Kabelo Mmono Photography

Bikwe to Manyana offroad and landscape..there is no greater feeling than having my Wrangler back and the spontaneous photography excursions..while I have had so many drives along the Boatle - Mankgodi road, I never paid attention to the fact that there is an off road turn just after the Mogonye turn off on the way to Mankgodi..

This past Sunday, I picked on a board written Bikwe and took the turn as it meant "new discoveries" with my camera..I was never worried about where the road would lead me..had enough petrol and a machine to navigate whatever terrain..my only worry was whether I would have enough time to capture whatever I would come across before sunset..so it turned into a race against sunset..in the end it turned into a great escapade..

Unfortunately I did not have time to document Bikwe village as I was on a race against the sunset..will definitely revisit the shoot in a more relaxed manner again 🙂..

My photography work has gradually been built around spontaneity..my work is never planned but a matter of feeling of the moment at the time and I mostly allow my hunch to lead the way..I have always loved the idea of just traversing our country to wherever without a solid plan, as long as I have enough petrol in car and enough social drinks 😉..I think I am at a point where I am now able to search for the simple things that most of us will probably never give a second glance, let alone the click of a shutter button..

Over the years I have grown a huge appetite for landscape photography but at the heart of it, culture as the driving force to my work..in other words, the art of infusing culture into my landscape work..other than the beautiful winter and summer sunsets that are always characterised by the aura of red/orange dust that could be from the late afternoon soccer practices, cattle heading to kraals in the lands or the usual Batswana Saturday jubilations..its almost difficult to find the distinctive character about our culture in the still of our quiet and reserved nature especially in remote areas..

So most of the time we would mostly be interested in capturing the excitement that would naturally bring our pictures to life..but over time I learned how to bring life to what might be termed static pictures..when I was younger I used to call these type of pictures "sweet nothings", but lately, as I am evolving in my photography, I think the sweet nothings are gradually starting to take shape..the simple skill of finding "something" out of "nothing"..most importantly, the ability to quietly compile our culture with landscapes infused in them..

These pictures were taken a few years back during the height of Covid..it was at a time where restrictions were eased off during the summer and I decided to take a drive to Mogobane with my brother Karabo..

The plan was to simply catch up on life and a few shots at sunset..little did I know we were braced for drama some 5 minutes after reaching our destination..the clouds quietly gathered on a very relaxed afternoon and out of nowhere there were serious thunderstorms and lightning..naturally one would have stuck in the car and awaited for normalcy but I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in the centre of the storm with a beautiful landscape..

So I decided to go with a Nikon D850 for that high resolution and a Tamron 70-200mm F2.8 G2 lens for that added reach and was out in the harrowing rain for the next 20 minutes..I suppose my brother has long given up on my twisted mind and could only hope for the best for my safety out in the rain with the car as my shield, though the battering was unavoidable..

The excitement about what I was documenting at that point was what was at the centre of my thoughts and as hard as the rain drops were hitting my face, it did not matter..whether the camera and lens were going to get damaged from the rain was secondary at that point..at least the equipment proved that it was weather proof and able to perform under harsh weather conditions! 🙂

A few selfies before my first portrait shoot of the year this past weekend..

Pitsa Chronicles..and we kicked off 2024!..

Change of direction maybe?

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An archive from 8 years back..a plenary session with the pilot and her crew on the picture ex*****on..

📸 Batho Motlhake

I don't have to always wait for weddings or major events for my Pitsa Chronicles..once in a while we take out our own pitsa for a beautiful home cooked meal, and then I can do a little bit of practice on my camera while The Madam is doing her magic with the pot!☺️😋

Over the years I have traversed the surrounding areas around Gaborone to best look for that perfect spot that would depict the perfect angle and appreciation of the City..

Unfortunately, our landscape is very flat and the elevated areas surrounding the City are very limited and at most times the angles don't really allow for those open views..one perfect spot that unfortunately doesn't really cut is the top of Kgale hill..the spot is a perfect place for sunrise pictures but other than just the buildings leading the eye northwards and a flat landscape, there is very little opportunity to include Gaborone dam which is acutely on the eastern side to where you will be positioned..not that the dam cannot be included into the picture, but that will require a specialised 360 degrees multi layered panoramic gimbal head which costs north of P 10k and a supporting tripod to match the weight of the gimbal head which also costs north of P 10k..

So to capture that beautiful Gaborone sunrise picture will need accessories in excess of P 20k, let alone the cost of camera and the lens..will leave it there..in my early days of landscape photography, I used to think that wide lenses (14-24mm) were a perfect answer to landscape photography as you could cover very wide angles..with time I learned that while the lenses were very convenient they always left so much distortion to give that beautiful detail especially if pictures were going to be printed..for that reason I learned that the perfect way to really build into your landscape portfolio you needed a lens that would render minimal distortion which would be used with the panoramic equipment for those wide angle shots..

But then the issue is, money is really tight for many of us local photographers to afford what might seem a luxury but a serious necessity in panoramic equipment to capture those perfect landscapes..

