2015 Year in Review

Wow. Another year has passed. Many things changed and many things stayed the same. What stayed the same you ask? Too much travel away from home. I say this every single year, but as a nature photographer and guide there isn’t an easy way to balance income requirements for my family and the travel that’s required to earn it. The only way to travel less is to likely leave the industry that I love so much, but I am not yet ready to make such a move.

Camera Equipment

Just like 2014, 2015 was a year of Phase One medium format equipment, augmented by 35mm camera gear when needed. For example, some trips like my Ultimate Primates safari (where we trek for wild chimpanzees and mountain gorillas) a full frame Canon or Nikon camera and a 70-200mm f/2.8 is all that you need. Nothing else. It’s not that my Phase One gear isn’t appropriate, but rather it isn’t the absolute best tool for the job. Late in 2015 I purchased some Canon 35mm gear from a friend who was selling off his entire system. I picked up a 5Ds camera, 24-70mm f/4, 24mm TSE, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II and a 200-400mm f/4. All I need is a second Canon camera body to round out the system. I did take the Canon to Botswana with me last month, and I compared the files to the Phase One IQ250 (with Sony’s 50mp sensor) and at lower ISO values the files look amazing. I think the Phase One 50mp files are better, like way better at ISO 1600, 3200 and 6400 (perhaps by 1.5 or 2 stops), but at ISO 800 and lower the 5Ds is a killer camera. I may purchase a second one, instead of going with something like a 1Dx or its forthcoming replacement.

Places I visited

I have to go off of memory here, and for a 46-year old man that starts to get challenging. ;-). Let’s see. I guided 5 African safaris (4 listed on my web site and 1 was private) to Tanzania, Botswana, Uganda and Rwanda, a landscape trip to Scotland in the late winter, Moab in Utah for the best 1-2 combination of national parks in the American West (Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park), a wildlife and cultural trip to India and also a trip to the southern Oregon coast in the late summer for some relief from the Texas heat.

Of all of the trips the India trip stood out for me. It was my first trip to India, and we had some amazing wildlife sightings with tigers being at the top of the list. I have now added India to my yearly destination list, and my 2016 trip has already been sold out for a number of months. 2017 is already in the works.

My 2016 Schedule

I am busier than I appear, based on my own travel schedule. Why? I act as a safari consultant / agent for safaris and trips that I don’t personally guide. I get phone calls and emails all of the time, asking for assistance with setting up custom safaris for small groups of people who may not have the budget for one of my published trips or maybe my dates don’t work well for them. I also set up trips for other photographers to guide, and these trips have the Andy Biggs Photo Safaris quality stamp all over them. It is the only way for me to satisfy the demand, stay married and see my kids!

• January in Tanzania (private group safari for 13)
• February in Carmel / Big Sur, California (private workshop for 3)
• April in India for a tiger safari (sold out)
• May in the Galápagos Islands on a private motor yacht (sold out)
• June in Africa for my Ultimate Great Apes safari (1 spot available)
• July in Oregon for my Oregon Coast and Redwoods worskhop (nearly sold out)
• August in Kenya for my Great Migration with the Dream Team safari (some spots available)
• October in Scotland for my Scotland Isles Trilogy (some spots available)
• November in Botswana for my annual Premier Botswana Photo Safari

If you are considering going to to any of these places or are thinking of joining me in 2016 or beyond, please contact me and let’s have a dialogue about your needs, wants and desires. I have a tendency to set up trips and tell people about them before they end up on my web site, so often many of my trips are a result of my listening to my customers’ wants and then I set something up and tell them about it. The next thing I know I have a trip that’s mostly filled up before I even get a chance to write anything up for this blog or my main web site.

My Favorite Photos and Memories from 2015 (In Captured Order)

Sisters

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Lion Pair

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Giraffes and Clouds

Lake Ndutu, Tanzania

Lioness On A Kopje

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Incoming Storm

Isle of Skye, Scotland

Water’s Edge

Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebredes, Scotland

Beggar Girl and the Taj Mahal

Agra, India

Jumping Tiger

Bandhavgarh, India

Green Bee-Eater

Bandavgarh, India

Coastal Fog and Sea Stacks

Bandon, Oregon

Contemplating Chimpanzee

Kibale Forest, Uganda

Mother and Child Chimpanzees

Kibale Forest, Uganda

Pre-Trek Dryness and Smiles

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Silverback Mountain Gorilla

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Silverback Mountain Gorilla

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Post-Trek Wetness and Smiles

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Silverback Mountain Gorilla

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Imitation Silverback Mountain Gorilla, AKA Francois

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Leopard Cub

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Bull Elephant

Okavango Delta, Botswana

A Hunting Pack of Painted Wolves, AKA Wild Dogs

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Drinking Lioness

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Jumping Lion

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Leopard and Cub

Okavango Delta, Botswana

India Tiger Safari Trip Mini Report

I have been back from India for more than a month and I have had some time to reflect on the amazing trip. My 2016 trip has already been planned and is now being actively marketed, and now it’s time to do a quick write up with photographs to talk about what we saw, photographed and felt.

