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| Its not always about a big zoom, a nice panoramic photo of an elephant herd makes for an amazing photo |
Lets begin with camera settings, as a general rule I always shoot with my camera set on manual, that way you are in complete control of how your picture turns out and can get the photo looking as close to how you see a scene as possible. The easiest way to get your settings right is to remember that during low light your F-stop (aperture) should be as low as possible letting more light in and your ISO (light sensitivity) as high as possible, and in bright light its simply the opposite with a higher F-stop and a lower ISO. Once you have found the best settings for the moment you can adjust your white balance to get the right colours for you picture and this all depends on the conditions you are shooting in. For example in cloudy conditions you will want to use a higher white balance setting to create warmer colours and in sunny conditions a lower setting to cool colours off a little bit. Once you have learnt your camera and gotten used to the location of your setting buttons they can be changed in seconds so you don't miss out on any opportunities and get the most out of your sightings.
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| Taken in the last light of day with an ISO of 1600, makes it seem like daylight |
Most people think that when its dark flash photography is the way to go, I disagree. When shooting wildlife the flash although easier to get sharp images lights up the animals eyes creating an unnatural photo. So by using the Low F-stop and high ISO rule you are able to use the light of the spotlight to take your pictures. However now there is another element we add to the mix....EXPOSURE. With exposure you can set the brightness of the photo should the spotlight be too bright you simply under expose and the opposite if the light isn't bright enough and your subject is further away. Night photography is difficult and requires a steadier hand than day time photography but once you get used to settings its very easy. I find taking photos at night can create very powerful images especially when photographing the predators and its definitely not a time to pack your camera up and say well its too dark to take photos now.
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| Taken at night with a low F-stop of F4 and a high ISO of 1600 using the spotlight and no flash. |
This is key to getting good photos and here it is a huge benefit to have a guide that is also a photographer as he/she will get you into the best positions to get the best possible pictures. However taking photos of wild animals doesn't always allow for this as we cant line them up in perfect poses and it is then important to make the best of a situation. For example, animals in thick bush can make a great picture as it shows the animal in its natural habitat and actually makes the image come alive.
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| Although positioned right with the lighting, the leopard was in a thicket, but the leaves framing the leopard gives you a sense of the cats elusive behaviour creating a powerful photo |
I often hear guests snapping away in sightings getting hundreds of photos of an animal sleeping, and although in this day and age with digital photography that isn't a huge problem as you are able to delete what you don't want, by the time the animal does do something a memory card is full and you miss a chance, so patience is needed and restraint must be shown. This is easier said than done because for a lot of guests this is the first time they are seeing these animals, but to wait for a lion to yawn once he wakes from his siesta makes for a better photo than that of a sleeping animal.
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| A sleeping lion momentarily wakes to chase irritating flies, moments like this make for a much more interesting photograph |
It is not always possible to have the light on your side and often we are faced with taking photos into the sun, although not ideal once again this can produce powerful images as your subject is silhouetted against the sunlight, the back-light highlights the outline of the animal as well as the grasses and bushes making for some stunning photos. Back-lighting can be used at night too by using the spotlight of another vehicle to outline the subject, this also gives it a more natural look and often used in wildlife films to create the impression of moonlight.
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| Using the sun to back-light this wild dog playing |
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| A spotlight from another vehicle to highlight the profile of this leopard at night |
Animals unfortunately don't always lay and pose for us to take their photos so in some cases you have to get photos of them moving, but again this can get you some awesome photos and just because a photo blurs doesn't mean its a bad photo. We call this motion blur and its another powerful tool in a photographers arsenal and is done by dropping the ISO to keep the shutter open slightly longer this will blur the movement of your subject while keeping the still parts in focus by panning across with your subject while taking a photo. If you are wanting to freeze your subject a higher ISO will do that. The choice is completely yours as to what you want at the time.
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| A high ISO freezes the water squirting out of the elephants trunk perfectly |
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| Panning on this leopard stalking adds movement to the photograph |
Its not always about the animals, and in Africa we have the best sunsets in the world, but how do you capture those amazing colours that you see? Its relatively simple, by dropping your exposure and changing your white balance either making it warmer or cooler you will get a picture close to what your naked eye sees. Using a flash is now a good idea especially if you are taking a photo of a subject in front of the sunset, the flash illuminates the subject whilst keeping the colours of the sunset in the background.
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| Using my flash I was able to capture this male lion and the sunset |
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| Slightly under exposing your photos at sunset takes away the harsh light of the sky and replaces it with more natural colours |
Written and photography by: Greg McCall-Peat
