Safari photography

Use of HDR in wildlife photography / HDR und Naturfotografie

Posted by dc on May 8, 2013

Posted in: landscape photography, Safari photography, wildlife photography. Tagged: Canon, HDR photography, HDR wildife photography, travel photography. 3 comments

Maybe I am wrong, but the use of HDR in wildlife photography does not seem very common. It appears to me it that HDR technology is more used in landscape and architecture photography. Well, anyway, I tried to pimp some of my wildlife pictures with the use of the Aperture HDR plugin called HDRtist. This plugin is a piece of cake to install and can easily convert a single photo as a so called fake HDR into a HDR picture. Actually for HDR you take a series of the same photo, with different aperture settings, and you stitch these photo series into one single photo by fusioning all the different light situations into one. The results of using HDR for my single shot wildlife pictures where kind of interesting – if you like this what I call a pop art approach in wildlife photography

HDR Giraffe by safari-photographer.com

Here is the original photo:

Giraffe Bull Etosha N.P., Namibia, by DC Loew

Here comes the zebra in HDR:

HDR Zebra by safari-photographer.com

And here is the original photo:

Serengeti zebra in black and white by DC Loew

Die Verwendung von HDR Technologie in der Naturfotografie scheint nicht sehr ausgeprägt, und das hat sicherlich seinen Grund: Naturfotografie verträgt die Künstlichkeit der HDR Fotos nur ganz bedingt. Schliesslich sind die Lichtsituationen in HDR artifiziell und alles andere als natürlich. Wenn man wie ich nun versucht hat, die hier gezeigten Fotos im HDR Stil anzupassen, so geht dies nur mit einer intendierten Künstlichkeit daher, ich entleihe mir dafür den Begriff der pop art – aber urteilt selbst.

HDR Tutorial (in English)

Safari photography tip: Secretary Bird / Safari Fotografie: Der Sekretär Vogel

Posted by dc on May 4, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography, Safari tips, wildlife, wildlife photography. Tagged: bird photography, Kenia, Kenya, masai mara, masai mara kenya, secretary bird, Sekretärvogel. Leave a Comment

One of the animals you will almost anytime encounter when on safari in Africa, and which is very easy to spot and to identify, is the secretary bird. This huge bird of prey can be found in savannas and open grassland, and is home in the sub-saharian Africa. National parks where I did see secretary birds are Masai Mara, Etosha, Moremi, and Serengeti, of course. But it can be spotted in South African parks as well. The problem with this bird is, to get a decent picture of it.

Mostly, these birds are patrolling the open grass and walk through the bush, preying on all animals which are crawling on the ground, small rodents as well as snakes. But, if the secretary birds spots you in your safari car, it turns around and its back towards you and simply walks way. Or, if you are getting too close, it flies away. So in in most cases you will only have the chance to take a picture of the birds back. Same goes for the nests of them: these are in the top of acacia trees, and the photo taken from the ground aiming up is never a good solution.

The solution is simple: you have to be quick with your camera and spot the bird before it spots you – and walks away. As you can see in this image, taken in Masai Mara, Kenya, the secretary bird just is about to turn its head – and to walk away. That is why the picture is not 100% focussed. But checking my data, I could not find any other ok photo of this very photogenic bird.

Promised: On my next safari, I will try to take a decent picture of a secretary bird – I am open for recommendations in which African park I might succeed.

Secretary bird by DC Loew safari-photographer.com

Einer der fotogensten und interessantesten Vögel, denen man auf einer Safari in Afrika begegnen kann, ist der Sekretär oder secretary bird. Dieser Raubvogel ist von ähnlicher Grösse wie ein Mäusebussard, hat allerdings sehr sehr lange Beine und wirkt deshalb recht gross. Somit ist er sehr auffällig, einfach zu erkennen und in fast in allen Nationalparks des südlichen und östlichen Afrikas zu Hause. Der Sekretärvogel bewohnt Savannen und offenes Grasland, und ist meistens zu Fuss unterwegs, denn er jagt alles Getier, was sich am Boden befindet, seien es kleine Nager oder sogar Schlangen. Nur im Notfall fliegt er davon, und das ist das Problem, denn: Ein gutes Photo von ihm zu erhalten ist sehr schwer. Sobald der Raubvogel das Safari – Fahrzeug erspäht hat, wendet er sich ab, zeigt dir seinen Rücken, und läuft davon. Kommt man zu nah, fliegt er weg.

Die Lösung ist einfach: Man muss den Vogel überraschen, und nah an ihm dran sein, bevor er einen sieht. Dann die Kamera schnell parat, mit einer langen Linse und geringer Verschlusszeit. Dann sollte man die Chance haben, ihn zu fotografieren, bevor er einem den Rücken zuwendet. Das Foto oben ist auf einer Safarin in der Masai Mara in Kenia entstanden, kein sehr gutes Foto, zugegeben. Eher ein dokumentarisches Abbild als gute wildlife Fotografie.

Und versprochen, auf meiner nächsten Safari steht der Sekretär auf meiner Wunschliste für ein gutes Foto.

Hippo in the grass /Ein Flusspferd im Grünen

Posted by dc on April 29, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography. Tagged: Canon, Flusspferd an land, hippo, hippo browsing, hippo in grass, Serengeti, seronera, seronera river, Seronera valley, Tansania, Tanzania, Tierfotografie. Leave a Comment

This photo of a browsing hippo was taken on a Safari in Seronera Valley, Serengeti, Tanzania, at around midday. The story behind it is simple: We were on game drive in the Seronera valley, pretty close to the parks headquarter, and it was about time for our lunch boxes.

Normally, at this time of the day you should not expect to see a lot of animals or take a good picture – it is too hot, too dusty, and the light is really bad – too much sun washing out colors, contrasts, everything what makesa good picture is hardly to meet at lunchtime in the Serengeti.

Besides that, hippos have very sensitive skin and the try to stay away from the sun, so normally they get out of the water only at night, to graze. But to our surprise we encountered this hippo in the hot midday sun, taking a stroll through the high grass besides Seronera river.

The high grass made it difficult to a gain decent focus, and the hippo disappeared as quickly as it showed up, but here is the picture:

Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon EOS EF-L lens with 300mm. I used the canon doubler, so the focal length is 600mm! ISO at 250.

Maybe not a great, outstanding picture, but interesting because of the rare animal behavior documented, and kind of mastering the moment. Maybe because that is why I like it!

Hippo in the grass by DC Loew

Die Geschichte hinter diesem ungewöhnlichen Foto eines afrikanischen Flusspferdes ist schnell erzählt. Das Ungewöhnliche ist: Normalerweise bleiben Hippos den Tag über im Wasser, und verlassen dieses erst gegen Abend, wenn die Sonne nicht mehr ihre empfindliche Haut schädigen kann. Das wusste das oben abgelichtete Exemplar aber offensichtlich nicht!

Gegen die Mittagszeit, wenn Licht und Gelegenheit in der Serengeti gegen so ziemlich jedes gute Foto sprechen (Die starke Sonne bleicht Farben und Kontraste total aus, es ist staubig und die Luft flimmert und sorgt für Unschärfe, und die Tiere verstecken sich vor der Hitze) trafen wir auf dieses grasende Flusspferd. Es war im Tal des Seronera Flusses im Herzen der Serengeti, gar nicht weit vom Hauptquartier der Parkverwaltung.

Genauso schnell und unerwartet wie sich diese Foto Gelegenheit bot, verschwand das Flusspferd auch wieder, das hohe Gras machte ein scharfes Foto ziemlich schwierig, aber oben seht ihr das Resultat, die Schärfe ist manuell eingestellt und halbwegs ok.

Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon EOS EF-L Objektiv mit 300mm. Ich nutzte den Canon 2x Konverter, die Brennweite ist 600mm! ISO 250.

Sicherlich kein besonders grossartiges Tierfoto, aber ein schönes Naturdokument welches ein ungewöhnliches tierisches Verhalten dokumentiert. Aus fotografischer Sicht wurde aus den schlechten Umständen das bestmögliche gemacht, insofern mag ich dieses Foto genau aus diesem Grund!

FZS boosts SENAPA anti poaching measures

Posted by dc on April 16, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography. Leave a Comment

Reblogged from Wolfganghthome's Blog:

FRANKFURT ZOO TO BOOST SECURITY IN SERENGETI

Information was received from a regular conservation source in Arusha that the Frankfurt Zoological Society, one of Tanzania National Park’s staunchest supporters over the past decades, has set aside fresh funding to boost in particular anti poaching capabilities in the Serengeti National Park.

It was this park which over half a century ago caught the eye of Prof.

Travel Photography: Streets of La Paz, Bolivia

Posted by dc on April 13, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography, travel photography. Tagged: Bolivia, iPhone, La Paz, Peru, travel photography. 1 comment

When roaming through the streets of the wonderful city of la Paz, Bolivia, I left my photo gear in the hotel and took photos with the iPhone only. Actually, I have to admit, I do love the iPhone as a travel photographers camera – you can use it and hardly no one notices you are taking a picture. If the light situation its rather simple, the iPhone makes great images.

