Juno Andromeda Skydog

Juno Andromeda Skydog - Maiden Flight

Jay and Juno

“In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.”
― W.H. Auden

We picked up this little waif one month ago; starving, covered in mange and ringworm and abandoned in a small town on the border of Kwazulu Natal on a cold winters morning - this little doggie had a tough start to life.

One month later she is 4.4kg's and has a zest for life that has everyone smiling!
Her name;  Juno Andromeda Skydog, our companion, friend and a fearless aviator.

Here she is on her maiden voyage -  a 20 minute flight from Baragwanath airfield to Pitlamatla on the Vaal Dam. After some initial excitement with take-off she settled down and had a good snooze on the back seat.

She spent the rest of the day chasing mongoose, being perplexed with her first Ostrich sighting, paddling in the dam and licking out the potjie pot. What a life!

 

On Trees

Sitting in Satsang with a giant Mashatu Tree in Botswana

Trees for me have always been that little bit magic. When I sit under their temple limbs, on pews made of twisted bark, my thoughts break free of constraints and are lifted skywards by rustling leaves and dancing light. I cannot help but feel infinity, silence and a deep coursing joy when sitting in satsang with such an ancient soul. 

These rambling thoughts of mine are mirrored very poetically by this piece I found recently by Herman Hesse in his book  Bäume. Betrachtungen und Gedichte........ I hope you enjoy it as much as I did

  “For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfil themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. 

 Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.” 

BBC Wildlife magazine - Skyhawk in Namibia Photo Gallery

We are thrilled to be sharing some of Skyhawk's best Namibian aerial imagery through an on-line gallery featured on the BBC Discover Wildlife website.

Namibia is one of the most astounding wildernesses we have ever experienced and we hope that the reverence we feel for this magical place is conveyed through this set of images.


http://www.discoverwildlife.com/gallery/skyhawk-namibia-photo-gallery-jay-and-jan-roode

Gaurdian of the Dawn

Gaurdian of the Dawn

Flying in the desert at dawn has a special stillness. It feels to me like the doors to the most ancient and sacred cathedral have just been opened. As first light washes the landscape all that are touched; animal, man, rock and grass stem stand in reverence and awe of the enormity of life.

It is that time when the desert world is illuminated with that indescribable quality; that transient brilliance that makes your heart trip over itself with its depth and vivid beauty.

This is an ode to the little photographed and seldom admired Red Hartebeest, on this morning no mere beast but instead a Gaurdian of the Dawn

website:www.skyhawkphotography.com
facebook: Skyhawk Photography https://www.facebook.com/pages/Skyhawk-Photography/184707771558691

Wishing you blue skies and open roads

Jan and Jay Roode

Capture Namibia: Photography Tips

The Namibian Tourism Board just interviewed us for their blog which features top photographers photographic and travel tips on how best to capture and experience Namibia. Here is what we had to say about one of our most favorite places on earth ....... 

 http://stories.namibiatourism.com.na/blog/bid/299882/Capture-Namibia-Photography-Tips-from-Jan-Jay-Roode

Wishing you blue skies and open roads

Jay and Jan Roode

Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana

Our latest double-page feature in the Getaway Magazine, July edition

Nxai Pan, Khama Khama Pan and Kudikam Pan are all ancient salt lakes that make up the great Makgadikgadi complex. The pans are now semi-grassed, and scattered with islands of acacia trees and smaller pans that fill with water during the rainy season.The park is a seasonal home to large herds of plains game and the predators that depend on them.

A highlight is the famous Baine's Baobabs, seven huge, gnarled baobab trees named after the 19th century explorer Thomas Baines.

Flying over the pans is like entering a parallel universe of 360-degree horizons and endless space. The best time to visit is December through to April, or whenever wanderlust makes an appearance.


Wishing you blue skies and open roads

Jay and Jan Roode

Mystery solved

Nama Starburst - Namibia's own alien landing pad ......

A few years ago on our first photographic expedition through Namibia, we came across this unique starburst pattern south of Henties Bay etched into the desert floor. It is one of our more fascinating prints and has been printed in countless publications.

When asked what it is, we have never been able to truthfully answer and have always hazarded guesses such as an alien landing pad, a type of sundial, a giant artwork created by a highly motivated and obviously eccentric German artist or perhaps the lines have something to do with the saltworks that are so prevalent along the Skeleton coast. We were never quite sure.

Last week after posting the image on our facebook page we were contacted by Bertie and Willie Kotze who had seen the image and decided to research it further.


It turns out that these are the remains of a discontinued Decca navigation system or radar station. The grid pattern is a system of underground cables which were part of the operational system. The cables have been laid at 6 degrees apart except for one skew one that had to go around a rock.

The Decca navigation system was used for many years on the South African and Namibian coastlines primarily for ship navigation and abandoned at Namibian independence.

It seems that we are the first people to have spotted this unique place from above in over 40 years.

Although grateful to have found out exactly what the origins are of Nama Starburst, we are however a little sad to have to finally give up our more whimsical fantasies of what created it!

