Tanzania safari report day 1 - Tarangire

Today we woke up and left Arusha for the green grasses and flowing waters of Tarangire National Park. The park is a natural watering hole because of the winding Taangire River, which at the moment is flowing at a breakneck pace. Recent rains has caused the park to have plenty of water, and the grass here is quite tall. Wildlife sightings were quite good today, beginning with a lioness on a giraffe kill on the high plains that overlook the valley.

Tarangire is typically all about the elephants, and today did not disappoint. We ran into no less than 15 family units on our afternnon game drive, and all seemed to be moving down towards the flowing river in the afternoon heat. We even saw the very rare oryx, which is not a natural fit for this environment.

There were rain clouds surrounding us all afternnon, and signs of recent rains were abundant. Did we even have a dry season this year, or did the long rains arrive early? I think it will be interesting to drive by Lake Manyara in 2 days, as it was bone dry when I flew over the lake in October.

My guests are absolutely fantastic, and all really love our luxury camping accommodations. We were greeted by fresh juice, cold hand towels and big smiles by the Thomson Safaris camp staff. After a hot shower, I watched the sun set behind the Ngorongoro highlands to the west. Cold beer. Check. Camp fire. Check. It is great to be back in a country that I love so much.

Tomorrow will be a full day, for sure. Up a 5:30 and out of camp by 6:15. I hear a lion roaring to the north of Lake Burunge, so I know which direction I want to head in the morning.

What are you doing in March? How about a trip to Tanzania.

I got a really late start announcing my March 6, 2010 Tanzania safari, and as a result I still have some spots available for this photographic safari. Here are some bullet points:

Dates: March 6-18, 2010

Where: Tanzania

Parks visited: Serengeti National Park (2 camp locations), Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park

Tanzania, south of Kenya on the African continent's Indian Ocean coastline, lays claim to the title Home of the Safari, since the word itself is taken from the Swahili word that means "journey." While Tanzania's Kenyan neighbors may dispute that claim, there is no doubt that Tanzania offers one of the best environments in the world for an enriching wildlife experience. The country's game viewing opportunities are considered by many to be the best in Africa. Its game parks are populated with many of the world's most exotic creatures, including all of the "Big Five." Its lakes are huge and bountiful with fish. Its cities are relaxed and friendly. Yet, to a greater degree than is true of many of its neighbors, this sprawling county, the largest in East Africa, remains untouched by the vacationing hordes.

It's About Photography — Lots of it

This workshop will be very informal and fun. I will be shooting alongside you at all times. We will have discussion and assistance on specialized topics such as, for example, long lens technique, projection flash usage, action shooting, wildlife observation, field craft and east African animal behavior. Advanced techniques will be constantly discussed, demonstrated and put into practice.

This workshop is about shooting. Lots of shooting. There will be no classroom sessions, no lectures, no slide shows, and most importantly, no unnecessary egos. We will all work closely together, sharing our knowledge and experience.

Because of the unique location of this workshop, and the luxury accommodations, this workshop adventure is open to spouses as well as photographers. Even non-photographers will find the locales visited and the wildlife viewing opportunities to be thrilling. The cost for non-photographers is the same as for active participants.

For the complete schedule and more details, you can click on this link for more information.

Please email me at andybiggs@gmail.com if you have an interest in this safari. There are only a few spots left!

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!

Back home from safari in Tanzania

After two weeks of excellent photography in the east African country of Tanzania, I am back home. I had 10 travelers with me, and I have to say that this was one heck of a group. We got up early each day, had some excellent experiences, took some great photographs, and above all else took the time to laugh until our bellies ached. Thank you to all who came on this unforgettable safari!!

I will be sure to post some photographs in the following days. My favorite images are almost all chimpanzee photographs from Mahale National Park, and all are high ISO images that require delicate processing. I will try my hands with the new Adobe Lightroom 3 beta application, but I may end up having to rely on my standard high ISO processing workflow with Photoshop CS4 and different plugins.

Time for a cup of coffee. It's early and I am jetlagged.

Finding the perfect photo bean bag for safari

Buddy Eleazer has just posted a great summary of the most popular bean bags on the market on his Chobe Safari blog. This is a great resource if you are in the market for a bean bag.

Finding the perfect photo bean bag for safari blog entry

My own personal preference is the Kinesis Safari Sack. I have a few dozen that I have for my safari travelers that are always in Tanzania waiting for me. We fill them up with red beans that we purchase at a local market, and the guides empty out the bean bags at the end of our safari and take them home with them to eat. I don't want to have beans sitting around rotting in the bean bags. If you are traveling and do not anticipate having access to beans, I highly recommend purchasing the Kinesis Safari Sack that is prefilled with buckwheat. It is a lightweight option, and the buckwheat is an excellent filler.

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.

Photo of the Day

Legadema

Mombo Camp, Botswana. July 2009

Nikon D3, 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/400sec @ f/4, ISO 2000

Photo of the Day

Legadema

Mombo Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana. July 2009

Nikon D3, 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/160 @ f/4, ISO 6400