LaPaz1

Above you see a corner in the La Paz old town, climbing the steep streets requires being in good shape, because the city is situated in an altitude of around 3.600 m! In the picture above I liked the organization of all the cables and wires, and the cars show a bit how steep the streets can be.

In Bolivia and Peru they have around 3.000 sorts of potatoes! These countries is where the potato origins from, brought by the spanish conquerors back to Europe. The picture above shows a typical street market stand.

South Africa Attempts New Strategy to End Rhino Poaching with 'Tainted' Horns

Posted by dc on April 9, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography. Leave a Comment

Reblogged from ecoapari:

Unable in recent years to stave off rhino poaching for good in Krugar National Park, park officials have taken matters into their own hands and resorted to injecting ectoparasites into the horns of 100 of its rhinos.

If the parasites are consumed by humans, they may cause nausea, vomiting and convulsions, among other side effects. In addition to making consumers very ill the parasites are accompanied with a pink dye that can be detected at airports with x-ray scanners.

Crossing borders in Africa – hints and tips / Grenzen passieren in Afrika – Tipps

Posted by dc on April 5, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography, Safari tips, Selbstfahrer, travel Africa. Tagged: border documents, border posts, borders, Grenzübertritt Afrika, Grenzen in Afrika, Selbstfahrer Grenzen Afrika, selfdrive Africa. 5 comments

Crossing borders in Africa is a special challenge: You have to do just only a few things right, but can no matter what, fail big anytime. Here are some hints and tips I found out to be useful when crossing frontiers, border posts, airport immigrations or police road blocks in Africa. These hints are for self-drive Safaris, immigration on airports, and travel means of all other kinds.

signpost

Be prepared, know the rules: Know what you will have to pay for visa, your vehicle, customs, any other fees that might come. Have all documents ready and handy. The more you are prepared, the less you can get cheated or talked over to pay for whatever you do not need to pay, or asked for documents you might not need.
If possible, try to get visas before you enter the country or show up at the border. I made the experience that things are handled much more easy when you already have your official visa stamp in your passport, and it saves time and paperwork, too.
Always have enough cash with you, if possible in more than one currency. It happens, that fees or tariffs are raised recently, or that the internet connection for the credit card is not working. Always have more cash money with you than your preparations tell you. Additionally, it pays off to have not only the countrys currency with you you plan to enter, but as well some regional currency like South African Rand (is accepted in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe border post), and of course, US Dollars (More about money issues when traveling in Africa you find in this posting). Some currency you get hardly anywhere else outside the country, like Botswana Pula or Zambia Kwacha.
Be polite, respectful and charming: Whatever happens, do not argue and do not yell. Who yells in Africa or is having anything like a colonial attitude towards the officers, has already lost. Be charming, better: make a joke. Laughter really breaks the ice in a difficult situation, in Africa more so than elsewhere, is my impression.
Let people help you: Asking for help can sometimes work wonders. Ask bystanders or local boarder crossing people what could be the trick if you get stuck in any administration issues. African bureaucracy might not be very transparent sometimes, but often the locals do know the means to avoid problems.
Have enough time with you: Often problems occur because people are in a hurry. Do not let that happen. You lose your momentum, when you are in a hurry.
Watch your language: Do not think officers will not understand your language. I have met very very funny and charming immigration officers at the Zimbabwe border who spoke miraculously well German. They told me they have learned it only at being at the border all the time – growing up with learning often more than one regional or tribal language teaches you being a fast language learner.
Crossing borders in Africa with a vehicle means more preparation and bureaucracy than anything else. Do not rely on the car hire company to equip your vehicle with everything you might need. Nowadays many African countries do require to have not one, but two triangles, and a medical kit. Keep these items handy. In Zimbabwe traffic rules requires the need of some special reflectors on your car, just to give an example. In Tanzania police will definitely ask for the “driving license for Tanzania” – which means the international driving license. Know exactly the rules and fees you will have to pay and do not rely on guides/touts at the borders trying “to help you”.
Have a Plan B: you have trouble in one border post – if possible, try another point to cross the border. This might only be helpful for self drive safaris, not at airports.
Finally: Do not pay any bribes.

Wer in Afrika Grenzen passieren möchte, sei es bei der Einreise am Flughafen, oder als Selbstfahrer mit einem Fahrzeug, sollte sich nicht von Forenberichten oder ähnlichem ins Bockshorn jagen lassen, sondern sich gut vorbereiten. Hier einige Tipps und Hinweise aus meinen Erfahrungen, wie man einfach, problemfrei und stressfrei afrikanische Grenzformalitäten erledigt:

Sei vorbereitet: wer genau weiss, welche Unterlagen, Dokumente, Papiere er mitbringen muss, der ist im Vorteil. Das Gleiche gilt für Gebühren und Steuern jeglicher Art. Wer sich hier akribisch vorbereitet, ist im Vorteil, sollten irgendwelche Gebühren oder Dokumente gefordert werden, die es nicht geben dürfte.
Visa im Heimatland besorgen: Das mag einige Euro/Franken mehr kosten, macht sich aber definitiv bezahlt: weniger Schlangestehen am Flughafen, weniger Papierkrieg, mehr Zeit. Und irgendwie beeindruckt das hochoffizielle Visa der Botschaft jeden Grenzbeamten – glaube ich!
Habe genug Bargeld dabei, wenn möglich, mehrere Währungen: Man sollte sich auf keinen Fall darauf verlassen, dass an der Grenze Geldautomaten stehen die funktionieren, oder Wechselbüros, oder dass Kreditkarten angenommen werden. Cash is king when you travel in Africa! (Siehe auch Beitrag zum Thema “Geld in Afrika”). Eine regionale Währung wie der südafrikanische Rand ist hilfreich und wird an Grenzen zu Botswana, Simbabwe und Namibia angenommen! Us Dollars natürlich auch. Euro weniger.
Sei respektvoll, freundlich und offen: Freundlichkeit ist eine unterschätzte Eigenschaft für Reisende, aber besonders in Afrika oft der Schlüssel zum Erfolg. Wer schreit, pöbelt, kolonial wird, hat verloren. Charme und ein Witz sind sehr oft der Türöffner, auch verfahrene bürokratische Situationen zu lösen.
Lass dir helfen: Oft wissen die lokalen Grenzgänger sehr genau, welche Tricks und welches Wissen hilfreich sind, eventuelle bürokratische Schikanen, fehlende Dokumente oder was auch immer zu umgehen. Die Leute fragen hilft, sich helfen lassen oft auch. Ich habe nie erlebt, dass ein Hilfegesuch abgeschlagen wird. Fragen, freundlich sein, offen sein. Manchmal hilft auch Dummstellen, das aber nur als letztes Mittel! An einigen Grenzen (u.a. Südafrika zu Botswana, Botswana nach Sambia) gibt es Hilfe von professionellen Grenzübertrtrittshelfern, natürlich gegen Geld. Vorab unbedingt die Leistung und die Bezahlung klären. Und NIE den Reisepass aus der Hand geben!
Bring genug Zeit mit: Drucksituationen entstehen, weil Leute denken, sie sind unter Zeitdruck. Lass das nicht geschehen, bringe ausreichend Zeit mit, so kann dich auch niemand anderes unter Zeitdruck bringen
Pass auf, was du sagst: Ich konnte es nicht glauben, wie hervorragend die freundlichen Greznbeamten an der Grenze zu Simbabwe Deutsch sprachen. Hätten sie nur so vom Hören und Sprechen mit Touristen gelernt. Also: Vorsichtig sein, was man sagt, manchmal wird man verstanden am Ende der Welt…
Plan B: Wer an einem Grenzübergang Probleme hat, sollte wissen, wo die nächste Alternative ist. Für Selbstfahrer sinnvoll, nicht am Flughafen, ich weiss…
Selbstfahrer in Afrika: Für die Überführung eines Mietfahrzeugs oder des eigenen Fahrzeugs über afrikanische Grenzen gelten jeweils andere Regeln, Dokumente und Gebühren. Auch hier gilt: Vorbereiten, und nicht auf andere verlassen. Bei der Übergabe des Mietfahrzeugs am besten mit einer Checkliste die regionalen Besonderheiten abarbeiten. In einigen afrikanischen Ländern benötigt man ZWEI Warndreiecke. In einigen einen Verbandskasten, in anderen nicht. In Simbabwe werden spezielle Reflektoren gefordert. Und den internationalen Führerschein nicht vergessen. Diesen stellt die lokale KFZ Stelle aus, nicht die Gemeinde oder das Bürgeramt.
Und zum Schluss: Zahl keine Bestechungsgelder. Das macht alles nur noch schlimmer.

THXW2A8XRT3D

Serengeti Lions in Golden Light in wildphotomag March-April 2013

Posted by dc on April 4, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography, Serengeti, Tansania, Tanzania, wildlife photographers, wildlife photography. Tagged: DC Loew publications, DC Loew Wildlife Photography, Löwen, Löwenfotos, lions, Serengeti Golden Light, serengeti lions. Leave a Comment

Wildphotomag from South Africa published some of my lions pictures from last years Serengeti Safari, please check it out in the March/April 2013 issue, page 13. Most of these pictures were taken around the Mara kopjes in Southern Serengeti, with two mornings full of the famous Serengeti Golden Light.

