Photography in East Africa
Sep 8th, 2011, 08:47 AM
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Photography in East Africa
Just came across this nice article on photography in East Africa.
Enjoy!
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/252...in-east-africa
Enjoy!
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/252...in-east-africa
Sep 8th, 2011, 09:45 AM
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Uwe writes - ".... because my way of working is very different to that of a tourist on safari. It is simply not possible for me to spend days and weeks at a time in the safety of a vehicle or holed up in a cosy lodge."
Urrmphh, cosy lodge indeed!!!! Does not getting up before sunrise for the game drive count for anything?!?!
regards - tom
Urrmphh, cosy lodge indeed!!!! Does not getting up before sunrise for the game drive count for anything?!?!
regards - tom
Sep 8th, 2011, 10:59 AM
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Uwe had a kindle book called Wildlife Photography, but I found it a bit basic and not terribly useful. I did find parts of Todd Gustafson's book "Photographer's Guide to the Safari Experience" useful. If you are taking a large telephoto and have a vehicle with the 3 hatches - Todd's Todd Pod is great. Basically a "t" where you can put on a wimberley so you can balance a telephoto easier than you can with a bean bag, or a tripod (yep saw a couple guys trying to balance a big lens on a tripod in a vehicle, that is just wrong!)
I just got back a week ago and used my 800mm for about 70% of my shots sometimes with a tele so it was nice to see that Uwe uses that also. I was a little nervous about taking it since it is a little longer than what most people take.
I just got back a week ago and used my 800mm for about 70% of my shots sometimes with a tele so it was nice to see that Uwe uses that also. I was a little nervous about taking it since it is a little longer than what most people take.
Sep 8th, 2011, 11:26 AM
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@sperraglia also depends on the car of course, wouldn't take a tripod, but I am using a monopod in an open vehicle (no sides and no roof)
I can only dream of 800mm range... .. maybe someday the Nikkor 200-400 with a 2x converter will take me there
I can only dream of 800mm range... .. maybe someday the Nikkor 200-400 with a 2x converter will take me there
Sep 8th, 2011, 11:58 AM
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Nikao - In an open vehicle the monopod makes a lot of sense, although I did see some crazy clamps on some of the vehicles with open sides. I did use bean bags occasionally and well, I had to stand on one to use the Todd Pod since I wasn't quite tall enough. It was great, our safari company had several bean bags in different shapes all filled and ready to go so one less step we had to worry about.
Don't forget Nikon makes the excellent 1.7x teleconverter that is pretty good with maybe less image degradation.
Don't forget Nikon makes the excellent 1.7x teleconverter that is pretty good with maybe less image degradation.
Sep 8th, 2011, 03:52 PM
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I am not the world expert on photography but know a little bit.
Not all great pics are always made with 500, 600 and 800 mm's. A lot depends on the distance to the subject from your vehicle too. Wider perspectives (animalscapes, animal in habitat) are more enjoyable/appealing than the head shot or body shot of an animal (in-a-box) which almost everyone takes on a safari.
Yes, that article really does not make a lot of sense, half-hearted effort...imo.
Not all great pics are always made with 500, 600 and 800 mm's. A lot depends on the distance to the subject from your vehicle too. Wider perspectives (animalscapes, animal in habitat) are more enjoyable/appealing than the head shot or body shot of an animal (in-a-box) which almost everyone takes on a safari.
Yes, that article really does not make a lot of sense, half-hearted effort...imo.
Sep 8th, 2011, 05:06 PM
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I thought the article was very useful for a first time safari tourist and does answer a lot of the questions asked both here and on the other trip forums about photography in East Africa.
Questions that I had before taking my first safari were lens choices for crop and uncropped cameras and rules and regulations for off-roading etc were discussed. I guess not a very good article for pro photographers but for an amateur tourist photographer it was pretty good.
Questions that I had before taking my first safari were lens choices for crop and uncropped cameras and rules and regulations for off-roading etc were discussed. I guess not a very good article for pro photographers but for an amateur tourist photographer it was pretty good.
Sep 8th, 2011, 05:20 PM
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Tom - Sorry I didn't see your reply. Still weeding through pictures and it didn't help that in the week I have been back I had a hard drive in my mirrored raid bite the dust. Now I have to go out of town for a funeral this weekend, but I will promise to post pictures as soon as I can and a trip report.
I am initially very excited about my pictures from my flight over Lake Bogoria to take aerial shots of flamingos (and none of those are with an 800!). I ended up doing a ton more birds this trip, but I guess that is because our guide also happened to be an excellent birder and he knew with the 800mm I had a good birding lens.
