Safari/wildlife tips

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Ted

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Tim
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Hi all

Am heading off on a camping Safari through Tanzania in a few weeks but have never used a long lens or shot wildlife before so hoping to pick up a few pointers.

I'm going to be using my D90 with a Sigma 120-300 f2.8 (hired from Stewart at LFH) as my main lens. I have a 1.4x TC as well if needed. I have bought a beanbag from Dean which i'll use out the top of the jeep. This is the vehicle we'll be in:
Jeep_a.jpg


I'm also going to take a 50mm 1.8, 18-55mm, and a 10-20mm for landscapes. These will mostly be used on my back-up d40. I realise I have a big gap between 55 and 120mm but hopefully it wont matter :shrug: Have been advised to take large clear bin bags for lens changes to avoid dust getting everywhere

Some of the questions I have are:

1) would you use Auto ISO? If so...what minimum shutter speed should I lock in for moving animals?
2) What is an ideal aperture for animal portraits?
3) any special technique I should be aware of when using a heavy lens on a bean bag?
4) any good links or books on safari photography you can point me towards?

Any other pointers and tips greatly appreciated

Cheers :thumbs:
 
Hi Ted,

I am not an expert so I cannot help you with many of your questions. However, I have been on safari a couple of times and I think you may be surprised how close you are likely to get to the animals.

For example, this was taken in the Ngorangora crater...

Img_6408.jpg


I know it is a lousy photo but it shows that you hardly need a very long lens or TC, depending on where you go and what you are planning to shoot.

Last time I took my 170-500 Sigma but did not use it! The 70-300 was more than adequate. In fact sometimes we were so close that I could not even use that.

Depending on the tour that you have organised, there is little opportunity to get a tripod out and last time we were in an open sided vehicle and could not even use a beanbag.

Wherever you are going in Tanzania, I am sure you will really enjoy it.

Have a great time.

Jenny
 
Thanks Jenny. I have had several people tell me that I might be too long with the 120-300mm :(

I would be gutted if I end up using my crusty 18-55mm on my d40 more than the biggy on the d90.

Maybe I should look into getting something like the Nikon AF 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 D ED VR? I'm reluctant to do that cos a lot of reviews mention that it hunts in low light (which is when I'm likely to get my best shots). The 120-300 wouldn't have this issues.
 
Ted said:
Maybe I should look into getting something like the Nikon AF 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 D ED VR? I'm reluctant to do that cos a lot of reviews mention that it hunts in low light (which is when I'm likely to get my best shots). The 120-300 wouldn't have this issues.
Click to expand...

I am not familiar with those particular lenses, being a Canon person myself, so I cannot really add value except to say that the 80-400 gives you more flexibility. The 400 end would also be useful if you are interested in birds rather than just animals.

Jenny
 
Hi Ted,
I'm off to Kenya in 2 weeks time and i'm doing a short 4 day safari whilst there.
First off you will find the bean bag a must from the vehicle you are in !!
lens wise I will be using a 80-200 with my d80 and a nikon 300mm prime with a 1.4 tc attached most of the time. I will also use my 18-70 mainly for the landscape stuff. You will get very close to the animals, an elephant soon fills the frame and it would be a shame to miss out on some of the fabulous landscapes.
Personally I would set iso manually, you will have a lot of really good light and so you should be able to keep the shutter speeds high enough to get good clean shots. Your gear will get dusty so avoid lens changes unless necessary, I take a bin liner or 2 with me to put my gear in to change lenses and also to cover things up when on the move.
You will cover most stuff quite well with the 120-300mm.
You will have an amazing time and it won't ber long before you are planning your next trip.

Regards Dean
 
I Guess the advantage of clear bin bags is that you can see what you are doing without having to get your head in there like you would a pillow case....:)

My route is:

Serengeti National Park
Ngorongoro Crater
Oldupai Gorge
Lake Manyara National Park
Tarangire National Park

Can't wait
 
Nice route, we did Serengeti last and spent 4 days there, Lake Manyara I loved and saw Leopard there, which is quite rare. Tarangire is a fair trek so you must be spending a good few weeks there. Wish I was coming with you.

Talk plenty of cloths for cleaning, stacks of batteries, unless you can charge at night and more memory cards than you could shake a stick at....
 
deanlewis said:
Hi Ted,
I'm off to Kenya in 2 weeks time and i'm doing a short 4 day safari whilst there.
First off you will find the bean bag a must from the vehicle you are in !!
lens wise I will be using a 80-200 with my d80 and a nikon 300mm prime with a 1.4 tc attached most of the time. I will also use my 18-70 mainly for the landscape stuff. You will get very close to the animals, an elephant soon fills the frame and it would be a shame to miss out on some of the fabulous landscapes.
Personally I would set iso manually, you will have a lot of really good light and so you should be able to keep the shutter speeds high enough to get good clean shots. Your gear will get dusty so avoid lens changes unless necessary, I take a bin liner or 2 with me to put my gear in to change lenses and also to cover things up when on the move.
You will cover most stuff quite well with the 120-300mm.
You will have an amazing time and it won't ber long before you are planning your next trip.