In der März-April 2013 Ausgabe des Wildphotomag aus Südafrika könnt ihr einige meiner Löwenbilder aus der Serengeti finden. Sie entstanden auf meiner letzten Safari und sind grösstenteils im südlichen Teil der Serengeti geschossen, im berühmten “Golden Light”!

Travel photography: Ngorongoro crater, Tanzania

Posted by dc on March 10, 2013

Posted in: landscape photography, Safari photography, Serengeti, Tansania, Tanzania, travel Africa, travel photography. Tagged: Africa, Afrika, Safari, Serengeti, Serengeti National Park, Tansania, Tanzania. 4 comments

Ngorongoro crater by DC Loew

This picture is taken from one of the viewpoints which are situated beside the road along the Ngorongoro crater rim. It is the road that goes from Arusha all the way to the Serengeti Naabi Hill gate, in northern Tanzania.

Take care when you stop and get out of the car, sometimes there are lorrys and safari vehicles driving around in a rather ruthless style.

Das Foto wurde im Norden Tansanias an einem der Aussichtspunkte an der Strasse Arusha – Serengeti aufgenommen, unweit des Grabes der Grzimeks. Die Strasse ist eine Lehmpiste und führt entlang des Kraterrandes, Vorsicht ist geboten, ab und an wird doch recht wild gefahren. Sie führt von Arusha über den Eingang zur Ngorongoro Conservation Area direkt zur Serengeti, zum Naabi Hill Gate.

Canon EOS 5D Mk II, Lens: Canon EF 17-40 L

WildphotoMag with lion pictures of mine

Posted by dc on March 1, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography, Serengeti, Tansania, Tanzania, wildlife photography. Tagged: DC Loew Wildlife Photography, Serengeti, Tansania, Tanzania, wildlife photography. Leave a Comment

WildphotoMag from South Africa published some of my favorite lion photos from the Serengeti plus one text I wrote for this occasion: Please read and share and tell me if you like it!

DC Loew wildlife photography in WildphotoMag: Serengeti Lions in Golden Light

Crazy Pelican and other animals: Safari photography in the Florida Everglades

Posted by dc on February 15, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography. Tagged: everglades, Florida, Florida wildlife. Leave a Comment

Pretty close to Europe, only a short hop over the big ocean away, lies the Florida peninsula, the United States`”Sunshine State”. Florida is a wildlife photographers heaven, as the Everglades, a gigantic swamp riverine water system and home to a rich birdlife, marine animals and mammals, is very close to Miami and easily accessible by car, and thus makes it a great safari option outside Africa.

Along Floridas Highway Numer 90, you drive around 116 Miles/140 Km, on a very good road, from Miami to Everglades City.

Crazy pelican by DC Loew

I recommend to take the little tourist town Everglades City as a base camp – you have a good choice of motels and restaurants there . From Everglades City you have direct access to the coastline, the inner parts of the Everglades, and there is plenty of boat and tour providers in Everglades City offering boat trips, fishing trips and what else for the interested wildlife photographer.

Take for example the picture left. This crazy bird just landed in front of us on the boat, only a meter away. So it was pretty difficult taking the picture of crazy pelican while having a very long lens (400mm) on the camera.

The light situation was also quite difficult, you might notice the very bright parts in the picture – there was simply too much sun light involved.

So, as an advice, which is always true in Africa, and maybe in Florida, too: Avoid the light during the day, this is plenty too bright, washes away all the colors and sharpness and contrast.

The good light is there in the morning. I am not sure about the evening light in Florida, as the sunshine state is close to the equator, it gets dark very fast, and compared to the European summer, quite early.

Florida ist wirklich nur einen Katzensprung entfernt: Schnell über den Atlantik gejettet, und am gleichen Tag in der Wärme und den Farben der Karibischen See:

For other pictures I took in the Everglades, this rule seems to stick, as they both show not the ideal light conditions:

Für den wintermüden Europäer stellt Florida eine recht einfach zu erreichende, nicht sehr teure Option dar, in die karibische Wärme als auch in Gebite zu gelangen, die für den ambitionierten WildlIife Fotografen spannend sind. Gute und einfache Erreichbarkeit von Miami aus, ausgezeichnete Plätze für die Vogel Fotografie, und ein sehr tierreiches Gebiet im Bereich der Everglades.

Ich empfehle den kleinen Ort Everglades City als Basis: hier gibt es preiswerte Hotels, Motels und Restaurants, und eine gute Auswahl an Unternehmen, welche einen per Boot in die Everglades Sümpfe befördern. Der Eingang zum Everglades National Park ist unweit gelegen, zur Küste ist es ebenfalls ein Katzensprung.

Die Lichtverhältnisse sind zumindest tagsüber schwierig, die Sonne ist zu hell! Wie man in den Fotos mit dem Alligator als auch dem Pelikan gut sieht. Auch der Waschbär, obwohl sehr nah, war schwierig zu fotografieren.

Florida Alligator by DC Loew

Very close to the alligator you see above we met Harry, the raccoon. Again, light was a bit against me:

Florida Racoon by DC Loew

Finally, I took one good photo while in Florida, and this is the one that follows.It was taken on Key Largo. It shows an old tomcat, which I befriended in the morning. In the evening, that guy was sleeping on our porch, and he let me crawl towards him, so I made this picture with a 100mm macro lens (Canon EF 100mm L) literally lying on the ground, only centimeters away from the cat. Wonderful golden light coming through the leaves of the palms.

Man fährt an entlegene Orte in der Wildnis, aber das gute Foto macht man dann auf der Terrasse: So geschehen in Key Largo mit der alten Hauskatze, welche mir erlaubte, mich auf den Boden vor ihr zu legen. Perfektes Licht fiel durch die Palmenblätter und machte diese zauberhaften Konturen auf dem goldgelben Kater. Ich war so nah, dass ich ein 100mm Macro benutzen konnte.

Florida Tomcat by DC Loew

So, yes, Florida is a great place for wildlife photographers: plenty of animals, marine mammals, alligators, birds around, and easily accessible. Very good infrastructure. International airports nearby: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Naples.

Beaches and Nightlife in Key West, my favorite city in the US.

More information:

Camping in Etosha National Park, Namibia

Posted by dc on February 12, 2013

Posted in: Africa Tourism, Namibia, Safari photography, travel Africa, wildlife photography. Tagged: Etosha for photographers, Etosha National Park, Namibia, self drive, self drive etosha, self drive namibia, self drive safari. 1 comment

Etosha: Okaukuejo Campsite

If you like to self drive when on Safari just as much as I like it, lets talk about camping and self drive in Namibias Etosha National Park. For me, self drive Safari and camping comes together, wether you have a roof tent, a tent, or a camping trailer. And I will tell you, where in Etosha the wildlife photographer has the best opportunity for taking great wildlife pictures.

You have three camp sites in Etosha NP, one in the south called Okaukuejo, one in the central part of the park called Halali, and one in the northern part, called Namutoni. In the picture above you get an impression of Okaukuejo campsite, and yes: it s dusty!

All three campsites must be booked in advance at Namibia Wildlife Resorts, here is the link.

Etosha pan, Etosha NP, Namibia. Photography by DC Loew

In the picture above you see the Etosha pan, which lies between Okaukuejo and Halali, a great site and absolutely worth the detour.

All three camps have self catering sites with a braii, ablution blocks and kitchen spaces for washing dishes and pots. But, all have a restaurant and bungalows, too, so if you are tired of camping, you can stay in the bungalow and enjoy the food in the restaurant, too.

Etosha for the wildlife photographer

For wildlife photographers, I do not find the camp sites very interesting for large animals: all three camps have a water hole close by, which is lighted at night. But this does not makes good wildlife pictures possible, as there is no good looking background, and the whole set up is more like a zoo.

It is the small animals, that are great for pictures, because they are used to humans and you can get very close towards them: Okaukuejo has a colony of ground squirrels, and a very large nest of weaver birds. At night, jackals are patrolling the site, but they are shy.

Halali has a lot of interesting birds, and Namutoni provides a charming family of striped mongoose. Everywhere you should have the option of taking great pictures of hornbill birds, red ones and yellow ones, the yellow billed horn bills can get very trustful!

Of the three camp sites, I liked Namutoni the most, as it is not dusty, they have a great green lawn for the campers to rest on. Best ablution blocks ar at Halali. All sites provide a petrol station, Okaukuejo hast a small super market and sells a very good guide book which includes a field guide of almost all animals that live in Etosha.

Giraffes tend to be in the area around Namutoni, so if you want Giraffe pictures, this is the place to be!

Driving time from Windhuk: I recommend to have a break somewhere along the way and make the route in two days- though it is makable to drive from Windhuk to Etosha in around 5-6 hours. There is a great tarmac road all along the route.

