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JF de Villiers
South Africa
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 20 เม.ย. 2018
I am a photographer and filmmaker based in Pretoria South Africa with a passion for nature and the African bush. When I was 5 years old I decided that I want to become a "nature scientist" and at the age of six I saw my first National Geographic Special and my eyes were opened to the world of film and photography. On that day a fire was ignited in me and that fire still burns till this day.
It is not only the nature and travel that excites me, but also the technology and craft of photography and cinematography. I do some freelance work in the film industry and also have a small production company, Lens Flare Photo & Video, owned and operated by me and my amazing wife Carien.
We try to travel as much as possible in our own country and once a year we head out for a month or two with the purpose of shooting video, time lapses and photos of some of the most amazing locations and animals in Africa.
I love to share the moments I have captured and hope you enjoy them.
It is not only the nature and travel that excites me, but also the technology and craft of photography and cinematography. I do some freelance work in the film industry and also have a small production company, Lens Flare Photo & Video, owned and operated by me and my amazing wife Carien.
We try to travel as much as possible in our own country and once a year we head out for a month or two with the purpose of shooting video, time lapses and photos of some of the most amazing locations and animals in Africa.
I love to share the moments I have captured and hope you enjoy them.
JF de Villiers - MY AFRICA
MY AFRICA - a film by JF de Villiers
CHAPTER 1: BOTSWANA & ZIMBABWE
CHAPTER 2: ZAMBIA & MALAWI
“The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa, for he has so much to look forward to.” - Rich Mullins
I can’t think of a better way to put into words how I feel about traveling into Africa, than this quote. I have been privileged enough to have done quite a few overlanding trips throughout Southern Africa, spending time exploring the beauty of the African continent and trying to capture it on camera.
I would spend weeks photographing and filming wildlife, setting up timelapses and travelling thousands of kilometres through multiple borders and rough terrain. I travelled to Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and Tanzania. And I loved every moment of it.
With the travel restrictions in place during the 2020 lockdown I started editing a film to show how incredible these places are, making use of my best footage from 2011 to 2018. And for the next few years, I opened up the project every few months and messed around with it, never really feeling like it was good enough to be finished or to be shared.
It’s been a few years now since the last time I travelled to one of these amazing countries, and over time this video became so special to me. It was no longer a project that had to be good enough, it was a video about places where I was and things that I saw.
This is My Africa, the Africa I experienced, and the Africa I want to share with you.
If you have not been to these places yet...
I envy you!
Go!
JF de Villiers
CHAPTER 1: BOTSWANA & ZIMBABWE
CHAPTER 2: ZAMBIA & MALAWI
“The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa, for he has so much to look forward to.” - Rich Mullins
I can’t think of a better way to put into words how I feel about traveling into Africa, than this quote. I have been privileged enough to have done quite a few overlanding trips throughout Southern Africa, spending time exploring the beauty of the African continent and trying to capture it on camera.
I would spend weeks photographing and filming wildlife, setting up timelapses and travelling thousands of kilometres through multiple borders and rough terrain. I travelled to Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and Tanzania. And I loved every moment of it.
With the travel restrictions in place during the 2020 lockdown I started editing a film to show how incredible these places are, making use of my best footage from 2011 to 2018. And for the next few years, I opened up the project every few months and messed around with it, never really feeling like it was good enough to be finished or to be shared.
It’s been a few years now since the last time I travelled to one of these amazing countries, and over time this video became so special to me. It was no longer a project that had to be good enough, it was a video about places where I was and things that I saw.
This is My Africa, the Africa I experienced, and the Africa I want to share with you.
If you have not been to these places yet...
I envy you!
Go!
JF de Villiers
มุมมอง: 508
วีดีโอ
In Search of The Elandsberg Dwarf Chameleon: This was supposed to be the last one...
มุมมอง 313ปีที่แล้ว
Since starting my Chameleon Project in 2017 I have found 16 out of the 17 described species from the genus Bradypodion, commonly known as Dwarf chameleons. And 1 out of 2 species from the genus Chamaeleo, known as typical chameleons that occur in South Africa. The Elandsberg Dwarf Chameleon, Bradypodion taeniabronchum was supposed to be the last dwarf chameleon I needed to find... But in 2022 t...