Cheers, Sallie Jo
I am initially very excited about my pictures from my flight over Lake Bogoria to take aerial shots of flamingos (and none of those are with an 800!). I ended up doing a ton more birds this trip, but I guess that is because our guide also happened to be an excellent birder and he knew with the 800mm I had a good birding lens.
Cheers, Sallie Jo
Sep 12th, 2011, 01:52 AM
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Greetings from the Masai Mara! I took a quick read, and the article is pretty weak on any details that people can really use. It reminded me that I need to keep writing my photo safari 101 articles on my blog. Maybe I will do that on my flights back home in a few weeks.
Sep 12th, 2011, 02:59 AM
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I love the guy's images but agree the article is pretty useless, what information it contains could be better said in about 2 sentences, as has been says, it seems like the introduction to the rest of an article, but then just peters out...
Sep 12th, 2011, 03:51 AM
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Hanuman - Andy is very difficult to find, try andybiggs.com! If you are every looking for a photo trip I have many friends who have gone with Andy and they love his trips. Andy's blog is good, but his mystery tweets on the new bag products are tiresome.
Sep 12th, 2011, 05:04 AM
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Is there a sperraglia.com where we can see your pictures as well?
Found the bag and I'll try and find some in the store to check them out. I still like my old Lowepro though!
Can you tell me how much more will a photo safari cost in comparison to going to the same camp but without the pro photographer accompanying?
Found the bag and I'll try and find some in the store to check them out. I still like my old Lowepro though!
Can you tell me how much more will a photo safari cost in comparison to going to the same camp but without the pro photographer accompanying?
Sep 12th, 2011, 08:11 AM
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Hanuman - Way behind on a separate website, but in the meantime I have some pictures up at www.gritsphoto.smugmug.com. Nothing from Kenya trip, but a few from my flamingo portfolio, Antarctica and some misc.
Which bag are you referring to? I traveled with the think tank international and packed Andy's Kiboko bag in the duffle(Love the kiboko bag, but with all the gear packed in it it was over 40 lbs and I am female so didn't want to carry through the airport). Once I got there I had my 800mm in a tenba long lens and had the kiboko bag bag set up with my 5d2/wide angle on one side and 7d/medium telephoto on the other ready to shoot. The kiboko was very easy to work out of during the trip.
It would probably cost a few thousand more for a photo safari with a pro photographer. My recent trip was built around photography so we did a few things to help. We had land cruisers with the three hatches on top instead of an open vehicle or pop top roof. If you have a long lens much easier especially with the todd podd system I mention earlier. Definitely pay extra to have no more than 3 people per vehicle so everyone can work either direction in their row. My friend and I actually paid to have only 2 in a vehicle that way there was no clumping and we had the option of using the spare hatch. Of course 2 people per car was nice, but not necessary. Pros like Andy and Joseph Van Os usually have no more than 3 per car. Because we had heavy gear we drove between locations instead of flying which let us keep our same vehicle and guide for the entire trip. We always took a boxed breakfast so we didn't have to rush back to camp and could continue to look for photos even if the light wasn't quite as good. My guide was pretty experienced with light direction and backgrounds which made it easier for photography. The best thing is whether you go with a pro or go on your own, you will come back with great shots.
Which bag are you referring to? I traveled with the think tank international and packed Andy's Kiboko bag in the duffle(Love the kiboko bag, but with all the gear packed in it it was over 40 lbs and I am female so didn't want to carry through the airport). Once I got there I had my 800mm in a tenba long lens and had the kiboko bag bag set up with my 5d2/wide angle on one side and 7d/medium telephoto on the other ready to shoot. The kiboko was very easy to work out of during the trip.
It would probably cost a few thousand more for a photo safari with a pro photographer. My recent trip was built around photography so we did a few things to help. We had land cruisers with the three hatches on top instead of an open vehicle or pop top roof. If you have a long lens much easier especially with the todd podd system I mention earlier. Definitely pay extra to have no more than 3 people per vehicle so everyone can work either direction in their row. My friend and I actually paid to have only 2 in a vehicle that way there was no clumping and we had the option of using the spare hatch. Of course 2 people per car was nice, but not necessary. Pros like Andy and Joseph Van Os usually have no more than 3 per car. Because we had heavy gear we drove between locations instead of flying which let us keep our same vehicle and guide for the entire trip. We always took a boxed breakfast so we didn't have to rush back to camp and could continue to look for photos even if the light wasn't quite as good. My guide was pretty experienced with light direction and backgrounds which made it easier for photography. The best thing is whether you go with a pro or go on your own, you will come back with great shots.
