In the plains of Amboseli…

Hey guys, hope your week started off well… Mine has been great so far and now that the weekend is just around the corner is even better news. But all in all thanks to God for giving us yet another day.

A little while back, we were chatting with a seasoned wildlife photographer, I expressed interests in trying out wildlife photography since I am still experimenting and am yet to curve out my niche in this field. ‘Why do you want to shoot animals?’ he asked. And I could have never been blank in my life as that moment. This is because the guy has all the means necessary to facilitate such an endeavor, and as a self-taught photographer, who does assignment for Nat geo occasionally, so I was still hang up on those accolades that I was unable courageously lobby for an opportunity, however I gave him an honest answer -because I have seen the work these wildlife photographers do, and given a chance, I think I would be somewhere there with them. End of my small story.

Last weekend, a friend of mine hooked me up with a chance to visit the Amboseli national park and enjoy close to 5 star accommodation at Kibo safari camp. At this juncture I would like to express myself in my native state so mniachane. (insert mbugua wa faiba connect accent) “ let me to tell you this, maisha ni mzuri pande hio… tafuteni pesa muende mjiskie kama nyinyi ni wafalme kidogo kwanza barabara imetengenezwa it’s a 4.5 hr drive from Nairobi..  I mean, I have not experienced so much happiness this year, huko, my friend.. nikuuga muugaga..weeh”

Anyway we got there Saturday lunchtime and had lunch, (wachana na 3 course meal, zangu zilikuwa several storey buildings-sector ya food huwa cjifungi,na singeanza io siku) and went to the park for a game drive. This is when you realize there is more to life than “leo ni kuzuri hakuna jam, offer ya terrific Tuesday ama kupata Mpesa ulikuwa unangoja…. Life is beautiful in the wild, serene, quiet and mind-blowing…. I managed to capture over 18GB of photos over the two game drives I attended, an evening one and early morning one. In my defense I was shooting on raw (wapiga picha ndio tu wataelewa hio), and I will share some of them here. We left Kibo at around noon on Sunday..

I had with me my canon 1200D with a 55-250 lens, and an 18-55mm lens that stayed in the bag most of the time, unless I needed a really wide shot that I could not get with the 55-250. Note to self, I will want to do this again, with a better lens, I missed out on very many fantastic shots since my lenses could not zoom far enough, I therefore decided that I will save up for a 400-700mm zoom lens and go back to Amboseli. Therefore nataka muniitie izo photoshoots mbio mbio nipate io pesa ninunue lens, ndio sasa nirudi huko na proper equipment, haha I digress

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PS, the lions were and Mombasa road on their city tour so most shots I got were of elephants and their comrades in that level of the food chain, to see an image of a lion click here  😀

enjoy and leave a comment, compliment or any feedback.

Cheers.

 

two brothers playing

a male bull walks away

Photo shoot with Lynn

Hey guys, hope you are well. any photographer out there and is using adobe lighting room or adobe photo shop can tell you that this year, actually just last month, March 24th google announced that they were making the Nik editing software free for download. before this, this software would cost you well over kshs. 15,000. find more about it here

anyway, i am very excited about this and after downloading it i used it to work on this photo which got a great reception on my Instagram page, so i decided to do the entire photos from that shoot.

this shoot is not recent, but its not very old either, i did it a while back with Lynn Racheal in a location UNDISCLOSED 🙂 but people familiar with the place will instantly recognize it. Something about Lynn, this lady is always on her A game every day when it comes to cleaning up. Kinda like she always ready for a shoot. always smart. but again she is quite photogenic and does not need any direction for the shoot. she actually brought her own storyboard to the shoot and we worked on the script and we nailed it.

check out the photos and leave a compliment, comment or feedback.

 

Lynn  is an undergrad is Business Stategic Management awaiting graduation in August this year. follow her on instagram here

cheers……

 

 

Photoshoot with Rita Muigai

Hey guys its been a while since i posted here, but i have been pretty busy in my defence. wow a lot has changed, but my passion for shooting has not changed, if anything, it has become greater.

December last year ended in a sad fashion for me,. i had hosted a couple of friends in my house for a small get together and guess what, somebody decided to steal my camera. when i realized this i was distraught, but God is good, i managed to get another one mid january and honestly, i think the new camera is just fantastic. here is among the very first shoots i did with the canon eos 1200d.

this photo shoot was again a real challenge for me, I rarely use accessories eg reflectors and lights to shoot, (but ni kwa sababu sina but nitapata soon) but  i managed to pull this off and the client was very happy with the photos.

Rita is a very fun human being, easy and chilled but nikama alizaliwa na watch kwa mkono. she pays high regard to time and 9.am to her is not 9:03am, lol. but beyond that, she very humble person, with a story you can only imagine as a movie, find out more about her here

check out the photos from her shoot. what do you think?

