TP: Shooting on safari & shooting wild animals

Hi Bob,

Was in South Africa a few years ago (Southern Cape).

You'll need at least a 300mm lens, and the faster the better. On safari, most times you are in a vehicle, so a bean bag is handy as a support on the door frame/opened window.

But also carry a standard zoom as you'll be amazed at how close the wildlife can get. Finally, get a second body so you aren't forever changing back and forth.

A storage device is good to have for clearing cards at the end of the day.

Put it all in an easily carried, accessible gear bag like a backpack. Bring the wife or girlfriend to carry it. (just kidding!) But bring her just the same if you want a place to live when you get back home.

Was on safari in Kenya and Tanzania in Feb/Mar 2006 and am going back in late January/early feb in 2008.

If planning a safari in these countries do try and find out about the wildebeest migration before booking so as to give yourself the best chance of some real exciting shots. Calfing time is January/February in the Southern Serengeti and you might be lucky enough to get shots of wildebeest actually giving birth.

dust is a problem at all times and even worst if you get overtaken by a dust storm as we did when everything was covered in red dust and it even got inside our underclothes. Dust is best avoided by keeping one lens on the body all the time when out in the field - take two bodies if possible to give two lens options - a film camera is a good choice for a back up. I took my KM5D and two sigma APO lenses the 170-500 and a 70-300. You can see a few pics taken with the 170-500 in the sample images threads. I also took my KM A2 with its 28-200mm equivalent zoom for the closer in stuff.
Take some clear plastic bags and some elastic bands to make sleeves for lenses with extending zooms to prevent sucking dust in. A large clear bag is also useful if you do find it essential to change lenses in the field.

Batteries could be a problem if you are 'roughing' it. I stayed in luxury lodges and there was always a reliable electricity supply for charging batteries overnight. If possible get a 12v car charger for batteries - they are available on e-bay for around L8 or so - and you have the possibility to charge batteries from the vehicle you are travelling in.
I have half a dozen or so batteries for the 5D and all but one are cheapo generics but apart from a slightly reduced charge life they are just as good as more expensive OEMs. A grip that takes AA batteries is a good idea as you can get these at many lodges.

The been bag as mentioned by seagr112 is good. I made my own from an old cut off trouser leg filled with polystyrene beads. Its very light and takes up hardly any of your baggage allowance on aircraft. Sew or glue in a cheap tripod screw mount so if your lens has a tripod bracket you can screw the beanbag to it - otherwise use elastic bands. A dropped beanbag could be unrecoverable as you are not permitted out of the vehicles in some areas.

A decent safari driver will put the vehicle in the best position to get shots of animals you come across but if there is something special you have in mind let him know and usually he'll do his best to oblige. Most people on safari are after sighting the 'big five' Lion, Rhino, Elephant, Buffalo and Leopard - so you might find yourself at odds with fellow travellers if your tastes are more towards giraffes and hippos for example. Remember unless you have organised everything yourself you might be sharing a vehicle with total strangers.

The locals usually expect payment of a few dollars if you want to take pictures of them. Agree a price beforehand to avoid embarrassing arguments. Reward children with a pen - take plenty of cheap biros and you'll be a big hit with the kids.

Don't try and photograph official buildings or policemen when in towns - your camera gear could be confiscated and you might find yourself in worse trouble.

Take as many flash cards as you can and an image bank device. Copy the cards on to the image bank at the end of each day and don't re-format them until you have to. That way you have two copies of each shot so if something breaks or is stolen your precious shot can still be saved.

Have fun

I'd still like comments on this!
I'm going to Namibia next year and i'm a little short on the long end. I've got the tamron 17-50 and 70-200 2.8 . Any reccomendations for the longer end of town? I don't know if i should get a tammy 200-500, a 300 or 400 prime and a teleconverter or if the 200 with a 1.4x teleconverter is enough, any opinions?
Cheers,
David

Are you talking the minolta 300/4? The annoying thing is finding these discontinued lenses!

I would take with me 300 or 400 mm prime,1.4xTc 70-200 ssm g or similar lans.Two cameras,one for zoom and one for prime(you must be quick in action).In my opinion 300mm is more than enough for reach,shoting subjects over long distances is not a good idea(there is always enough warm air to spoil a picture)but 400 might be good for birds!Take one good wide zoom and wide prime might be good for landscapes.

Edited by Pavel - 24 February 2009 at 15:35

I dare say what i need is a good quality 200-400..... now if only there was one!
Looks like the tamron 200-500 might be the goer.

This thread may mow require a bathroom break to read... if you don't nod off to sleep through the turgid prose of the first part!

In celebration of 500 posts (got to have some excuse) here is the long awaited (by me) contribution of Paul AKA maewpa to dodgy online photography knowledge.

This relates to a 23 day trip to Kenya and Tanzania in September last year. Yes, it took much longer to do this than hoped….. it's long story why. In the meantime, I see some of the things I thought it might be nice to discuss have already been discussed here. I decided to post nevertheless, but won’t be surprised if people don’t want to talk over the same ground again. Since I am not setting this up as an “expert” contribution I thought I should post it in this thread; which was started for this purpose. If nobody notices, I can always do a link post.

My photo posts, with links to galleries cum travelogues are here and here. Here is a link to my current favorite photographs from the trip (I still keep finding the odd one I'd forgotten about).

Africa 08

Here are a few things I personally learned or confirmed in my own mind from my recent trip to Africa. I thought I’d post them for information and discussion - especially the latter. At my level of experience I would be extremely surprised if I am correct in all respects, so please do dispute things if you disagree and put me right if something is wrong.

I don’t intend this to be ‘safari tips’ (although if it anyone wants to discuss that, it‘s cool ) and this is only stuff relevant to my gear and my level of experience - in this case the former was A100 and A700 bodies and the following other gear…

Sigma 10-20, Sony 16-80, Sony 100/2.8 Macro, Minolta 200/2.8 HS 300/4 HS and Sony 70-300G and 500/8 I also took a flash, a monopod and a tripod and had a Sony 1.4x converter. However, we had a vehicle to ourselves most of the time in Kenya and I was then able to leave gear with our guide (who we’ve used twice before) while we went to Tanzania.

The 16-80, 70-300 and 300/4 with TC and flash would have done fine, and indeed I took over 90% of my photos with them - mostly without the flash since I am still reluctant to use it at close quarters with animals in the wild and I don’t have a flash extender. Another thing is that some guides don’t like people using flash because they think it may disturb the animals or other people in the vehicle. I’m still on the fence on this, which is reason enough to use the flash sparingly.

This was my fourth safari with a camera capable of taking pictures of animals and second with a DSLR.


Edited by maewpa - 24 February 2009 at 17:02