In Search of The Swartberg Dwarf Chameleon - Bradypodion atromontanum
มุมมอง 190ปีที่แล้ว
In Search of The Swartberg Dwarf Chameleon - Bradypodion atromontanum A lot of the chameleons I was looking for could be found in Gardens and around cities. This is not the case with the Swartberg Dwarf Chameleon, for this Chameleon you have to travel to the raw beauty of the Swartberg mountain range in the Western Cape, the only place where they could be found. It is incredible to think that t...
The Chameleon Project: 2023 Update
มุมมอง 230ปีที่แล้ว
It is the beginning of 2023 and here is a quick update on my Chameleon Project. At the start of 2017 I started a project to find and film all 19 species of Chameleon in South Africa. This journey took me all over the country to some amazing places and it was very exciting not only to find the chameleons, but also to grow as a photographer and filmmaker. Since 2017 I have found and photographed ...
The Chameleon Project: Free workshop at OUTDOORPHOTO 28 August 2021 JF de Villiers
มุมมอง 1003 ปีที่แล้ว
Join me Saturday morning at 8:30 at Outdoorphoto in Pretoria on the 28th of August for a free workshop. I will be talking about how to take your wildlife photography to the next level with a project approach, and the lessons I've learnt during my mission to find and film all 19 species of chameleons in South Africa. This workshop will be about photography as well as the filming of macro subject...
In Search of the Kentani Grass Chameleon - Bradypodion kentanicum + Behind the scenes
มุมมอง 4183 ปีที่แล้ว
In Search of the Kentani Grass Chameleon - Bradypodion kentanicum: This was probably one of the most difficult chameleon shoots I have ever done. The wind made it nearly impossible to film and photograph these tiny chameleons in the tall grass on the coast of the Eastern Cape. Although it was difficult to film, this is probably one of my favorite Chameleon films. I used a wide angle macro lens ...
In Search of The uMlalazi Dwarf Chameleon
มุมมอง 3943 ปีที่แล้ว
In search of the uMlalazi dwarf chameleon - Bradypodion caeruleogula - 2021 Way back in 2017 on one of my first chameleon trips I found the uMlalazi dwarf chameleon for the first time. Since then I've learnt a lot in terms of photographing chameleons, and it was good to be back in the Dliza forest once more. It was a quick stop on our way to the coast and I only had one morning to photograph th...
The year of 2019 - JF de Villiers
มุมมอง 2413 ปีที่แล้ว
Wow, I can't believe 2020 is done! It's definitely been a very interesting and challenging year. With not being able to travel or work for what feels like most of the year, I had a lot of time to go through some of my old footage, and I decided to make a short video with some of my travel footage from 2019. I was on the road for most of 2019 traveling all over South Africa for work, searching f...
Zambia & Malawi 2016 (Behind the scenes/Travel Film) - JF de Villiers
มุมมอง 1734 ปีที่แล้ว
Zambia & Malawi 2016 (Behind the scenes/Travel Film) - JF de Villiers Way back in 2016 we set off on a trip through Botswana to Zambia and Malawi with our good Friends Paul and Marijke. This is a fun, behind the scenes / travel film of some of the destinations on our 5 week long trip. Most of the footage in the video was shot at the incredible Victoria Falls, Bangwelulu wetlands, South Luangwa ...
My Reptile Photography Equipment - 2019
มุมมอง 3.8K4 ปีที่แล้ว
My Reptile Photography Equipment - 2019 In July 2019 I traveled to the Garden Route in South Africa to photograph the Knysna dwarf chameleon, Bradypodion damaranum and to test out some new photography equipment. I recently purchased the Venus Optics Laowa 15mm f4 Wide angle macro lens along with a macro twin flash and wanted to put it through its paces for a few days out in the field. I had a g...
