Safari Advice

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Simian

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Ben
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Morning everyone,
I'm off to South Africa on safari soon for my honeymoon (end of the month) and i'll be looking to get some photography done too. what i would love is for any advice you can all give me, i've scoured the forums for as much as i can but wanted to get anything specifically to the gear i have.

what im taking
Canon 7d - 100-400mm lens
Canon 5d - 24-105 lens
(borrowing pretty much everything except the 7d of my dad, gotta love retirement...)

my thinking is this will mean i can cover essentially the full range and not have to switch lenses at any point.

so i'll just throw this open, settings, framing, extra kit i'll need, you name it 'll take advice on it, you all represent a massive repository of information, please share anything with me.

thanks in advance

Ben
 
I bought and took with me a 'bean bag' on my last safari, I used it all the time.
Obviously you can't take a tripod on safari, but to save me holding it, pretty much all of the game drives I was able to rest the camera on the bean bag. (7D & 100-400).

Obviously there is plenty of light out there, but certainly for me, the possibility of something/anything moving meant I kept the camera on shutter priority for pretty much all the shots.

I did have a second body with me which was very useful, so I had the 7D & 100-400 and a 450D and 18-135 for stuff which was much closer to me, or I wanted a wider angle.

Certainly want(ed) to avoid changing lenses whilst out on the drives.

Oh, and if you haven't already, get yourself a little rocket blower. Very useful for just taking the surface dust off the lenses without touching them :)
 
A tripod may be of some use depending on which national parks you're visiting. Etosha in Namibia has a floodlit waterhole next to the campsite so you can get in plenty of wildlife viewing without getting in a vehicle.

I would assume that you know which parks you're going to so it should be easy enough to work out if a tripod will be of any use.
 
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I'll be in kruger national park and not allowed to use a tripod.
 
Says the safari lodge I'm going with, it's a private one and as you won't leave the vehicle there's no point in a tripod. We do one walking safari and i'll take a mono for that
 
  • Spare batteries, enough for a couple of days in case you forget to recharge (or in case of unreliable power).
  • lots of memory. Either a lot of cards (estimate how many you'll need for 10 days (?) shooting, then double it). Or a PSD - like a Hyperdrive Colorspace.
  • You'll want to shoot in raw mode (I shot jpeg on my first safari and it brings me close to tears when I think about how much better some of the images would have been is hot in raw).
 
I lived just outside the Kruger park for 25 years. It's a vast place. Do you know which camps you'll be visiting?

As for photography, a beanbag will be a good idea. I would imagine your drives will be in an open land rover which will probably have plenty of roll bars to rest the camera on.
It will be very dusty so changing lenses will be a big no no. If you can borrow a second body to avoid changing then do so.

I'm not sure about not being allowed are to use a tripod, but you certainly wouldn't be able to on a game vehicle and you will not be allowed to get off unless in a safe zone. Ie main camps (fenced in), rest camps (not fenced, but reasonably safe).

I see no reason why you couldn't use one when in camp, most of which overlook rivers, dams etc where you will often see wildlife such as giraffe, elephant, crocs, hippo and various other antelope. There are also plenty of monkeys in camp and often there will be impala and Warthog wondering around the camp.

I doubt you will have a problem with the 100-200mm. Most game you will see will be either miles away, or relatively close to the roads. Last time I was out there I had my 70-200 with a 1.4x TC which did well although I could have used an extra 100mm.

All the camps have power but as said have a couple of spare batteries to take out with you. There will be nowhere to charge once out in the bush.

Other than that, I'd travel as light as possible and take time to enjoy some of the scenery without your eye glued to the viewfinder.
 
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Thank you for all the advice so far. It's all useful.

The places we're staying at are garonga which is in makalali and savanna which is in sabi sands.

I'll have 4 batteries and a tonne of memory cards. 16gb and 8gb ones.

Can anyone give me a rough guide on settings?
 
Simian said:
a tonne of memory cards. 16gb and 8gb ones.
Click to expand...

