jake lyell photography (blog)

After 32 hours of travel since leaving Richmond, I’ve arrived in Cameroon. It’s my first foray into West Africa and my first time back on the Continent since April. The landscape and flora are similar, but I was hit with a wall of hot, thick, damp air upon disembarking from the plane. Humidity of this magnitude is something I’ve never experienced in Africa before. The East, the South, the center are all blessed with mostly agreeable climates. The latest U2 album (to be released next week) has made for an unbelievable soundtrack through the clouds, above the Sahara, and over the green hills of Cameroon. Sorry Bono, I got a pirated advance copy.

It may appear that the only time I take my camera out when I’m in Richmond is when I’m at a party. This isn’t exactly true, but my friends have been the extent of my documentary endeavors since Christmas. Over the last few weeks I’ve been sharpening my eye and testing out new equipment at the expense of those closest to me (along with their pets) in preparation for an upcoming assignment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition to testing out my new Canon 5D Mark II SLR camera, I’ve been refining my use of flash with ambient light, especially outdoors (see the last pics of my friend Justin in the Manchester district’s train yards). I’ve also been trying out my new camera’s ability to shoot HD video. In the past, some clients have asked if I offer video as part of my services; I hope I’ll soon be comfortable answering in the affirmative. The 5D Mark II is nice, but I’m not sure I see too much difference in the extra 10 megapixels it has over its predecessor, the just plain 5D, but the video option makes it well worth the transition.

It’s been since November since I’ve been out of the country and I’ve been itching to leave again. I may be working my way toward a semi-permanent transition to living and working out of East Africa, though I won’t be traveling there on this trip. Beginning the 27th I’ll be in Cameroon with Malawi to follow after that. I’ll try to post some images while on the road.