Chameleon Project Intro - 2020
มุมมอง 3574 ปีที่แล้ว
In 2017 I started with a passion project to find and film all the described species of chameleons in South Africa. Over the past few years I have traveled to all the corners of our very diverse country in search of these charismatic little reptiles. We have an amazing diversity of these creatures and my project took me to some very unexpected and rewarding locations. At the moment of posting th...
In Search of the Pondoland dwarf chameleon
มุมมอง 2544 ปีที่แล้ว
The main reason we visited the Eastern Cape in March 2019 was to search for the Pondoland dwarf chameleon - Bradypodion caffer. It is an endangered specie of dwarf chameleon found only in the coastal forests of the Eastern Cape. I managed to find and photograph quite a few ot these charismatic little lizards. The scenery of the wild coast was amazing and I got some shots of the iconic Nguni cat...
Chameleons of Cape Town Atlas
มุมมอง 6814 ปีที่แล้ว
Get involved: Chameleons of Cape Town Atlas Hi everyone I hope that you are all saying safe in quarantine. As many of you might know I am currently working on a project to find and film all species of Chameleons in South Africa. This is not my own project, but If you live in Cape Town you have the opportunity to participate in a citizen science project that started in the beginning of April. Th...
Eastern-Cape South Africa - 2019
มุมมอง 1065 ปีที่แล้ว
In March 2019 I traveled to Elliot in the Eastern Cape to film a traditional Xhosa wedding. It was an incredible experience and it was also the first trip I did with my new Canon EOS R. After the wedding, my wife and I traveled down to the coast to Port St. Johns in search of chameleons. It was my firs chameleon trip of 2019, and I was looking forward to be out in the field filming again. The W...
LANDSCAPES - Time lapse & Glidecam 2016
มุมมอง 525 ปีที่แล้ว
This is a short video I edited back in 2016 with some of my favorite time lapse and glide cam shots from 2014-2016. The footage was taken all over Southern Africa: Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa. Watching this again inspired me to do more time lapse shots in 2019. Time lapse photography still is one of the best tools to bring a landscape to life. JF
The year of 2018 - JF de Villiers Travel Film
มุมมอง 715 ปีที่แล้ว
The year of 2018 - JF de Villiers Travel Film
In Search of The Natal Midlands Dwarf Chameleon
มุมมอง 4876 ปีที่แล้ว
In Search of The Natal Midlands Dwarf Chameleon
In search of the Common Crag Lizard - Swaziland
มุมมอง 1946 ปีที่แล้ว
In search of the Common Crag Lizard - Swaziland
In Search of B.occidentale - Britannia Bay October 2017
มุมมอง 976 ปีที่แล้ว
In Search of B.occidentale - Britannia Bay October 2017
🎉 The day finally came! This is amazing work, every bit of detail. Loved every moment of it.
Stunning................ Well Done 👏🏼
Fokkit Jannes, hierdie is amazing!
Fantastic footage, well done!! Love it .....🥰😎👍
Thanks!
Bru, this is so well filmed my eyes had an orgasm 😮 not saying that to be inappropriate, but just simply implying how pleasurable this shots were! Great work. Do you use a gimbal for that?
Just a thought... How many different types of bats are there again?
Over 50 species in South Africa as far as I know, but flying animals in the dark does not sound like a good filming idea...
Amper klaar! 😲 Dis insane. Well done voor en agter die kamera.
Amazing! Hou so aan. Jy weet skerpioene is volgende. Jammer dat ons jou gemis het in die midlands.
Thanks Hugo, ja dit sou lekker gewees het om julle weer te sien, maar nou is julle baie ver. Ek sal maar moet kyk oor die skerpioene... Maar vir nou is daar darem nog 'n paar verkleurmannetjies oor
Hands down my favorite video of the series yet! Amazing - let’s go get one of the new ones ;)
Thanks Tyrone, we should should definitely make a plan
Great edit and shots. Enjoyed that, thanks!
Amazing! Well done on finding the new one, and so many incredible shots
Laat my die huis mis. Baie nice video uit nederland.
Baie dankie, bly jy kon dit geniet
Awesome footage!! Love your work!!
