Top photographers share their favourite South African photography spots

South Africa offers some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, huge geographical diversity and abundant wildlife – in short, it is a photographer’s dream. We asked five top nature and wildlife photographers to share their favourite photographic locations in the country.

Greg du Toit

Professional wildlife photographer and safari guide, Greg du Toit, is captivated by Africa’s beauty. The last decade has seen him living in, and photographing, some of Africa’s wildest and most remote ecosystems. His highlights include capturing on camera semi-nomadic lions on Masai community land beyond any formal park or reserve boundary in Kenya’s southern Rift Valley, documenting the remote shores of Lake Natron and living in a secluded corner of Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park.

‘Sabi Sand Reserve consists of privately owned game farms on the western boundary of Kruger National Park. Despite the reserve’s reputation for being contrived, all the animals roam wild and free in one of Africa’s largest ecosystems at 35 000 square kilometres. It’s is also the best place in Africa hands down to photograph leopard.

‘The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Northern Cape is a strange place. When you arrive you kind of wonder what on earth you are going to photograph and by the time you leave you are wishing that you had more time. My favourite subjects in this ecosystem are the comical Ground Squirrels!’

Web www.gregdutoit.com

Geoff Spiby

While on honeymoon in the Maldives in 1984, Geoff Spiby started taking underwater photographs and has rarely dived without a camera since. He perfected his art of underwater photography in the turbulent and often dirty waters of the Cape Peninsula. Since then he has captured underwater shots in locations around the world, including the Red Sea, Mozambique, Canada, Indonesia and Tanzania.

‘Justins Caves and Coral Gardens are two dives sites of the Oudekraal complex. They are topographically fantastic for wide angle photographs because of their many swim throughs and colourful caves, as well as the kelp forests surrounding them. They are best photographed in crystal clean water after a good south easterly blow has caused a bit of upwelling.

‘For macro photography I enjoy Boat Rock which is a massive reef very close to the Millers Point slipway in False Bay. It has projecting granite spurs running out to sea with sandy valleys between them. The rocks are encrusted with huge sweeping sea fans and a profuse carpet of marine life from blennies peeping out of empty barnacle shells to clusters of strawberry anemones, a huge variety of nudibranchs, graceful shysharks, octopus and sponge crabs, as well as many different species of cryptic fish. It is best photographed when the water is a bit dirty as all the filter feeders are active – this makes for better macro shots.’

Web www.geoffspiby.co.za

Heinrich van den Berg

Heinrich van den Berg left his job as a civil engineer more than 10 years ago to pursue wildlife photography and has since published nine wildlife photography books.

‘Although you pay much more for a holiday in the Sabi Sand Reserve than probably any other photographic destination in South Africa, it really pays off. The Big Five sightings are incredible and from a photographic perspective, you get more images on a three-day trip to the Sabi Sands than what you would on a three-week trip in Kruger National Park.

‘There is something magical about photographing the crashing waves of Tsitsikamma. When the sea is furious, it provides photographers with great opportunities to photograph dramatic landscapes. You can also go hiking in the forests and photograph black waterfalls and chameleons.’

Web www.hphpublishing.co.za

Lee Slabber

While in the navy, Lee Slabber caught the travel bug as well as a passion for wildlife and travel photography. After leaving, he embarked on a six-year round-the-world surf trip. His favourite photographic subjects include animals in action, extreme sports and lanscapes.

‘For me, the remote Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is my favourite spot for photographing wildlife, especially cats. In the months from May to October the low winter light is absolutely fantastic for photography. The landscape varies greatly from season to season so that you may photograph an animal at the same spot at different times of the year with a totally different backdrop. The stark surroundings provide very uncluttered backgrounds and allow you to capture simple, powerful images. My final reason is the abundance of big cats and the close proximity from which you can photograph them.

‘I love to photograph the mountains of the southern Cape Peninsula, the reason being that I spend hours photographing the baboon troops, which are endemic to the area. Having spent so much time with them I am able to get right in amongst the troops and capture very intimate images of their day-to-day lives. Every wildlife photographer strives to get up close to their subject and here I have been able to achieve that. I still go up every evening to photograph them and am always getting something new.’

Web www.leeslabber.com

Michael Poliza

Michael Poliza is a German photographer who has photographed some of Africa’s most remote wildernesses by air. In 2006 he spent seven weeks flying from Germany to Cape Town in a helicopter, covering 19 countries and capturing 20 000 images. He published a book of the trip’s photographs, Eyes over Africa. His work has also been published in National Geographic, Nature’s Best Photography, and Africa Geographic.

Tswalu Kalahari Game Reserve is a private reserve covering 100 000 hectares. The reserve only allows 30 guests in at a time, allowing for privacy and space in the vast wilderness.

The Drakensberg is South Africa’s most magnificent mountain range and its surreal beauty is well captured on camera. Early morning light and aerial perspectives make for dramatic shots.

Web www.michaelpoliza.com