In May 2015 I made my first trip to India. It was a trip that was long in the making, and the purpose of the trip was to combine some cultural sites with wildlife and nature. At the top of the cultural sites was of course the Taj Mahal, and on the nature list was the majestic tiger. These two goals of the trip helped us piece together an itinerary that looked like this:

• Delhi (1 night)
• Agra (1 night)
• Ranthambhore National Park (4 nights)
• Delhi (1 night)
• Bandavgarh National Park (4 nights)
• Delhi

I don’t want to go through a blow-by-blow detail of each day, but describing the trip in broad terms is more of how I want this report to be talked about. First off, India is a HUGE country, with many different cultures, climates and cuisines. This trip was limited to the central part of India, and in future years I will be branching out to see even more. India is a place that will challenge you in many ways and excite all of your senses: your sense of smell, sight, touch and hearing. The colors are often bright and colorful, the large cities are loud and energetic, walking the streets can mean bumping around between people and the spices of the food overwhelming (in a good way). I loved it. I loved everything about it.

We split our time between two different wildlife areas: Ranthambhore National Park and Bandhavgarh National park. We spent 4 days at each park, and because they aren’t close to each other we flew commercially back to Delhi and stayed for a night in between. On my 2016 trip we are connecting to parks that are closer together, in order to minimize fatigue.

Our group had some great sightings of tigers in total, of which a few of them were off the carts in a good way. In between tiger sightings there were so many mammal and bird species to photograph to keep us busy. Those other species really made the trip special for me, as it helps me understand and area and how an ecosystem works. Seeing tigers in the wild really was a sight to behold, and they really are as majestic and regal as I had hoped they would be. Many of our sightings included younger tiger cubs that were quite playful, which made great sightings into excellent sightings.

Photographing tigers is very different than that of other big cats, in that much of the process involves tracking and waiting. In some of the places work in Africa we track and track and track until we find our subject, however in India we track until we get a good understanding of where the tiger(s) may be and then find the nearest water hole and hunker down for a while. Eventually the forest will make some noise and we will a better understanding of what is going on. It may be the sound of a chital, a bird or some other noise. It’s a fascinating process and one that paid off for us.

So here are some images that I captured along the way to help illustrate what the trip was all about, with short captions underneath each photograph. I am looking forward to going back in April 2016!!

-Andy

Luxury India Tiger Safari, April 2016

Tigress and Cub, Bandhavgarh National Park

Finishing Up Our Game Drive, Ranthambhore

Tigress, Bandavgarh National Park

Chital Deer (also known as spotted or axis deer), Bandhavgarh National Park

Beggar Girl’s Hands, Agra

The Tea Room at the Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, with the Taj Mahal in the background

My private deck and view of the Taj Mahal from the Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra

Tiger, Ranthambhore National Park

Samode Safari Lodge, Bandhavgarh National Park

Tigress and Cub, Bandhavgarh National Park

Tiger, Ranthambhore National Park

Peek-A-Boo

Floating Flowers, Oberoi Amarvilas, Ranthambhore

Samode Safari Lodge Lanterns

Samode Safari Lodge

2014 Year In Review [Long Post]

I am now reflecting what a crazy year 2014 has been for me, both professionally and personally. I know I traveled too much away from home, and I say this every year. The single most difficult part of running my business is balancing the time needed at home with my needing to travel in order to earn and income. Since I plan my schedule 12+ months ahead, 2015 is going to be similar to 2014 with the quantity of travel, yet my 2016 year will likely have less travel for me. I absolutely love what I do for a living, and am looking for a better balance so I can stay healthy (mentally and physically).

Camera Equipment

2014 was the year that I sold 100% of my Nikon 35mm equipment. Yes, all of it. As I wrote in an earlier blog post this year, I have moved to medium format gear from Phase One. The first half of the year I was shooting with their IQ280 80 megapixel digital back, and mid-year I switched to their new 50mp CMOS chip product. I am now able to shoot a much higher ISO’s (up to 3200), have better control of my depth of field and also have more frames per second. We aren’t talking 35mm speed, but good enough for me.

