Safari Photography
This is probably one of the most important aspects of Safari arrangements in particular – and can add immeasurably to your memories. For really good wildlife photography, a good DSLR camera and telephoto lens is really required.
For reasonable quality images 4 megapixels is probably the minimum requirement, preferably 5+. A good quality DSLR camera should allow you to take up to 9 images at a high resolution with no delay in writing the images to the card. This can prove essential when there is serious action. With a good SLR you should also be able to change lenses depending on your needs. You will need to be able to do this particularly when shooting wildlife and especially birds as the optical zoom on smaller cameras with fixed lenses does not allow you to get close enough.
Good quality memory cards are worth their price as they are not only less likely to fail but also write the images faster allowing you to shoot more images at the critical time when it is all happening. Remember to not leave your memory cards in the direct sun- they will cook!
A good quality, soft camera bag is also an essential on safari. This is much easier to carry around, particularly for the regular travelling that you will be doing - including getting into and out of vehicles and light aircraft.
As conditions are often dusty and there is also the chase of seasonal rain, protecting the camera equipment is essential. Don’t forget to pack a blower to clean your sensor. An external hard drive (particularly if you know you will take a lot of pictures), or at least 8 gigabytes of memory cards in small sizes (2-4) gig are also good to include. If you are keen photographer or using a camera with 10+mega pixels and/or shooting in raw you may need as many as 20 gigs of memory. A lens pen and a cleaning cloth are also a must.
One of the biggest issues is probably the lenses that you should bring. For the keen photographer this is definitely an investment, and is very much dependent upon budget. For the keen, and not so serious, you may want to think about some zoom lenses in the range of 18-80mm and a 200-400mm. If you keen on portraits of wildlife and decent bird images you will need an extender/ converter. The best is a 1.4 (Canon) or 1.6 (Nikon). You will need to check that it is the correct converter and that your auto-focus and Image Stabilizing/ Vibration Reduction (if your lens has these facilities) still works with the converter.
The aperture of a lens is one of the major determinants of price. A long lens (such as a 400mm) with a very large aperture (e.g. 2.8) is extremely expensive but also very unwieldy and unless you are on a private photographic safari with a row of seats to yourself you will struggle to be able to use such a lens. Optimally you need to be able to shoot “free hand” (as often it all happens too quickly to set up) – with an aperture of 4-5.6 on your longest zoom lens.
Many lenses come with a macro function. Unless your lens is a dedicated macro lens with a 1:1 rating it may not have sufficient close up capabilities. A good solution is to use extension tubes. This also enables you to stalk things like dragonflies and butterflies. With a dedicated 50mm macro you often need to get much closer than the animals will allow you as opposed to using the extension tubes on a zoom lens. It will also reduce the number of lenses you need to carry.By adding an extension tube you can often create the artistic effect of a very large aperture lens where you can achieve a very narrow depth of field. A 20mm extension tube is usually more than adequate.
A major advantage of digital photography is that you can get instant feedback on your images, allowing you to make adjustments in the field to ensure that you are happy with the photograph/s!
Don’t forget spare batteries - digital equipment is fairly heavy on batteries. The onus is on you to make sure that you have sufficient battery power to make it through the trip. You may want to bring a 12 volt cigarette lighter charger if you do need to recharge.
For reasonable quality images 4 megapixels is probably the minimum requirement, preferably 5+. A good quality DSLR camera should allow you to take up to 9 images at a high resolution with no delay in writing the images to the card. This can prove essential when there is serious action. With a good SLR you should also be able to change lenses depending on your needs. You will need to be able to do this particularly when shooting wildlife and especially birds as the optical zoom on smaller cameras with fixed lenses does not allow you to get close enough.
Good quality memory cards are worth their price as they are not only less likely to fail but also write the images faster allowing you to shoot more images at the critical time when it is all happening. Remember to not leave your memory cards in the direct sun- they will cook!
A good quality, soft camera bag is also an essential on safari. This is much easier to carry around, particularly for the regular travelling that you will be doing - including getting into and out of vehicles and light aircraft.
As conditions are often dusty and there is also the chase of seasonal rain, protecting the camera equipment is essential. Don’t forget to pack a blower to clean your sensor. An external hard drive (particularly if you know you will take a lot of pictures), or at least 8 gigabytes of memory cards in small sizes (2-4) gig are also good to include. If you are keen photographer or using a camera with 10+mega pixels and/or shooting in raw you may need as many as 20 gigs of memory. A lens pen and a cleaning cloth are also a must.
One of the biggest issues is probably the lenses that you should bring. For the keen photographer this is definitely an investment, and is very much dependent upon budget. For the keen, and not so serious, you may want to think about some zoom lenses in the range of 18-80mm and a 200-400mm. If you keen on portraits of wildlife and decent bird images you will need an extender/ converter. The best is a 1.4 (Canon) or 1.6 (Nikon). You will need to check that it is the correct converter and that your auto-focus and Image Stabilizing/ Vibration Reduction (if your lens has these facilities) still works with the converter.
The aperture of a lens is one of the major determinants of price. A long lens (such as a 400mm) with a very large aperture (e.g. 2.8) is extremely expensive but also very unwieldy and unless you are on a private photographic safari with a row of seats to yourself you will struggle to be able to use such a lens. Optimally you need to be able to shoot “free hand” (as often it all happens too quickly to set up) – with an aperture of 4-5.6 on your longest zoom lens.
Many lenses come with a macro function. Unless your lens is a dedicated macro lens with a 1:1 rating it may not have sufficient close up capabilities. A good solution is to use extension tubes. This also enables you to stalk things like dragonflies and butterflies. With a dedicated 50mm macro you often need to get much closer than the animals will allow you as opposed to using the extension tubes on a zoom lens. It will also reduce the number of lenses you need to carry.By adding an extension tube you can often create the artistic effect of a very large aperture lens where you can achieve a very narrow depth of field. A 20mm extension tube is usually more than adequate.
A major advantage of digital photography is that you can get instant feedback on your images, allowing you to make adjustments in the field to ensure that you are happy with the photograph/s!
Don’t forget spare batteries - digital equipment is fairly heavy on batteries. The onus is on you to make sure that you have sufficient battery power to make it through the trip. You may want to bring a 12 volt cigarette lighter charger if you do need to recharge.
