Driving in and around Nairobi is an extreme sport. For many travelers, the transportation system is made up of small vans called Matatu. The Matatu drivers will advance through traffic at all costs. They will pass each other while speeding down the dusty, rut-filled highways, flashing their lights as they speed towards you, head on, in your lane. Traffic lights appear to be optional and the roads are shared with large trucks spewing black diesel, men pulling heavy carts and goats.
Traffic in Nairobi is absolutely stupid. Dangerous roundabouts every mile or two with cars, trucks and buses refusing to give way to each other. There is much improvement of the roads going at the moment, so things were backed up even more and the normally quiet back roads were now choked with heavy traffic.
The amazing thing was the absence of horns. If this was the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, the horns would start blasting immediately. The drivers were aggressive, but I hardly heard a beep.
We were in an area that was considered middle class, yet it still looked like the worst area of most cities I have visited. Decaying concrete and stone buildings, dirt roads, children and animals running everywhere.
A guard waved to Johnathan and instructed us to pull into a yard filled with children in bright blue uniforms. Labor is very cheap in Kenya and many homes, office buildings and factories are surrounded by high walls or fences and men are employed around the clock to protect the premises.
One of administrators of the church showed us around the building and introduced us to each and every teacher. They were extremely proud of their school and rightfully so.
The Bishop welcomed us warmly. He had known Johnathan since he was a boy and he spoke a bit on the current state of Nairobi and of the difficulties and importance of Rehema Home.
I had brought along a small carbon fiber tripod from Manfrotto called a 055CXPRO3. That’s a lot of numbers for just three legs, but it was the perfect number for this trip. The tripod easily fit in luggage and I brought along a 501 fluid head for the video and a ball head from Gitzo for the stills.
Although I do a fair share of hand holding my cameras, I prefer to use a tripod when possible. I like shooting with with longer lenses and for that, a steady foundation is essential. This set of sticks was strong enough and light enough to be handy all day.
The interview set up was intentionally light weight. Window light with the Lite Panel MircoPro to subtly fill in the shadows. I used a Sony ECM-77B lavaliere mic and the buds from my Iphone to monitor the audio. The PCM audio from the NX5 is incredible. It was a production kit in a bag.
The interview set up was intentionally light weight. Window light with the Lite Panel MircoPro to subtly fill in the shadows. I used a Sony ECM-77B lavaliere mic and the buds from my Iphone to monitor the audio. The PCM audio from the NX5 is incredible. It was a production kit in a bag.
We headed back to the orphanage, bumpy and bouncy along the dust filled roads.
Every day at around 3pm, the jet lag would kick in and we always seemed to be driving when it would come over me. The bright, warm sun, the diesel fumes and the traffic was the perfect recipe.
We arrived back at Rehema Home about an hour later. I wanted to photograph the kids for a while and then head back to the guesthouse to sort through the tons of images. I had already shot over 2,000 stills at this point and it was time to take a break and get some quiet time for myself. I skipped dinner and set up the computer to download my cards.
As it was Nairobi, it is not uncommon for the electricity to go off at any time. As soon as I sat down to work, boink, it was gone. I set up one of the Lite Panels on a clamp and dimmed to its lowest setting, it was more than bright enough to work for hours on four AA batteries. Fun! I felt like McGiver.
I reviewed the footage from the NX5U video camera and it looks and sounds great and I am hoping that I have enough stuff for a small documentary on the Rehema. I was impressed with Lance’s photos in the slums and I am hoping that my video work does as much justice as his stills.
I scanned through hundreds of images using Lightroom, occasionally stopping to check focus or adjust expose. The Nikon D3 is an amazing camera and the detail is just amazing.
In a short while, everyone is back and the silence is broken.
The room air is stale as the windows remain closed to keep the mosquito at bay. Nairobi is high on a plateau and malaria is rare at this altitude. Nonetheless they’ll bite the piss out of you if you’re not careful.
And it was only on the last day that I would find out that the mosquito nets were ineffective against the bed bugs.
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