Back home from Africa

Well, after 3 solid weeks of photography, I am back home. I took a tremendous amount of images, and I know I have some images that will put a smile on my face. It will take a while to sort through all of the images, mostly because I am still figuring out how to come up with an efficient workflow on my new MacBook. The new Adobe Lightroom beta 4 looks promising, but I will tackle that on another day.

I learned a few things from this past trip. I learned that I feel most comfortable using 1 series Canon cameras for wildlife, and just about any camera will do for landscapes. In the past 2 safaris I have taken very different approaches from an equipment standpoint, and I learned quite a bit from those experiences. Here are some bullet points:

• It is quite difficult moving back and forth between a 20D/5D and a 1DMkII/1DsMkII from an interface standpoint. I strive for simplicity, and prefer to have all of my cameras setup in a similar manner. Moving between a 1DsMkII and a 5D is challenging in a fast-paced environment.


• The buffer on a 1DsMkII is not adequate for wildlife photography (duh).


• The 1DMkII or 1DMkIIN is still an awesome camera for fast autofocus and high frames per second shooting.


• I love full frame 24x36mm viewfinders.


• The 400mm f/4 DO IS and 500mm f/4 L IS lenses are difficult to choose between. I would take either in a heartbeat.


• Canon needs to incorporate their new anti-dust technology in all EOS cameras. Period.


• I wish I could locate Safari Lager here in the USA.


• Epson P2000 devices are atrociously too slow for 12mp and higher cameras, especially when shooting with 8GB CF cards.

I hope to have my first round of images posted in the next few days. Time to sort through them all, deleting/ranking/processing along the way.

On my second safari, we saw 58 lions, 3 rhino, 1 leopard and 3 cheetah. We had some amazingly close elephant opportunities, as well as hordes of wildebeest and zebra. Giraffe were in abundance, including a number of drinking giraffe.
I am glad to be back home, but I look forward to returning in January.

Comments

[joshli]

IP: 192.193.220.141EMAIL: joshliphoto@gmail.comURL: http://www.joshli.comWhat an image! I look forward to many more.

Welcome back.

[SeanR]

IP: 208.253.91.250EMAIL: seanruiseil@yahoo.comURL: http://www.seanrussellimages.comHey Andy - did you use the same 58 lions on the second tour as the first, or did you order in a new batch?

[Andy]

IP: 64.123.207.170EMAIL: andybiggs@gmail.comURL: http://www.andybiggs.comha ha. New ones!!!

[SeanR]

IP: 208.253.91.250EMAIL: seanruiseil@yahoo.comURL: http://www.seanrussellimages.comGood, I hear the Tanzanian Lions Union has a restriction on the number of hours their members can work.

[joshli]

IP: 199.67.138.83EMAIL: joshliphoto@gmail.comURL: http://www.joshli.comSean --

You have some beautiful images on your flickr site!

I especially love the tigers in the wild... That is one of my must-do trips (hint hint Andy).

[janeeatonhamilton]

IP: 24.85.143.244EMAIL: jane@janeeatonhamilton.comURL: http://www.janeeatonhamiltonphotography.comSo, Andy, which camera have you settled on? So far, none meets all the reqs, obviously. Which would you use next time if nothing new has been announced?

Word has it we're looking at a 22mp beast coming in February, though, and if it's full frame, dust-free, with a hefty burst...we may all be in heaven.

[Andy]

IP: 170.215.76.214EMAIL: andybiggs@gmail.comURL: http://www.andybiggs.comJane, I have pretty much settled on 1 series cameras for my wildlife work, and the 1DsMkII and 5D for landscapes.......