From Photoworkshop.com

Education/Inspiration
Africa: The Cradle of Humanity—On Safari with Bobbie Goodrich
By Lynne Eodice
May 1, 2008

CLICK HERE TO SEE A GALLERY OF BOBBIE GOODRICH'S IMAGES

All images © Bobbie Goodrich

Most of us are lucky if we have the opportunity to go to Africa once in our lives, but this was Bobbie Goodrich’s fourth trip. “The first one was in 1998, when I went with a group of photographers,” she explains. “This trek focused on photographing the indigenous people of east Africa. It was right up my alley at the time.” She also fell in love with Africa, and knew she’d return. In 2002, she traveled to Niger in the western part of the continent, and during the holidays, she went to the Serengeti as part of a trip around the world. “I said once again, I’ve got to return.” Bobbie wanted to go back to photograph wildlife, particularly because she is an accomplished artist who specializes in photographing horses. But as she says, “life happens,” and other obligations got in the way for the time being.   

Elephant Walk



Serendipitous
She knew that a perfect adjunct to her imagery of horses would be to photograph wildlife. “I remember what I experienced in the Serengeti,” she says, “and I decided that’s what I wanted to do.” About a year ago, she got a

Tiger Cub

call from an art consultant who was planning a big art installation for a community in Colorado, and was interested in purchasing some of Bobbie’s equine images. “We sat and talked all afternoon,” says Bobbie. “She saw some of my 20x30 portraits in the hallway from my trip in ’98, and told me about this incredible trip to Africa that she and her boyfriend had taken.” It was from this art consultant that Bobbie first heard about the guide, Mark Ross, and she urged Bobbie to contact him if she planned to go back to Africa. 

Serendipity stepped in when Bobbie found herself with a small window of time in February, and happened to come across the brochure about Ross. “I emailed him and it turned out he had one space left on his next trip,” she says. (Ross limits his excursions to eight people who have been referred to him from previous clients.) Although she had just one day between photo shoots to pack up and leave for Nairobi in February, she made the split-second decision to go. However, there was an intense political uprising in Kenya prior to her leaving. “And back in ’98, I was enroute when they blew up the embassy in Nairobi,” she remembers. “But I decided that nothing was going to stop me—I’m going!”

The guide, Mark Ross, has lived in Nairobi for 30 years and has been leading expeditions for about that long, according to Bobbie. He does eleven safaris a year, all via referral, and doesn’t advertise. “He’s also a wildlife biologist and a photographer who enabled us to have this close-up and personal experience,” she says. Ross has worked with National Geographic photographers, and has two books to his credit. The one that relates his experiences as a guide (including being taken hostage in Uganda) is called Dangerous Beauty: Life & Death in Africa, True Stories from a Safari Guide. “This book pretty much explains Mark Ross,” she says. “He is Africa.” 

Samburu Village Girl

A Remarkable Itinerary
Of the people whom she traveled with, only Bobbie, Mark, and one other individual were the most serious about photographic images.  The others were first-time visitors to Africa with whom she still keeps in touch. “I think it should be mandatory that everyone experience Africa before they die. It really is the cradle of humanity; it’s where it all began,” Bobbie remarks. She’s traveled widely throughout the world, but emphasizes, “Nothing resonates with me the way Africa does.” During this 17-day trip, she and the group visited many incredible locations after landing in Nairobi. On the first night, she says, “We stayed in a beautiful bed & breakfast inn in Karen a suburb of Nairobi.”

The next day, the passengers split up into two groups of four. Some traveled with Ross in his Cessna 206, and the others went in another plane. After leaving Nairobi the group flew to the Serengeti, which covers some 14,000 square miles. “We were there for the start of the Wildebeest migration,” she says. The group spent three days in this location, and saw these animals migrating as well as giving birth. “We tracked a Wildebeest who was giving birth. I have the whole thing sequentially documented.” Besides Wildebeests and their calves in the Serengeti, the group also saw Zebras, Gazelles, “and then you see all the predators and all that interaction,” she says. “It’s incredible.”  