Cuddling mongoose in Fort Namutoni campsite. Photo by DC Loew

Im Etosha Nationalpark in Norden Namibias gibt es drei Campingplätze für Safari Selbstfahrer: Okaukuejo im Süden, zentral gelegen Halali, im Norden des Parks dann Namutoni. Alle drei bieten nicht nur Selbstversorgerplätze mit Grillstelle, Toiletten, Dusche, Waschstelle für Geschirr, sondern auch Bungalows und ein Restaurant. Wer also genug vom Selbstkochen hat, kann auch die Restaurants aufsuchen. Reisen bedeutet eben manchmal auch ein wenig Luxus im Reise – Alltag.

Die Campingplätze müssen bei Namibia Wildlife Resorts reserviert und bezahlt werden, und zwar vorab! In Okaukuejo erfolgt dann die Registrierung vor Ort, und am gate wird kontrolliert, ob man eine Reservierung besitzt.

Alle drei Camps haben eine Tankstelle, in Okaukuejo gibt es zudem einen kleinen Supermarkt. Dort erhält man auch einen guten Reiseführer mit Karte und Tierführer, insbesondere zur Vogelbeobachtung ist das sehr hilfreich!

Für den Wildlife Fotografen stellen alle drei Plätze in Etosha eine eher staubige Angelegenheit dar, und die beleuchteten Wasserlöcher erscheinen wie ein Zoo – bei Nacht kann man es meiner Meinung nach vergessen, ein vernünftiges Foto zu machen. Auch tagsüber sind die Wasserlöcher in Etosha für mich Zeitverschwendung und Fotos haben eher dokumentarischen Charakter: schlechtes Licht, schlechte Position, zuviel Staub, kein guter Hintergrund.

Aber es sind die kleinen Tiere in den Camps, welche spannend sind, weil man nahe an sie herankommt, und sie Menschen gewohnt sind – hier findet der Tierfotograf mit Sicherheit seine Chance für ein gutes Foto, mir ging es genauso: In Okaukuejo gibt es ein fabelhaftes Nest von Webervögeln sowie eine Kolonie sehr lebhafter Erdhörnchen. In Halali gibt es sehr viele Vögel, in Namutoni eine Familie von Streifenmangusten, die absolut keine Scheu mehr haben, aber dennoch wilde Tiere sind.

Fahrzeit: Man kann von Windhuk durchaus an einem Tag nach Okaukuejo fahren, es gibt eine durchgängige sehr gute Asphaltstrasse. Allerdings empfehle ich, in der Mitte der Strecke zu rasten und eine Übernachtung einzulegen, es gibt sehr gute Lodges in der Gegend um Otjiwarongo, ca. 250 Km nördlich von Windhuk.

Fort Namutoni, Etosha NP, Namibia, by DC Loew

Great tips for bird photography

Posted by dc on February 6, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography. Tagged: bird photography, birding. Leave a Comment

The great photo blog shutter stoppers has this lovely posting about bird photography. Enjoy!

http://shutterstoppers.com/bird-photography-tips/

Toller Blogpost zum Thema Birding/Vogelfotografie. In Englisch, sehr lesenswert!

Arusha National Park, Tanzania: The hidden gem

Posted by dc on January 29, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography, Safari tips, Tansania, Tanzania, travel Africa, Walking Safari, wildlife, wildlife photography. Tagged: Arusha, Fotosafari, Kilimanjaro, Moshi, Mount Meru, Northern Circuit, Safari, Tanzania. 2 comments

There are some parks in Africa, which are not so well known for several reasons, but are easily accessible, give great opportunity for the safari photographer, and are absolutely worth a visit – for me, that all is true for the Arusha National Park.

Arusha National Park is situated between the cities of Arusha and Moshi in Northern Tanzania, and connected by a tarmac road from both cities. From the Arusha-Moshi road, close to Usa River, the road to the Arusha NP main entrance goes north and uphill, and the tarmac road ends pretty soon.

Arusha NP by DC Loew: Mount Meru in clouds

The park is not huge, actually it is very small, but it contains several very different habitats:

Small parts of grass land savannah, called little Serengeti. Here you can see bushbucks, giraffe, zebra, warthog – we even spotted a leopard there, but that was the first daylight leopard sighting in five years, as everybody assured us
The rain forrest around the slopes of Mount Meru and the Ngurdoto crater. Here you can encounter the rare colobus monkeys, several species of vervet monkeys, and a lot of birds species.
The Momella lakes with their green, grassy land between them, loads of giraffe, antelopes, hippos and flamingos. you can even make a canoe trip on the lakes.
The montane area around Mount Meru, Africas fourth highest mountain, with flowers you only find on high altitudes where there is plenty of water. It is absolutely worth the time and money, to organise a two-hour walking safari in this area, you only have to be aware of the buffalos, and there is an armed ranger coming with you.

Arusha NP by DC Loew: The Ngurdoto Crater

For safari photography the park gives you some options: green landscapes, birds, colobus monkeys, and giraffes. There is plenty of giraffes roaming through the area, and they are not very shy, so you should have the chance to make some shots, here.

There is a huge birdlife in all parts of Arusha NP. As there are no lions around, you have the chance to meet lots of birds around the very nice picnic places the park administration is providing. The Momela Lakes are only of shallow water, so there is plenty of water – birds around. In the rain forest you have the chance to encounter Giant Hornbills.

In the rain forest taking pictures is very tricky – a challenging light and shadow scenario in a mix of one million greens, thus causing a complex situation for focusing on the colobus monkeys, which are hiding in the trees. If you are patient and lucky, the monkeys seem to lose their shyness and come pretty close to you – but mostly they keep their distance, and are even hiding when you aim with your camera towards them. I suggest a high ISO setting, at least 800. And a lens not shorter than 400mm.

Colobus monkey, Arusha NP, by DC Loew

Inside the park, there is one upmarket lodge, and the state run Momela lodge. Here it is where they shot the movie “Hatari” with John Wayne, and for a tip the staff can show you around and lead to the Dukes chalet!

Outside the park and in nereby Usa River are plenty of very nice lodges in all price segments, from Usa river it is roughly a 15-minute ride. From Arusha it is around 45 minutes.

Climbing Mount Meru, you have to enter the park, climbs to the summit can be arranged in three or four day treks. Climbing Mt. Meru can be easily combined with a trek on Kilimanjaro or a northern circuit safari.The best view you can have to the Kili is from top of Mount Meru, best time to try this: between December to February.

If you want advise on safari companies or want to trek Meru or Kilimanjaro, please contact me.

Closest International Airport: Kilimanjaro. (KLM, Condor, Emirates, Turkish Airlines, Kenya Airways, Precision Air fly there)

Official Homepage of Arusha NP

Arusha NP rain forest by DC Loew

Interview with Sudhir Shivaram on shutterstoppers blog

Posted by dc on January 23, 2013

Posted in: India, Safari photography, wildlife photographers. Tagged: conservation, India, wildlife photographers. Leave a Comment

As I just recently published an interview with one of the great wildlife photographers from India, Sudhir Shivram, you might like to read his most recent interview on photo blog shutterstoppers.

Jüngst veröffentlichte ich ein wirklich tolles und lesenswertes Interview mit einem der besten indischen Naturfotografen, mit Sudhir Shivaram aus Bangalore. Ein Blogkollege hat nun nachgelegt, und es ist interessant, die beiden Interviews zu vergleichen.

you find the interview in shutterstopper here
Find Sudhirs interview with safari-photographer.com here

The owl does not like me

Posted by dc on January 20, 2013

Posted in: africa birding, Safari photography. Tagged: bird photography Europe, european eagle owl. Leave a Comment

Took this photo of an Eurasian Eagle-Owl yesterday in a small game park , with ca.-5 Degrees Celsius, and snowing. The owl did not like me and kind of gave me the stare. But I nice shot, I guess… Lens is Canon 300mm prime lens.

These birds are quite amazing, and you have to see them fly, and listen carefully: They fly soundless. Great invention of nature, and a very large bird, by the way…

The owl giving me the stare

Great African lodges: The perfect retreat – Mara Timbo Camp, Masai Mara/ Im Herzen Afrikas: Das Mara Timbo Camp

Posted by dc on January 15, 2013

Posted in: Africa Tourism, Great African Lodges, Safari photography. Tagged: Africa, Kenia, Kenya, lodges, masai mara, travel, Unterkünfte. Leave a Comment

From time to time safari-photographer.com presents outstanding lodges in Africa. This time it is the Masai Mara in Kenya, where the Mara Timbo Camp is situated.The camp is directly located at the shores of the Mara river, and contains of seven self constructed luxury tents with ensuite bathrooms.

The Masai Mara is a safari photographers dream, especially when you want to shoot pictures of big cats, especially lions and cheetahs. You can go there any other time of the year to find abundant wildlife among a lovely scenery. When the wildebeest migration is coming in from the Serengeti, the Mara is packed with mammals and is one of the best places on earth for wildlife photography.

The Mara Timbo Camp itself is a very good base for safari photographers, offering all amenities of African hospitality (restaurant, bar) and the technical infrastructure you need to rely as a wildlife photographer – electricity for chargers, in rooms as well in safari vehicles. As the owners of the lodge used to work in tv business, they know quite well what technical infrastructure is needed for photographers. Check here for details.

