Just ‘cos you’ve got lots of lenses doesn’t mean you have to take them all.
If at all possible, try to take a combination that means you won’t need to constantly be changing lenses. Dust is a massive problem in Africa and every time you change lenses you are opening up both camera and lens to a potential dust invasion.
Probably one of the most frequent questions we get asked by clients is “What lenses should I take on safari?”
This question is not limited to first timers either; because the equipment you need to take depends very much on where you are going and what the conditions will be like. Photographing lions on the plains of Masai Mara requires a different approach to photographing gorillas in the rainforests of Congo or Uganda, and photographing birds is very different to photographing elephants.
So how do you make the right selection?
I love my Nikon gear but, if I take everything I might need I find myself lugging 15kg of equipment. Heading out in the car this is not a problem, but when flights are involved, especially flights in smaller aircraft, this becomes a bit of an issue.
I think I’ve found a workable solution.
It’s been tough not being able to get out on the Chobe river for the past 3 months as 2020 has seen some of the highest water levels in Botswana for many years.So it is not surprising that there’s been great excitement for our friends at Pangolin Photo Safaris as the lockdown starts to ease for local travellers in Botswana[…]
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Great Expectations Running photographic safaris throws up all sorts of challenges but one of the toughest to deal with is client expectations. With so much top quality wildlife photography on view in TV documentaries, online and in glossy magazines, a lot of people arrive for the start of their safari expecting that they will come away with equally spectacular photographs.[…]
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Photographing Birds in Flight Pied Kingfisher, Chobe River. 1/1250, f8, ISO 320. Nikkor 300mm lens + 1.4x tc The thing about birds is that they rarely sit still just to make it easy for you to photograph them. Sometimes you’re lucky and they’ll stay put long enough, but more often then not they will take to the air as[…]
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Probably one of the most frequent questions we get asked by clients is “What lenses should I take on safari?” This question is not limited to first timers either; because the equipment you need to take depends very much on where you are going and what the conditions will be like. Photographing lions on the plains of Masai Mara requires[…]
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Farne Islands, open air classroom There is no doubt that the more you practice something the better at it you become. This is as true for wildlife photography as it is for anything else. It is very common for people to spend the first few hours in Africa just ‘getting their eye in’; familiarising themselves with the way animals move[…]
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The Look Up A visit to the Look Up is always a highlight of a stay at Bomani, so we were all excited to be spending the afternoon there. We got there early so we could get inside before the elephants started arriving to make sure we didn’t deter them from coming to the pan. Once inside it was just[…]
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Olympus Stylus 1 – It’s a dream to use and the photos I’ve taken with it are consistently bright and sharp.
Read moreThree days into my stay at Ngamo and I still haven’t seen any cats. I’ve heard them during the night and a couple of the guides reported seeing fresh tracks but no actual sightings yet. Perhaps it was down to the cold wind blowing across the Ngamo plains but we were lacking a bit of urgency this morning; still dawdling[…]
Read moreOne of the things I try to do at the start of every year is to look back over the photographs I’ve taken in the previous year. I do this for 2 main reasons: Firstly: I like view to them with fresh eyes and form an opinion on whether or not I think they are any good. After every safari I[…]
Read moreFor some inexplicable reason, over the past couple of days, I have been coming up against a recurring theme; “can photography be art?” and if so, when does it become art? It all kicked off when I read an article in the Guardian entitled “The $6.5m canyon: it’s the most expensive photograph ever – but it’s like a hackneyed poster[…]
Read moreThe term ‘private vehicle’ is often used in the context of African safaris and game drives but what exactly does it mean? And, more importantly, do you need one? When you go on safari as part of a group you will find that you almost always have a vehicle to yourselves, exclusively for members of your group only. When you travel alone, or[…]
Read moreto read the previous chapter of our Safari Diary An elephant named Boswell, Wild Dogs and a Leopard click here 26 September 2014 The topic of conversation when we gathered for our morning drive was noises that had entertained us during the night. I’d heard hyaenas and lions but apparently at about 5am 2 wild dogs had run through camp[…]
Read moreThis follows the previous chapter in our latest safari diary – Matusadona, a birding paradise on the shores of Lake Kariba 25 September 2104 Mana Pools here we come Our flight to Mana Pools was booked for 9 o’clock, so we had to make an early start. Our stay at Rhino Safari Camp was much too brief (much much too[…]
Read moreThe 9th installment of our latest Safari Diary follows on from – Cheetahs and vultures on our last morning in Hwange Matusadona National Park As we come into land the first plane is sitting waiting to take off again and no sooner have we taxied off the runway than it roars off kicking up another dust storm. We disentangle ourselves[…]
Read moreThis is the 6th installment of my Safari Diary and follows on directly from Elusive Sable and idle Cheetahs – Hwange NP Elephants everywhere Some time ago the folks at Bomani installed something that they call the ‘Look Up’. A shipping contained was buried in the ground beside one of the waterholes and converted into an underground hide or blind.[…]
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