Guess who went on safari again...

fotonemer · Dec 19, 2007

Hey guys, it's been a while... Well I went to Skukuza in the Kruger National Park last week and took a few photos. This trip was unfortunately not as successful as previous trips (and previous posts) photo wise, as the Kruger had a lot of rain and thus the grass were about 2m high in some places. Any way here are a quick few that i had a chance to
edit. C&C most welcome, if response is good i will post more.

1. Its a hard life

2. King of the skies (Fish eagle)-- i edit 2 versions and would like to know which you prefer

2. King of the skies no 2

3. This is my house

4.Bambi's cousins from Africa (Impala)

5.Monkeying around

6.The simple pleasures in life

7.Rock-a-bye-baby

8.Like father like son

8. Behind enemy lines

9. Behind enemy lines 2. Edited another way and different crop

danir · Dec 19, 2007

Nice photos. I really like the first one.
Of the fish eagle I much prefer the first one without the green cast.
A different version of no. 4 could be with the two impala heads and have the bird in focus. Might need a longer focal length for that though.

Dani.

delizo23 · Dec 19, 2007

nice, i like the impalas (#4), really clear. and cool that the bird was on his nose. good posture from the animals. good DOF, the dear really stand out.

Ronman · Dec 19, 2007

Very interesting photographs. On my monitor they generally seem overexposed.

The Impala are very crisp, I like it.

I like the first Fish Eagle, and 8 better than 9.

5 makes me laugh, 7 is good.

Trenton Romulox · Dec 19, 2007

There are some great shots there. I'm just curious though, what lens were you using for #7, there is some serious blue/purple fringing. I used my brother's 70-300 Tamron once, and got that exact same thing.

Kazoo · Dec 19, 2007

I love the oxpecker on the impala's nose, like a meeting of the minds.

#6 made me laugh out loud, thanks!

Any tips for taking photos on safari? Hoping to go later in the year and would be delighted if my shots turned out half so well.

Lorielle99 · Dec 19, 2007

ahhhh monkeys!!!! *hides* sorry im scared of them

fotonemer · Dec 22, 2007

Hi guys, and thanks for the C&C, i appreciate the feedback. In reply to some of the posts:

There are some great shots there. I'm just curious though, what lens were you using for #7, there is some serious blue/purple fringing. I used my brother's 70-300 Tamron once, and got that exact same thing.

I am using a Tamron 70-300! It was driving me crazy that blue/purple fringing you speak of and did not know what was going on. Do you know if the problem is a manufacturing fault or just the quality of the lens? Any case thanks for letting me know the source of the problem.

I love the oxpecker on the impala's nose, like a meeting of the minds.

#6 made me laugh out loud, thanks!

Any tips for taking photos on safari? Hoping to go later in the year and would be delighted if my shots turned out half so well.

Kazoo, i promise you if you have ever taken portraits of humans, this will be a lot easier! They pose themselves and have no self esteem issues! I don't know where you are going on safari but the place you are going to visit is of big importance. The landscape, the weather, is there going to be a bush ranger taking you out etc. If i could give you a couple of tips it would be the following, please this is my humble opinion and ways that have worked for me in the past. If there are different opinions or other opinions please state them!

- Be patient. I have sat 2 hours once waiting for a leopard to climb out of a tree. While he was in the tree i could only see his tail. When he got out, i took one of my favourite pics ever.

- One thing that i have learned to do using my Tamron 70-300, if i see a subject, say lion, i would AF on the lion while he is not doing anything. Then switch to MF so that the focus is kept on the lion, keeping the camera dead still. I do this especially in thickly overgrown bushy territory. Reason being that you want to get that shot of the lion giving a roar or even yawning, and this lasts only 2 seconds and when there is some bush or grass in the way and you are still on AF the camera will focus on the grass and you will feel like an idiot for missing that shot!

-I love my been bag. Get yourself a nice big bean bag. No matter if you are going out in a car or a range rover, you can make 'a "tri-pod" out of anything, put the bean bag down rest the lens on top, and there you go! I usually put it on the window when in a car or on a railing if in a range or land rover.

-The first time you go out on a night drive leave your camera. It is really difficult in the night time, you MAY NOT use a flash and circumstances are trying. If you go out with your camera you will have such a hard time of getting a picture that you will not take in the gorgeous night life and miss the whole experience. The first time you go out on a night drive, just enjoy the drive and see how the ranger handles the drive. I have a good friend who was a ranger, and he would use the spotlight help to give me some light on the animal without frightening it. This helped alot.

-Go to watering holes!

-Morning and late afternoons the best. As usual.

-Photoshop is your friend. Bad composition on my behalf and having to take pictures quickly can leave you with pictures you would not even usually consider, but little time and effort in PS and they could end up the best photos of the whole set.

-Take a lot of pictures. A take 4gb of memory with me on each drive and shoot in RAW. When we get back, download all of the photos on the laptop and have a look at my pictures and look for common mistakes which i will then try to make right on the next drive.

-You really do need a telephoto lens. I think 300mm is ideal. I know a lot of people also using a 500mm but if you have a 300mm thats fine.

-This is going to sound strange but i don't know how to explain it in another way. Trust your instinct. Use that sixth sense in anticipating movement of the animal. Waiting for say, a hippo that is going to jump out of the water, compose THAT picture, not the one where you are looking at its ears in the water. If that hippo comes out and you cut off half its head you are going to be kicking yourself!

Thats a few i can think of right now, hope it helps you out. Any other questions you might have don't hesitate to ask! You can also look at some of my previous threads of wildlife on the forum at this link

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71386
at that post there are links to other of my wildlife posts.