The amazing story behind the camp is, that the owners built the place literally from scratch. They designed the tents, houses, bar, furniture etc. in Nairobi. Than it was all put together by local craftsmen, and transported to the Mara. The camp is close to Oloololo Gate of the game reserve, and for building it on a private concession, not a single tree was cut. This approach is giving the place its very unique closeness to the bush that surrounds it.

When the migration of the wildebeests starts to arrive in July, the wildebeest have to cross the Mara river, which is one of the true nature extravaganzas on this planet. The huge herds stay in the Mara until the end of October, and in this time of the year the area is packed with carnivores. Safari in the Mara means, that you do not have to spend hours sitting in the car waiting for the action to happen somewhere – it is just right there!

How to get there: Plane from Nairobi Wilson Airport, or Mombasa or Diani to Kichwa Tembo airstrip. When arriving by car from Nairobi, it takes approx. 5-6 hours.

International Airport: Nairobi International Yomo Kenyatta. You need to transfer to Wilson Airport.

Das Mara Timbo Camp in Kenias bestem Naturschutzgebiet, der Masai Mara, ist ein wunderbares Camp in einzigartiger Natur, und ist zudem mit einer grossartigen Gründergeschichte verknüpft.

Nachdem die jetzigen Besitzer des Camps ihre Berufe im deutschen Fernsehen aufgegeben haben und nach Kenia gingen, pachteten sie ein Buschgrundstück direkt am Mara Fluss und dem Oloololo Gate zum Masai Mara Schutzgebiet. Die Zeltchalets aus Holz und Stoff designten sie mangels Vorlage selbst, und bauten ein Musterchalet im Garten ihres Hauses in Nairobi, mit Hilfe lokaler Handwerker.

Dann wurden alle Baumaterialien nach der Mara gebracht, und dort insgesamt sieben Gästezelte, alle mit eigenem Bad und eigener Veranda errichtet. Die gesamte Anlage wurde in das bestehende Gelände sorgfältig integriert, und laut Klaus Willen, Direktor des Camps, wurde dafür kein einziger Baum gefällt.

Für Fotografen ist Kenias Masai Mara sicherlich eines des spannendsten Safarigebiete weltweit – das ganze Jahr über herrschen ideale Bedingungen, es gibt extrem viele Tiere auf einem kleinen Gebiet, so dass man selten stundenlange Anfahrten per Auto einplanen muss. Mit der Ankunft der migratorischen Gnuherden der Great Migration aus der Serengeti ab Juli, steigt die Raubtierdichte in der Mara noch einmal an, und es gibt in dieser Zeit wohl keinen besseren Platz für Wildlife Fotografie in ganz Afrika.

Das Camp bietet eine sehr gute Infrastruktur für Fotografen, und bei Anfrage auch preislich interessante Pakete für längere Aufenthalte.

Restaurant und Bar sind ebenfalls vorhanden, Lunch und Dinner sowie Lunch Pakete für ganztägige game drives werden zubereitet.

Anfahrt: Per Auto von Nairobi, fünf bis sechs Stunden Fahrt. Per Flugzeug von Nairobi Wilson Airport, von Kenias Küste von Diani oder Mombasa.

Mikrokredite für UnternehmerInnen in ärmeren Ländern dieser Welt

Posted by dc on January 9, 2013

Posted in: Safari photography. Tagged: donations, kiva.org, microcredits, Mikrokredite vergeben. Leave a Comment

Wer hat nicht schon einmal überlegt, ob es nicht etwas sinnvolleres gibt als einfach nur Geld an grosse und anonyme Hilfsorganisationen zu spenden? Das gibt es, und zwar in Form von sogenannten Mikrokrediten, welche Hilfsorganisationen vor Ort an lokale Unternehmer vergeben. Die Organisation, welche eine tolle Software gebaut hat und diese Mikrokredite organisiert heisst kiva.org.

Kiva.org steuert die Beziehungen zwischen den lokalen Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmern sowie den weltweiten Spendern/Investoren übers eine sehr smarte Software.

Jeder, der Projekte fördern möchte, kann sich bei kiva.org registrieren, und z.B. schon mit 25 US-Dollar einsteigen. Das persönliche finanzielle Risiko ist also mehr als gering für die Investoren. Jeder Kreditempfänger stellt sich und sein Projekt vor, und wirbt so um den Kredit. Wer also 500 Dollars benötigt, um z.B. eine Milchkuh zu kaufen, bekommt das Geld von bis zu 20 unterschiedlichen Investoren/Geldgebern aus der ganzen Welt.

Die finanzierten Projekte und UnternehmerInnen befinden sich schwerpunktmässig in Afrika, Lateinamerika und Asien. Die Projekte reichen von Krediten für den Ausbau eines Obst-und Gemüsegeschäfts bis zum Kauf von Nutztieren oder zur Beschaffung von Ersatzteilen für Autoreparaturwerkstätten. Mit diesen Mikrokrediten und den einhergehenden niedrigen Zinsen können Menschen in Kenia, oder Bolivien, oder der Mongolei einfach an Budget herankommen, um ihr Geschäft zu gründen oder auszubauen. Von Banken im herkömmlichen Sinne würden sie diese Finanzierung kaum erhalten, da sie ausser ihrer Arbeitskraft keine Sicherheiten zu bieten haben.

Die Rückzahlung der Kredite bewegt sich im 98% Bereich, und wird von den lokalen NGOs vor Ort gelenkt. Jeder Investor sieht in seinem Kiva Konto den Rückzahlungsstatus pro Projekt, welches er finanziert hat, und bekommt zurückgezahlte Gelder seinem Konto permanent wieder gutgeschrieben, so dass er die Gelder erneut vergeben kann.

Eine tolle Sache für alle Beteiligten, sinnvoll und gut. Es ist auch sehr erdend für jeden von uns zu sehen, wie wichtig für Menschen in der sogenannten “3. Welt” z.B. der Kauf einer Milchkuh oder der Ausbau des lokalen Gemüseladens ist.

Einladungslink für kiva.org

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This is were your Merino jumpers are coming from! Hier kommen die Merino Pullis her!

Posted by dc on December 16, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography. Tagged: Zoo Frankfurt. Leave a Comment

Three young Alpakas (captured) by DC Loew

Three young Alpakas, met in Frankfurt Zoo. Drei junge Alpakas, Foto aufgenommen im Zoo Frankfurt.

Black+White wildlife photography

Posted by dc on December 4, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography. Tagged: Black & White, Fine Art, Prime lens, Zebra. 2 comments

Serengeti zebra in black and white by DC Loew

I am really not sure about why I should do my wildlife pictures in b+w. Maybe I am too much a scientist than an artist? But to start with the back and white animals pictures, what makes more sense than to feature a black and white animal? I do not have images from cows, she eps, dogs, orcas, so, it is the zebra!

The picture above is originally in color, I used the Aperture settings to reduce color, add contrast and the use of a b+w filter. The lens is a Canon EF 300mm L prime lens, and I used a Canon doubler (a 2.0 converter) which makes the aperture for the image 600mm.

The zebra image was shot during daytime, in a maybe not ideal light, in central Serengeti plains.

Safari photography: Some Macro for the change of it….

Posted by dc on December 2, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography, Safari tips, Serengeti, Tansania, Tanzania, wildlife, wildlife photography. Tagged: agama lizard, agama mwanzae, Macro, masai mara, rocky surfaces, safari photography, Serengeti National Park. 2 comments

Agama lizard, Serengeti, by DC Loew

If on Safari, macro photography is maybe not the main reason why you came, but the Serengeti in Tanzania offers some nice opportunities for the macro photographer: These agama lizards (agama mwanzea) like in the picture can be found on all rocky surfaces in the Serengeti, Tanzania, and Masai Mara, Kenya. This picture was taken on the Naabi Hill, which is close to gate to the Serengeti National Park of the same name: Naabi Hill Gate. You can easily climb the hill behind the park administration buildings. It is one of the best vantage points in the area, and the rocks are full of these blue and read lizards, which are not very shy. So bring your macro lens, take your time, and try to catch a great photo…

In der Nähe des Naabi Hills Zugang zum Serengeti Nationalpark, Tansania, kann man diese prächtigen Agamen fotografieren. Hinter den Gebäuden der Parkverwaltung ist der steile, aber nicht sehr hohe Naabi Hill zu erklimmen. Von dort hat man eine der besten Aussichtspunkte in die Ebenen der Serengeti. Zusätzlich findet man auf dem felsigen Untergrund sehr viele Agamen, welche sich dort sonnen. Die Tiere sind nicht sehr scheu und einfach aus der Nähe zu fotografieren. Für eine Safari gilt also: Ausreichend Zeit nehmen am Naabi Hill, dort aussteigen und den Hügel erklimmen, das Makro im Anschlag. Den Naabi Hill Gate erreicht man nach langer und staubiger Anfahrt von Arusha kommend, er ist das östliche Eingangstor zur Serengeti.

Best Countries to travel as a veggie/ Die besten Reiseländer für Vegetarier

Posted by dc on November 27, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography. Leave a Comment

What countries are good for travel if you are a vegetarian or vegan? Just let me give you some hints.

