Custom Crafted African Safari with Expert Photographer David Huffman

HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN AFRICAN PHOTO SAFARI

If you’ve never been on a Photo Safari in Africa, you probably have a mountain of questions.  You’re wondering how to select a travel company, how to pack and prepare personally, and how to prepare for the photo opportunities of a lifetime.   All three areas are important and are interconnected.   If you choose a cut-rate company, the tour might have unexpected cost and logistical issues.  If you don’t prep and pack right, your comfort and safety might be affected.  And if you don’t bring the right equipment and know how to use it you’ll miss important photo opportunities.   Let’s get you started on your journey!

SELECTING A SAFARI TRAVEL COMPANY

Selecting a company can be a daunting experience. That's why I partnered with Beth Borrego of Cruise Planners, and she was incredibly helpful at curating a personalized itinerary with partners that I had no access to.  

There are literally thousands of providers.  And the range of pricing and locations is huge.  I suggest starting with an internet search about the locations that interest you.  While the Great Migration in Kenya and Tanzania captures a lot of attention, there are other times and places that are less promoted and equally exciting.  Africa is a large continent, and safari tourism is an important economic driver for many countries.  I think of locations grouped into two types: Photo-Centric Locations and Travel and Photography Locations.

Photo-centric locations.  These include Kenya and Tanzania (combined), Namibia, Botswana, and a few others.  These are areas rich in animals and birds, without the general sight-seeing or vacationing attractions.  You choose these if you are primarily interested in photography, all day, every day.  You’ll find some landscape opportunities, too, but animals and birds will be your primary interest.  You’ll be off paved roads and traveling in purpose-built vehicles.  You may also be taking small planes to save time moving locations.

Travel and photography locations.  South Africa is the prime example, where you can tour the cities, wineries and take a few days in Krueger National Park for a relatively tame drive on paved roads to see animals.   These can be very satisfying trips, especially if you’re traveling with a spouse or others who are less photo-involved.

Selecting a tour company, in my experience, falls into a few categories.  First are the large, established travel providers who run scheduled trips that you can join.  These are companies with the connections to handle the planning, booking, coordinating and on-the-ground arrangements so that you can focus on fun and photography.  Second, there are smaller companies whose focus is safari travel.  Many are based in Africa and have the connections necessary for a good trip.  They may or may not own the camps, the vehicles and the drivers and guides they use.  Third, many professional photographers (including me) guide photography tours in Africa.  This group often uses professional tour providers to handle the reservations and logistics, but will be with you on safari to help you get the most of your photo experience. 

Each part of Africa has some seasonality.  One of the primary concerns is rain, rather than temperature. The dry season will help attract game to the lakes and pools, concentrating them for photography.  Post-wet season will be less dusty and vegetation will be more green and less brown. When you start to narrow your decision about companies, ask yourself if you want to have an experience that shares photography know-how, tips and help among the group or you are content to travel with a group where you might be the most (or only) photo enthusiast.  Some tour operators promote their trips as a tour (without deep photo involvement.) Other promote as a Photo Workshop with photo advice before, during and after the trip to get the most out of your camera.  Also determine how long you want to be on safari.  Africa is a long journey (think 24 clock hours) from most of the USA, and for this reason a trip of at least 10 days, or as much as 18 days, is time- and cost-efficient. 

There are some tour operators that allow children, but most do not.  As for cost, including international airfare for a 10-day trip, safaris will range from $8,000 to $12,000 or more. Longer trips of 12 to 18 days will be proportionally higher. Trips that use multiple local planes save time, but increase cost. There are many costs included such as full board, water and local beers, transportation, lodges and tent camps and park fees (which are substantial.) Many tours are priced at two to a room, and there may be a supplemental cost for a single traveler.  I discourage using a low budget provider because this is an important experience and you don’t want it to go badly.

HOW TO PREPARE PERSONALLY FOR A SAFARI

There are two primary considerations for the personal-side of an African Safari, medical and clothing/packing.  Medically (I’m not giving specific advice here) you should visit your doctor to be sure all your immunizations are up to date.  I use a Travel Doctor service who are knowledgable about the areas I’m traveling to, and what diseases are happening currently.  The Center for Disease Control also will issue warnings and precautions.  Before my first safari, I needed boosters for the more common diseases and also immunizations for some Africa-specific diseases, and my cost was about $600. Be sure to bring all your own medications and a small first aid kit for yourself. Beyond shots, you’ll need to be in good physical condition so you can walk without any assistance and get into and out of vehicles on your own.  Also you’ll need to carry your own photo gear, whatever that weighs. 

