Wildlife photography is very challenging. It requires not only the in depth knowledge of photography, but also some serious knowledge about your subject and nature in particular. Therefore African safari photography might seem the easiest way of taking great pictures of wild animals in natural environments. The abundance of wildlife in Africa’s nature parks, the local guides and travel agencies sure will make your task easier, but nevertheless taking the perfect safari wildlife picture is quite a challenge.
First you really need know the basic rules of photography. Just because it’s a picture of big lion does not mean that the composition rules does not apply. The rule of thirds is just as important in the wildlife photography as on any other subject. If you have little or none experience in photography read a book before you go about composition in photography.
Know your equipment. Wildlife photography requires that you have to b e able to press the shutter button about any time; that means that there will be moments when you will not have the time to look at the different settings of your brand new camera and think: I wonder what this is for? Take your time before you go to read the manual and to become comfortable working with your camera.
The gear – usually I say that the camera does not matter. In wildlife photography it is one of the key elements of taking good pictures. A telephoto lens is the obvious choice – something about 400mm will be the adequate choice for mammals and about 600mm for birds. The choice of camera may vary depending on how serious you are about photography. The key requirements for your camera are speed, low light capability and resolution. A dslr is the obvious choice there, but for the big mammals also an ultra zoom compact camera will do. Considering that practically all of your images will be taken from a jeep forget about tripods, get a Gorillapod or a beanbag that you could use to stabilize your camera. Another important thing is memory, now obviously you will want a big, and I really mean big memory, but don’t forget a spare memory card. Spare batteries are also a must.
OK we got past the preparation now on the safari you will have no problem tracking the animals, Travel Company’s guide will do it for you. What is important is to be patient and wait for the animals to do something. It’s easy to take pictures of sleeping lions or standing elephant’s, but the one’s that stand out really show some animal behavior. Try to move out early, the animals are more active in the early morning hours and above that lighting is far better than during midday when they are hiding away from the sun and sleeping. Try to take advantage of the late afternoon and evening sun. There are many challenges to overcome in safari photography, but your rewards will be outstanding photos if you will succeed.