Location : War cemetery , Ngong road

make up was done by @wabbzy of PLUS FABULOSITY, (you must check this out)

Graduation shoot with Qui

Just one more semester and this ninja right here will be done with the 8-4-4 system of education and soon after be granted the power to read and write it is like i have been sketching and colouring for the last 16 years:(:( . Anyway i have always imagined my graduation day to be full of pomp and colour, my parents ululating and our parish minister somewhere among them.. all the way from kikuyu to eldoret just to see the first son of thogoto village graduate.. and then the mushainos and ribbons and some very funny looking graduation gifts and memoribilia.. my classmates will also be in the same situation.. but i can bet all of us will be having a massive headache from the previous night’s drinking spree and a week of full time partying.. for the last time as a campus student.. as is the norm of a graduation for most guys in my alma mata.. but this post is not about me or my graduation day.. its about one special lady who i think the whole world should know on a first person basis… she has got to be the most cheerful person i know, and she is as pretty as she is cool.. we did a graduation shoot with her during her graduation week and here are some of the photos…

Irene.. congratulations on your graduation day….

MADE OF BLACK SERIES diverted from kenya to abu dhabi

Okay, apologies streaming live and fast from me, its been a while since we walked this streets but reasons for doing so are as legitimate as my unborn first child. i have been on attachment for the last three months and am finishing on friday, i have really enjoyed my internship so much but again it has only enhanced the internal war within me that has been there since i first branded myself as #samisnbt. i have this urge to digress for a moment, but hold on, we will get there… 

START OF DIGRESSING LANE………………

i have discovered a lot of things about myself from my attachment station. the people there have loved me, the have said am an exemplorary performer, a hard worker, a smart guy, a good hearted person and my favourite one… ‘Sam, if you continue like this, you will go far… i do not know what to feel, obviously, there are those feelings that come to you by default, those that any human recieving compliments gets, and you feel too humbled, to modest even to be able to say a thank you….yaani unapotelelewa na maneno ya kusema.. but inside you feel this great feeling about yourself, and a renewed feeling of overwhelming esteem… everytime i be like ” mama imma make you proud”

however i am also undergoing a great battle, pursuing an undergrad in political science and public administration and having a hobby in photography that is backed by incredible talent (allow me to say that now, for purposes of driving the point home) in a world that is increasingly subscribing to aesthetics and finer arts is quite the juxtaposition. photography is expensive, damn expensive for a hobby… as a business, its gon make you rich… but again ‘shilingi yumulika nyingine’ (a shilling shines light on another) you gotta have money to start making money from photography,,, cameras and equipment associated to making a good photo are quite expensive…. why not keep the hobby, suit up and go be a DC somewhere for 10 years and rise to some lucrative government job where allowances only will get me enough money to buy enough equipment to set up a full media house.

normally the best option would be to balance the two, but in  political science it doesn’t work that way,, you gotta start as early as possible so as to reach your goals of a career in administration or politics while confining to the new norms being observed in the country of youthful leaders. and a career in photograghy needs investment especially time wise. so do you see where the dilemna lies?? what would you do if you were there where i am?

well i guess imma go back to school for my final year and finish my degree, i have just 8 more months then am sure by then i will have finished my undergrad, then like they say ‘i shall cross that bridge when i get there’

END OF DIGRESSION LANE……..

Meanwhile you can check out my #madeofblackseries  collection that i have made through my internship period, Now i am back, lets light up this mbish…

follow me on instagram @sam_ngengi

Choo choo train… NBT explains…

Nothing beats time well spent, except maybe pacquiao. I heard that guy beats any(thing/one). Obviously the best way to spend time is by sleeping in on a cold day, and since the sun nowadays has ensured cold days are now a thing of the past, I have to find a new way to spend time.

Lucky for me, am photographer, and every once in a while(read daily) I go to places to take photos, this day railway museum was my destination. My flight from thogoto lifted off  at 12:30pm with a 15 min layover at kikuyu where I changed planes to air supermetro, and like a boss nilikaa na pilot hapo kwa cockpit… 1st class b!7ćhež ….I digress

Anyway.. the walk from the railway station felt longer than the ride from home.. and the sun was being mean, but as always my rayban game was on fleek, surpisingly, with a school ID kuingia huko ni 50bob.. without ni 100, I was feeling SUFFICIENTLY PHILANTHROPIC I decided not to take out my student ID & thus joining the list of those on ligi soo…

The place has really old steam engines and crazy bad ass looking ones for that matter, if you have not been there you must go there, and some blue benches from uganda railways, they look dope.. like those you get in american parks-i know.

