our shoot the next day.
Day 4: Day with the Kikuyu - return to Nairobi
Today we will spend all day with the Kikuyu tribe, starting early in the morning and shooting well into early afternoon. As before, packed breakfast will be provided while we are welcome to share homemade lunch with the Kikuyu as our day unfolds. When we finish we jump into our 4x4s and drive to Nairobi for our last night in Kenya.
Day 5: Crossing into Tanzania and meeting our Maasai hosts
Today we cross the border at Namaga into Tanzania (approx. 3hrs from Nairobi) and drive straight to one of the most unique lodges in Africa – a Maasai inspired and ran lodge right in the heartland of Maasai land! After check-in, we will walk to a local school where we will have 2hrs to take pictures from the kids, the classrooms and the lessons. This is a unique honour afforded to very few and only made possible through our close relationship with the Maasai of the area.
After the school we will drive to the nearby Maasai village to meet the tribe we will be working with the next day, scout the area and, time and light permitting, take our first shots of the people. After sunset return to the hotel for relaxation.
Day 6: Overlooking the Rift Valley - our first day with the Maasai
Today we will spend the morning with our Maasai friends, starting before sunrise and shooting through the entire morning. When done, return to our lodge for lunch and then depart for Kilimanmoja, an amazing lodge overlooking the stunning Rift Valley. The afternoon is dedicated to discussing lessons learned from the first tribal shoots, reviewing work, discussing and teaching techniques and generally, talking photography.
Day 7: One family - one village - 3500 cattle and a very challenging day! Meet the Hadzabe
Today we will visit the most unique Maasai village in the world. The Laizer village was founded by a single chief and his 11 wives almost 40 years ago and today numbers over 200 members all belonging to a single family! Recognised as a UNESCO protected village, the government even built a special school for the over 80 children of the family!
We will arrive before sunrise (so get ready for an early start) to witness an amazing sight as the Maasai shepherds prepare to guide the 3500 cattle away from the camp and out to the pasture lands. The views are absolutely amazing, so be prepared for a very intense morning of shooting!
After the cattle are gone we will have the entire morning to capture these amazing people, the countless kids, the young and old warriors, the local medicine man – we hope you have enough memory cards with you.
Our aim is to depart the village around 11am for our 2hr drive to Lake Eyasi and the domain of the Hadzabe and the Datoga who will be our hosts for the next 2 days! We’ll arrive at the Hadzabe village/camp around 1:30pm and use the time to meet the tribe, scout the area for the best shots, plan, discuss our ideas. The plan is to use the hours between 3:30 and 6pm to capture the late afternoon life in the camp as the sun sets.
After we return to our hotel for a well-deserved rest and dinner.
Day 8: Blacksmithing with the Datoga
Today is both an easy and a challenging day – we will meet the blacksmiths of the entire Rift Valley. The Datoga are a little more familiar with tourists so we will be able to capture truly amazing shots both of their daily lives but also experience how they forge deadly hunting and war weapons using nothing more than scrap metal. The location is both unique and challenging and it will put our creativity and technical skills to the test. Depending on the day (and considering how the previous day went), we may spend the entire day with the Datoga or return our Hadzabe friends for additional shots – everything is possible!
In the late afternoon we return to our hotel for rest and dinner.
Day 9: Day with the Hadzabe and return to Arusha - the end of our trip.
Today is both an easy and a challenging day – we will meet the blacksmiths of the entire Rift Valley. The Datoga are a little more familiar with tourists so we will be able to capture truly amazing shots both of their daily lives but also experience how they forge deadly hunting and war weapons using nothing more than scrap metal. The location is both unique and challenging and it will put our creativity and technical skills to the test.
Depending on the day (and considering how the previous day went), we may spend the entire day with the Datoga or return our Hadzabe friends for additional shots – everything is possible! In the late afternoon we return to our hotel for rest and dinner.
What is included:
In addition to the standard inclusions for all workshops (see here), the Travel with Light workshop will include:
All accommodation, transfers and most meals
Dedicated fixers, translators, guides to enable our shooting as outlined
Any and all local permits as and when needed, including entries to national reserves etc.
Basic array of lighting and other photography support equipment, such as tripods, reflectors, lighting umbrellas, etc.
