| A photo safari to Africa may never get past the dream stage for many photographers. For some, a photo safari may be a once in a lifetime opportunity – but if you love photography and if you love wildlife and if you go to Chobe, I doubt it for you will become hooked. You must go back.
To make that first safari more than a learning experience, thorough planning is essential. Careful shooting techniques will increase the great percentage ratio of great images you capture. |
Shutter Speed vs. Aperture: Getting a sharp photo is dependent upon accurate focusing, freezing the motion of the animal and getting enough depth of field. Since your camera will automatically set the focus sharpness, we will focus (that would be a pun) on the role of shutter speed and aperture.
Unfortunately, the best time to shoot is early and late light. These conditions immediately set up a conflict related to choosing between shutter speed and f-stop (aperture). In my opinion, if you cannot use a depth of field (dof) that will give you a tack sharp image for the primary subject area, the photo will ultimately be a disappointment. On the converse, too slow of shutter speed may not yield an overall tack sharp image, but may yield and interesting showing
Lion cub shot in VERY LOW light, so shutter speed is too low, yet an intereting image resulted.
of motion for an image. Don’t get me wrong, there are times where great dof and perfectly frozen motion is key; but, if I have to forsake one for the other, I give aperture the priority (another bad pun). Bottom line, for nearly all of my wildlife shooting, I shoot aperture priority mode.
The exception is when the image I am planning is all about the stop action. An example is if I want that frozen moment when a fish eagle takes a fish off the water surface, I know that anything less than a 1/1250 second will yield an unacceptable result. Keep in mind that a third variable exists – ISO setting, but beware as higher ISO settings can lead to increased (sensor induced) noise on he image.
Fish eagle with catch .... stopping the action was vital to this shot
Vehicle Shooting: If you go on a self-drive safari, plan to have only 2 people per vehicle – one in the front driver seat and one in the rear seat. If you are on a catered safari, make sure the safari places you in a vehicle that gives you free reign to an entire row of seats. The reason for this is if the animal is on the right side of the vehicle and you’re on the left and there’s already a photographer in that position, you don’t get the shot. You may pay a bit more for this luxury. Inquire as to whether you’ll be shooting out of the top of the vehicle or through a window. The reason for this is you’ll need to know if you should bring a bean bag or window mount for your long lens. Additionally, always wait until the driver turns off the vehicle as the vibration of the motor is transferred to your camera resulting in images that reveal camera shake.
The Light: I call photography ‘painting with light’. If you don’t have correct lighting, you may see a great scene, but your camera will capture a flat scene with limited dynamics. The more opportunities to shoot close to the times of sunrise and sunset, the better your images will be as both the angle and color will be more to your advantage. I try to be in position to shoot at sunrise and to be one of the last out of the park after sunrise each night. At Chobe National Park, the park gate opens at 6 in the morning. Sunrise in July is around 6:30, so you don’t have time to waste if you want to be some distance from the gate such as Puku Flats – a great place to shoot sunrise. Officially, the park closes at 6 in the evening and sunset is very close to that time. I have left the exit gate as late as 6:30 without complaints, but you really want to be out of the park once it starts getting seriously dark.
Chobe NP on the edge of darkness - staying as late as possible yielded a keeper
You’ll also have some opportunities to shoot after the light has gotten a bit harsh and higher in the sky, but the results will lack the impact of the shots obtained at early and late light. With this in mind, limit your shooting to situations that show behavior or something other than just a record shot of the animal. Recording behavior or action will net you a stronger image. If you use a guide, make sure he understands how you plan to use the light to gain the desired photo effect.
Added Quick Advice: Make sure to bring a back-up body, spare batteries, and plenty of memory cards for the camera. Also plan to download your images and back them up daily. Since lighting is bad from about 10 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, this is a great time to transfer your files. You will usually be driving with at least one window open, so if you’re in an open vehicle, carry a towel to protect your gear from dust when driving from one location to another. Most of all, learn your camera settings and overall equipment. The more you make effortless adjustments, the more you will enjoy your photo safari.