Instagram
Wednesday, September 14, 2016 at 09:11PM 
Peacock
Bandhavgarh, India
India, Peacock in Photo of the Day Thursday, December 24, 2015 at 06:58AM 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!
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
Thursday, July 9, 2015 at 10:55AM 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:
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