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Gallery: Shane Doyle

Gallery: Shane Doyle

Gallery: Shane Doyle

Picture of Smoke On Go

Smoke On Go

Growing up, I had hiked along the Transkei coastline, dived into roadside cosmos, spent many hours in the Lowveld bush and enjoyed a sundowner or two in the Kalahari.

I have been taking photos professionally for over 20 years now, taking up challenges whenever they’ve presented themselves. These included being appointed official photographer for SA Polo and the BMW-sponsored International Polo Tournaments for the last 19 years, to producing large-format designer wall murals for American clients, and contracting to various design agencies for a multitude of disciplines,  ranging from lodge photography to corporate events, and food and web marketing imagery.

A back country adventure

When Craig Lang, owner of Flying Frontiers, contacted me and asked me to photograph a new “back country flying” route across South Africa, I jumped at the opportunity.

This is my life: vibrant, forever changing and getting to suck the marrow out of opportunities that life brings along. My hideaway is the African bush, a place where my heart and soul can recollect and give me time to reset the mechanics of my being. But even here, you will find me with camera in hand.

Each day flying with this group of talented pilots brought new sights, new experiences and an opportunity that I will be forever thankful for. 

Patrick Warnking and his Savage Bobber
Jason Beamish with Flying Frontiers’ Savage Bobber
Craig Lang (Flying Frontiers) with his Savage Cub
Tyron Gibbs with his Savage Classic
Cullen Lang and Flying Frontiers’ Savage Classic

If I had to sum up my 10-day experience of flying low over beaches, mountains, deserts, towns and rivers, it would be the simple realisation that in elevating my perspective, I would first need to elevate my perspective.

This gallery is my interpretation of my experience. I felt it fitting to try and capture as much of the beautiful landscape of South Africa and present my work as a journey by air.

In the words of Orville Wright – “When you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always long to return.”

Table Mountain:  Our first night stop set us on a feature “mountain” a short distance from Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. Acres of open grassland and a few local cattle were our company for the night. I chose to get up first and get this feature shot of the mountain putting our overnight stop into perspective, as the remaining tail draggers waited, primed for take–off.
The Transkei coastline is undeniably one of the most remote and beautiful attractions along South Africa’s eastern coastline. This is one of my favourite images from the journey, illustrating the expanse of open, low-gradient coast as a third plane turns for the beach landing.
The rugged coastline was all about perspective. My primary aim was to show off the wildness of the coast that gives this area its name. I was fortunate to be able to communicate with all the pilots, enabling me to achieve good positions to capture some dramatic images.