From the Serengeti, the group traveled on to Samburu, located in the northern district of Kenya. “There was a large concentration of wildlife there,” Bobbie remarks. “The Iuasu Nigrean River cuts through the middle during the dry season, and the animals go there for the water.” During this opportune time, the travelers saw elephants, zebra, reticulated giraffes, and leopards. On February 29 (Leap Year Day), they went to a place that Bobbie describes as the most incredible she’s ever been to—Lewa Downs, a private wildlife preserve and lodge. “There’s over 65,000 acres inhabited by elephants, rhino, leopards, lions, cheetahs, giraffes and 20% of the world’s Grebbe zebras.” The group had the opportunity to ride horseback among the wildlife at this game park.  

The group moved on to Lake Victoria, which is the second largest fresh-water lake in the world and is shared by three African countries, Bobbie points out. They also visited Rusinga Island surrounded by a fresh-water ocean. “We spent two days there, visited the local fishing villages, and visited Ruma National Park.” Rusinga Island Lodge resembles a beautiful old southern plantation right on the water, she says.  

African Mosaic

Ruma National Park is home to three endangered species: the Rothchild Giraffe, the Roane Antelope and the Hartebeest. They visited some of the other islands by boat that had bird roosting habitats. “I didn’t know that places like this existed in Africa,” she says. Then, as an optional extension, they visited one of Ross's favorite places—Lamu Island, a tropical island in the Indian Ocean. This island was a Swahili settlement in the 14th century, and since then, a variety of traders and other visitors have left their mark on the culture. With few modern options for transportation, people travel mostly by donkey or by boat. “The old town is incredible, and the beaches are endless—you never see another soul,” Bobbie says. “The streets are very narrow and reminded me of islands in Greece.” The diversity of the itinerary was really terrific, she adds. 

Traveling Light
Bobbie traveled light on this expedition, but brought great camera gear to capture her wonderful imagery: “I brought the new Canon 40D, and two lenses—the Canon EF 100-400mm zoom, and the EF 24-105mm f/2.8 zoom.” She also brought her Macintosh Pro laptop with a 17-inch screen and two Wolverine 2GB external hard drives, although she didn’t always have time to download images onto her computer for editing from these drives. “You could only carry 25 lbs. on the plane,” she explains.  

Male Lion, Serengeti

“The most joyous part of my work begins in the field,” Bobbie enthuses, “experiencing the discovery and adventure.” But when she comes home, the serious editing work begins. She says, “It has to come from my heart. I love the intimacy part of the image.” She envisions how the image should look, and decides whether or not it should be modified from the original capture. She enhances her photos with color, tonal changes, creative blur or sharpening in Photoshop CS3. She also uses Adobe Lightroom for initial editing and Nik filters.  She’ll soon begin teaching two photo workshops a year at Flitner Ranch in Shell, Wyoming. Her students will shoot for four days, followed by two days of learning Bobbie’s signature techniques for creating imagery.    

A Collaborative Effort
She is currently exhibiting her African images for a month at the ZUVA Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, a venue that primarily represents renowned African painters and sculptors. At the opening on April 24, Ross was also on hand for a book signing and a talk on wildlife. In September, Bobbie and Mark Ross are collaborating on a photo safari.  An itinerary planned for the migration in east Africa and other remote locations (“kind of the road less traveled”). Bobbie says, “I’m trying to generate interest for people to go on these trips. Roth offers such a vast amount of information on what you’re viewing.” 


To find out more about Bobbie Goodrich and Mark Ross’s African expedition in September, and to learn about her photography workshops, contact Bobbie at bobbiegoodrich@mac.com. To see more images by Bobbie, visit www.bobbiegoodrich.com.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A GALLERY OF BOBBIE GOODRICH'S IMAGES
 


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