International Travel

I started off the year with a safari in Kenya, during its off season time of the year. These off season months are my preferred times to be in the Masai Mara, due to the few vehicles and abundant resident (non migratory) wildlife. The plains have very few vehicles out and about, and thus game drives are much more private. In April I spent the entire month in Namibia, guiding a pair of overland landscape workshops. Namibia never disappoints, and these overland trips were no exception. We had dramatic weather, great light and fun people to travel with. Since 2006 I have logged more than four months of time shooting in Namibia, and I still feel like I have only scratched the surface. I may decide to return in 2016, and if I do it will likely be another overland trip to some destinations that rarely visited.

June found me in the Galápagos Islands, a place that I have visited many times before and always enjoy. I chartered a private motor yacht for the group and we visited most of the islands in the eastern side of the archipelago.

In August I guided a pair of trips in East Africa, beginning with my Great Apes safari to Uganda and Rwanda. We trekked with wild chimpanzees in Uganda for three days and then trekked for mountain gorillas in Rwanda for another three days. It was my first trip with the new Phase One IQ250 digital back, and this meant I could use it in low light situations, hand-held. At the conclusion of the Great Apes trip I co-guided a safari in Kenya’s Masai Mara with good friend and über guide Grant Atkinson. After I finihsed up in the Masai Mara I then headed over to Amboseli National Park region to photograph herding elephant with Mount Kilimanjaro as a backdrop.

To top off the year I was down in the southern ocean, photographing penguins and icebergs. The 20-day expedition visited the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica. The highlight of the trip was South Georgia, which hosts the largest king penguin colonies on our planet. We had hoped for one really good landing, and in the end we had landings at 3 of the 4 largest colonies. High fives all around.

2015 is going to be a fantastic year, filled with new destinations! Here is a quick roundup of my year:

• January - Private safari in the Okavango Delta of Botswana
• February - Tanzania wildebeest migration
• March - Scotland’s Isle of Skye
• April - Moab Behind The Scenes
• May - Tigers of India
• September - Mountain Gorillas and Chimpanzees, The Ultimate Great Apes Safari
• November - Botswana: The Premier Photographic Safari (two of them)

My Office

The Boss

Masari Mara, Kenya

Intrigue

Masai Mara, Kenya

Intimacy

Masai Mara, Kenya

The Open Plains of Amboseli, Kenya

Stare-Down

Amboseli, Kenya

Elephant Migration

Amboseli National Park, Kenya

Drinking Elephants

Amboseli National Park, Kenya

Chimpanzee

Kibale Forest, Uganda

Chimpanzee

Kibale Forest, Uganda

Chimpanzee

Kibale Forest, Uganda

Chimpanzee

Kibale Forest, Uganda

Silverback

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Silverback

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Namib Naukluft Park, Namibia

Namib Naukluft Park, Namibia

Aerial Photo Over Sossusvlei

Aerial Photo Over Sossusvlei

Aerial Photo Over Sossusvlei

Sea Lion and Pup

Galápagos Islands

Rise Above The Rest

Galápagos Islands

Iceberg and Sun

Cierva Cove, Antarctica

King Penguins And Surf

Saint Andrews Bay, South Georgia

King Penguins

Fortuna Bay, South Georgia

Trip Report Park 3: Amboseli National Park

Elephant Procession and Mount Kilimanjaro

Phase One DF+, IQ250 digital back, 75-150mm

At the conclusion of our wildebeest migration safari in the Masai Mara region, I spent the next 4 nights in the Amboseli National Park region, at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. The Amboseli region is well known for its elephant population, and near the end of the dry season it is particularly interesting for photographers who are looking for something other than photographs of predators. Amboseli does have a vibrant population of lions and cheetahs, however the areas best photographic opportunities are the elephant herds that migrate between the surrounding hills, forests and swamps.

Giraffes, Acacia Trees and Clouds

Phase One DF+, IQ250 digital back, 75-150mm lens

My 4 nights in the area were a great opportunity for me to obtain more photographs of these elephants as well as giraffes, my two favorite subjects to observe in nature. My last trip to Amboseli was more than 10 years ago, and I am not quite sure why it took me so long to return. I will be offering trips to Amboseli in the future, possibly in combination with the Masai Mara, as an extension to the Masai Mara or perhaps even as a separate trip on its own. The key to working in the Amboseli area is having access to conservancy land that is owned by the local Maasai, similar to how I run my trips in the Masai Mara. The ability to position a game drive vehicle exactly where one needs it is immensely important to me any my customers, and this is the approach we took on this visit and will continue this on future trips of mine.

