Sabi Sands Safari Report - Day 5

We were up at 5:30, a quick coffee and tea at 6 and we were out before sunrise. I loved the cool morning, as it is hot back at home and I am already tired of 70+F temps at night. We had some amazing sightings of elephant and giraffe this morning, and we took the time to try and get the best shots possible. Drive-by photography rarely pays off in the safari world, and the best photographs take time to unfold. I love photographing anything that is in front of me, and giraffes and elephants are actually my favorite subjects. They can be the most challenging for me, and think that is part of the fun.

Giraffes are difficult from a composition standpoint. What to include? Head? Head and neck? Whole body? Vertical or horizontal? So many options and my choices rarely seem to have me happy in the end. I put my camera down for much of the day, as I wanted to spend time working with people on the rear autofocus button on their cameras, as well as discussions about composition, metering and storytelling.

We did get a report of an often-not-seen animal in the Sabi Sands, and that was of a cheetah out on the southern open planes. We hoofed it to the area and tracked the cheetah to a place where he was resting underneath a tree. The light was harsh, but our time with him was enjoyable because of the rarity of the sighting. One of the vehicles did get a great opportunity to photograph him later on as he jumped up onto a very narrow top of a termite mound. Very very cool.

We broke for a late brunch back at camp, and the staff had set up a really nice table for us out underneath a shade tree. Cold cereals, fruit, breads, cheese and eggs to order from the kitchen. It’s nice not to have to worry about my guests when we have such wonderful staff around.

We had tea at 2:30 and promptly left for our afternoon drive, and headed towards the Sand River in the northern part of Singita. We had a great sighting of a dominant male leopard of the area, and we followed him on one of the roads for quite some time. We drove behind him at a distance, as well as drove offroad to the side of him to capture him walking. The goal was to get some tall grass in the foreground as to make the road less obvious in the shots. He was walking more quickly than we could drive, as the terrain offroad was littered with large stones. Eventually he went off into the thick bush, and the rest of the afternoon was spent trying to intercept him on the other side of the thick bush. We lost him and never found him again, but we did get a great sighting nonetheless.

I feel like today was one of the better days I have had in a while, as a cheetah in the morning and a glorious male leopard in the afternoon is tough to beat.

Male Leopard

Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/400 @ f/8, ISO 250, Hand Held

Male Leopard, as seen from a moving vehicle

Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/10 @ f/22, ISO 100

Chris, Barry and Scot

Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/250 @ f/7.1, ISO 400

Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.

Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.

Sabi Sands Safari Report - Day 4

Today was the last day of my pre-safari at Mala Mala, and we did things a little differently than the past few days. We wanted as much as possible to see the wild dogs at the den, so we knew we wouldn’t benefit by arriving first thing in the morning with the cold temperatures. We had our bags packed before sunrise, we ate breakfast and then we headed out for the long drive down to Charleston and the southern end of the reserve. This allowed the dogs to hopefully wake up and let the air warm up a bit before coming out. We had to transfer to Singita at 10am, so we only had about 30 minutes total at the den when we arrived there. I am glad that we planned the morning this way, because we had yet another chance to see these magnificent predators one last time. When we arrived we had either 5 or 6 adult dogs running around the vehicle, and it was difficult for me to count just how many unique individuals we had amongst us due to the dense brush. We head some fascinating vocalizations and when things died down we had to rush back to check out and head over to Singita.

I always have a great time at Mala Mala, and this short stay was no exception. I will be leading a private safari group to Mala Mala in 2013, and it might be on my public safari schedule as well. I am not sure, as my 2013 safaris aren’t set in stone yet.

At 10am we grabbed a vehicle and drove an hour west to Singita Castleton, where I will be spending the next 16 nights. Castleton is a small and comfortable camp in the Singita area of the Sabi Sands. Castleton has only 6 bedrooms and can accommodate up to 12 people, and that is the maximum. I like to take sole use of camps when I can, because this allows me and my safari groups to have flexible dining schedules based on what we are seeing out on game drives. If we are 2 hours late for lunch nobody will care. I love that kind of care-free feeling that my game drives are not based on set dining schedules. Wildlife photography comes first, and it’s not like we are going to starve if we adjust our dining schedule around a little bit.

We arrived at camp about 30 minutes before the bulk of my travelers arrived at the airstrip, so I had time to throw my bags into my room and book it to the airstrip. I chartered a Beech 1900 private airplane to bring in the rest of the safari group, which allowed for an extreme amount of weight allowance per person. The typical allowance is 44 pounds in southern Africa, which would include everything inclusive of camera equipment. Heck, my camera bags (A Gura Gear Kiboko and a Gura Gear Chobe) weigh close to that amount without even into my duffel bag with my clothing.

We said hello to everybody as they exited the plane, had cold water and wet towels for people to freshen up with, and we took off for Castleton. Everybody got settled in, had a nice lunch out in the garden and took off around 3pm for our afternoon game drive. The first game drive on any safari typically involves short distances, as we don’t want to miss all of the things that are new to people if it is their first time on safari. Zebras, rhino, giraffe, elephant, kudu, impala, countless bird species and wildebeest were on tap for the afternoon, followed by a stop for sundowner cocktails after the sun had set.

