Travellers palm (Ravenala madagascariensis) at night

A very typical plant in Madagascar, this one captured at night. It is called a Travellers palm because of the curled up leaves that hold water, which may help lost travellers survive.

comments (6)

Ludo Sak

Lion

Fer, do you have an external flash or did you use the built in one? Looking into buying one someday. What factor does it have? I don't even know how that factor is called:) Silly me. Posted 12 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  I use both, but at times when I know beforehand I will be needing flash I always use an external flash, in my case the Nikon SB700. The wonderful thing about the SB700 is that it is very intelligent. Depending on your focal length, shutter speed, ISO and aperture it will automatically adjust flash timing and strength. On night trips like these it basically means not worrying about flash settings at all. And that is what is needed in fast scenes like these.
  
  Of course the SB700 also brings a lot of options in case you do have time to set up lighting. One of my favorite ones, and one that I definitely need to use more, is to detach the flash entirely. You can place it on its own foot, and this allows for very creative lighting, such as side lighting or back lighting, remotely triggered by the camera (which is then called the commander). When done right this is a lot better than heads-on in-your-face lighting. Posted 12 years ago
2. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  PS: One more war story to add: We were in Kirindi, Madagascar during a night tour to search for mouse lemurs. One the first night, we found a few, but using my kit lens and flash, they were too far away to make for an interesting composition.
  
  Therefore on the second night I did a crazy experiment: using the SB700 on my 500mm (at night!) at full flash strength. Much to my surprise it worked. 500mm of flash-lit zoom range at night, I had no idea this was possible. Posted 12 years ago

Ludo Sak

Lion

Ps. good to be back a bit more, loving it already. Posted 12 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Good thing you're back! Posted 12 years ago

Ludo Sak

Lion

Or again that is. Now I'm crawling up in bed with a good Pratchett at hand. Posted 12 years ago

The Travellers palm

"Ravenala madagascariensis" is a species of plant from Madagascar. It is not a true palm but a member of the bird-of-paradise family, Strelitziaceae. "Ravenala madagascariensis" is the sole member of its genus, and is closely related to the southern African genus "Strelitzia" and the South American genus "Phenakospermum". Some older classifications include these genera in the banana family.

Info 10 0

Similar species: Gingers, Bananas, Etc.

Species identified by Ferdy Christant