I am not sure how long it had been since I had captured as many frames that I was happy with in such a short period of time, other than on the primate portion of this trip as explained in Part 1 of this trip report. In 4 days I felt that I was coming back to camp each half day with images I was itching to download and check out on my laptop computer. It’s that feeling that feels so good.

Giraffes and Sunset

Phase One DF+, IQ250 digital back, 240mm lens

Elephant Herd Fill-Up

Phase One DF+, IQ250 digital back, 240mm lens

The Eye

Phase One DF+, IQ250 digital back, 75-150mm lens

Fill-Up

Phase One DF+, IQ250 digital back, 75-150mm lens

Stare-Down

Phase One DF+, IQ250 digital back, 75-150mm lens

Three Elephant Babies

Phase One DF+, IQ250 digital back, 75-150mm lens

Trip Report Part 2: Luxury Great Migration in the Masai Mara

Sunset Over The Masai Mara

Phase One DF+, IQ250, 240mm lens

After the conclusion of our Great Apes Photo Safari, some of the travelers joined me and my co-leader Grant Atkinson in Kenya’s Masai Mara for my Luxury Wildebeest Migration Photo Safari, which I run each year. There are very few locations in Africa that rise to the level of quality wildlife sightings that the Masai Mara offers, and its rolling and wide open plains is filled with such a quantity and quality of wildlife that it is beyond imagination. I run this migration trip every year, usually in the month of August or September, to coincide with the arrival of the wildebeest and related species in Kenya’s Masai Mara.

Background on the Wildebeest Migration

There are roughly 2 million wildebeest (the white bearded wildebeest, specifically) in the greater Serengeti / Masai Mara ecosystem, and these mammals are always in search of fertile grasses to feed on. This ecosystem is split between Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park and Kenya’s Masai Mara (it should be spelled Maasai Mara, but that is a topic for another time). This migration occurs twelve months out of the year, and they typically move in a clockwise direction between these two parks. There are other animals who migrate with the wildebeest: zebras, grant’s gazelle, topi and dung beetles.

There is no start or finish to this migration, but rather it can be described as ongoing and never ending. This migration typically arrives in Kenya’s Masai Mara in late late July and they depart sometime in October.

At Attention

Phase One DF+, IQ250, 240mm lens

When I run these migration trips in Kenya I prefer to stay in areas where I have fewer vehicles, an ability to drive offroad and accommodations that exceed all expectations. Life is too short to watch wildlife with hordes of vehicles, and the Masai Mara is a challenging place to avoid vehicles when out on game drives. My solution is to base myself on conservancy land, just outside of the Masai Mara Game Reserve boundary, where the lion density is higher and sightings are much less crowded. Yes, my migration safaris are more expensive than my competition, however my guests get better returns in so many ways: better wildlife sightings, more private wildlife sightings, offroad driving for specific photography angles, a better sense of being in the outdoors, the best guides in the industry, the best accommodations in the industry, open vehicles that have been setup for photography and a no-compromise approach to the entire experience. I have been running photographic safaris in Africa since 2002 and I have learned to always take the ‘no compromise’ approach whenever possible. I have no desire to subject myself and my customers to the lack of guiding professionalism that exists in many areas of the Masai Mara Game Reserve, and the conservancy land delivers everything I wish for and more.

Lioness and Cubs from the Eseketa pride

Our group of 13 assembled at The Emakoko, which is a small and intimate safari lodge, located on the edge of Nairobi National Park. My guests arrived on their international flights , were taken to The Emakoko and began their safari in style. Since the camp is located on the edge of the park, we could take safari game drives in the park if we didn’t want to spend time unwinding at camp. This is an excellent option for those who arrived a day or two early, as it put them in the safari mood as soon as they arrived.

We flew to the greater Masai Mara area on privately chartered aircraft, which allowed us more weight allowance per person as well as a flexible schedule. Upon arrival on Olare Motorogi conservancy land, we met our guides, camp staff and camp managers and we loaded our camera gear, luggage and ourselves into our game drive vehicles and set out to find some great wildlife sightings.

Over the next week we had so many great sightings, and what stood out were all of the lion cubs. Tons of lion cubs. We also had superb sightings of other big cats, grazers, browsers and birds of prey, however the lion cubs certainly stood out in my mind. Since I was driving for much of the time, I didn’t raise my camera too often due to being on the opposite side of the vehicle as the photographers who were in my vehicle, however the sightings were just as rich in my mind as those who were captured them on their cameras.