El Grupo

Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/400 @ f/8, ISO 400

Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.

Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.

Sabi Sands Safari Report - Day 3

Today we decided to try and track/visit the Kikilezi female leopard with her two cubs, but we knew we needed to wait to visit the den until they had a chance to warm up after the sun came up. We drove the roads towards Clarendon dam in hopes of picking up signs of cheetah, but that turned out to not yield what we had hoped. That gave us some time for the day to heat up a bit, and when we arrived at the leopards the two cubs were racing around and as active as I have ever seen. The cubs were about 8 weeks old, and as a result have a schedule of playing, sleeping and nursing with their mother. So our time was filled with playing, and after they settled down after an hour we decided to move on. We did revisit the cubs in the late afternoon, however we had better memories than photographs due to the dense vegetation that was in the way.

Ok, let’s chat about cameras for a few moments. I have the new Nikon D4 and D800 cameras with me, and there are some major differences between the two that should be noticed. Since I only have a few minutes to write this entry between game drives, I am going to use a bullet point format to explain.

D800

• Camera is too small for my hands, and will need to purchase the portrait grip.
• Resolution is absolutely stunning.
• The ability to crop an image, as the result of an absurd amount of pixels, is fantastic.
• Low frames per second works for me, but might not work for somebody who is less familiar with African wildlife photography. I tend to shoot only when I need to, as opposed to letting the camera rip off 20 shots.
• Autofocus is pretty darned goof for a $3,000 camera. I am not seeing any differences between the D800 and my old D3, D3x and D700 cameras.
• I am not a fan of the new autofocus mode switches. I wish we still had a switch on the back of the camera, as opposed to having to use the A/M switch and button on the front of the camera. This is a step backwards.
• I am finding that ISO 1600 is my limit, which is similar to what I did with my D3x. ISO 800 or lower is more ideal, but 1600 seems to be the edge of the breaking point.

D4

• The best camera ergonomics of any camera I have ever used
• I absolutely love the autofocus joysticks for both normal and portrait modes. This was sorely lacking in previous cameras.
• I like the nice balance between file size, dynamic range and high ISO capabilities. ISO 6400 is turning out to be my limit, but 1600 and 3200 seem to be more common over the past 3 days since I began using the camera.
• I do wish the D4 had two identical compact flash slots. Boooooo

It was a fantastic day, filled with leopard cubs as well as general game! Until tomorrow…..

Cubs of the Kikilezi Female Leopard

Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8, 1/500 @ f/5, ISO 400

Breakfast In The Bush

Nikon D4, 16-35mm, 1/800 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

Matt, Terry and Jim

Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/160 @ f/8, ISO 250

Elephant and the Sand River

Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/640 @ f/5.6, ISO 250

Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.

Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.

Sabi Sands Safari Report - Day 2

Up at 5:30 this morning and in the vehicle around 6. We decided to take a simple breakfast with us, as my small group of 3 of us didn’t want to eat so early nor come back to camp later on in the morning. We poured our coffees and got settled into our vehicles for the morning’s game drive.  The temperature this morning was in the mid 40’sF, so the wildlife early on wasn’t exactly very active at first light. We headed towards the northern part of Mala Mala, where there are some open areas where cheetah like to spend time. Near Clarendon Dam we didn’t locate any cheetah, however we did have a nice sighting of a rhino who was intent on sniffing out another of his own kind. I find rhinos difficult to photograph, as there aren’t many angles that are good to photograph from. Trying to line up the vehicle for a head-on view was our preferred approach, but we mostly ended up with side shots of his head and horn.

Rhino Profile

Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8, 1/1250 @ f/4, ISO 400

After our rhino sighting we went towards an area that had a confirmed sighting of one of the adult male lions who had taken down a nyala the evening before, and when we arrived we actually saw a leopard in the vicinity. The young-ish male leopard was curious yet calm, so we sat and watched him for the next couple of hours. He sat behind a log and didn’t give us a good angle for quite some time, but I enjoyed working with blurred grass in the foreground to try and create a dreamy look to the scene. Eventually he sat up and looked at a flying bird overhead, and that probably yielded the best view of him. At one point he looked into the bushes and noticed the male lion sitting there, which was only about 40 meters away. The leopard inched forward over the next 10 minutes to see what the lion would do, and you can suspect what happened next. The lion burst out of the bush and chased the young male leopard away. I couldn’t help but laugh at how young cats tend to take bigger risks than when they are older.

Male Leopard

Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8, 1/2500 @ f/2.8, ISO 500

This afternoon we decided to drive back to the wild dog den, and when we arrived we had 4 adults lying in front of the entrance. The view wasn’t the greatest, so after a short while we moved out for somebody else to come and take a look. As we were leaving we drove a road towards the Sand River and intercepted the same dogs as they were heading out for their evening hunt. The light was superb, and watching the now 6 dogs trot towards the river was an invigorating exercise. The dogs made it to the water and crossed over as the sun was fading. What a huge honor to be in the presence of one of the most endangered predators in Africa. The last research I have read has indicated there are around 4,000 wild dogs left in the wild.

