Happy Father's Day, Dad

I am very lucky to have the best dad in the world. There are many things in life that I have learned, but nothing as much as how to be a good father to my son and how to be a good husband for Leslie. I just hope that I do as good of a job as my dad has done in both fatherhood and as a husband. For all the great fathers out there, happy father's day to you. And happy father's day to you, dad. I love you very much.

Back home from Tanzania

Well, I survived 2 back-to-back safaris in Tanzania. I had a wonderful time on both safaris, met some wonderful people, and came home with some great photographs. All in all it was a wonderful time, despite my battling flu-like symptoms for the first 10 days of my 23 days.

On the second safari we saw 41 lions, 5 rhinos, 7 cheetah and a stunning 5 leopards. With the exception of the rhinos, all of the above sightings occured during our 4 days in the Serengeti. Truly amazing.

I had the chance to shoot with both my 400mm f/4 DO and 500mm f/4 lenses, and I have some thoughts about traveling and shooting with both. First of all, the 400mm f/4 DO is an amazing little lens. It works beautifully well with teleconverters. It weighs less than the 300mm f/2.8 L IS. It is easy to hand hold. All in all I can only say great things about the lens. However, on Canon 35mm full frame digital cameras, like my 5D, I needed to use a 2x teleconverter for our leopard shots and the smaller bird opportunities. Well, the 5D won't autofocus (I knew this already) with f/8 lenses (the f/4 plus 2x teleconverter results in a maximum aperture of f/8). Not that big of a deal, but it made me rethink what cameras will work best with the 400mm DO.

My test to shoot with both the 5D and 20D came up short in a few ways. I found that I really missed autofocusing with a 2x teleconverter, as well as the quicker autofocus acquisition and accuracy of a 1-series Canon EOS camera. My plan is to return to the land of the 1-series, and will probably end up purchasing a 1DMkII (used) and a 1DsMKxxx this fall. I was hoping that I could travel with smaller, more compact cameras to Africa, but I am afraid that my plans didn't work out. Not a big deal, but I am more aware of the limitations of the 20D/30D and 5D cameras for wildlife at this moment.

I will be posting images from my safaris shortly. Time to process over 57GB of images, which will take a few days.

Glad to be back home.

Safari Recap

I am coming off of a spectacular safari here in Tanzania. My group of photographers had an opportunity to photograph 47 lions, 4 cheetahs, 2 leopards, 5 black rhino and all of the wildlife associated to the migration of wildebeest and zebras. The migration was more scattered than in past years, and we were able to find a large concentration near the central Serengeti, the Seronera River valley ecosystem.

We took the opportunity to track and locate the skiddish cheetahs near the Gol kopjes, and actually had the good fortune to come across a pair of young brothers near an outcropping where we were prepared to have a picnic lunch.

From a photographic point of view, the best photo opportunity of the trip was on the first day in Serengeti National Park. We had a large male leopard in a tree, with an unobscured view. I will be sure to upload photographs in a few weeks when I return from my next safari.

I have a day of rest tomorrow, and then I am out for another run safari on the 6th. Should be fun!

See Thomas Knoll Dance

My friends Ruth and Thomas Knoll joined me in Tanzania last July, and Ruth has put together a quick post over on photoshopnews.com. Check out the funny animated image.

http://photoshopnews.com/2006/05/25/see-tom-dance

Off for Tanzania

I am headed back to Tanzania for 2 safaris, back-to-back. This will be a very unique trip for me, as I will be shooting for a much different style than in past safaris. In the past I have photographed primarily for stock photos and for fine art color print sales. Sure, I have taken my fair share of black and white photographs, but the lions' share (pun intended) have been for building up my stock library and for material for a future book. Almost entirely color work.

Now, I am headed in a more creative direction. For the remainder of 2006 (4 safaris), I will be primarily shooting for black and white, and with a more edgy and creative look. I will be shooting with a smaller, lighter setup, and a new addition to my gear with be tilt/shift lenses. Here is what I will be taking with me:

• Canon 5D


• Canon 20D


• 24-105mm f/4 L IS


• 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS


• 400mm f/4 DO IS


• 1.4x and 2x teleconverters

I will also be taking my 500mm f/4 lens for a customer of mine, so I will be weighed down considerably en route.

My goal was to start shooting again with a 4x5" large format camera out on safari, but the specific camera I want to use is not available yet. My desire is to have quite large B&W toned prints of African wildlife in their environment, and a 4x5" negative helps me get to that end goal. Using normal or moderately wide angle lenses, it is easy to frame and capture elephants, giraffe, zebra, buffalo and wildebeest in the landscape. I expect to adopt a 4x5 camera into my safari gear for my September safaris.

 

Looking for a new Satellite phone

Well, after renting satellite phones for the past few years, I have decided I should look at purchasing my own satellite phone and voice plan. Since I spend about 9 weeks out on safari each year, I figure it is time for me to purchase my own phone.

I have used the Motorola Iridium phones in the past, but I understand there are more options out there. I do travel to locations other than Africa, such as the Galapagos and remote locations in the American West. I do understand that you can now purchase satellite phones with GPS already integrated into the handset. Thuraya comes to mind.
If you have any information on satellite phones, feel free to comment on this thread. Hmmm. I wonder if I should get system where I can update my blog from the middle of the Serengeti? A wifi hotspot in camp?

:-)

Back from Namibia

I am back from Namibia, and there is so much to write about how wonderful my experience was. We spent our time between 4 unique locations:

• Kolmanskop Ghost Town
• Wolwedans Dunes Lodge and the Namib Rand Reserve
• Sosussvlei
• Serra Cafema, along the Kunene River

I have updated my Galleries page to reflect some of the exciting photographs that Namibia has to offer. Here is a link to the Galleries page:

http://www.andybiggs.com/galleries.html

Galapagos Workshop Announcement

April 28 - May 7 , 2007

Limited to 18 participants

Galapagos Islands. Come join us for an exciting photographic adventure to the Galapagos Islands. We have chartered a private 83-foot motor yacht for 20 people to this exciting location. Details can be found here.