Reticulated Giraffe Silhouetted At Sunrise
When I first started travelling to Africa, I had a series of images, a “shot list”, that I had in mind that I would like to make. Over the years, I have managed to make some of these images whilst adding many more to the list. Amongst these images are the iconic images of African wildlife silhouetted against an intense red sunrise or sunset. One image in particular that I had previsualised was a giraffe silhouetted against the rising sun. On a recent trip to the Loisaba Wildlife Conservancy in northern Laikipa, Kenya, I managed to make a series of images of reticulated giraffes silhouetted against the sunrise, including images of one of these giraffes with its head and neck within the circle of the sun.
Haze on the horizon in Africa is a common atmospheric phenomenon, caused by heat and dust, atmospheric conditions and smoke from distant fires. This haze diffuses the light from the sun turning the sky a spectacular red at sunrise and sunset that is a feature of African photography, allowing for stunning silhouettes of wildlife to be made against the vibrant sky and the sun. At sunrise, once the sun has risen above this layer of haze, the red color fades and the sun’s intensity rapidly increases.
The distance from the Earth to the Sun averages around 93 million miles (150 million Kilometers). It takes the light approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds to travel from the Sun to the Earth. The Earth travels around the Sun at an average of around 67,000 miles per hour (107,000 Kilometers an hour or 30 Kilometers a second). Distances, times and speeds are not constant due to the Earth having an elliptical orbit around the sun. It takes approximately 2 minutes for the entire sun to move above the horizon from the moment when its top edge is first visible to the moment when the whole of the Sun is visible above the horizon. Shortly after the whole of the sun is visible above the horizon, the Sun will start to move out of and above the layer of haze and the intensity of the light increases as the red colour fades. This gives a 2 to 3 minute window when the sun is in the right position with the light at its best to make these iconic images of African wildlife silhouetted against the sun at sunrise.
The difference in the distances between the giraffe and the Sun and the the position from where I was photographing from and the sun are miniscule and do not impact on the making of these images. The key distance is that between the giraffe and the position from where the images are made from. Too close, and the giraffe’s head and shoulders will be too big relative to the Sun and will not fit within the circle of the sun. Too far, and the giraffe will be too small relative to the Sun. The focal length of the lens used to make the images also comes in to play, the longer the focal length the more the apparent distance between giraffe and the sun is compressed. The Sun, giraffe and position from which the image is made from have to line up perfectly. Not only was the sun rising but the giraffe was moving as it walked across the land.
Whilst this image of this reticulated giraffe silhouetted against the sun looks deceptively simple, it required all of the above factors to come together at precisely the same time. I was constantly working with our amazing guide to move the safari vehicle across rough uneven ground to keep it in the correct position as the sun rose and the giraffe moved. At the same time, my wife was telling me to stop faffing around and to stop the safari vehicle so that she could take her images of the giraffe with her iPhone!
Image made with the Nikon Z9 and 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Lens at 400mm. 1/6400 second, f4 at ISO 64 with -2.3 EV.
