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About Andy

 

I am an avid adventurer, conservationist, teacher, and outdoor photographer whose photography celebrates the African landscape and its rich wildlife, people, and culture. My photographic safaris allow my travelers to not only enhance their understanding of photography, lighting, and wildlife, but to develop a life-long admiration for Africa ‘s beauty and culture.

Banana Republic recently used my photographs as the cornerstone of their Urban Safari campaign, and my images were seen in all 750 stores around the globe, as well as in their billboards, catalogs and annual report. I was also the winner of the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year in the ‘Wild Places’ category in 2008 and a highly commended in the ‘Creative Visions of Nature’ category in 2007.

I launched Gura Gear in 2008, in an attempt to deliver lightweight camera bags to the market. I was looking for a lightweight camera bag to hold all of my photographic gear, and there was nothing desirable on the market that suited my needs. After spending 2 years with many prototypes, the Gura Gear Kiboko bag was born. More products are now available on the Gura Gear web site.

 

 

 

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Entries in Tanzania (57)

Thursday
Dec242015

2015 Year in Review

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

Sunday
Mar012015

Back Home From Tanzania

The 2015 year has been off to a busy start, as I guided a private group to Botswana’s Okavango Delta in January, and recently I was in Tanzania’s Serengeti for my first open signup safari for the year. Both were amazing safari experiences, and this is my first image to share in the new year. Enjoy!

 

Lion On A Rock

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

February 2015

Phase One DF+ camera, IQ250 digital back, Schneider 240mm lens

Wednesday
Sep112013

Photo of the Day - Serengeti Giraffes

 

Serengeti Giraffes and Clouds

Singita Grumeti Reserves, Tanzania. May 2013

Phase One DF, IQ160 digital back, Schneider 240mm. 1/320 @ f/11, ISO 100

Friday
Jul272012

Photo of the Day - Leopard In A Tree

 

Leopard In A Tree

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. February 2012

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

Monday
Jul232012

Photo of the Day - Lilac Breasted Roller

 

Lilac Breasted Roller

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

 

I have been digging through some of my Lightroom catalog images of the past few weeks, looking for images that need to be reprocessed with the latest Lightroom 4 processing engine. Here is an image that I took back in June 2006, and it is likely my favorite image of a lilac breasted roller. The lilac breasted roller is most striking when its wings are spread out, and I am always on the hunt for one who is on a perch near eye level in the hope that it will fly off in a side or downward direction as to get the tops of the wings. With this image I used a flash to stop the action, but I did drag the shutter a little bit to show a sense of action and speed. I could have used a high speed sync on the flash, but I decided to keep the shutter a 1/200 sec to strike the balance between sharpness and blur.

Monday
Apr232012

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

Sunday
Apr012012

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

Friday
Mar302012

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