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Safari Wildlife Photography Top Four Tips
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Author: Bruce Whittaker
Topic: Travel
Viewed: 137 time(s)
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I've been practising wildlife photography on safari for over
twenty years now in places like the Kruger National Park, Chobe,
Okavango Delta, and Hwange game reserves and these four tips
have been indispensable in making sure that I get some decent
wildlife photographs.
1. The Right Equipment
I believe that you can't beat the quality of film but that
digital offers wildlife photography practitioners more options at a
better cost so for the purposes of a safari trip a digital
camera is your best bet.
It should have some of the following characteristics to qualify
as a good safari camera.
There should be little or no lag between the time you depress
the shutter release button and the photo is taken. Some of the
compact digitals on the market today suffer from this affliction
and it's not ideal when you come across fast moving wildlife
subjects.
It should be ready to take photographs at a moments notice
because that is sometimes all the time you have before an animal
disappears into the undergrowth. No long power up cycle.
Due to the fact that most of your nocturnal wildlife sightings
on safari will occur during early morning and dusk it needs to
be able to function well in low light conditions as well as
bright sunlight during the day for the diurnal animals.
Lenses should have a focal length of at least 70mm for adequate
wildlife photography and an image stabiliser is not essential
but a great help in eliminating blur.
Another piece of equipment that is essential however is a
deadrest in the form of a beanbag or a window mounted tripod
that you can rest the camera on to help stabilise the long
lenses. Handholding a long lens will often lead to blurring and
the dead rest will prevent this. A tripod or monopod is
impractical because you will be taking photos from the safari
vehicle for most of the time.
2. The Best Wildlife Photography Areas
You can have all the right equipment and the best wildlife
photography talent in the world but it won't mean much if you
can't find any wildlife to take pictures of.
Some areas in Africa are better in terms of safari photography
than others. The top five for getting excellent overall wildlife
picture opportunities are:
Kenya - Masai Mara Tanzania - Serengeti South Africa - Kruger
National Park Botswana - Moremi Namibia - Etosha
3. Patience and Luck
Everything comes to him who waits is a very relevant saying for
wildlife photography. Patience will help you get better
photographs because you will be able to take pictures of animal
behaviour that you would otherwise have missed.
The role of luck mustn't be underestimated either. There is no
guarantee of what you will encounter in a game reserve and
whatever you do get to see and photograph is a matter of a
little bit of planning and a lot of good fortune.
4. Light and Composition
Because you are at the mercy of the elements in wildlife
photography, you don't have too much control over the light.
Flash is of no use when the animal is at a distance and you
can't wait for better light conditions because the subject could
move off at any moment so you need to make the best of what you
have.
And due to the habits of nocturnal species you will find
yourself taking lots of pictures in low light conditions at dawn
and dusk which is why a fast lens and a dead rest is essential.
Using bracketing (changing the exposure by one stop up and down)
will also help get the optimal exposure in the available light.
What you do have some control over is the position of the safari
vehicle which can be moved to change the aspect of light that is
falling on the animal somewhat but even that is sometimes not
possible because in most reserves you are not allowed to go
off-road and moving might scare the subject away.
Composition is something you do have more control of however and
you can apply the rule of thirds and framing using the available
vegetation just as well as in any other form of photography.
Be especially careful using the autofocus on your camera because
it will cheerfully focus on a twig or tuft of grass close to
your animal subject and spoil your composition.
You will also need to make your compositional decisions quickly
as wildlife often doesn't hang about long waiting for you to
make your mind up so it pays to have a solid foundation in the
basics.
About the author:
Collection of African safari
pictures depicting most of the animals you can see on safari
like lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, crocodile, chimpanzee,
baboon, gorilla, rhino and many more species.
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