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About Andy

 

I am an avid adventurer, conservationist, teacher, and outdoor photographer whose photography celebrates the African landscape and its rich wildlife, people, and culture. My photographic safaris allow my travelers to not only enhance their understanding of photography, lighting, and wildlife, but to develop a life-long admiration for Africa ‘s beauty and culture.

Banana Republic recently used my photographs as the cornerstone of their Urban Safari campaign, and my images were seen in all 750 stores around the globe, as well as in their billboards, catalogs and annual report. I was also the winner of the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year in the ‘Wild Places’ category in 2008 and a highly commended in the ‘Creative Visions of Nature’ category in 2007.

I launched Gura Gear in 2008, in an attempt to deliver lightweight camera bags to the market. I was looking for a lightweight camera bag to hold all of my photographic gear, and there was nothing desirable on the market that suited my needs. After spending 2 years with many prototypes, the Gura Gear Kiboko bag was born. More products are now available on the Gura Gear web site.

 

 

 

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Entries in Safaris (140)

Saturday
May162009

Update from Namibia

We are at our third camp out of three on my northern and central Namibia workshop, and this trip is turning out to be quite productive photographically. Our first camp was along the desolate skeleton coast of northen Namibia. There we photographed many different types of scenes: sand dunes, the foggy coastline, desert elephants, gemsbok (oryx), river canyons, and transition zones in between the different zones. After three nights at the Skeleton Coast Camp, we headed to Serra Cafema Camp. Serra Cafema is known to be the most remote and luxurious camp in all of southern Africa. I was last there in the spring of 2006 when I co-led a trip with Michael Reichmann.

Serra Cafema Camp yielded some amazing scenes, yet it is a difficult location to capture in photographs.

We are now at the Namib Naukluft Park, home to the tall sand dunes as far as the eyes can see. After three nights here, I will head back to Windhoek to say goodbye to John Paul and the rest of the workshop group. I will head out with my second group to explore the southern and central part of the country, which is no less dramatic.

Wednesday
May062009

I am off for Namibia

 

Well, I am up late packing my bags. It always seems to be this way before one of my African safaris. Since the packing routine is mostly the same for all of my trips, I can easily find the items I need and stuff them into a duffle bag. What makes this trip different is that it is going to be a 100% landscape trip with occasional (or not) wildlife and a few cultural photo ops. So ditch the long lens and bring a tripod. That's basically about it.

What is different on this trip is that I will be bringing all Sony camera gear. Sony has graciously loaned me the following gear:

  • Sony A900 24mp camera body x 2
  • Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 Zeiss
  • Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 Zeiss
  • Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G

RRS also loaned me an L-bracket for the A900 camera, so I am all set to go.

I have to pack everything into a 48 pound weight limit, which is our main restriction for our bush plane flights. Namibia is as large as France, yet only has around 1.8 million people living within its borders. Most locations are a long way away from each other, and to be efficient with time we will be flying in a Cessna Caravan between camps. I am packing all of my camera gear into a Gura Gear Kiboko bag.

Other random accessories that are in my bags are polarizing filters, an AMOD GPS tracking device, 12xAAA Enerloop batteries for the GPS tracker, sensor cleaning equipment, extra A900 batteries, a Canon G9, a Motorola Iridium satellite phone, Blackberry Curve 8310, a Macbook Air, 250GB external USB Western Digital hard drive, 128GB of compact flash cards, an X-Rite ColorMunki for calibrating and profiling workshop participants' LCD screens in case they haven't already done so, tons of sunscreen, and a good book. Oh, and some clothes.

Whenever I can find a cell phone signal, I will attempt to post some blog entries directly from my Blackberry Curve phone. I have configured my blog so I can email in my entries, and can also attach jpg images that I transfer from my computer via a microSD memory card. Let's see if this often technically challenged person can pull it off. I know that from past experiences there will not be a signal at some of my spots, but Sossusvlei and Luderitz both have great signals.

