Photography in Durban

We suggest you don't pack your cameras away as there are many opportunities for you to practice in Durban before you get to the national parks.

We stayed at the Southern Sun North Beach (the old Maharani Hotel) in July 2011 and we got some great shots.

We had just interviewed Freeman Patterson and one of his suggestions for photographers wanting to improve their vision was for them to stand in one spot and then see how many different photographs they could get in order to stimulate their creativity and vision. This was our opportunity to try out Freeman's suggestion.

Here are some of the images we made over a few days from just one hotel window...

Fortunately we saw the header shoal arrive and that is the image below with hundreds of people on the beach catching the sardines...

Photography in Durban - our photo gear

• Nikon D300

• Nikon 18-200 VR lens

• Nikon 80-400 VR lens

• Small tripod

• Combination Warm Polarizing filter with Neutral Density filter

• Reverse graduated neutral density filter

• Remote cord (cable-release)

Our tripod was not tall enough so we had to improvise and use some of the furniture...

When shooting surfers with her lens handheld from the pier, Jenny braced herself against the rails...

Photography in Durban - Other Hotels

Safety Advice

We don't suggest you advertise the fact that you have cameras so rather keep your cameras in their bags and take them out only when you are on the pier.

We saw a few police vehicles at night patrolling the bachfront but we don't recommend night walks. Rather stay in the hotel or drive to your destination.

We felt very safe at the Southern Sun North Beach. There is 24-hour security at the front and at the rear of the hotel but other hotels in Durban do not have such good security as you will see from this Sunday Tribune article where a lady was robbed in her hotel room in the Blue Waters Hotel.

You can read more about the woman's ordeal in her Hello Peter posting here

This is the third robbery that we know of in the Blue Waters Hotel in a 12-month period!

Bryan, a pensioner and resident at the hotel for 8 years was robbed a few months before the lady above had her ordeal. Bryan could see the hotel was not really interestd in their horrific ordeals so he told them he was going to release this 2-page Press Release detailing these terrible incidents and instead of discussing the solution with him, management evicted him!

(The 2-page press release forms part of Bryan's new book ‘A Bridge Too Far’ that will be published as an eBook so watch this space!)

If management had implemented some form of security after the first robbery, these last two robberies (that we know of) may have been prevented.

When I walked in the Blue Waters Hotel one evening (in 2011) at about 21h30 there was no security guard, no receptionist - not one person in sight! Soft target for criminals I would say!

Make sure you are familiar with your photo gear before reaching the national parks by using every opportunity you get.

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