Botswana Safari Report - Part 1

The Move To Medium Format

Back in September I led a safari to northern Botswana, which was my first safari where I shot exclusively with digital medium format gear. Sometime in the middle of 2012 I actually sold off all of my Nikon 35mm gear, adopted a Phase One IQ160 (60mp) digital back on a Phase One DF camera body and pursued the world of the biggest and best files I could possibly obtain. Here is the complete camera setup that I took with me: 

• Phase One DF camera body
• Phase One IQ160 (60mp) digital back
• 28mm
• 45mm
• 80mm
• 75-150mm
• 200mm f/2.8 APO
• 300mm f/2.8 APO
• 2x Teleconverter

Drawbacks

There are major drawbacks with this approach, and the major issue is that autofocus speed an accuracy isn’t even in the ballpark of what 35mm gear can deliver. Another major limitation is that I am limited to ISO 100, 200 and 400 in a pinch. I have to make sure that I stay within my opinion ISO range, which is ISO 100 or 200. Oh, and I haven’t even gotten to the best part: my preferred wildlife lens is a Mamiya 300mm f/2.8 APO model, which I was able to find still in the original box and was unused. The 300mm lens equates to about a 190mm lens on a 35mm camera, so the images won’t be ‘in your face’ type images that fill the frame with the face of a lion. The catch? It is also a manual focus lens. Oh, and aperture selection is manual (on the lens) and cannot be controlled on the camera. So my process isn’t exactly what I would call easy, but then again I absolutely love challenges and the payoffs that go with them. These drawbacks are just obstacles on the way to HUGE files that can be printed at any size that I wish. My goal is to always make images that stir the soul, and to be able to print these images at any print size that my 44” printer can accommodate. 30x40” prints are my desired target on a fiber / baryta type paper, and 40x60” on canvas. 

The Safari

This safari took place in northern Botswana, and we split our time between Chitabe Camp in the Okavango Delta and DumaTau Camp along the Linyanti River. I always like to split up my time between camps when I am in Botswana, because every camp has a different ecosystem, wildlife, look and feel that need to be experienced. Other places in Africa can work for only 1 camp, such as the Masai Mara, however Botswana is best when split between 2 or more camps.

While at Chitabe we took sole use of the camp for our 4 nights there. I typically take over a camp in order to control the dining schedule, as well as have sole use of all of the vehicles. September is a great time to be in northern Botswana, as it is one of the dry months and wildlife is easier to locate and photograph when the grasses are short.

After we left Chitabe we had 4 more nights at the newly built DumaTau Camp, which sits at the edge of the Linyanti River. These two camps could not be more different, as the vegetation, wildlife, scenery and feel are completely different. Between these two camps we had over the top lion sightings, great leopards, elephant water crossings, hyaenas, wild dogs and also general game. I have been running photographic safaris for the past 11 years and this was one of those safaris that had an excellent balance between all of the available mammal and bird species. 

Ok, on to some of the images!

Elephant Along The Linyanti River

Phase One DF, IQ160, 300mm f/2.8 APO

Leopard On A Termite Mound

Phase One camera, IQ160 digital back, 200mm f/2.8 APO

Two Giraffes Drinking From A Puddle

Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 300mm f/2.8 APO

Leopard On A Tree

Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 300mm f/2.8 APO

Elephant Parts

Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 300mm f/2.8 APO

Gura Gear Bataflae 26L camera bag in tan

Phase One camera setup with 300mm f/2.8 APO lens

Phase One camera setup with 200mm f/2.8 APO lens (gaffer tape all over the place, to ensure the back was sealed)

Pile ‘O Gura Gear Bags at the airport

Photo of the Day - Botswana Safari Group

Our Safari Group - July 2011

I love to take group photographs from each safari, and this one was no exception. It’s great to look back at so many happy faces after some amazing experiences out in the bush. On this particular safari we visited 2 camps in northern Botswana, Chitabe and Savuti, and came home with some stellar photographs.

