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Photo Safari Report: Vermeesch & Dousi | Flatdogs Camp & Zikomo Safari | 5 – 17 August 2016
I had been looking forward to this safari from the moment I took the booking last year: 12 nights in two different camps at a great time of the year in Luangwa. I could already feel the excitement that I knew would grow every time we set out from camp on safari. We chose to use Flatdogs Camp, a very comfortable lodge on the Luangwa river, just 2 minutes from the main entrance to the National [...]
Wildlife: Elephant Heaven in Nsefu
Early on our last morning, we found these two lionesses resting on the river bank. They had stalked and chased a warthog, but failing to catch it, they settled down to sleep. Their heads were kept up by the presence of 6 lions on the other bank of the river behind us. We waited over an hour for elephants to come to the river and cross. We were rewarded as this family met a crocodile mid-stream [...]
Photo Safari Skills: An alternative to Back-button Focus
Ever since auto-focus appeared on cameras, photographers have used the shutter button to focus, meter and take the final shot - half-press to focus & meter, and full-press to take the shot. When you half-pressed the shutter button, the camera's focusing system would behave in one of two ways: if you had AF-S (Nikon) or ONE SHOT (Canon) selected, the camera would achieve focus using your selected focus point(s) and then hold that focus until you [...]
Photo Safari: Patrick Cooper | Zikomo Safari & Marula Lodge | 20 – 26 July 2016
Another week of safari has come to an end; this time round our time was split between the excellent, remote Nsefu Sector and the wonderfully game-rich central area of the South Luangwa NP. I was joined by Patrick Cooper, a Kiwi on his first safari to Africa with a couple of weeks of Botswana safari already under his belt. I knew that Luangwa was going to need to pull out all the stops to impress him, [...]
Photo Safari Skills: Getting accurate colour in your photos
For me, the purpose of having a grasp of camera settings and post-production techniques is to allow me to best capture the beautiful sights that I see, not to falsely exaggerate them. After all, in the bush there's little need to overstate the beauty of wildlife; all we have to do is represent it faithfully. As we discussed in a previous post about cameras' limitations we know that cameras cannot capture exactly what we see. The [...]
Guest Report: Colin & Jackie Morris, AUS | Flatdogs Camp | 15 – 17 June 2016
Colin wrote to me recently with the following short summary - "We both had a great time. Sitting in my office in Sydney, I wish I was in your office!" Need we say any more??! I'm really grateful that he has sent me his photos; it's always interesting to see how my guests' images have come out. We spend so much time discussing ideas and concepts in the bush, but I sometimes don't see the [...]
Photo Safari Skills: Backlighting with Flash
It's a common event: a beautiful sight, which just doesn't come out on your camera how it looks to your eyes... There are various reasons for this, but the most common is probably that your camera cannot capture the range of tones (we call it dynamic range) that your eyes can. In other words, while your eyes can see detail in dark shadows and bright areas at the same time, a camera cannot. The camera has [...]
Through the Lens: Elephants under the Fig
There's a time each morning and afternoon when the light is so soft that you can photograph subjects from almost any angle in a flattering way. While exploring the southern end of Nsefu Sector recently, we entered this period of the afternoon and spotted an opportunity developing that seemed too good to miss. Elephants were crossing an area of scrub and heading towards a beautiful fig tree at the edge of a lagoon. Hoping that they [...]
Through the Lens: Impalas under the Ebonies
In an earlier post, I mentioned that this impalas image was my favourite from a safari in Nsefu last week. I love the arrangement of the antelopes, and the light falling across them. But there was also an element of satisfaction when the shot worked, as the bright contrasting light meant it was a tricky exposure. Let me explain by taking a look at the original shot: Here's the original shot, straight out of the [...]
Through the Lens: Scenes of Nsefu
The landscapes that we enjoy on a safari in the Luangwa are mind-blowing. While we always enjoy them, there is somehow little time to photograph them as we move between exciting wildlife sightings. It was therefore a treat to take a landscape photographer on safari who placed as much value on great scenery photography as he did on the wildlife side of things! Here is a small selection of the scenery on offer in the Nsefu [...]
Photo Safari Report: Mike White | Zikomo Safari Lodge | 2 – 8 July 2016
I've been in contact with Mike White since February when he saw an advert of mine in Amateur Photographer magazine. He booked a private week-long safari with me using Zikomo Safaris on the edge of the Nsefu Sector. (For 2017, there will be a scheduled safari in the Nsefu Sector appearing on my safaris page very soon). With sunrise quite late in the winter months, we were very keen to get out early in the mornings [...]
Life in the Bush: Living with Animals
Of course, we are here for the safari, and to give visitors the best possible experience in this wonderful wildlife area. But it is living amongst these vast mammals which - if anything - gives me even greater pleasure. Here are a few photos taken within sight of our house on the boundary of the National Park.
EDWARD SELFE
I organise & run photographic safaris in the finest wildlife areas on Earth.