Regards Dean
Click to expand...

Thanks Dean. Makes me feel a bit better with my lens choice. I think i'm going to hire the 18-200vr from Stewart as well for 30quid to keep on my d40.

Enjoy your trip! and thanks for the bean bag!
 
chewyuk said:
Nice route, we did Serengeti last and spent 4 days there, Lake Manyara I loved and saw Leopard there, which is quite rare. Tarangire is a fair trek so you must be spending a good few weeks there. Wish I was coming with you. Talk plenty of cloths for cleaning, stacks of batteries, unless you can charge at night and more memory cards than you could shake a stick at....
Click to expand...

Nice....did you get any snaps you can link me to?

The trip is 10 days so will be getting around a bit.

I'm thinking of taking 16gig of memory and will get a car charger adapter so I can rotate the two batteries

Thanls for the tips!
 
jennyb said:
I am not familiar with those particular lenses, being a Canon person myself, so I cannot really add value except to say that the 80-400 gives you more flexibility. The 400 end would also be useful if you are interested in birds rather than just animals.

Jenny
Click to expand...

Thanks Jenny. Havnt really thought much about the bird side but im sure thats where the TC will come in handy at the 300end

cheers
 
I agree with chewy, I would take more than 16 gig for 10 days, if you are shooting raw, that is. On our first trip I had to download them onto CDs at the hotel.

Your trip sounds great. When we did the Northern circuit, we did it the other way round and each area was a winner. I agree with Dean, you will want to go back! I insisted on going back the following year to do the Ruaha and Selous in the south. We are thinking of Botswana for the next trip.

One further suggestion - take a notebook and write down everything you see in the order that you see them. You will then be able to match your list with the photos when you get back. You are likely to see so many different things that it is impossible to remember them all.

Jenny
 
I have doen countless game drives. the 120-300 is too long and restrictive. Its big, you may not be the only people on the vehicle.

most receintly i went with a cheap 70-300 and found that too long at somepoint and also to short. You dont need the fastest glass available. Its not football, you dont want to isolate the subject completely from the background.

I would suggest maybe the 100-300 f/4 small and lighter, better range. Im not sure what nikon do for the shorter range but maybe someothing similar to the 24-105 from canon and then your wide angle. In the vehicle you wont need the wide angle much! but since you have 2 bodies the other 2 lenses will work a treat! (if there is a nikon equiv)
 
jennyb said:
I agree with chewy, I would take more than 16 gig for 10 days, if you are shooting raw, that is. On our first trip I had to download them onto CDs at the hotel.
Jenny
Click to expand...

Hmmm...might have to get some more. was planning on 2x 8gig and only selectively shooting in raw (when there are potential exposure issues etc).

I hope I dont get the urge to go back! Have to pay everything in US dollars which is making it about 40% more expensive than when we first booked :(
 
33L said:
I have doen countless game drives. the 120-300 is too long and restrictive. Its big, you may not be the only people on the vehicle.

most receintly i went with a cheap 70-300 and found that too long at somepoint and also to short. You dont need the fastest glass available. Its not football, you dont want to isolate the subject completely from the background.

I would suggest maybe the 100-300 f/4 small and lighter, better range. Im not sure what nikon do for the shorter range but maybe someothing similar to the 24-105 from canon and then your wide angle. In the vehicle you wont need the wide angle much! but since you have 2 bodies the other 2 lenses will work a treat! (if there is a nikon equiv)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. My latest plan is to also hire the 18-200mm vr and stick that on the D40. Keep the 120-300 on the D90. so I've got all bases covered from 18-440(300with 1.4tc) if needed.
By getting the f2.8 it'll mean that I can get super sharp shots stopped down to f4ish.

Why do you say that I wont want to isolate the subject from the background completely? I've seen animal portraits with big time bokeh and they look great. I'm keen to get a combo of 'in their environment' and 'isolated' shots
 
Thanks all for the replies above. I'm off in a couple of days. any more thoughts on my original questions appreciated

1) would you use Auto ISO? If so...what minimum shutter speed should I lock in?
2) What is an ideal aperture for animal portraits when shooting at the 300end?
3) any special technique I should be aware of when using a heavy lens on a bean bag?
4) any good links or books on safari photography you can point me towards?
 
Thanks for all the tips!
I'm off to Kenya for some safari in 6 weeks and have been looking for a few pointers.

Currently I have my 30D along with a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, a Canon 35-105 and I'm hiring a Canon 100-400L from LFH.

Opinions?
 
Just another vote for clear bin bags to store equipment and change lens.

Dust is evil... as I found to my cost in Kenya a couple of years ago. :(

If you're going on a standard tourist safari a 300mm lens will be fine imo - you'll be taken v close to animals for benefit of all those with compact cameras!
 
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