You can pack relatively lightly.  This is not a fashion show, and you should leave the whites and bright colors at home and bring tans and grays.  Insects (and animals) are attracted to white, red, yellow and bright blue, therefore the muted colors are best.  Most hotels and camps will provide laundry services, so you can plan only 4 or 5 changes of shirts and underwear/socks, and two pairs of pants.  You don’t need heavy-duty hiking boots but closed-toe hiking shoes and solid sneakers are good.  You’ll also bring a fleece for warmth and a waterproof shell so you can dress in layers. Bring a broad-brimmed hat and swimwear if you plan to use the pools. You’ll pack all this in a soft-sided duffel bag which is easier to pack in the vehicles and planes than hard-sided luggage.  All your camera gear and your clothing should weigh under 32 pounds fully packed in the luggage.  This is a normal requirement for the small planes and vehicles.

HOW TO PREPARE PHOTOGRAPHICALLY FOR YOUR SAFARI

We’ve all seen guys with those huge 800mm lenses slung over their shoulder and a big smile on their face.  But have you ever carried one for a an hour or two?  Yes, big glass is a good idea for a safari, but how big?  Referencing the full-frame digital camera format, I suggest carrying a range from 24mm wide through at least 300mm telephoto.  For animals at a greater distance and birds, I recommend a zoom or telephoto that goes to 400, 500 or even 600mm.  I shoot on safari with full-frame Nikon Mirrorless and my longest zooms have been a 100-400mm and a 50-500mm.  I carry a 2x teleconverter for good lighting and added reach.  Some of the best times to capture animals are early and late in the day, so newer cameras with good high ISO sensors really help.  I carry two bodies, one with a short range zoom and the other with the long telephoto zoom to avoid changing lenses in the dusty environments as much as possible.   My 24-70mm f/2.8 lens is good for landscapes and for people when we are meeting the Maasai in their villages.  I also have recently been using a 24-200mm zoom which is a great all-in-one lens.  You can leave your tripod at home, but might want a monopod for your long lens.   I use a bean bag to steady my camera on the car windows.

I carry four batteries and six 256GB memory cards for each body.  Each lens has a high quality UV filter, and I carry a circular polarizing filter and lens hood for each lens.  I travel with a 13-inch Apple MacBook Air M1 computer and have a 4 TB external SSD drive to back up all cards.  I usually empty cards each day, creating a folder by day and location. I carry one small speed light.  For recharging, I carry a multi-outlet short extension cord with the 3 rectangular plug design and other 3 and 2 prong adapters.  I carry all this in a Think Tank Hard Drive backpack and the weight is about 18 pounds fully packed.

If you’re not an avid wildlife shooter, you will want to brush up on all your settings and practice before your trip.  I coach photographers of all types, and I find that everyone has questions and needs help, especially if your shooting is infrequent.  These are some of the primary considerations.  First, be able to set ISO, shutter speed and aperture without taking your camera away from your eye.  Second, if you are using a mode other than manual, know how to set both aperture and shutter speed modes so that your control of shutter will capture sharp moving images and aperture will create the depth of field you need for a landscape.  Third, I suggest using auto ISO and setting the range that provides an upper limit with noise you find acceptable.  (I shoot from ISO 64 to 12,500.) I’ve become good at reducing noise later with DXOPhotoLab and Topaz software.

I suggest going to a local zoo, racetrack or high school football field to experiment with your settings.  You will want to understand several AF modes and when to use them.  You will need to experiment with continuous AF and continuous shutter release and determine the best settings.  Not all animals are moving quickly, but when they do you need to be ready.  Some of the newest bodies have great features for capturing action, like prerelease on my Nikon Z 9 body that captures up to several seconds of images while I’m in tracking mode before I press the shutter release.  If you are also shooting video, there are a range of settings you’ll need to understand including format, frames-per-second, AF tracking and others.  Experimentation and practice are very important for ensuring you’ll have a fun time and capture great images. 

Going on an African Safari is a bucket-list trip for many photographers.  You’ll find it to be a life-changing experience and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.

David Huffman is a member of Professional Photographers of America.  He is an author of 14 eBooks on Apple Books about Photography and Travel and is a featured lecturer on cruise ships.  He leads Photo Workshops in the US, Africa and New Zealand.

David has three Travel Workshops planned with Beth Borrego from Cruise Planners:

• Antarctic Expedition December 2, 2022 aboard the Viking Octantis.
• His next African Safari Workshop is planned for October, 2023 in Kenya and Tanzania.
• Galapagos Islands Photo Workshop July, 2024 aboard Celebrity Flora.
• Space is limited. Contact David  or Beth Borrego today for pricing and details.

For photography questions contact David at HuffmanPhotoArt.com for more information.

For more  articles on photography, please read this wonderful blog: Let's Talk Photo by  Patrick infante

Travel Booking: contact Beth Borrego at www.BookAnotherCruise.com , phone 240-876-0692 or 855-427-8474, and email: memories@bookanothercruise.com