When it comes to camera gear, I used the following:

• Phase One DF+ camera
• Phase One IQ250 50mp digital back
• Phase One 75-150mm
• Phase One 240mm
• Canon 5DMk3 (rented from borrowlenses.com)
• Canon 70D (rented from borrowlenses.com)
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II (rented from borrowlenses.com)
• Canon 1.4x III  (rented from borrowlenses.com)

When it comes to the gear that our guests used, by far the most popular lens was the new Canon 200-400mm f/4 L IS. Out of 13 people I think we had 6 or 7 of them on the trip. That’s a huge percentage. In past years we have had a steady balance between Canon and Nikon users, however on this trip we had only 2 Nikon users and the rest were with Canon. I haven’t seen those kinds of numbers since before Nikon had the D3 / D700 bodies, which would be around 2005 or 2006. I wonder if the tide is turning towards Canon for wildlife shooters? I just don’t know.

I tended to use the Phase One setup most often, however there were some situations when I needed more focal length or faster autofocus and I used the Canon gear. I was pleasantly surprised with just how usable the Phase One gear was, as the new IQ250 works so well with ISO values up to 1600, 3200 or even 6400 in a pinch. I have been using an IQ280 80mp digital back, which I have limited to a maximum ISO of 400, but prefer to keep it to 100 or 200 if at all possible. The new IQ250 is 50mp and is based on a CMOS chip design, which is new for Phase One, and the product is much better for the style of wildlife photography that I create. I was pleasantly surprised and may be making the switch over to the IQ250 for all trips going forward.

We have already planned out our 2015 wildebeest migration safari and I will be publishing the trip very soon. If you are interested please contact me as soon as possible, as 50% of the spaces have already been pre-booked. The itinerary is exactly the same as this year.

Phase One DF+ camera, IQ250 digital back, Schneider 240mm lens and 2x teleconverter on a Gura Gear bean bag

Our vehicle setup, with shooting platforms

Yours truly

Sub adult lions

Phase One DF+, IQ250, 240mm lens. ISO 6400!!

Trip Report Part 1: Great Apes Photo Safari

Chimpanzee, Kibale National Park, Uganda

I am recently back home from a pair of back-to-back safaris in east Africa, and this trip report is part 1 of 3 in the series. Part 1 will cover my primates trip, Part 2 will cover the wildebeest migration in Kenya and Part 3 will cover a post safari extension to the greater Amboseli N.P. region of Kenya. So here goes!

Our Great Apes Photo Safari took place between two eastern African countries, Uganda and Rwanda. We trekked for two primate species, chimpanzees and mountain gorillas. Chimpanzees can be found in many different countries, and on our itinerary we chose Kibale National Park, Uganda as our location. Kibale National Park is a premier location for observing and photographing wild chimpanzees, as we are allowed to obtain ‘habituation’ permits. These permits allow us to trek with chimpanzees and observe them from sun-up until sundown. I cannot stress the importance of this setup, as a normal permit scenario allows for only 1 hour of contact. All-day permits are incredible important for photographers, as there are so many behaviors these beautiful and dramatic primates go through throughout the day.

Our trip began in Entebbe, Uganda, where my small group of 7 people gathered after making the journey over to Africa. We met for dinner and drinks, enjoyed a few smiles and talked about our upcoming trip. We flew up to Kibale the next day, and over the next three days we trekked through the forest to find and keep up with our subjects.

Chimpanzee, Kibale National Park, Uganda

Trekking with chimpanzees requires a significant amount of walking at the same pace as the troop, which is quite demanding

Chimpanzee, Kibale National Park, Uganda

Chimpanzee, Kibale National Park, Uganda

Gear used for primates:

• Canon 5DMk3 (rented from borrowlenses.com)
• Canon 70D (rented from borrowlenses.com)
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 (rented from borrowlenses.com)
• Phase One DF+ with IQ250 50mp digital back
• Phase One 75-150mm 

The primary photographic gear amongst our group was a full frame dSLR with a 70-200mm f/2.8. Some had other lenses, however the 70-200mm f/2.8 was, by far, the most used during our three days with the chimpanzees. Since the light wasn’t abundant under the forest canopy, I was often shooting at f/2.8 and at ISO values ranging from 800 to 6400. My most common ISO value was either 1600 or 3200. Since I prefer shallow depth of field I rarely stopped adown past f/2.8. I did bring along my Phase One camera equipment with me, however due to the fast moving nature of the chimps I needed to use a system that was better suited for the environment (I did use the Phase One system with the mountain gorillas).