Photo of the Day - Lioness Crossing Water

Lioness Crossing Water

near Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana. July 2011

Nikon D3x, 200-400mm f/4 @ 340mm, 1/1250 @ f/4

I have been back from safari for a few weeks now, however I haven’t had much of a chance to process or even look at any of my images. I have had a few business related trips, as well as a well needed family vacation.

I absolutely love it when we find predators near and in water. The Okavango Delta in northern Botswana is a very dynamic place to photograph, as the water levels rise and fall throughout the year. When the water rises, you end up with more and more isolated pieces of ground amongst the water. This can be a great thing for photographers, as all wildlife will eventually need to move through these waters. When photographing cats in water, I do like to pay attention to leg positioning as well as head direction. Let’s paint a picture here. We watched a pride of lions on an unsuccessful hunt of impala, and after the imapal ran off through the water we anticipated the lions following one of the impalas that appeared to be hurt. We drove and then positioned the Land Rover so that we would shoot the lions coming through the water from a 90 degree angle, if not a slightly less than 90 degree angle. Why? Well, I supposed we could have shot them coming towards the vehicle, which is also a great shot, but the distance between us and the lions would have given them enough room to walk away from us. Wildlife rarely walks towards you, so rather than fight for an oncoming shot we went for a side shot. I like 90 or near-90 degree angles, because I do like to see at least 1 eye of my subject. For argument’s sake let’s just say that the angle here is 90 degrees. This allowed us to photograph the lioness with 1 eye showing and a hint of her 2nd eye. Eyes make all the difference in a wildlife image, as well as things like leg position and tail. Here we have a visible tail and 4 legs that seem to have a nice balance to them. If you zoom in closely on the image you can also see a nice splash in the water, which is an added ‘golden nugget’ that I like to look out for. Golden nuggest are just those things that help keep a viewer’s attention on an image.

From a processing standpoint, I processed the image in Lightroom with basic tweaks, and then finished the image off in Nik Software’s Viveza 2. One thing to note is that I actually desaturated the lion, as a lion can pick up a heavy orange/yellow color cast if you aren’t careful. The landscape portion of the image needed punch and more saturation, however the main subject did not.

Photo of the Day - Leopard

Leopard

Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana.

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

I do prefer dramatic lighting wherever I can find it, and if I can get a golden rim light on my subject I am going to race towards it. In this example, I waited and waited and waited for her to have a golden rim light on her chin, and the added bonus was the light on her right paw. I have about 30 shots of her prior to this one, but the sun was behind clouds for the earlier shots. This shot required a high ISO of 6400, and even then I was only able to get 1/200 of a second for my shutter speed. My exposure compensation for matrix metering was +1 2/3, as the only thing that matters in this scene is the leopard, and not the blown out sky.

I am leading more and more safaris to Botswana in 2012 (will be a total of 4), and I should have more safaris listed very soon.

Day 5 –Chitabe Camp / Savuti Camp, Botswana

Today was our last day at Chitabe Camp, and like the previous mornings, it wasn’t too cold when we started out. It was overcast and more windy today than the past few days. On the days when we are leaving one camp and heading to another, we typically have a shorter morning game drive to allow for an early brunch, packing of duffle bags and time to get to the airstrip.

We knew we wouldn’t be out for more than about 3 hours, so we chose to search for game closer to camp. We found a healthy-sized cape buffalo herd, and chose to spend the bulk of our time with them. When photographing buffalo, if you wait for a long while you may end up with them on all sides of your vehicle. We didn’t have the time to accomplish that particular approach this morning, due to time constraints. We were able to find quite a few red billed oxpeckers on their backs and faces, and chose to home in on the symbiotic relationship between the two.