I met several people and made new networks, like Joachim-german guy who likes wolfsberg n bayern munich and shiko, a travel blogger-watch this space.. we shall soon be working together.
Anyway check out the shots from this place, and tell me when you want us to go there with you…..

Hope you enjoyed the photos… share to your friends, those that appreciate photography..

Follow me on instagram @sam_ngengi
Until next time my people…. adios

Photoshoot with Purity Mapenzi

Hey guys.. hope you are good. Lately people have been upto alot of stuff and living their lives and me, me av been waiting for my attachment application to be processed… ndio nikafanyie mtu kazi na hanilipi….woi!! But thats not what I am writing about today… today its about my day with Purity.

About 9 days 3hrs and 15 min ago we met up with her. She was no stranger to me because a while back in 2013 we were housemates in guango estate for about a week on some AIESEC project… this was the first time we were meeting up with her again since then so there was some ka-something something about it.. maybe it was awkwardness ama uncertainity?? But it was ka-something. Anyway we walked around and checked out places we could shoot yadi yadi yada…. etc.. gce.. mpg.. mog.. biggy gee.. shiathire shia ikurukire (for my andu a nyumba) and the shoot went perfect.

She had different outfits so we had to take breaks as she went back and forth to the “house” to change into them.. (you can guess my favourite) 😉 check out the photos from the shoot here….

Purity is a fourth year student at JKUAT doing BBIT.. I look forward to more shoots with her.
Link up with her on instagram @puritymapenzi

Until next time my people……. adios

Photoshoot with nick githinji

Caught unawares on a bench...

About a week ago I did a photoshoot with lifelong friend and former school mate in primary school.
Nicholas is a law student at moi university annex and is also the director at toprank college in kikuyu which offers training in conputers, foriegn languages and CPA.

CHECK OUT THE PICS FROM HIS SHOOT HERE…

All the photos have been post processed.

Hope you like the pictures.

If you would like to get your own photoshoot, you can contact me on 0720491678

Follow me on instagram @sam_ngengi
Check out more of my work under the tangs #nbtentertainment #samisnbt on instagram, facebook or twitter

Until next time…..adios

Minamilism

MY idea of minimalism is somewhat blurred and abit off from the intended usage of the concept. I regard minimalism as more inclined to simplicity but at the same time conveying a powerful message.

Tea in a cup and some tea leaves on the spoon

Minimalism is a concept that was introduced and popularized during and after the second world war. It was purely for artists and painters when the appreciation for aesthetics and fine art was undergoing a renaissance.
It was not until the improvement of the camera that this concept was adopted in photograph
     

Toothpicks on grass

Today minimalism and minimalist photography is a huge concept. And as dynamic as the world is today so are the minimalist photographers with their productions. Most minimalist photos are staged.. since they involved alot of simplified complexities. It is upto the photographer to have the idea and then set it up for a photograph.

Man infront of a university chapel

Taking photos that would be in the minimalist photography category is not that easy. The elements that are put into the photo must be kept to a minimum, but the ones that are present should be significant to the overall idea and symbolism of the photo.

Seat and flower on stool

This type of art is unfortunately for a select few, very few people grasp and appreciate it since to a non artistic person, the photo seems lack instant ignition to the fancy… but to the appreciators, its instantly mindblowing.

Man seated on seat

So,, where do you fall?? Are you mindblown?? Or naah?? Check out more photos here

Until next time my people…. adios

Samson ngengi

Of nature trails, walks and close up shots

Samson ngengi

Aside from the occasional chirping of the birds and the distant humming of a vehicle.. the silence was unbroken.. the wind swept stealthily.. only evidence of its presence was the slight sway of trees… taps were dry… sun was high… it was midday… and skies were clear..

From where I stood… there were millions of colours all around me.. millions of potential photographs.. millions of stories but they were all one … everything seemed to blend in uniformly.. in perfection.. the blue sky fell into a fairly white horizon… the green trees married into the dusty sun chocked grass…the leaves of the trees, some were green some were not.. white flowers and red ones almost looked alike… totally different in attributes.. but strikingly similar in beauty…

I saw a bird skip… and another.. they seemed so free… unaware of the worlds turmoils.. so full of life…a bee flew by me… everything going on seemed to be part of a calculated plan.. like following a script… it was like this was a theatre and everything was either an actor or a stage prop…

I could only look.. and absorb this marvel unfold… nature is the greatest piece of art. Its imperfections only rival  its perfect beauty.. its a large canvas that is constantly creating and recreating same situations in countless different ways… nothing about it is repetitive but it follows a similar pattern… if I shall one day fully understand it.. I shall have lived a full life..

Until next time my people…. adios

Samson ngengi