North Tanzania

1/640s f/4.0 at 400.0mm iso250

1/250s f/8.0 at 400.0mm iso320

1/40s f/7.1 at 250.0mm iso500

Pretty Amazing Experience!

I have had fun in Tanzania in the past, some pretty cool

and awesome adventures, but this past tour, and our visit 

to the north was exceptional.

So many species of animals in such awesome scenes.  

We spent a lot of time moving, which really seemed to 

work well.  The strategy I suggested to my guests was 

"hit and run!"

We would find a scene with some very awesome shooting, 

do our very best to capture it, and move on to the next 

opportunity.  This panned out to 2,900 shots 

on October 23rd, 2011!

The Vulture scene was incredible... Here we spent some

time working so many different shots to catch.

I did get some nice flights that I will post later on.

I think it will take me at least another month, maybe

into  January before I get all my editing finished.

Jut the sunset alone was about 200 images!  Various focal 

lengths, f stops, and basic set up seemed to work well.

I have at least 4 more shots to edit from this 

spectacular scene.

The 2 lion cubs were part of a family of 6 in total.

3 adult females and 3 cubs.  I am guessing they were about 

6 weeks old.  They will not stray to far from the family,

so this was a fairly easy shoot.

Looking back at my settings, it was challenging to 

catch sharp images here with the sun fading.  Had 

we been there 1/2 hour earlier, that would have

 been something.  The adults were laying asleep for most of 

the one hour we spent with the animals.  I did most of my

shooting from the top of the safari truck, with a few

lower angle images from the window.

For about an hour, the three of us fired away with 

incredible excitement in the air.  While shooting, I

was constantly whispering out my settings, and the 

changes I am making to help my guests

make choices for their own cameras.

It is very easy to "get lost in the moment".. 

This kind of once in a lifetime situation can be

so overwhelming. Even the finest of photographers 

can forget about what is going on inside their cameras.

I like to remind people as much as possible

on different approaches to wildlife photography.

This is much more than a snapshot / record making 

experience. Creativity begins with your camera settings, 

balance, and proper AF perimeters. Knowing the

 camera and lens you are using is imperative for success

in Tanzania.

(please click on the images for a larger view!)

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