Day 3 –Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta

We had a photographically slow morning, however we did see some amazing wildlife. The morning started off with a civet, followed by a pair of honey badgers fairly close to the vehicle. General game followed, however the morning was more slower than normal. Perhaps the full moon kept all of the animals up all night and thus they were inactive and lying down for the morning. During the slow times I like to work on photographic techniques with people, and help introduce new approaches to wildlife photography. One of the first things I like to introduce are the benefits of using the rear autofocus button on cameras. Another is working on lighting and how to position the vehicle to take advantage of the light.

Back to camp near noon, then a nice brunch, and then some down time for everybody. We typically meet up at 3:30 for afternoon tea, and today was no exception. We left for our afternoon game drive at 4:00 and we were ready to get our shutters working hard after a slow morning.

Phinley tracked a lone female leopard just outside of camp, who has the nickname of  ‘Karuru Female’. This was the same leopard that we photographed yesterday, and she was still calm in our presence. Positioning the vehicles turned out to be a bit challenging, as the ground was littered with dead tree limbs. It actually made for a great teaching opportunity in how we get clean backgrounds and how to photograph a leopards in a tree with backlighting. The last vehicle position for me yielded a fussy background, however I enjoyed having rim lighting on her chin and lower leg and paw (see image below).

We stopped for a sundowner drink on the way back to camp, and there were smiles and high fives all around after 3 successful leopard shoots in 2 days. It is always great to have great leopard sightings early on in a safari, as this is something that all travelers look forward to.

Note: All images in these daily blog postings are very very rough edits of the things we have seen, and I often omit the photographs that take too much time to process. I don’t take much time off during the day, as I am working with people with their photographic needs. All of my images in these posts will have to be re-processed when I get back home, and they are only included in these blog entries for illustration purposes.

Nikon D700 + 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/500 @ f/5.6, ISO 3200

Nikon D700 + 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/200 @ f/5.6, ISO 6400

Day 2 –Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta

We were up at 5:30 and out of camp by 6:30 this morning, and it wasn’t as cold as I have been expecting for this time of the year. It wasn’t any cooler than the upper 40’s or lower 50’s, which was kind of nice, and made for an easy morning. When we left camp we wanted to follow up on some lion roars in the distance, and it took us around 45 minutes to locate two adult males. It took us some time offroad, but it only took a couple of roaring sessions for us to home in on their location.

The male lions were good examples of how majestic big cats can be, as they had very dark and large manes. My guests appreciated the early sighting, however the sun never came out during our time with them. On a perfect wildlife photography day we would have a bright and warm sunrise, followed by clouds for the rest of the day for soft light, and then the last hour of light would be warm, direct light again.

After our lion sighting, we located a pair of adult cheetahs, a male and a female. They put on a great show for us, and there were smiles all around. A cheetah on a clean perch, such as a termite mound, is a great thing. Two cheetah on the same perch are an even better thing, indeed. 5 stars!

On our way back to camp, we saw circling vultures overhead. We took the time to check out what was going on, and saw an adult female leopard climb up into a tree when we arrived. What excellent luck on our first full safari day: the 3 big cats all on one game drive. The light wasn’t the most ideal, however we did get some good vantage points to watch her on a low limb in the tree.

We took a break for lunch and returned in the mid afternoon to watch the leopard again. She had not moved an inch since we had left, and we all enjoyed watching and photographing her from different vantage points until after sunset. What an excellent safari day!

Note: All images in these daily blog postings are very very rough edits of the things we have seen, and I often omit the photographs that take too much time to process. I don’t take much time off during the day, as I am working with people with their photographic needs. All of my images in these posts will have to be re-processed when I get back home, and they are only included in these blog entries for illustration purposes.

Day 1 – Johannesburg / Maun / Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta

We left Joburg this morning on Air Botswana with no hiccups, as usual. The flight is an easy to do 10am flight, which allowed me and my guests to get a good night’s sleep after a long journey to this side of the pond. After our 2 hour flight from Joburg to Maun, Botswana, we grabbed our bags and hopped on our bush plane flights to Chitabe Camp in the Okavango Delta. I normally arrange for an extra plane for additional weight allowances, and this trip was no exception.

The bush plane flight only took about 15 minutes from Maun, and we landed, met our guides BB and Phinley, and headed off to camp. There is much water th is year in the delta, and the normal road back to camp was still underwater. This year has more year than last, and last year had more water than the year before that. I can only anticipate what it will be like in 2011. It isn’t really a bad thing, but it can be challenging when you are trying to take the quickest road to somewhere.

We arrived in to camp, said hello to Dawson the manager, grabbed our rooms and met back in the main area for tea and cookies. Game drive time! Since it was late in the afternoon, we didn’t have a long game drive today. We saw some great congregations of greater kudu, as well as ostrich. What a great day to go from a big city to the wilderness in only a short period of time.