Restful Sleep

The Thinker

Chimpanzee, Kibale National Park, Uganda

After our three days of chimpanzee trekking we flew down to the border of Rwanda, crossed the border and continued on to our lodge in the Virunga Mountains. This move from Uganda to Rwanda also brought us higher in elevation. We then spent the next three days treeking at higher altitudes for the mountain gorillas, which almost always brings people to tears when they see them for the first time. Our first trek took us to see the Umubano family group, and this hike was (thankfully) one of the easier ones I have had over the past few years. On the second day we saw the most famous of the families, the Sabyinyo group, with its elder statesman Guhonda as its silverback head of family. Guhonda is now and old man by mountain gorilla standards, and this was my third time to see him. He is so gentle, yet powerful.

Guhonda the Silverback

For the mountain gorilla treks I primarily used my Phase One camera gear, as gorillas move much slower and it was easier for me to compose, focus and shoot than when we were with the chimpanzees. Our treks were often very very muddy, which required stamina and good balance, however the effort was always worth it in the end. If you are considering a primates trip, please be prepared for aerobic exercise at altitudes up to 10,000 feet and for 6 to 8 hours. Each day. These trips aren’t for everyone, however I have never had a customer not see what they were there to see, even if they didn’t partake in all of the available treks. These days do wipe people out, with myself included.

I have a primates trip scheduled for 2015, and the trip is already sold out before I even had the chance to do a trip write-up to market it. Due to the high demand for these trips, my co-leaders Randy Hanna and James Weis will also have trips planned in 2015 and beyond.

November 2012 Botswana Safari Report

Leopard on a Branch

Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/4 L IS, 1/500 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 1600

A few months ago I led a pair of safaris into Botswana’s Okavango Delta, and here is my write-up from my experiences. My goal is to not bore everybody with a day-by-day account of all of our game drives and activities, but rather what made these two safaris unique and exciting. Read on…..

I left home the day after our USA Thanksgiving, and when I arrived in Botswana I spent 16 straight nights between two camps in the Okavango Delta: Nxabega Tented Camp and Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, both operated by &Beyond. These two camps are quite different in both lodging style as well as the ecosystems where they are located. Nxabega is considered more of a ‘wet’ camp, with both boating activities as well as game drives. Sandibe is a dry camp, especially later on in the season in the months of October, November and December.

Equipment Used

Even though I use a Phase One medium format system, I did choose to only bring along a small Canon kit that I rented from my friends over at Borrowlenses.com. Why did I not bring my Phase One gear? At the end of 2012 I can safely say that I was pretty darned tired from all of my travels with big and heavy gear. I also realized that I needed to return to my Canon roots and know what my Canon-shooting customers are using these days. Here is what I brought:

• Canon 1Dx
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II
• Canon 300mm f/4 L IS
• Canon 1.4x teleconverter
• Sony RX-100 point and shoot

That’s it. Seriously. I took a Gura Gear Bataflae 26L camera bag, and had tons of room leftover for clothing items. I didn’t bring a second 35mm camera because I just wanted to be simple about the trip, and if I had an equipment malfunction at least I knew that I am not directly earning my living from my photographs. My living is made by running the best photo safaris that I know how to run, and the happiness of my travelers is much more important than any images I bring home. My Sony RX-100 was used for people shots, behind the scenes types of shots and any other quick grab shots. It was very liberating to take such a small amount of camera gear, which reminded me of what my camera bag looked like back in 2002 and 2003 when I had a Canon 300mm f/4 as my longest lens. The only difference was that this time I was shooting with a full-frame 1Dx camera body and back in 2002/2003 I had the Canon D30 or 10D. Talk about a long time ago in technology terms. 

The 300mm f/4 worked perfectly for the way I like to shoot, which means I like having plenty of space for my subjects to ‘breathe’ in the frame. Call them animal-scapes or whatever you wish, but I just photograph in a way that tells a story about a place as well as a subject. After looking at my favorite images from the trip, I used the 70-200mm more often than the 300mm. And I rarely used the 1.4x teleconverter at all. I am glad that I don’t need a longer lens in Botswana, because my Phase One equipment has a maximum focal length of 300mm, which is actually closer to 190mm in 35mm terms. On a side note, longer lenses are needed on the open savannah grasslands of the Masai Mara and Serengeti, so please regard the above comments as being specific to Botswana or South Africa.