The list with the worst countries for veggies follows soon

Welche Länder sind für Vegetarier eigentlich gut geeignet, wenn man dorthin reisen möchte? Hier ist meine ganz persönliche Liste, vollkommen subjektiv und ohne Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit. Die Liste mit den schwierigen Ländern kommt nächste Woche…

Italy: What do I need to say anyway? One of the best countries in the world, and not only because of the food.
Austria: There is a lot of traditional austrian cuisine which comes meat free: Kaiserschmarrn, Germknödel, all sorts of noodles, Schwammerln (mushrooms). Great country anyway.
Botswana: Why do people go on safari, enjoy the animals, and have their vehicle full of meet from the butchery? I do not get it. But great options in Botswana when it comes to camping and food from the supermarket: tons of vegetarian stuff in cans, and tasty, too. And I love these descriptions they have for the vegetable stew: hot and spice or mild and spicy. Africa in general is great for vegetarians, no trouble at all getting very decent, fresh cooked food without meat, be it Namibia or Tanzania or Kenya.
Argentina: See here. Pizza, Pasta, and the wonderful Italian cuisine from millions of immigrants.
India: A land where cows are holy has of course a great tradition with vegetarian cooking.
Israel: Interesting melting-pot cooking in this tiny country, with influences from all over the world, and a long vegetarian tradition
Ireland: This seems to be odd on this list, but EVERY pub has at least one veggie dish on the menu. And pub food is great!
Germany: Traditional German cuisine learned a lot in recent years, and many regional dishes are veggie, anyway. take Frankfurt and its green sauce, which is a great example for that. Most restaurants have at least one veggie dish on the menu. And try the veg-man app on the app store, which finds you all vegetarian restaurants around you…
Poland: Poland is great, but it is totally underestimated. A lot of traditional food is veggie, they have the great milk bars which cater a lot of very decent, traditional vegetarian dishes. One country I can deeply recommend to travel to…

Special camp site Serengeti: The mysterious camp visitor / Wer pinkelt da an mein Zelt?

Posted by dc on November 11, 2012

Posted in: Camping Africa, Safari photography, Safari tips, Serengeti, Tansania, Tanzania. Tagged: camping africa, Safari, special camp site serengeti. 1 comment

Well, Serengeti special camp site, Tanzania, this was our tent:

Serengeti Special campsite by safari-photographer.com

Unsere Seite auf Google+
This special camp site is like a dream coming true: hidden beneath some koppjes, with the view into the Serengeti plains. At night, you could hear the leopard roaming and the baboons barking, and in the morning you could hear the lions roaring in the far distance.

But each morning there was a patch of pee besides the tent – seems, the tent was build one somebodys toilet place. The question was: which animal could that be? In the high grass you could not detect any tracks. So I put up my wildlife camera, which shoots picture automatically when there is movement in front of it, and takes very good pictures even when it is pitch black outside. And yes, I did not catch the leopard, and there is only a very tiny part of this animal on the final photography, but that tiny part was so typical, so that it was a piece of cake discovering, who the mysterious visitor was. Have a look, and tell me which animal it is!

So, das waren wir also auf unserer special campsite inmitten des schönsten und wunderbarsten Ortes auf der Welt – der Serengeti. Dieser Campingplatz ist im südlichen Teil der Serengeti in der Gegend der Moru Koppjes, ideal gelegen für Safari game Drives, denn in Moru gibt es viele Löwenrudel, und Seronera ist ebenfalls nicht weit. Im Mai, April zieht die Migration der Gnus an der Ebene unterhalb des Zeltes vorüber. Eine Pavianhorde bevölkerte das Koppje an der Campsite, und nachts hörte man sie bellen, wenn der Leopard fauchend vorbeizog. Ein Ort für die Safari der Träume!

Aber wer zur Hölle pinkelte eigentlich jede Nacht ans Zelt? Ich war es nicht, grosse Tiere wie Büffel oder Giraffen hätte man gehört, und diese sind auch nicht standorttreu. Unser Verdacht fiel auf das Dik Dik, da diese in der Nähe zu sehen waren, und ihr Leben lang standorttreu sind.

Also packte ich die Wildkamera heraus, welche automatisch per Infrarotsignal auslöst, und auch Nachts sehr gute Bilder produziert. Die Wildkamera stellte ich auf einen Campingstuhl, und: Erfolg! Der Übeltäter wurde fotografiert, leider nur ein ganz kleiner Teil des Gesellen, der aber unzweifelhaft ausreichte, ihn zu entlarven, seht selbst:

The mysterious visitor caught with the hand in cookie jar. Never mind date and time on the picture, the camera was not set up properly.

Serengeti calendar 2013/ Serengeti Kalender 2013

Posted by dc on November 3, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography. Tagged: Africa, calendar 2013, Kalender 2013, Safari, Serengeti, Serengeti calendar 2013, Serengeti Kalender, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Tierfotos, Tierkalender. Leave a Comment

Finally, my safari-photographer.com 2013 calendar with 12 of my favorite pictures from this years Serengeti safari is available for sale.

Jetzt ist mein diesjähriger Foto Kalender mit den schönsten Tierfotos meiner diesjährigen Serengeti Safari fertig und zum Verkauf! Ihr findet 12 originale Fotos von mir, jeweils versehen mit kurzem Erklärtest und Kamerainfo.

Der Serengeti Kalender ist im Format 44x30cm, alle Seiten sind “glossy” und in Farbe und in sehr guter Papierqualität. Der Preis ist 39 EUR, inklusive Versand in Deutschland. Weltweiter Versand: bitte vorab die Versandkosten bei mir erfragen.

Der Serengeti Kalender 2013 ist hier in meinem etsy Shop erhältlich.

The calendar has 12 pages and a size of 44×30 cm.
All pages with glossy and protected surface
You can see all pictures here
Price: 39,- EUR incl. shipping for inside Germany
for shipping worldwide, please ask for costs! I also add two safari-photographer.com stickers
Every calendar is numbered and signed
Order in my etsy store here

Ngorongoro crater in Northern Tanzania

Posted by dc on October 29, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography, Selbstfahrer, Serengeti, Tansania, Tanzania, travel Africa. Leave a Comment

The Ngorongoro crater is the worlds largest caldera, and a world heritage site. In the North of Tanzania you find three stunning nature monuments: Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro crater, and Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak of the African continent, and the highest single standing mountain in the world.

The Ngrongoro Crater. View from the crater rim. Tanzania

The Ngorongoro crater is described in numerous texts, you can read in details about it in Wikipedia. I just want to share the photo I took there when en route from the Serengeti. As a photographer, I like the open grassland of the Serengeti more for safari and wildlife photography than the crater, but this is just a question of personal taste.

For the wildlife photographer, when in the crater you find a huge amount of animals on a very limited space, including the Big Five, but only if you are VERY lucky. Plus you find hippos, flamingoes, wildebeest, zebra, hyena, jackals, and a lot of birds. These animals do not take part in the annual migration in the Serengeti, but animals can leave the crater and can enter the crater as they please, if they manage to climb the crater walls. That is the reason why you will not find Giraffe inside the crater, but outside of the crater in the Massai land surrounding Ngorongoro.

How to get to the Ngorongoro: There is a tarmac road going from Arusha or Moshi directly to the entrance gate of the Ngorongoro game reserve. The drive will take around 3 hours from Arusha, the road is in excellent condition. Beware of the baboon when you are there at the gate, they will steal all your food if they have a chance, and they will jump into your car when windows or roof are open!

There is a special crater fee to pay when you take the road down into the crater, and permits are limited per day, so plan ahead. Entry is possible as self drive Safari.

How to get to Serengeti: From the crater to Serengeti National Park it will take you another 3-4 hours on very tough gravel and sand roads – no tarmac here! Beware of the dust and protect your photo equipment!

Tiger protection and poaching crisis in India: Support WPSI

Posted by dc on October 26, 2012

Posted in: India, Safari photography, Umweltschutz, wildlife. Tagged: charity, India, Indian tiger, support tiger protection, Tigers, WPSI. 1 comment

The poaching crisis we know from Africa is taking place not only there – it seems to be everywhere. This week we have the focus on wildlife and wildlife photography in India, and we already featured the great wildlife photographer Sudhir Shivaram as well as a posting about the diversity of wildlife protected areas and national parks in the whole of India.

As Sudhir shows clearly in his interview with this blog, the poaching of Tigers in protected areas is a real threat for the species, and authorities seem to be underequipped, or underbudgeted or slow or not willing to take up the fight against the poachers or the criminals who are behind the poachers – corruption is always an issue when stacks of money are involved.

I asked myself: Which NGO is actually taking action in India – the one I am committed to, Frankfurt Zoological Society, is more active in Africa, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, they do not have a single project in India. So, I came upon the WPSI – wildlife protection society of India. According to Wikipedia, this organization seems a real professional and honest player in the fight against poaching and corruption. The WPSI was founded in 1994 and is especially active against poaching and the illegal trade of animals parts. The organization is as well registered in the UK as a charity.