What is excluded:
International flights
travel insurance (proof will be requested prior to participation)
equipment insurance
any required entry visas
Photography-related information:
Day 2: Samburu National Reserve - meet the Samburu warriors and their families
Today we will focus on location scouting (while the sun is high) and picking out spots to realise our respective visions. Each corner presents its own benefits and challenges and we will learn to identify and plan around them. You will be able to discuss your ideas with your workshop leader and our local fixer(s) and explore different options and setups. Shots you’ll be able to get, include:
Large and smaller group shots on location, with and/or without lights
Shots of fully adorned warriors, individually and in groups
Shots of fully decorated women, individually and in groups
Sunset shots at chosen locations, balancing rapidly changing ambient with artificial light
Day 3: Day with the Samburu - Mount Kenya National Reserve - meet the Kikuyu
Today we realise our ideas and plans as we spend the entire day (from 6am until way past 2pm) working with the Samburu warriors and their extended families and village. You can choose to build on shots you did the previous afternoon, create different ones, be as creative as you want. You may choose to focus on group shots or portraits, interior or exterior shots, use a location you identified the previous day or a different one - the choice is yours and your workshop leader is there to help you realise your vision and teach you how to use our strobes.
In the afternoon we travel to the home of the Kikuyu and once again, you will put to practice what you learned about scouting and planning. The new environment is completely different, offers new challenges and new opportunities. As before, depending on your timing and inspiration, you will be able to shoot with the Kikuyu until the sun sets.
Day 4: Day with the Kikuyu - return to Nairobi
The Kikuyu are famous for their face painting and decorations, so today is mostly about creative portraiture and capturing the essence of a people. Today we will focus on:
using light to focus on one individual within a group
using a group as a natural but non-invasive background to a portrait
Contextual individual and small-group portraits, interior or exterior
Bringing fashion lighting techniques into your travel photography
This will be your chance to setup location portraits where you build and exercise creative control as you slowly build and layer your shots. You will learn to work with an assistant, provide lighting control information and communicate with your subject(s).
Day 5: Crossing into Tanzania and meeting our Maasai hosts
Photographing a school and dealing with children in their environment poses its own challenges, so today is about overcoming the environment and working with unaware and shy subjects under time pressure. This is your opportunity to work with ambient light, both inside and outside and augmenting, where needed or wanted, with strobes. It’s going to be challenging but fun as you will have a very short time to create and capture your shots.
Later in the afternoon, as we scout our first Maasai village, you’ll get to start thinking and planning wider and more encompassing shots. As animal herders, the Maasai have a lot of animals and our plan today is to start learning how to build images comprising of people but also other living creatures and their environment. Planning and timing will be crucial.
Day 6: Overlooking the Rift Valley - our first day with the Maasai
Today we will focusing on realising and expanding on the wider shots and portraits of young Maasai girls and boys. Simpler people, more intimate portraits, different environments. This will be your opportunity to visually create emotive images from simple but powerful subjects. Today light becomes your most important tool and you’ll get to try more combinations and experiment with more ideas.
Day 7: One family - one village - 3500 cattle and a very challenging day! Meet the Hadzabe
This will be, by far, our most challenging day! As we visit this iconic village we will have to work quickly, coordinated and efficiently to capture the daily lives of the Maasai shepherds as they lead their 3500 cattle to the grazing grounds. Today we will work as a group - so coordination is crucial - as we have very little time while the cattle are driven out and shooting in such challenging conditions will require all your flexibility, patience and ingenuity. Strobes can be truly powerful when positioned in the right place and used appropriately, so that will be our challenge today! Dust rising in the air, a rapidly rising sun, high contrast will all be things we’ll need to work with!
Once the cattle have departed, we will have ample time to focus on more domestic shots - the houses her are the largest we will see, offering wonderful potential for innovative interior shots.:
But the goodness does not stop here! In the afternoon we will visit the Hadzabe in their cave camp, a fantastic location with massive baobab trees, amazing views over the valley and, of course, the intriguing hunters! This will be your chance to create and light more complex shots incorporating large elements, like rock formation, trees etc. Whole new challenges await!
Day 8: Blacksmithing with the Datoga
Today we introduce yet another challenge – of creating perfectly balanced shots incorporating fully included light sources – in this case, fire. Creating portraits or other shots including fire poses its own challenges, both technical and creative. You’ll be able to captures things like:
Blacksmiths working with a live forge to melt metals (there will be some laying on the ground here!)
The entire smelting and forging process from a 360o view
Sparks and metal forming under the most basic tools and techniques
But aside from that, the Datoga occupy a wonderful patch of land, with massive overhanging acacia trees and wide vistas and you’ll get the chance to capture truly memorable shots.
NOTE: depending on how the day progresses, the weather and how you feel on the day, we may choose to spend a relaxing afternoon by the pool in our lodge or visit the local market or even return to our Hadzabe friends.