Photo Safari & Game Viewing

Game viewing is an amazing experience, and photography a pleasure. At African Bush Camps, we pride ourselves at being so photography orientated,  that we can organize specialized photo safaris with one of Africa’s best acclaimed professional photographers Eric Gauss. Please find below a bit of advice on equipment to bring.

Cameras, digital and film

Second only to binoculars comes your camera. Your choice of the most appropriate cameras and lenses will determine the quality of your photographs on the trip.

For photography of birds and animals a good Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera with a zoom lens is one of the best options. The zoom will give you the flexibility you will require.
The minimum size of lens suitable for wildlife photography is a 200 mm. If you plan to use a bigger lens it is worth remembering that most opportunities for photographing game will call for hand-held shots, and longer lenses can produce “camera shake.” Old hands at photographing game swear by the use of beanbags on which to rest one’s lens. If one is in a “hide” watching game then a tripod is a worthwhile option.

If you are going to use a digital camera then remember to bring plenty of spare memory cards, spare batteries and battery chargers.

If your budget does not reach to an SLR there are now quite a few fixed-lens digital cameras with quite excellent optical zoom lenses. A x10 optical zoom can give very satisfactory results.

If you are going to use a camera that takes film, then remember to bring far more film than you think you will need. You almost certainly will not have an opportunity to buy up to date film rolls at the kind of prices you will pay at home. There will always be much debate about what film to use. Many guides favour slower films (100 ASA or even 50 ASA) for normal light, but you will require faster films for early morning and evening shots – and that is when you are more likely to see the predators. Colour reversal (slide) film is a favourite with many professionals.

An absolute must for anyone with avcamera is to bring along polythene bags to protect your camera and lenses, etc. from dust whilst on your travels.

Photo do’s and do nots

It is still risky in many African countries to take photographs of border posts or military/ police posts, as it may be mistaken for spying. We even know of a French national who was arrested for taking pictures of shops in Zimbabwe!

Also, rather ask permission before taking a photograph of local people, in order to show them respect.

Wild life won’t require the same protocol.

Tips for Safari Photography & Specialist Photo Safari

Successful wildlife photography requires good equipment, proper safari guiding, alertness and a few good reflexes. You may find useful resources online: we won’t give you all our tips & tricks here, but we invite you to live & learn. We organize specialist Photographic Safaris with professional photographer Eric Gauss. If you are interested in taking part, please enquire in advance.

Using binoculars

We strongly recommend that you bring a pair of binoculars with you as they can enormously improve one’s enjoyment of game viewing.

Some video advice

If you need to have your video battery re-charged we can do so in camp while you are out on an activity – please therefore bring a spare for use while the other is being charged.