Wild Dogs (Lycaon Pictus) Heading Out For A Evening Hunt

Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/1600 @ f/5, ISO 1600

African Wild Dog (Lycaon Pictus) In The Late Afternoon Light

Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/1000 @ f/3.2, ISO 800

Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet.

Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.

Safari Update from South Africa - Day 1

This is the first installment of safari updates from the Sabi Sands of South Africa. I am on a 3-day pre safari with two of my customers, and at the end of this pre safari I will begin two back-to-back safaris, each with 11 travelers. My goals for writing these daily safari updates are:

• To explain what we are seeing and photographing each day
• To explain some of the camera equipment used and any thoughts around them
• To show a day-in-the-life on one of my African photographic safaris
• To create a diary for my travelers, so they won’t have to keep up with what we saw each day

So, here goes!

This morning we left the D’Oreale Grand Hotel in Johannesburg, and were picked up by my good friend Gordie, who runs a hospitality transfer business. Gordie took us to the hanger where our flight would take us to the Sabi Sands. We checked in, if you can call it that, and boarded our Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. 50 minutes later we landed at the Mala Mala airstrip, and my good friend and head ranger Matt grabbed us and took us to our camp for the next 3 nights. Every time I visit Mala Mala I make sure that Matt is my main guide, and this trip is no exception. We grabbed a nice lunch on the deck, got settled into our rooms and then took off for our afternoon game drive.

The weather this afternoon was almost perfect at around 75F. When I left home in Houston it was already getting into the 90’s each day, with an average low of the mid 70’s. I am not a fan of hot and humid places, and it was great to be in such great weather.

We had heard about a pair of leopard cubs from the Kikilezi female leopard, and made sure that we went straight for the place where they were last seen. It is important to be sensitive around any young cub, and since their mother wasn’t around we didn’t want to stay very long at all. If anything bad happened during our brief visit, the cubs would associate the event with the presence of a vehicle, and would forever be shy around them. We did spot the two 6-week old cubs, and for a quick reference I have included an image. It isn’t a great one, but the purpose of the images on these updates is to illustrate what we have seen out here.

After our brief visit with the leopard cubs, we drove along the edge of the Sand River to see what was out in the open and easy to photograph. We happened on a small congregation of bull elephants, drinking and sparring at the waters’ edge. I love any animal that is near water, especially if there is interaction with the water (drinking, splashing, etc) or if there is a reflection. Or both! We took some shots and decided we would head down to the southern edge of Mala Mala where some wild dogs had been seen a few days earlier.

When we got to the southern edge of the property, we had to bushwhack our way through very very dense brush in an attempt to locate where we though the dog den might be. We had another vehicle in the area, and he was able to triangulate and figure out the location within an hour. We stayed a fair distance back from the den, and we only saw one adult female near the entrance. Awesome! This is the key to great wild dog photography, as you know where the epicenter of activity is coming from. All hunts begin and end from the den. We didn’t stay long, as it was obvious that the other adults had already left to go hunting, and there wasn’t much to see. We needed to make sure the dogs weren’t spooked by our presence, and staying back to observe and come back another day was the best approach.

We headed back to camp after dark, as it took a while to find our way back to the road from the dense brush. The temperature quickly dropped and my vehicle mates and I all had huge smiles on our faces from our first game drive of the trip.

Leopard Cub

Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8, 1/3200 @ f/4, ISO 400. Hand held

Elephant in the Sand River

Nikon D800, 300mm f2.8, 1/640 @ f/5, ISO 400. Shot from a bean bag

View of the same elephant in the Sand River

Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8, 1/1000 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

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Camera bags on this safari are sponsored by Gura Gear, which I started in 2008. Check us out. We make the best camera bags on the planet. :-)

Some of the gear on this safari has been provided by Borrowlenses.com. I rely on borrowlenses.com for both my own needs as well as my safari travelers’ needs. When we need big lenses, cameras or anything else photographic, we turn to borrowlenses.com to help out. They are the best resource in the industry for traveling photographers.

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

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 - Lion in the Sabi Sands

Lion Stare

Sabi Sands, South Africa

Nikon D3x, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR1, 1/200 @ f/4.5, ISO 800

This is one of the members of the famed Mapogo group of male lions. The Mapogo can adequately be described as one of the most badass group of male lions, and have enjoyed photographing them when I am in the Sabi Sands. With this image we sat next to him off to the side of our Land Rover, as he was relaxed but alert. You can tell he has been in many altercations, due to the amount of scars on his face. I used a 70-200mm lens on a D3x to capture this image, which indicates just how close we were to each other. His stare just went right through me, which is an envigorating feeling. Do a Google search on the Mapogo Lions or Mapogo Males if you get a chance. Some fascinating reading, to say the least.

I will be running two back-to-back safaris to Singita Sabi Sands in June, which is part of the historical territory of the Mapogo males. For more information on these South Africa Photo Safaris, here are two links:

Singita Sabi Sands Photo Safari, June 2-11, 2012 (only 2 spaces available)

Singita Sabi Sands Photo Safari, June 10-19, 2012 with Marc Muench and Andy Williams (only 4 spaces available)