Ok, time to pack the rest of the essentials and hit the sack for the night. Then I will spend time with Leslie and the kids before I shove off after lunch.

Thursday
Apr232009

Another Namibia opening

Are you available to travel to Namibia next month? I had a cancellation for my Namibia, May 19-27 trip. I have a number of people on a waiting list, but I am also getting the word out on this blog. If you have ever wanted to visit and photograph one of the most photographically rich landscapes on the planet, Namibia is the place for you. Namibia took my breath away back in 2006 when I visited for the first time. Now Namibia is part of my safari mix every year, with its captivating sand dunes, people and wildlife.

Namibia Photographic Safari

Northern and Central Namibia

May 19 - 27, 2009

1 spot available due to late cancellation

Tuesday
Apr142009

Last minute Namibia opening

Are you available to travel to Namibia in a few weeks? I had a last minute cancellation for my Namibia, May 9-19 trip with John Paul Caponigro. I have a number of people on a waiting list, but I am also getting the word out on this blog. If you have ever wanted to visit and photograph one of the most photographically rich landscapes on the planet, Namibia is the place for you. Namibia took my breath away back in 2006 when I visited for the first time. Now Namibia is part of my safari mix every year, with its captivating sand dunes, people and wildlife.

 

 

Namibia Photographic Safari

Northern and Central Namibia

Trip leaders: Andy Biggs and John Paul Caponigro

May 9 - 19, 2009

1 spot available due to late cancellation

Friday
Apr032009

Okavango Flood update - March 20, 2009

The following chart shows the levels of the 2009 Okavango flood waters. Map Ives, Wilderness Safaris' Chief Ecologist, sums up the flood so far... interesting stuff!

It is that time of year when the data is coming in thick and fast from hydrologists throughout southern Africa regarding the state of flows in our rivers, and the environmental and social effects of those flows. This includes data from the water authorities in Namibia, Angola, Botswana and Zambia outlining the scenarios for the Kunene, Zambezi, Kwando, Kavango and Kuito rivers (The last two combine to form the Okavango River upstream of the delta proper).

There have been a number of reports in the news media which may have created a negative impression of the “flooding”, which indeed has affected a small number of people on a localized basis, but in fact has a positive effect on the ecology of the natural areas into which they flow.

Due to a combination of higher than normal Indian Ocean temperatures, a low pressure system centred over central Botswana and a southward movement of the moist Congo Air Boundary, the late summer rains have been well above average. This has been particularly so over the 16 Degrees South latitude in a band across the African Continent and which, fortuitously, include the catchments of some of the great rivers of south central Africa mentioned in the first paragraph. During the first two weeks of March, this band received about 120% above average rainfall, followed by localized but heavy falls along the Zambia/Angola border region as well as over the Okavango Delta itself.

All of this has resulted in river flows that are above average as measured over the last 70 years. This is not unusual in the long term, as flows such as these have been recorded before, and in fact are well placed into data sets that show a pattern of wet and dry cycles over the entire catchment area. However, in the short term, this has resulted in flows that have not been seen in the Zambezi and Okavango Rivers since 1963.

These effects of this increased runoff on downstream environments will vary tremendously between those felt by people who have moved into low lying areas during the “dry” years, and those felt by the natural environments such as the Okavango, Savute/Chobe and Zambezi environments. Extremely high levels of water have inundated parts of the panhandle area of the Okavango, the area between the Chobe and the Zambezi, and floodplains along all these rivers. However, it must be stressed that no lives have been lost and so called flooding has only occurred in areas that have historically been floodplains. People have been assisted with evacuation to temporary shelter on higher ground nearby, where they will probably only stay for about 8 to 10 weeks before the waters subside.