A tonne may be enough. Personally I'd want larger cards, at least 32GB, to eliminate the need to swap cards. In the heat of the moment it's very easy to put a card somewhere 'safe' - and never find it again, or to have the card slip out of a pocket, or a bit of dust to clog the socket while swapping. Or to find the card needs swapping just as the lions arrive to chase the cheetahs from their kill and you miss it.

Simian said:
Can anyone give me a rough guide on settings?
Click to expand...
  • Shoot raw. I look at the jpegs I shot on my first safari and weep when I think how much better some could be if I'd have use raw.
  • Don't be afraid to boost the ISO to maintain a decent shutter speed. Noise can be fixed, motion blur cannot.
  • While driving around have your camera set to emergency settings (I use Av, f5.6 or f8, evaluative, AI Servo - centre point with expansion, ISO depending on light). That way, if something pops up you're not dithering about trying to get the right settings. If the something hangs about you can always change settings. But if it disappears, at least you've shot it.
 
I'll try to remember all that. Especially the raw bit. Rarely shoot on raw but as you say if there was ever a time to start, this is it.
 
Just wanted to come back and say thanks for all the advice. I had an amazing time on safari, all the advice really helped and im really happy with the results.

This is a great place for getting productive useful advice.
 
Simian said:
Just wanted to come back and say thanks for all the advice. I had an amazing time on safari, all the advice really helped and im really happy with the results.

This is a great place for getting productive useful advice.
Click to expand...

Hi Ben,

Glad you had a great time! did you get the shots you hoped for? I to am going to SA on safari for my honeymoon in August...I'll be in the Shamwari Game reserve though and not the Kruger...

My kit will be pretty much the same as yours...7D with 100-400....what settings did you use mostly? did you take a second body? did you use a tri-pod?

Hope you don't mind the questions....? I have many more..... (y)

Tom
 
CATALOGUEKID said:
Hi Ben,

Glad you had a great time! did you get the shots you hoped for? I to am going to SA on safari for my honeymoon in August...I'll be in the Shamwari Game reserve though and not the Kruger...

My kit will be pretty much the same as yours...7D with 100-400....what settings did you use mostly? did you take a second body? did you use a tri-pod?

Hope you don't mind the questions....? I have many more..... (y)

Tom
Click to expand...

I would say use apperture mode, f8 to keep the 100-400 at it's sharpest unless in low light. sorted. I have taken a tripod 3 times on safari and only the first time did I use it, but for Vic Falls. You are mostly in a vehicle so take a bean bag.
 
neilyb said:
I would say use apperture mode, f8 to keep the 100-400 at it's sharpest unless in low light. sorted. I have taken a tripod 3 times on safari and only the first time did I use it, but for Vic Falls. You are mostly in a vehicle so take a bean bag.
Click to expand...

Thanks...

Was thinking of taking the tri-pod purely for landscape stuff/long exposures.
 
Simian said:
Morning everyone,
I'm off to South Africa on safari soon for my honeymoon (end of the month) and i'll be looking to get some photography done too. what i would love is for any advice you can all give me, i've scoured the forums for as much as i can but wanted to get anything specifically to the gear i have.

what im taking
Canon 7d - 100-400mm lens
Canon 5d - 24-105 lens
(borrowing pretty much everything except the 7d of my dad, gotta love retirement...)

my thinking is this will mean i can cover essentially the full range and not have to switch lenses at any point.

so i'll just throw this open, settings, framing, extra kit i'll need, you name it 'll take advice on it, you all represent a massive repository of information, please share anything with me.

thanks in advance

Ben
Click to expand...

Hi Ben,
SA and Namibia safari vehicles do not have a roof or anywhere to put a bean bag a monopod is the thing to use , in the parks you cannot get out of the vehicle so a tripod is useless unless you book and hire a vehicle for sole use I used a monopod . Very dusty so no changing lens when out fast lens you will need to be out early and late.
Loads I mean loads of memory cards, and spare batteries Namibia was brilliant we are off again this year
Have fun
 
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