Thanks Andrew
Brilliant video, well put together!
Love your work.
Thanks
Beautiful pictures!
You make the most beautiful vid I ever seen
I love it. Please more. Thank youuu
I’ve been following this journey from the beginning and can’t wait for what you’re going to film, I think it’s incredibly important to do this project and I wish you all the best!
Thanks for the kind words @BryceBroom
As a content creator myself with a YT channel, I know hard it is to grow here. Fantastic work, great content, can't wait to see more stuff coming from you. YOUR should definitely have a LOT more subscribers, that's why I subscribed All the best and greetings from Switzerland, Marco
Awesome shots! So jealous you got to hang out with chameleons too!
Pragtig, dankie
Very beautiful species
Nice photographic work, I run the largest Dwarf chameleons Breeding company in South Africa. It's amazing how these animals can survive snow as it's snowing a lot in Midlands
Hey Philani, which species are you keeping?
Cool species
You try to give the video more brightness it will be great if you do
You try to give the video more brightness it will be great if you do
if you need the wolkberg dwarf chameleon on this list ive got you sorted on a spot or two in the heanetzburg limpopp area
Thanks Delano, The first time I found the Wolkberg dwarf chameleon was just outside of Heanetzburg in 2017, since then I have found them all over their distribution. They look very different in different areas, but the orange and black males in the Magoebaskloof area are by far my favorite form of the wolkberg dwarf chameleon.
Absolutely breathtaking. Superb camera work!
Great video... I love wide angle macro as there is habitat in the shot :) lovely 😘
thanks! this is really helpful
Glad to help!
Absolutely adoring every single photos!!! Very welldone👍
Thank you so much!
great video....thanks for insights...
So Glad I Found Your Channel🤩📸
Glad you are enjoying it
So great! also struggled with the wind.
Thanks Luke.
Love the intro!
Thanks! I have a few other ideas for future intro videos
Fabulous job yet again!
Thanks! Glad you are enjoying the films
Eswatini is a beautiful country
Definitely!
I loved these chameleons when I grew up in South Africa. They have been a special part of my life. I don’t get to see them since I moved to Australia. Your videos brings back fond memories of these beautiful species.
With the lack of travel in 2020, it almost felt like I moved away, there are no Bradys where I live, so it was good to get out again and finding a few new ones.
@@jfdevilliers we had a few feral populations of Bradypodion in Johannesburg where I lived in the 80-90’s. I had many females have babies in my care. I cared for some for more than 10 years.
@@ReptileNews They are still around in JHB
Brilliant.
Thanks
How durable is the laowa twin macro flash ?
I've only had mine for about two years now, and I am not going to lie, I doubt that it will see another two years. The flash heads keep popping off the flexi arms, and it is very bulky. With all that being said, it is great value for money, and I am very happy with the results I get using it.
Great Video! Great Tutorial! Thanks!
Great vid
Thanks
Hi there’s a chameleon that came on a tree that we purchased from a nursery however it gave birth and there’s about four babies, obviously we cannot care for them but for now I’ve purchased pinhead crickets for them to eat but I’m wanting to know if I should set them free or is there someone I can contact to look after them ✨
Hi Jamie, can you send me an email to jf.wildlifephotography@gmail.com It happens quite often, if it is a specie indigenous to where you stay it will make things a lot less complicated.
This is mighty lovely bro. Stunning actually. Do you mind if I use some of your footage for an FB show am doing.
Thanks, appreciate it. Send me a mail: jf.wildlifephotography@gmail.com
Lekker. What a trip!
Thanks Luke, nothing like being on the road for a long time, with a passport and a rough idea of where you would like to go and when you need to be back.
Perfect works👏
Thanks!
Soooooo sick!
Thanks Christopher, are you considering going Canon after this video? ;)
@@jfdevilliers if I got into videography I would probably! More like considering full frame for the deliciousness
@@TeamFishweights Just joking, but definitely worth going full frame!
Great video!
Thanks Tyrone, I am guessing you know exactly where I filmed this :)
EPIC!!!!