After a nice brunch, the Chitabe staff sent us on our way with smiles and full bellies. We made it to the airstrip before our pilots arrived, and we took the time to tell bush stories and just chew the fat. On all of my safaris, we always provide whatever it takes to allow people to bring enough camera gear to make the safari successful. On this safari we have provided for a pair of Cessna Caravans for our group, which significantly increased the weight allowance from only 44 pounds to more than double. This is a huge benefit if photography is your main goal from your safari.

After only a 30 minute flight to Savuti, we disembarked our planes and jumped into our safari vehicles. I also had a chance to see my friend and guide Kane, which is an excellent safari photographer and guide. You can see his photographs at www.kanethebushman.com. I helped him setup his web site last year, and he updates his site often.

After a 3:00 tea, we headed out for our first game drive at Savuti. Right outside of camp, we were stopped by a large group of elephants on both sides of the road. A lone bull elephant decided to walk towards us and dined on a healthy diet of minerals about 10 feet from us. We had a great time zooming in and grabbing intimate details of his face, ears and tusks, and when he was through putting on a show for us, he picked up some loose dirt and flung it in our faces. I actually had to turn my D700 + 70-200mm lens upside down just to get the dirt out. Talk about a fun time with a very very relaxed bull elephant that all in the vehicle will remember.

As the sun started to get low in the sky, we worked the edges of the Savuti channel in hopes of picking up lion or leopard tracks. We did track a lion for the better part of 2 hours, however we never could catch up with it before we had to head back to camp.

On the way back to camp, we stopped to photograph a lone bull elephant crossing the channel. The channel is more flooded now than in recent years, and the water is flowing all the way to the Savuti marsh, inside Chobe National Park. This is a significant change since the early 1980’s, as the channel hasn’t held flowing water since that time. The area is lush and green, and elephants are crossing the water quite often.

We were back to camp on the early side, as we didn’t stop for anything on the way back. An early dinner awaited, and now I cannot wait for tomorrow’s game drives, as we have heard of the local wild dog pack’s movements near our camp.

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.

James Weis strutting his photographic stuff with BB, our guide

Lone elephant, crossing the Savuti channel at sunset

Day 4 –Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta

We were out of camp early today, and spent the bulk of the morning photographing the animals and birds that make Africa tick: kingfishers along the water’s edge, herds of impala, warthog, hornbills, bateleur eagles, all 3 categories of vultures (rippers, gulpers and scrappers), zebra, wildebeest, elephants, giraffe and all of the other species that can fill up a day of game drives. I didn’t take any photographs this morning, primarily because I was working on teaching panning techniques to people, and how best to do pan blurs depending on each subject and how fast they are moving. It can take quite a bit of time to work on, for sure, but pixels don’t cost anything except temporary CF card space and battery life. If they don’t work out, just delete and try harder.

We had a challenge with the water today, and odds caught up with us and we got stuck for a while. It wasn’t a big deal, as we just went and took some dead wood, jacked up each tire and placed the wood underneath each tire and went on with our business.

The weather on this safari has been much warmer than anticipated, and most mornings aren’t any colder than 50F. The skies are usually cloudy for most of the day and evening, so the lack of clear skies and a lack of any cold fronts are preventing from the colder days. No complaints from me, for sure.

I spent the middle of the day after lunch teaching Lightroom 3 and Nik Software’s Viveza 2 plugin. I have found that this combination really works well for my own photography, and it is a great combination for wildlife photographers. Perhaps this is good content for a future blog post?

This afternoon we tracked a pair of cheetahs into the mopane forest, and it turned out to be the same adult male and female cheetahs from our first full day in Botswana. We had a difficult time getting clear shots of them, as they always seemed to stop in a location where we would have a tree or termite mound in the way. That’s ok, as it teaches patience and good things will come to those who try harder. As you can see I included a few shots of one of the cheetahs, as the other one was rarely in a good position to photograph.

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.

Grant, giving his best sour face

BB, one of our excellent guides at Chitabe

Whoops

Just a little behind-the-scenes of what goes on in between incredible wildlife moments: coffee

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.