Back from Kenya and Tanzania
Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 01:02PM
Cheetah on a Termite Mound
Olare Orok Conservancy, Kenya. March 2012
Pentax 645D, 300mm f/4, 1/1000 @ f/5, ISO 200
After a 3-week absence, I am back home with my family here in Houston. I had two amazing safaris, as I split my time between Tanzania and Kenya for each. The first safari in Tanzania was a published departure with 12 travelers, and the second safari in Kenya was a private safari that was not published online. I am sorting through my limited set of raw files, and I think I have some real keepers that I will be proud of. I mostly shot video on these safaris, and so I only came home with about 1,000 files from a borrowed Pentax 645D medium format camera.
There is a story in here that I need to tell about medium format digital for wildlife photography, and the short story is that the technology works perfectly for my needs. In the past year I have been seeking out a way to be able to produce bigger prints with more detail, better color and overall image quality. I have borrowed a Leica S2 system for my Antarctica trip, a Pentax 645D for these past safaris, and I will be using Phase One gear for one or more of my trips to Botswana and Namibia last on this year. I suspect I know what I will end up with in the end, but it has been a fascinating process so far.
I have the luxury of not having to shoot for anybody else but me, which means I can take a new camera system that might only yield 1 usable photograph per few days of work. That’s ok with me, because I would like to have only a handful of portfolio additions each year. Any more and it would exceed my expectations, but my expectations are quite low as it is. I would rather have a few amazing images that I can reproduce at any size that is requested than to say that a particular image can only be printed up to 16x24.
Time to get cracking on some raw files, a trip report, video footage and some sleep time in my own bed.
Masai Mara, Serengeti, Tanzania in News, Safari Reports
Reader Comments (8)
Welcome back! Will you be considering the Nikon D800(E)? You'd save yourself a ton of money, both for the body, and for naot having to buy new lenses. Can't wait to see your trip schedule for next year. Cheers from the SF Bay Area.
Nice and great post.
Thanks & regards
I see Jeff got to it before me.
Would be very interested to see your thoughts on the D800 or D800E.
welcome back.
am
That's a fantastic shot Andy.
Regarding gear and portfolio, I'm curious what gear you have used to shoot your most successful images - say award wining images and commercial success?
Ed
Ed, I have shot with about every piece of equipment under the sun. Canon, Nikon, Phase One, 6x17 film, 6x24 film, Pentax medium format, Leica S2, Hasselblad. Most of my favorite images were probably shot with lenses between 100mm and 400mm with either Canon or Nikon bodies.
Hey Andy, I'm curious as to why the new D-800 isn't part of that conversation. Seems like it would be a good fit.
The reason why the D800 wasn't part of the conversation is because it wasn't even announced. I took what was available. I will have the D800 and D4 with me later on this month on my next safari, though