My Vehicle Mates

Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, 1/3200 @ f/3.2, ISO 320

Elephant

Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, 1/200 @ f/2.8, ISO 1600

Helicopter Flights

While at Nxabega, we spent some time flying around in our privately chartered helicopter. Nxabega is a fantastic location for aerial photography, because the flood plains to the east and north of camp are some of the most beautiful in all of the Okavango Delta. We had flights over papyrus forests, open flood plains and dry savannah. We had superb cloud reflections, elephant herds, giraffes, cape buffalo and the super special sitatunga. I am a big supporter of not interfering with wildlife on these aerial flights, and this means keeping a respectful distance from my subjects. I am NOT a fan of aerial photos with wildlife subjects who are running away with scared and fearful nonverbal communication. Not a fan. It’s also reckless.

Elephants From The Air

Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/8000 @ f/4.5, ISO 2500

Take-off

Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, 1/800 @ f/8, ISO 800

Peek-a-Boo

Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, 1/1000 @ f/4, ISO 800

Big Cats

We had more success at Sandibe with the big cats, and I likely had more leopard sightings per day than on any other safari in the Okavango in the past. On my first safari we logged 7 leopard sightings in only 4 days. We even had some great cheetah sightings, including a lone male cheetah on his recent kill. And lions were plentiful as well. We observed leopards stalking and hunting on a few occasions, as well as mating lions. Oh, and lions hunting wild dogs. More on that below under Unique Sightings.

Lion

Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/4 L IS, 1/80 @ f/4, ISO 1600

Leopard

Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/4 L IS, 1/400 @ f/7.1, ISO 1600

Leopard

Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/4 L IS, 1/1000 @ f/4, ISO 800

Wild Dogs, Wild Dogs and More Wild Dogs

On my second stint at Sandibe we had African wild dogs near camp for 2.5 days straight. We followed them on a hunt, which wasn’t the easiest of game drives. Wild dogs can run straight through the bush, which can make for a very rough experience. Of course some times they can run out in open areas as well, but I haven’t seen that very often when they are on a hunt. We spent enough time with the pack on 5 straight game drives where we all came away with wonderful experiences. And we had the wild dog pack being stalked by 2 adult lionesses. UGH. That really tore me apart, so read on in the next section.

African Wild Dogs

Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/4 L IS, 1/1600 @ f/6.3, ISO 800

Unique Sightings

We had great sightings on these two safaris, however a couple of them really stood out. Let’s dive into the first one, which involves leopards and dogs. At the same time. On one afternoon we located the dog pack, sat with them until they woke up from their afternoon naps and then watched them get excited about going on a hunt. This was our first sighting of the pack on the safari, and so we had tons of desire to spend as much time as possible with them. When they began to hunt we worked very hard to keep up with them as they ran through the thick bush. After 45 minutes of bushwhacking our way to keep up with the pack, we lost sight of them but still knew their general direction. The light was fading quickly, and then we realized we had found the pack on a kill. Not just a kill, but a kill from a leopard and her two leopard cubs. The dogs had chased the leopards up a dead tree. We positioned our vehicles where we had good lines of sight of both sets of predators: dogs on the left and leopards on the right. The dogs had stolen a kudu from the leopards, and the dogs were all over it. And the leopards were stuck up a tree that they couldn’t come down from, as the dogs would continue to pursue them. Predators are extremely competitive, and a leopard with cubs will not put her cubs into a life or death situation without any benefit. African wild dogs 1, leopards 0. That was a first for me to see interaction between leopards and wild dogs, and this was a humdinger. 

The other unique sighting was both thrilling and sad at the same time. There are two dominant lionesses in the northern NG31 concession, and we had spent some time watching them on earlier game drives. On this particular drive we were out searching for the wild dog tracks in an attempt to locate the pack. We found the pack sleeping under some shaded trees and sat and waited for them to get ready for their late afternoon hunt. After some minutes went by we noticed 1 lioness stalking into the area. The dogs did not see them and by the time the 2^nd lioness had appeared there was 1 male adult dog fighting for his life. The lionesses had ambushed the pack from two different sides, and nothing makes me sadder than to see a wild dog meet its end. African wild dogs, often referred to as painted dogs or cape hunting dogs, are the most endangered predator in Africa with roughly 4,000 individuals left in the wild. The primary challenge for them is loss of habitat, as well as human / wild dog conflicts.

As the two lionesses stood over the wounded dog, those in my vehicle had nothing but sad thoughts. I don’t often get emotionally charged with wildlife interaction, but this one just didn’t sit with me. We left the scene as soon as a few shots were taken. Even our guide and tracker were shook up by the event.