Thanks to Bertie and Willie Kotze for solving the mystery

National Geographic Traveller UK

This month one of our Mozambique aerial images entitled "the Nets of Banque" was featured in the National Geographic Traveller. 

This is one of my favorite images from the Bazaruto Archipelago and one of the more surreal of the collection. 

For me the mind blowing beauty of the Bazaruto Archipelago can only truly be experienced while staring open mouthed out of the window of a cockpit. 

Here a fishing net lies suspended like seaweed in the turquoise shallows as the local fishermen haul in their catch near Banque Island; the smallest and least developed island of the five in the Archipelago. 

The lives of the fishermen of the Bazaruto move in tandem with the tides of the Indian Ocean. They leave at dawn in their traditional wooden dhows to do what their ancestors have done for centuries; sail the azure blues in search of fish for themselves and their families. Today’s glistening catch gets pulled in, quicksilver in the nets.

Namtastic

Namtastic! Go Magazines Namib feature on one of my favorite images of all time "River of Life" taken above the Namib Naukluft National Park

Msafiri Kenyan Airways - Window Seat Feature

 

 

Skyhawk is proud to be providing images to Msafiri for the Window Seat for the duration of 2013.

The Flying Nomads

The Flying Nomads -  the latest article about Jan and I in the Getaway Magazine where we talk about out passion for photography, travel, aviation and conservation in Africa ........ Thank you Getaway!

South Africa Delux - Gemstone Safari with Skyhawk Photography

South Africa Delux - Gemstone Safari with Skyhawk Photography

South Africa Delux is a new luxury lifestyle magazine that captivates the true spirit of the African continent. This quarter Skyhawk was honoured to partner with the South Africa Delux team in putting together a feature called the Gemstone Safari.

The feature lyrically discusses precious and rare gemstones that can be found on the African continent while pairing Skyhawk imagery of the locations in which these gems can be found; imagery that also reflects the luminous colours and multifaceted nature of these precious commodities.


It is our hope that through articles such as these that readers the world over grasp the precious nature of our African landscapes and are galvanised into action to visit, conserve and appreciate the true gems of our planet;  the vast wildernesses that are home to so much life.

Many thanks to Megan Webel and Laurette Coetzee

The magazine is distributed to top addresses in Southern Africa: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana,
Mozambique, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Kenya, Zanzibar and Vienna, Austria.

To read the whole article please visit the following link:

http://www.sky-hawk.co.za/south-africa-delux.pdf

Skyhawk Photography Tips

Getaway Magazine - Skyhawk Photography Tips

This month we were pleased to be included in the Getaway Magazines feature on photographic tips from their top contributers.

Here is the full article:

Jan and I in the air somewhere over Southern Africa

Flying over Damaraland at dawn - Northern Namibia

EZP landing on a dirt airfield in the middle of the Botswana bushveld

 

Having flow over 40 000 nautical miles over Southern Africa in pursuit of that singular aerial image and having travelled to over 60 countries in search of the exotic and unusual, award winning photographers Jan and Jay Roode offer the following photographic tips:

Getting the right shot requires time, patience and experience for sure, but it also takes a little luck. The funny thing is that your luck seems to increase the more you stick your neck out to get that perfect shot.

There must be billions of cameras out there, billions of lenses pointed at a billion reflections of life but what makes one persons photos better than another’s?

1. Get out there – the most important step to getting fantastic images is to get out into the world, face your fears and connect with your subject matter. Getting a great shot often involves stepping out of your comfort zone and trying different things. It can be a nerve racking process sometimes but if you keep at it a certain magic and intimacy starts resonating in your images.
2. Light – One amazing shot in fantastic light is worth a hundred OK frames shot in the harsh light of a sunny day. Venturing into more delicate lighting situations is crucial for getting that perfect shot and this normally involves early mornings, frozen finger tips and rumbling tummies! My strong advice is don’t even begin to think about taking photos until the sun is low in the sky.
3. Equipment – At a certain point you will become frustrated with your images because they just aren't looking like the ones in the glossy magazines. Equipment, Equipment, Equipment. Unfortunately no matter how technically brilliant you are at some point you will be limited by what your equipment can give you. A full frame camera and a nice range of fast, prime lenses are essential. I work with a Canon 5D Mark II and Mark III with my favourite lens for aerial photography being the Canon fixed 300mm f/2.8.
4. Learn the rules then forget them all – Its good to become technically proficient with your camera and learn the basic rules of photography but don’t let them limit you. Photography is an intuitive art form which reflects what we find beautiful or interesting in this world. Some of the most beautiful images I have seen go against all rules. Get out there, have fun, experiment and find your own style.
5. Post Production – Even the most brilliant of photos requires a little tweak here or there to give it that special something. No matter how advanced your camera is it wont be able to capture the nuances of colour and light that the human eye can. It is worth going on a basic photo editing course either Photoshop or Lightroom to bring all those beautiful images up to par.