While business has not really been that good since I gradually moved away from weddings, I had to resort to looking for more spots that could allow for open views with the equipment I have for now..one such spot is the famous hill for training and exercises by local fitness enthusiasts and athletes in Tlokweng..I have frequented this place for the past 8 years (visit every two years)..probably the only place I can think of that continues to afford me the open views of the city..

In future, I would want to explore Gabane and Oodi hills more for those sunrise and sunset pictures respectively..but then I will not only need to invest on the panoramic equipment as I will need a bigger telephoto lens which easily runs north of P 100k, in order to bring the city much closer and for that perfect resolution..

Just an illustration that some of these pictures don't come cheap! 😆

We don't have mountains in Botswana, so we certainly don't have mountain goats..however, what I learned this weekend is that all goats around the world love their altitudes and chilling on the rocks..be it Nepal or Botswana..

I pushed my Nikon D5 all the way to come up with this picture as the exact time of capture was 6.10 pm winter time..so it was almost pitch black..for sturdiness, my camera was sitting on a monopod with a firm hand grip as setting up a tripod would have probably agitated the goats and of course the tight angle..needed as much silence so not to disturb my subjects 🙂..

Nikon D5/ Aperture F1.8/ ISO 2500/ Shutter Speed 0.4 seconds/ Nikon 35mm F1.8 Prime Lens

While I am a super lover of landscape and culture photography I am still a photographer who enjoys engaging in modern day photography that involves lights, camera and action from time to time 🙂..when using lights, I have always strived for originality and honesty in my work..my belief is that lights have to add texture to your work but not necessarily dominate a picture in terms of exposure..artificial lighting needs to blend into a picture and create that natural ambiance without taking control the mood..this was a project I did for a client some 3 years back and used a 2 light set up with 2 Godox AD600 Pros..for camera, I used the Nikon D850 paired with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 Macro lens..

Mogonye sunset..The beauty about landscape photography is that the pictures are timeless..right landscape, camera and frame settings, you can never go wrong..these pictures were taken some 2 years back on one of my photography excursions...🙂

As teenagers in the late 90s we used to love "love songs" for the purposes of dreaming about where we saw ourselves in future or who we wanted to be with at the time..unfortunately we learned that life did not work that way with time..still, it was a beautiful dream while it lasted..as we grew older, with every year reality slowly made its way through..everything was a pipe dream for most of us..we did not have the resources to back our dreams in those years..

Most of us will have experienced stability, especially financially in our early thirties and the very passion that we had at the time would have determined our destiny..if you had love for property, farming, investment or whatever, the true journey to your success would have started at the time..

In my late teens during the late 90s, I always knew I wanted to become a professional athlete in high jump..unfortunately the dream wasn't as straight forward..came across painful situations that included injuries, inexperiences in dealing with sport politics, sidelined when I deserved the chance to showcase my talent and simply failing to live to the standard when it mattered the most..with all these many challenges, aging was the greatest obstacle..fought all the challenges until I made it to Europe to study and compete professionally..unfortunately I couldn't make the standard that I dreamt of all my young life despite the opportunity I was availed in my mid twenties..

However, all was not lost as a new passion was born in my late twenties while doing my last competitions in athletics..I bought myself a decent Fujifilm camera to document my competitions around the UK..little did I know I had birthed a passion that I am assured of sticking with for the rest of my life..nevertheless, growth in photography was not any different from the many experiences I had in athletics..it was characterised by so much self doubt, stagnation over time, the need to adjust to new technologies and trends..in the end it all came down to resolve and practice, practice, practice..there were so many times I that felt my time was up in photography with the advent of new technologies and trends in photography..

Not too sure what has kept me in the business but what is for sure is that I am not as popular as a wedding photographer as I was some ten years back..I am now more into personal projects being landscape and culture photography than weddings which propelled me into the photography scene..

The panoramic picture I have attached was taken some two months back while with my family on a beautiful excursion around the Mogonye area after a super lunch bush camp..it was the first time I was ever out with my girls for my photography and what a memory!

Nikon D5/ Aperture F10/ ISO 400/ Shutter Speed 1/200/ Nikkor 35mm F1.8/ 6 frames stitched together in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom...

The land of my forefathers..Barolong farms..the beauty about these pictures is that they were taken from my backyard in Phihetswane..this past weekend I did an early morning photography walk and it literally took me two minutes from my house before the click of the first picture..

I don't think there are many beautiful sunrise landscapes than that of my backyard in Phihetswane simply because of the magnificent open valley on the foreground and a high altitude background at the point of sunrise..our cattle looked so beautiful and added a beautiful texture to the morning pictures...😇🙏🏾☺️

My Serowe pictures have received a lot of love and forever grateful..hopefully I will be able to cover a few monumental places around Botswana in the next few years to be able to compile a beautiful book about Botswana..but just a little clarification..I do note that the five P**a tomatoes caught a lot of attention especially that we have been plagued by high inflation on vegetables in recent years..the Serowe pictures I posted were captured some two years back so yes that was when life was still good..I can't imagine what the price of tomatoes is now in Serowe but I bet with my life that it wont be anything under fifteen P**a..