Safari Preparation and What I Pack

I rarely get a chance to pack so early for a safari, but now that I am thinking about it I thought I would use a blog post as my packing list for my next safari in June. I will then use the blog post as a guide when I actually start packing in a week or two. I depart in late May for my back-to-back safaris in the Sabi Sands of South Africa. I will have sole use of Singita Sabi Sands Castleton Camp, which is a very private 6-room camp that will be my base for 16 straight nights. This list may change over time, so check back for any changes. I may get crazy and add my clothing to the list as well.

Camera Bags

• Gura Gear Kiboko 22L+
• Gura Gear Chobe 19-24L shoulder bag

 Camera Eqiupment

• Nikon D4 (rented from Borrowlenses.com)
• Nikon D800
• Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII
• Nikon 300mm f/2.8 VR (rented from Borrowlenses.com)
• Nikon 1.4x teleconverter

Camera Stabilization for Safari Vehicle and Video At Camp

• Really Right Stuff Safari Clamp kit (Safari Clamp, monopod with leveling base)
• Really Right Stuff TVC-24L carbon fiber tripod
• Really Right Stuff PG-02 FG gimbal head
• Really Right Stuff BH-40 ballhead
• Cinevate Atlast 10 FLT 26” slider
• Manfrotto 701HDV video head
• Kinesis Safari Sack, filled with buckwheat hulls

Video / Audio Accessories

• Sony UWP-V1 wireless lav microphone
• Tascam DR-40 audio recorder
• Klipsch X10i earphones

Power

• Sanyo Eneloop AA rechargeable batteries
• Nikon D800 charger
• Nikon D4 charger
• Nikon EN-EL15 extra batteries (2 extra) for D800
• Nikon EN-EL18 extra battery (1 extra) for D4
• South Africa travel adapters (a bunch, as my travelers sometimes don’t have enough)
• Wonpro 250V Universal Power Strip

Computer

• Apple Macbook Pro 13” with 250gb SSD
• Apple Macbook Pro charger
• Apple iPad and charger

Storage

• Compact Flash Cards. I have 32GBx4, 16GBx6 and a few smaller ones. I prefer Sandisk Extreme Pro cards, but not all of them are what I desire. :-(
• Seagate GoFlex 1.5TB external hard drives (2)

Cleaning and Repair 

• Gura Gear microfiber cloth (too many to count)
• Giottos Large Rocket Blower
• Really Right Stuff hex wrenches (many sizes)
• Jeweler’s screwdriver set
• Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly 724 Cleaning Kit

Miscellaneous Items, excluding clothing and toiletries

• Headlamp
• AMOD GPS logger
• Gaffer Tape - I cutt off 1-foot sections, roll each section up and put them in all pockets in my Kiboko bag. These help cover up VR/IS switches and other places where we don’t want a function to be turned on or off.
• Micro Leatherman
• USB cables / Firewire cables

Photo of the Day - Sparring Elephants

Sparring Elephants

Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

Canon 1DsMk3, 500mm f/4, 1/800 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 500

Leopard Jumping Through The Talek River

On last year’s September safari, which combined the mountain gorillas of Rwanda with the wildebeest migration in Kenya’s Masai Mara, we had great success with tracking and photographing leopards, lions and cheetahs. On this particular day we tracked down one of the more famous leopards of the Mara, who is simply known as ‘Olive’, and anticipated her moving across the Talek River.

We set up with our vehicles in one of the only places where we could have a clear shot of her, and luckily the light was in the best location possible. When I am photographing with water, rain, smog, fog or anything that fills the atmosphere I want to shot it off. The best way to do this is to place the light source, the sun, at an angle that puts the light coming towards the camera. This illuminates it in such a way that helps show it off, as opposed to hides it. I do prefer shooting into the sun anyway, as this helps define the edges of whatever I am shooting. Remember the adage “light illuminates and shadows define”. You don’t have definition without shadows, and without shadows you lose any sense of 3D to a scene.

We had just a few moments to set up, choose our best lens and camera settings and get the shot sequence. I set the camera to manual mode and selected a shutter speed that would freeze the splashing water and leopard, and whatever aperture did that would be fine with me. I took a quick exposure, looked at the histogram and made a quick change. I was more interested in getting the shape of the leopard than worries aboout blown highlights or ‘shadow detail’. Shadow detail is a term that drives me nuts, because it doesn’t reall mean anything and I hear about it all of the time in images that lack any contrast or soul. It all started when Photoshop introduced the Shadows & Highlights tool. But I digress. All shots taken with a Nikon D3x, 200-400mm f/4, 1/800 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 500.

Extreme Predators of the Sabi Sands Safari - 2 Final Spaces Available

 I have two back-to-back safaris in the supremely amazing Sabi Sands of South Africa this June, and I only have a couple of spaces available as of this writing. If you have ever wanted to photograph in one of the highest densities of leopards and lions, this is the safari for you. We have three safari leaders on this trip, with Marc Muench, Andy Williams and myself. Each of us will be in a Land Rover, which means there will be plenty of field instruction as well as discussion back at camp. This safari is limited to only 9 people, and the last 2 spots on the trip are here if you are looking for a superb safari in a place that I know well.

The Sabi Sands is world famous for its leopards as well as for its lions, and June is a great time to visit when the weather is cool and the predators are more active during daylight hours. This safari also delivers on all of the other animals that make the area special, from rhinos to elephants, to giraffes to zebras to impalas. I always come home with winning images from the Sabi Sands!

Singita Sabi Sands Photographic Safari

June 10-19, 2012

Leopard and her dinner

 

Rhino in the Sabi Sands

 

 Interior of Singita Castleton

Outdoor dining on clear nights

Photo of the Day - Drinking Elephants

Drinking Elephants

Near Lake Ndutu, southern Serengeti Plains, Tanzania. February 2012

Pentax 645D + 400mm f/5.6, 1/250 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

Photo of the Day - Cheetah and Her Cubs

Cheetah and Her Cubs

Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. March 2012

Pentax 645D + 400mm f/5.6, 1/100 @ f/5.6, ISO 800

Photo of the Day - Sunrise and the Lion

Sunrise and the Lion

Masai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya. March 2012

Pentax 645D + 300mm f/4, 1/125 sec @ f/8, ISO 200

Take a Photo Adventure on the Wild Side - with Andy Biggs and Laurie Rubin

Laurie Rubin and I recently co-ran a webinar, featuring Nik Software products. Laurie and I processed some images from our safari together in Kenya last fall, and we had a few laughs during the 1-hour presentation. Take a peek and hopefully a few nuggets of information will be of use to you.

Take a Photo Adventure on the Wild Side - with Andy Biggs and Laurie Rubin

Remember that you can earn a 15% discount on all Nik Software products by using ABIGGS as your code when checking out.