We stopped for a sundowner drink after sunset, in front of a beautiful acacia tree. Wine, beer, sodas and gin and tonics were served, and there were smiles on faces, happy to be in the wilderness of one of Africa’s greatest wildlife gems: the Okavango Delta. After some time jib jabbing away, we headed back to camp, freshened up, and gathered around the campfire in anticipation of a wonderful dinner. After dinner, I am sure it didn’t take long for people to fall fast asleep after a long journey. Tomorrow we will be up at 5:30, and will head out for a morning game drive after a quick breakfast.

Joe and Joan Johnson from Really Right Stuff, excited for their first game drive

Phinley and I take a second to say cheese.

Acacia sunset shoot and time to stop for sundowner drinks.

Palms and Cranes

...and finally, drinks by the campfire before dinner

Safari-time!

Ok, I am off for Africa soon, and I will be all over the place. Here are a few places where I will be:

• Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana (1st camp on my first safari)
• Savuti Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana (2nd camp on my first safari)
• Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana (1st camp on my African Wildlife Photography Boot Camp)
• Rattray's on Mala Mala, South Africa (2nd camp on my African Wildlife Photography Boot Camp)
• Tuningi Safari Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa (to spend some time with friend Gerry van der Walt)

Unlike like most of my past safaris, I will be taking a few days off in between my first and second safari, and it will be rest that will be well used. I will have a BGAN satellite system on my safaris, which means I intend to update this blog frequently (daily?) from the bush. I did this a few months ago from Tanzania, however technology was easier there as I could update the blog from my Blackberry Bold mobile phone. I didn't upload any photos, though, as I was shooting film on that safari (long story).

The BGAN satellite is a very nifty piece of technology, as I can surf the web and send emails at 492kbps, which is plenty fast. The kicker is that it costs around $6 per megabyte, so I will only be using the system to read and send emails via a web page. I am renting the system from a friend, and this is a good way of figuring out if I should invest in the technology going forward.

If anybody has called Gura Gear or have sent us an email, you will likely be familiar with who Troy Covey is. Troy is my right hand man, and he will be coming on my second safari to shoot video. I am a video dummy, so Troy is coming to gather footage that we can use for marketing purposes. We want to convey what it is like to be on one of my photo safaris, as well as how people use our Gura Gear Kiboko bag. I know he is going to have to do tons of audio editing, as I tend to laugh a little too much. It is a personality flaw of mine, and now that I have admitted it I only have 11 more steps to go. :-)

Leslie will be joining me near the end of my second safari, and this will be the first time since 2004 that Leslie has been able to join me. Why the long wait? Let's just say that our having 2 boys in the span of 28 months can alter one's adventures in life. Leslie will be at Mala Mala and Madikwe with me, and I cannot tell you how happy this makes me to have her back on another adventure with me. Shared experiences is a good thing.

While in Madikwe, we will be spending some time with friend and photographer Gerry van der Walt, who runs Photo-Africa.com. I am not sure what kind of trouble we will find, but I am sure it will be fun whatever we end up doing. I just think that all Leslie wants to do is to sleep late and to not have little boys climbing all over her. At the same time I don't even know how to relax, as it isn't in my vocabulary. Relaxing usually means being out on game drives by myself with a guide and perhaps another friend or two.

I have tons to do before I leave next week, and near the top of that list is to update my 2011 safaris on andybiggs.com. I have a few more safaris to add, such as a June 2011 Tanzania trip with Chris Gamel, and an August Tanzania safari with Randy Hanna. If you haven't met Chris or Randy before, you should know that they are excellent trip leaders, photographers, instructors and all around good guys. I couldn't be more happy to be working side by side with them.

Availability on upcoming safaris

I you are looking for a unique photographic safari in Africa, I have 1 spot available SOLD OUT for the rest of the year on safaris that I am personally leading. Here is a quick recap:

African Wildlife Photography Boot Camp in Botswana and South Africa. August 3-12, 2010.

I have 1 remaining spot available. This is a very unique safari for me, as there is a fair amount of teaching involved on this workshop. 

This safari will be a combination of morning and afternoon game drives, mid-day lectures, evening slide shows and critiques. We will repeat the schedule each day, working one on one with all participants to foster a better understanding of wildlife photography. We will have discussion and assistance on specialized topics such as long lens technique, projection flash usage, action shooting, wildlife observation, field craft and African animal behavior. Advanced techniques will be constantly discussed, demonstrated and put into practice. The end goal is for all participants to end up with new skills to help elevate their African wildlife photography, as well as coming home with excellent photographs.

This workshop is about shooting. Lots of shooting. We will be taking over the use of two lodges, which means we will have a completely private safari where we will relax, learn, photograph by ourselves and enjoy our surroundings. We also have secured private charter aircraft for this safari, with virtually unlimited weight allowances per person, allowing us to bring all of our camera gear.