The WPSI Wildlife Crime database has records of over 15,300 wildlife crimes involving more than 400 species that are targeted by wildlife traders and poachers. Data on wildlife crimes is received and processed daily with specially developed computer software. Important leads are verified and passed on to enforcement authorities for further action. In 2008 WPSI significantly expanded their database on tiger poaching and trade and related wildlife crimes. This data assists enforcement agencies in detecting wildlife crime and aids the apprehension and prosecution of criminals. (Source: Wikipedia).

Furthermore, they have a great website, which is very very informative when it comes to planning your Indian Safari – they have al tiger reserves on a map, plus additional and detailed information about the problems they encounter in these parks, the other animals one can see there and everything which is interesting for wildlife photography or simply tourism.

So, here is my call to action: please bookmark this great website, follow their sad updates on poached tigers, or donate and support them!

Das Thema in dieser Woche lautet: Indien! Wir haben den wunderbaren Tier-, Vogel- und Wildlifefotografen Sudhir Shivaram vorgestellt. Sudhir hat in unserem Interview sehr gut den kritischen Zustand vieler indischer Schutzgebiete auf Grund des starken Anstiegs der organisierten Wilderei aufgezeigt, und auch die NGO, die in diesem Blog vorgestellt wird, widmet sich diesem aktuellen drängenden Problem. Gegründet 1994 widmet sich WPSI insbesondere dem Schutz des indischen Tigers. Damit verbunden geht die WPSI gegen die Wilderei sowie den Handel mit Tierteilen, insbesondere für die asiatischen Märkte vor, wo die traditionelle chinesische Medizin eine starke Nachfrage nach Teilen von Tiger und Nashorn generiert.

Wer als Natur- und Tierfotograf einmal Gebiete für Fotosafaris ausserhalb Afrikas kennenlernen möchte, dem sei die Webseite der WPSI ans Herz gelegt, denn sie listet alle indischen Tigerreservate auf, deren Status und Zustand, sowie alle anderen Tiere, die man dort antreffen kann.

Die WPSI ist in Grossbritannien als zertifizierte NGO und Naturschutzorganisation eingetragen und registriert, und man kann sie also auch aus dem deutschsprarchigen Raum heraus unterstützen, mit Spenden an ihre Niederlassung im Vereinigten Königreich.

Top Ten Facts for best safari photography

Posted by dc on October 14, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography. Leave a Comment

Try to book a Safari without a group, and take a local driverguide.
Try to pack the best equipment as possible, and be as light as possible at the same time.
Do not forget a tripod or monopod or a bean bag.
Minimum lenses: one zoom lens (300mm length min.), one macro, one wide angle
When on Safari, get up early in the morning, relax at midday, and plan what to do and where to be when sun is setting: It is about the light! At midday e.g. in the Serengeti it is very difficult to have good lighting conditions.
Early morning game drive: That is essential for good pictures: get up with the sun, and look what is out there. Most lodges offer their breakfast when you come in after the early morning game drive.
Pack enough data cards or any device which stores your images: photo storage, external HDD or notebook, and do not forget to pack an adapter plug: Tanzania and Kenya have mostly UK plugs, Namibia and South Africa the South African plug which you get there at any airport, Botswana a bit of everything…
Check for the best time of getting the best photos: weather, rainy season, when is it dusty, when are there many animals in what region of the national park?
Pack car chargers or a mobile car transformer/converter for adapting and use the electrical power provided by your vehicle. You can load pretty anything while driving: camera batteries, notebook, photo storage device, gps navigation etc.
Plan ahead: what kind of animal you want to make pictures of, in what kind of area? Discuss these plans with your driver guide, he will try to make the best out of it.

Find out more:

Some thoughts about bird photography

Posted by dc on October 8, 2012

Posted in: Germany, Safari photography. Tagged: bird photography, birding, migratory birds, nature, parakeets Germany, rhine river, rhine river valley, stork, travel, white storks. 7 comments

Some weeks ago I went to photograph the White Storks we have around here, migrating each year between their summer homes along the Rhine river and Africa. There is a colony along the Rhine river valley, and there are, including young ones which hatch each year, around thirty White Storks in the area. 15 of these even stay for the winter, and they even survived the very cold weather we had here last winter. So your chances of getting some nice pictures are quite high, but the challenges of getting a good picture are huge, either.

The storks are either in their nests, which gives mostly a boring picture. Or they walk around. There is one nest which might gives you some promising chances for a good image, especially when you have a nice color background, like in the picture below.

White Stork on the watch

But this year, this nest was empty, which is sad, because it is very easy easily accessible, but this might be the reason for it being void of any bird – there might be too many people around. The colony is growing, but this nest was empty this year. I discovered this after the first storks came back from Africa. So the other chance of getting some good images is to encounter the storks when they alk around in the meadows. They accept you getting close around 80 meters, and than they fly away. But it is this flying away which gives – sometimes – a great photo. So you sneak towards them, they notice you, because it is an open meadow with nothing to hide, and than the storks fly away. They tend to stay very low over the ground for some time before they gain some altitude, they are heavy birds and can only climb to higher altitude very slowly. This is the moment where you have make the picture, with a clear background. But anyway, you and your autofocus have to be very quick! Otherwise pictures will look like this:

White Stork out of focus

With the focus set on one single point (camera settings!), pictures will have one sharp spot, which should be around the eye of the bird, the storks wings and body can be out of focus, just like the following example. In this pictures I also adjusted the images color settings to have a greater contrast, but I am still not sure if I like this or not….

After a while the storks are flying higher and they always flay back to their nest. I like more when they are flying almost in eye sight, these images I like most. After they gained some altitude, pictures look like the one following – which ist still not perfect in sharpness. In a few words, what do you need to prepare for bird photography:

ISO setting should be adapated to local light situation, and you should remember that you need a fast autofocus.
Autofocus should be a single spot
When it comes to photographing storks, I would not use a tripod – maybe a monopod would be the better solution.
Lens aperture should be not under 300mm
Lens should be a zoom lens, because the situation can change so quickly.
If you want to know exactly, where you can encounter the storks at the Rhine river, send me an email. Storks are there all year, best time is when the young ones are flying – around July. Most storks leave for Africa in September, some stay during the European winter, but they are hardly to be seen in this time of the year.
More of the better shots of white storks you find here in my gallery

White Stork

And well, there might be only a view bird photography spots in the world, where you can encounter white storks and little green parakeets at the same time. But here in the Rine river valley, this is possible. Parrots in Germany, you might say, come on. But yes, they are breeding birds to the region between Speyer and Cologne along the Rhine river, and they are a lot! The only thing is, that you can only very barely see them, because they use to stay all the time in the trees leaves. So, only in spring and winter, when there are no leaves, you might have the chance to make a succesful picture of parakeets, but you have to be lucky and very patient, because this birds are shy, and smart…

In April, when they are nesting and feeding their young ones, I made the following shot, which is quite acceptable. The tips above can be used for all kinds of birds, and I hope they give you some hints how to achieve better photos of birds and other fast moving animals in the great outdoors.

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Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) in Germany

Wildlife photographers (4): Gorazd Golob

Posted by dc on September 28, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography, wildlife photographers. Tagged: african bush, camera equipment, golob, Safari, travel, wildlife photographers, wildlife photography. Leave a Comment

There is only a few wildlife photographers out there, who combine great artistry and some down to earth feeling just like Gorazd Golob is doing that. Seeing his pictures, and wanting to pack your stuff being directly in direction to somewhere outdoors, is one thing.What I like about his pictures is this feelng of being outdoors and close to nature. This guy really likes the animals, and he close to them, literally and emotionally. Gorazd Golob sees the beauty in nature, and that is why you can find in his gallery pictures from ants to elefants.

Especially his b+w pictures are great art, and real showcases for everyone of us, to discover what can be achieved without HDR, popart-like color saturation and fancy filters and who knows what: simple black and white, and a stark motive in the picture, thats it. This year Gorazd won the International Photography Award in the category “Wildlife“. But read Gorazd answers to my questions, and check out where he is going to be on tour in the African bush, and than just pack your bag, grab your gear, and off you go…

Gorazd Golob hat bei den diesjährigen International Photographers Awards in der Kategorie Naturfotografie mit dem sehr ausdrucksstarken Motiv eines Flusspferdes gewonnen – ein Foto in schwarz-weiss! Aber diesen grossartigen Naturfotografen auf seine kunstvollen Schwarz-weiss Kompositionen zu reduzieren, hiesse, die andere Hälfte des Künstlers und Outdoorburschen Gorazd zu negieren. Denn in seinen Farbfotos zeigt sich seine Nähe und seine Liebe zur Natur, und für ihn ist das Foto einer Ameise genauso wichtig wie das Foto eines Elefanten – schaut euch auf seiner Homepage die Gallerie an, ihr werdet verstehen. Und klar, Gorazd organisiert Fototouren in den afrikanischen Busch, aber auch nach Helgoland, und da möchte man dabei sein! Denn die Reisen versprechen genauso authentisch zu sein wie der Mann selbst und seine Fotos. Lest seine grossartigen Antworten und Einsichten im folgenden Interview.

Here are Gorazd answers to my questions:

Q. What is your photo equipment, and what is the reason for Canon or Nikon? I saw on your website that you are kind of exotic user of Panasonic and Olympus cameras?!