Lionesses Killing a Wild Dog

Canon 5DMk3, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/1600 @ f/5.6, ISO 1000

Weather and Scenery

Northern Botswana can be a difficult place to learn, especially for somebody like me who has to build a business around leading the best wildlife photographic opportunities possible. The challenge is that each concession, park and camp has their own unique ‘best’ times of the years, and I have to always be on the ball to know when and where to go to serve the needs of my travelers. November and early December are a fantastic time to be in bush in the Okavango Delta, as it is when babies are born (zebras, impalas, etc), the colorful migrant birds are present and most importantly the skies are very very dramatic. Think huge clouds, reaching high in the sky, that are filled with moisture and color. The grasses are starting to green up a little bit, however it isn’t later in the season when the grasses can get tall.

Giraffe and Oxpecker

Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/1250 @ f/6.3, ISO 1000

Early Morning Game Drive

Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, 1/640 @ f/5.6, ISO 800

Closing Thoughts and Looking Forward

In all of the times I have been in the Okavango Delta and Linyanti ecosystems this was likely the happiest set of travelers I have ever had on any safaris. I cannot wait to return again in November 2013. I have already announced the details on my dedicated safari page:

Botswana: The Premier Okavango Delta Photo Safari, November 8-17, 2013

The schedule is nearly identical, and the costs are exactly the same as last year. Come join me and Grant Atkinson in Botswana this November! It will be a safari experience you will not forget.

Namibia Trip Report [Warning, Modem Buster Alert]

Back in late September I lead a trip to Namibia for Phase One as part of their PODAS series of workshops. My good friend, Bill Atkinson, was the other instructor on the trip, and we had an excellent time together with our travelers. Our trip began and ended in the capital city of Windhoek, and we flew between 3 different locations across the country.

Since I have been to Namibia many times in the past, I tried to put myself in a different creative mind on this trip. My goal was to find new compositions with shorter focal lengths, which isn’t always easy with all of the far away types of shots that Namibia has. I did use my Phase One camera system this time, which limits me on the long end anyway, and it is probably the best camera system for that type of environment: huge huge files from 40, 60 or 80mp digital backs for crisp/detailed images with rich color fidelity.

Our first destination was in the sleepy town of Lüderitz, which is a coastal town that was built to support the diamond mining efforts at the beginning of the last century. While at Lüderitz we were able to photograph the abandoned diamond mining town of Kolmanskop, where I have been many times in the past. This was, however, my first time to visit and photograph with a medium format camera. We spent 2 nights there, and had 2 separate shoots at Kolmanskop on separate days.

As a side note, I will be leading a pair of Namibia trips with Joshua Holko in 2014. We are working on the details right now. Please notify me if you are interested in more information when I have all of the details planned out. info@andybiggs.com
 

Staircase, Kolmanskop Mining Town

Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 28mm lens

Two Doors, Kolmanskop Mining Town

Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 45mm lens

Door In A Door, Kolmanskop Mining Town

Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 75-150mm lens

After we left Lüderitz we flew over to Sossusvlei, where some of the tallest sand dunes in the world are located. We stayed in the area for 3 nights, and visited the famed Deadvlei a couple of times in an attempt to ‘get it right’. I do like visiting a location more than once, as I tend to get hung up with a particular style on a shoot. Sometimes this means that I stick with a single lens, sometimes it means that I envision only B&W or color or sometimes it means that I take huge creative risks in an attempt to do something completely different. We also took some time to scout some less photographed areas of the Namib-Naukluft, and found what I hear is the most northern quiver tree in Namibia. Talk about far away from its nearest relative, which is still at least a 50km drive.

Deadvlei in B&W

Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 45mm lens

A Lone Quiver Tree

Sony RX-100 point and shoot camera

Yours Truly

El Grupo

At the end of the trip we flew to the more remote area of Namibia, Serra Cafema Camp. Serra Cafema Camp is located on the Kunene River, which separates Namibia from Angola. One of my all-time favorite locations to photograph is here, and it is the combination of remoteness, grandiose beauty and accommodations that keeps bringing me back. 3 nights just scratches the surface of what this area can do for photography, and I look forward to going back again in future years.

Overlooking the dune field from a vantage point

Driving through the dunes

A side view of one of the dunes near camp

Our thrones around the fire

I am not sure this is what Really Right Stuff envisions for their tripod support

Another vantage point before we went into the dunes for sunset

Dune field with the Serra Cafema mountain range in Angola in the background

Ovahimba Tribe

Sharing our images

Our final breakfast location, overlooking the Kunene River and Serra Cafema mountain range in Angola