Safari Highlights

• We have private vehicles throughout the entire safari, with only 1 person per row of seating (except for the sharing spouses / partners - see details below).
• A very liberal amount of weight per person of up to 100 pounds. Bring as much gear as you can! Standard weight allowance is typically only 44 pounds by comparison, but we have secured extra seats on the inter-camp charters.
• This safari offers superb game viewing and photographic opportunities in some of the best areas in Southern Africa.
• 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 in both of the prime areas we will visit.
• Game viewing is done in open 4x4 vehicles and you will be led by some of the leading guides in Botswana and South Africa.

Photo of the Day

Lion at Sunset

Nikon D3x, 200-400mm f/4 + 1.4x, 1/320 @ f/5.6, ISO 1600

near Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana. July 2009

Safari Testimonial - Rajesh Khanna

Andy-

My trip to Botswana with you was simply fantastic and beyond expectations. I had booked the trip a year in advance and was looking forward to it with a lot of excitement. As a result, it took quite some doing to achieve an outcome beyond my expectations. This was certainly one of the best vacations in my life in one of the best places in the world. Andy, I think of your role in 2 parts: (i) thorough preparations in arranging the best guides, accommodations and logistics, and (ii) more importantly, coach, friend & guide to help us take better photographs. On the first part, the arrangements were flawless. The guides at each camp were outstanding & extremely knowledgeable - unlike regular guides, they understood the needs of photographers and the appropriate positioning of their vehicles to enable all passengers get a good angle for their photos and to position us well in terms of the angle of the available light. The camps were also well selected with abundant wildlife, high quality accommodations and highly courteous/ friendly staff. Many thanks to James & Nicky at Eyes on Africa for taking such good care of the arrangements.

Andy, you were fabulous - great knowledge of African wildlife, highly passionate about photography, always willing to go the extra mile, always helpful (even when you were sleepy!), genuinely keen to teach/ share your knowledge and keen to ensure that all participants have a great experience. I must have asked you hundreds of questions & you answered all of them with a smile. You are a warm and great guy to spend 2 weeks with! Equally importantly, you were also sensitive to our special needs - such as ensuring that I was comfortable on game drives since I have a bad back. I also observed that while you were keen to take wildlife photos, you put the needs of the group above your own. For example, you did not hog the best seats or determine where we would drive solely based on your own personal desires. I took hundreds of great photos during the trip and have shared them with many envious friends.

I definitely will go on more photo safari trips with you and am tentatively planning a trip to Botswana in 2011!  

Thanks again.
Rajesh

Here are some of Rajesh's wonderful images from our safari together from our safari to Botswana in July.

You can see my 2010 African safaris online here. I have spots available on some of my safaris and not on others. If you are interested in one of these safaris, please email me at info@andybiggs.com while there is still space available. My safaris book up early!

Photo of the Day

Legadema

Mombo Camp, Botswana. July 2009

Nikon D3, 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/200sec @ f/4, ISO 12,800

I know, I have been inundating this blog with photos of Legadema lately, however I thought this image would be an interesting study because of the technical details of the image. Did you notice that it was captured at ISO 12,800? Yes, this is a bit extreme, but the sun had gone down 15 minutes earlier, and rather than go back to camp we sat and enjoyed her company for a little while longer. I used Noise Ninja to clean up the noise a tad, and I used Nik Software's Viveza to brighten her up and have her more visually separated from the backgroud.

Photographing a leopard is likely some of the most challenging situations in wildlife photography. You either have one in a tree with extreme light/dark contrast, or you have one on the ground with grass and twigs in the way. Nature is inherently messy, and it is our job as photographers to try and eliminate the clutter by using our shooting position and our focal length to try and isolate our subjects.

As a rule of thumb, I like to instruct my safari travelers by rating items that show up in a scene. You can think of each item in your viewfinder as being positive, neutral or negative. Eliminate the negatives, get as many positives as you can, and neutrals are just going to be there. The branch that is coming out of her head is a negative, however you can reduce it somewhat by using visual tricks to get a viewer's eye to not notice it as much. In this example I brightened her up and darkened the background, as to give visual preference to one thing over another.

Trick: make your subject brighter than the background, as brighter objects tend to attract a viewer's eye. This is why lions sitting in the shade, underneath a tree with a bright background generally isn't a very successful photograph. Wait until your subject has a clean background that is also darker than your subject, and you have instantly created a luminance contrast that is in your favor.

Trick: try to find your subject in a different hue than the background, and you now have a case of hue contrast. In the image above the reflected light in the background (and on the subject) has blue-ish, and the subjects bright yellow coat (even though it is in cool shadow light) is warm. Now you have a warm / blue hue contrast that also helps separate the background from the subject.