Lower down the Okavango River and into the delta itself, the effects will be fantastic, as large grassland areas and floodplains which have not been inundated for many years and even decades, become flooded, and a complete recharge of groundwater takes place. Islands which have been dehydrated through no ground water flows, will now rejuvenate and distal lakes such as Ngami and Mababe will fill. These two terminal sinks along with a major increase in flows down the Boteti create wide ranging habitats for many, many waterfowl and mammal species. Linked to the Mababe Lake and fed from the Linyanti/Kwando system the Savute Channel can be expected to have a major increase in flows, which may well result in the re-establishment of the famed Savute Marsh at the terminal end of the channel. The availability of so much water over a large area will have extremely beneficial effects on the distribution of the region’s high elephant numbers.

Most, if not all of the camps in the Okavango are situated on islands and higher ground with many being on lifted walkways and stilts. There should be little if any, effect on the camps themselves, although some camps may have to adjust the road networks somewhat since many were located during those dry years. This is in fact a natural phenomenon which only happens very occasionally in the wet and dry cycle as mentioned, and is a grand opportunity to see the rivers and deltas of the region in all their glory.

After nearly 30 years of low flows, interspersed with occasional average flows, we now have a near record inflow, the effects of which are too many to innumerate here, but suffice to say are hugely important to the biodiversity of the Okavango and the region in general.

Those of us who have lived and worked here for many years have waited for a year so special as this, come and join us, it will happen only once in a lifetime.

Map Ives
Wilderness Safaris Botswana
26th March, 2009.

The chart below shows data as of March 20, 2009.

 

 

Tuesday
Mar172009

Namibia aerial photographs

Here are some images that I finally got around to processing this morning. Let's see, I was last in Namibia in September, which was 6 months ago. Crazy that I really haven't done much processing of my images since then, as Gura Gear has taken a ton of my time as of late. All of the following images were taken from a Cessna Caravan above the Namib desert, Namibia. All images are with the Canon 1DsMkIII body with a 24-105mm f/4 L IS lens. Processed and toned all inside of Lightroom.

I am a huge fan of images with a deep black, as I think this helps create a sense of drama. Maybe it is because Ansel Adams was a great practitoner of the entire tonal range, I don't know, but his work has influenced how I approach black and white landscape photography. I have put together an entire portfolio of black and white sand dunes in Namibia, and may offer these images in a portfolio box that is similar to the other two that I announced a few weeks ago.

 

 

 

 

Friday
Feb062009

1 Spot available for Botswana safari this July

2 spots 1 spot just become available on my July 19-28, 2009 Botswana safari. Please read below for trip details.

Botswana: The Premier Wildlife Safari

  • We will have private vehicles during the entire safari, with only 1 person per row of seating.
  • A virtually unlimited amount of weight per person. Bring as much gear as you can, but please keep it within reason! Standard weight allowance is typically only 44 pounds by comparison.
  • This safari offers superb game viewing and photographic opportunities in some of the best areas in Southern Africa.
  • We will have the option of photographing aerial shots from a helicopter (additional cost).
  • This itinerary focuses on a real wildlife experience from the surroundings of your premier accommodations.
  • The reserves you will visit offer an insight to the fantastic wildlife in Botswana.
  • Game viewing is done in open 4x4 vehicles and you will be led by some of the leading guides in Botswana.

If you are interested in joining this fantastic safari, please contact me right away. You can use the contact form on this blog, or by sending me an email to info@andybiggs.com.

Wednesday
Feb042009

Safari recommendations from a past traveler

Martin Doonan just posted a wonderful blog entry about his own thoughts and advice for how to prepare for an African photographic safari. Martin writes:

"First, get to know your camera. I was surprised that people weren't fully familiar with the functions of their camera. They have expensive gear and don't know how to use it to its best. Out on safari is not the time to learn. Based on what I experienced, these would be my top things to learn (this should all seem a bit basic): RAW shooting, Av & Tv, metering and compensation, depth of field control, servo focus, thumb focus button, ISO setting & auto-ISO, panning & tracking subjects, manual exposure."

This is wonderful advice, and something that he easily summed up in a few sentences.

You can read more on Martin's blog here.

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