Faster shutter speeds and relatively large depths of field allowed me to freeze the action and create the feeling of a wild sea ready to devour a plane that had strayed too low. I would very much like to see this image blown up larger than life and adorning the walls of an aviator’s office space.
Few people have been fortunate enough to see the famous landmark Waterfall Bluff along the Transkei coast. Fewer people have seen it from the air, got to land on a grassy patch atop, and then pitch their two-man Chinese tents (one-man South African) adjacent to a crystal-clear river flowing over the edge and into the sea. There was always just a single opportunity to capture any scene, so flying at 70-80 knots, the window of opportunity was always small, so I had to be decisive and quick in my lens choice and camera settings.
There were times when I felt I had to shoot wide and incorporate everything I could see. This was one of those moments when I caught three of the Savages juxtaposed perfectly against this ominous wall of rugged cliff falling into an ocean below.
The coastline was ever-changing. Isolated homesteads would appear and disappear.  Picturesque estuaries would spring upon us, often with their sandy openings a refuge for local Nguni cattle herds, a feature that the wild coast is famous for.
I was always on the lookout for nature’s patterns and textures. This image caught my attention as we gained altitude before the others had taken off. I enjoyed the result of the unintentionally but perfectly positioned Savages lined up on the high water mark. The result turned out to be a pleasing balance of the contrast and colour of the three planes set against a backdrop of tide-affected sand, shoreline and coastal bush.
With all these aerial perspectives, I was continuously getting an overload of the most magnificent landscape scenes. Flying over the Vanderkloof Dam provided me with the opportunity to capture this photo. It is one of my images that truly tells the story of a flying safari.
The Kalahari and much of the Northern Cape and Free State had enjoyed some wonderful and significant rains. The Kalahari grass stood green and tall, with only a few sections revealing the red sands of the giant longitudinal dunes. The great salt pans of the Northern Cape, notably Haakskeenpan (Where the World Landspeed Record was destined to be broken), were all pretty boggy, with large sections under water. We landed on some private farmland adjacent to the pan where there was no chance of getting stuck.
This is one of my choice images of the trip. Everything in the scene just roared at me to be quick and capture the image. It’s one of those lucky shots that will always be a reminder that I was there, I got to live it and I got to bring it home.
Left to right : Craig Lang, Jason Beamish, Tyron Gibbs, Cullen Lang, Patrick Warnking all enjoying a well -deserved libation with a rising full moon over the Haakskeenpan.
If I was to dream of Africa, this is how that dream would look. The four Savages in picture presenting an Out of Africa sensation of being perfectly juxtaposed against a timeless masterpiece of Kalahari grassland and scattered trees. Spot Patrick in his black Bobber.
As we left the Kgalagadi and the Northern Cape and entered in to the Free State, we were met with some dramatic scenes of large cumulus cloud formations with distant signs of rain. Shooting through the Savage’s struts I captured this image as we were slowly heading to a conclusion on this epic journey.
The shifts in landscape and vegetation were sudden. The Kalahari grasses, scattered trees and red sands were now left far behind making way for shorter karroid shrubs and low grass. There were also large sections of the Free State that comprised game farming and livestock ranches. I enjoyed the simplicity of these formation shots as we tried to make good time to get to our next destination.
We often passed herds of wildebeest, small groupings of ostrich and the occasional herd of gemsbok and springbok. Chances to capture these scenes were few and far between, but images like this made the effort all the more the worthwhile. Southern African Peace Parks also make use of Savage and Savannah aircraft, with many modified to suit anti-poaching tasks in the reserves.
There was only one image that was a complete and total surprise for me on this photographic bonanza. On returning home I mentioned to Craig that I was hoping to see flamingoes wading in some of the pans that we flew over in the Free State. Needless to say I was a little disappointed until I saw this image. On realising that I had captured these beautiful birds in flight far below Craig and Cullen flying formation, I immediately sent Craig a Whatsapp expressing my joy and adding the image for him to enjoy.
Leaving a stopover near Groblershoop we passed by the open cast iron ore mines near Postmasburg and then onto Prieska and further into the Free State en-route to Bethlehem. I captured this image as the planes flew over the salt pans, which created an eye-catching abstract scene.
We passed over large tracts of agricultural farmland of the eastern Free State with large crop circles of sunflowers and acres of 10ft high maize plants.  What caught my photographer’s eye was the geometry in the organisation of the planted crops. Shapes and patterns and texture and colour could only be enjoyed to its full from this aerial position. It was however the vibrant swathes of Cosmos that really got me snapping. It brought back all those childhood memories of long trips from Johannesburg to Durban, where the masses of pink and white flowers would draw the traveller to stop on the side of the road to get a few pictures. There was something magical about this non-native species, a plant that made its way into the country in contaminated horse feed during the Anglo-Boer war. Over the years it has found its way into many of the non-cultivated areas of the farm, and forms absolutely beautiful separation barriers between one crop and the next. If time could stand still for a moment, this is where I would be.
The escarpment was soon upon us. The countryside around this megalithic barrier separating the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal is immense, beautiful and awe-inspiring. Rock faces tower either side of you as the Savage aircraft navigate through the low hills, seemingly almost swallowed up by the breathtaking beauty of rock mass, as it drops away into nothingness.
As we descended down towards the upper reaches of the Tugela River, the Savages were able to enjoy the many wide turns in the water course as the river slowly meandered towards Woodstock dam. These are the aviators. Drunk on life in the air.  Enjoying every turn the river had to offer and providing me with some wonderful story-rich imagery that hopefully can be shared and enjoyed by many.
As we neared Woodstock Dam I noticed Patrick in his black Bobber moving up next to me. The skyline to his north-west provided a wonderful and rich backdrop of colour and texture.
As we passed over the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, the light grew dim. The sun moved towards the horizon.  I captured this last shot of three of the Savages to the west of me silhouetted against the evening sky. Our timing was perfect. The sun set about 10 minutes after we touched down at Eva’s Field in Hilton. The journey had come to an end, but the stories were just about to begin.

Contact Shane: Call +27(0)84 784 8864, via email, Facebook or visit his website.

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