A: My most used equipment is Nikon for wildlife and landscape and Panasonic GH2 for video and also wide-angle shots on tours, when I use Nikon D700 and D300 bodies with telephoto lenses

I choose Nikon 30 years ago, build a system and stick with it. After that time you know your equipment and you should stay with something you are familiar (if it is not puling you back, of course).

Panasonic and m4/3 system I started to use because of the size and video. But for wildlife I still use Nikon.

Q. What are your lenses?

I use many lenses from wide to tele but mostly AFS 500mm f/4 and 70-200mm f/2,8 AFS lenses for wildlife, 14-24 Nikon for wide-angle scenes, fixed focal lenses 50mm 1,4; 28mm 2,0 Zeiss; macro Tamron 90mm and many other for specific purposes. For m4/3 I use mostly Panasonic 14mm f/2,5 and Olympus 45mm f/1,8 with additional 14-140mm lens for video (but I also use Nikon lenses for video with converter)

Q.What is your favorite lense, and why?

All are best for some project but mostly used are 500mm and 70-200mm Nikon lenses and 45mm Olympus lens for m4/3

Q. What is your favorite place for wildlife photography in Africa/the rest of the world, and why?

I visited over 60 countries on 4 continents and I am still looking for the country/place that I will not like. You should look for the beauty when travel, not for bad things.

But yes I have my favorites and they are in Africa – south of Africa. For wildlife I am looking for remote places, for really wild animals, for safe places and my preferences are Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana. For best photo sights are South Africa and Botswana, for remoteness and great wildlife is Zambia, for special landscapes and wilderness is Namibia. But I do a lot of photography also in Europe, South and North America and starting in Asia (India).

Q. What is your current project you are working on?

I just come back from Zambia; I had two tours in August, wildlife in Kafue Park and Victoria falls with short visit to Chobe in Botswana. Now I am planning tours for next year and it will be Africa most of the time. I am also planning some exhibitions of my b&w wildlife.

Q. What is a dream project for you in the future?

To get a job in some African park as a photographer and photo tutor or to work only as a photo tour leader in remote places (which I am doing already for quite some time in the year)

Q. What are your concerns for the future regarding protecting the African wildlife and national parks?

It seems that all is well organized but when you visit them few times, you see how many problems they have. Most obvious for me are two: poaching and industry (mining, oil, natural gas,…), which wants to use natural resources in the areas of parks. Finding out that over 150 rhinos were killed just in Kruger Park in THIS year only, makes you feel bad. I can understand poor people to kill for food but not organized crime for rich customers and just to use horns (they are so dumb they don’t know that they can eat their nails with same results). And same is with companies coming to exploit natural resources and destroy Nature, just for the purpose of FEW rich people, to get even richer…

As always, I hope for common sense (I know that I am idealist…)

Q. What do you try to achieve with your photography?

I use Nature as art objects. I don’t want to just capture the moment in time; I want it to be special, in terms of light, pose, animal, and scenery… Yes I do portraits and action shots but I like to present most of my photos in b&w, in special light, photos showing animals in their environment … I don’t look just for BIG FIVE, for me even a rat or ant can be a model and beautiful art object. And I want to show remote places and wildlife in best possible light and presentation.

And I want to tease other photographers to join me on my tours

Q. Do you consider yourself being an artist?

We are all artists and we have our own way of seeing art. Yes I consider myself an artist (I won IPA wildlife pro section this year, so some others may also think so , hoping that there are more of them who think the same (then those who think I am not J).

I want to express my feelings about nature and my view of nature through my photos, mostly b&w.

Gorazd Golobs Facebook page
Gorazd Golobs Photo Tours
Gorazd Golobs Homepage

Recent portraits of wildlife photographers: use the category “wildlife photographers”

Gorazd in action in Namibia

feeling like Saturday – Ich fühl mich so samstäglich

Posted by dc on September 15, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography. Tagged: Feeling weekendish, Samstag. 1 comment

That was a tough week, wasn`t it? So lets relax a bit and have a nice weekend!

Wochenendbefehl: Entspannen und duce machen!

Photo: The sleeping zebra I encountered in Frankfurt Zoo. Camera: Canon Eos 5d Mk II, lens: Canon EF 300mm L.

Essential gear when out in the field vol. 3 / Wichtige Ausrüstung für draussen 3. Teil: Black Diamond Orbit Lamp

Posted by dc on September 8, 2012

Posted in: Ausrüstung, photo gear, Safari photography, Safari tips. Tagged: Black Diamond, camping, equipment, foto tips on gear. 1 comment

Zugegeben, es handelt sich bei der Black Diamond Orbit Lampe nur um ein recht kleines, unauffälliges Stück Ausrüstung, aber mittlerweile verreise ich nicht mehr ohne dieses Prachtexemplar. Wenn man in Afrika fotografiert, auf Safari ist, in der Berghütte sitzt, übernachtet man meist in einem Zelt, oder in einer Lodge, in beiden Fällen ist die Beleuchtung bzw. die Versorgung mit elektrischem Licht meist nicht vorhanden bzw. äusserst rudimentär. Ohnehin sollte man beim Thema Licht, wenn in Afrika, autark sein, und seinen eigenen Plan B immer in der Tasche haben. Eine Stirnlampe, eine Taschenlampe sollten ohnehin dabei sein. Und diese tolle Zeltlampe von Black Diamond sowieso. Das Gerät ist klein und leicht. Absolut robust. Haptisch sehr angenehm. Und es macht tolles Licht in einem ca. 2m. grossem Radius! Es verfügt über einen Dimmer, welcher bei kleinster Stufe ermöglicht, dass die Orbit Lampe 24 Stunden leuchten kann. Die Energie dafür wird von vier Mignon Batterien zur Verfügung gestellt. Die Lampe wiegt, mit den Batterien, ca. 100g. Das Tollste sind die beiden Bügel zum Aufhängen: robust und ingeniös, lässt sich mit ihrer Hilfe die Lampe nahezu überall befestigen. Ihr Licht ist so entworfen, dass es von Oben nach Unten gleichmässig ausgebreitet wird, perfekt also für ein Zelt. Natürlich kann man die Lampe auch hinstellen, der Fuss ist stabil. Black Diamond ist an sich als Ausrüster für alpines Klettern bekannt, aber mit diesem feinen Stück US-amerikanischer Ingenieurskunst erobern sie auch die Camper und Fotografen und Outdoorenthusiasten.

Lichtquelle: DoublePower LED (45 Lumen). Grösse eingeklappt: ca 10.cm, ausgefahren ca. 14cm. Preis: ca. 25 EUR o. Batterien

Bezug Deutschland und Österreich: Bergfreunde.de. Link ist hier.

The Orbit lamp from Black Diamond is a great piece of gear, I never travel without it, if on Safari, if camping, if travelling in remote areas, it is my personal plan b when it comes to have your own lighting with you.

The lamp is very robust, very light, very small, very tough. It just takes four batteries to give you up to 24 hours light. The two hangers of the lamp are great – a wonderful example uf American engineering and creativity: They work everyhwere and give you the opportunity, to hang the Black Diamond orbit lamp in any tent. The light is designed to fall from inside the tents top to the ground, and this works in rooms, too. The dimmer that comes with the lamp gives allows you to dim the light and save energy. So the lamp is good for doing any outdoor activity, be it in the mountains or in the bush.

When on Safari, or travelling in remote areas, light is one important matter, so this little lamp is always in my gear bag.

Light source is a DoublePower LED with 45 Lumen. Size: 10-14 cm. Ca. 29,- USD.

Source in the United States: Black Diamond Equipment

The African tree squirrel

Posted by dc on September 5, 2012

Posted in: Botswana, Canon, Safari photography, wildlife photography. Tagged: Africa, african tree squirrel, Chobe NP, wildlife photography. 1 comment

Well, todays posting is a simple one: one of my favorite images from Botswanas Chobe National Park. You can go on game drive for days and days and you do not find a bit of a lion. Back in camp, you find this little chap waiting for you (well, maybe just for the food you bring), and you get a nice lighted image from a very close distance, the squirrel sitting on the braai, there you go…

Afrikanisches Eichhörnchen, aufgenommen im Savute Camp, Chobe NP, Botswana.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EL 100-400 L lens. No tripod.

How to photograph leopards when on Safari – Wie man Leoparden vor die Kamera bekommt

Posted by dc on September 1, 2012

Posted in: photo workshops, Safari photography, travel Africa. Tagged: travel. Leave a Comment

There is a tactical and a spiritual approch for this object – let me start with the spiritual appraoch before we come to the hard facts of wildlife photography. And let me introduce Ute from Roho Ya Chui, who wrote this text and who organizes games drives and photography workshops in Africa, especially this leopard special photography course in Sabi Sand, South Africa.

Es gibt zwei Wege, sich dem Leoparden als fotografischem Objekt anzunähern: Einen spirituellen, und einen taktisch-planerischen. Bevor wir zu den Planungen kommen, wie und wo man Leoparden am besten in freier Wildbahn fotografieren kann, lasst mich Ute von Roho Ya Chui vorstellen, welche diesen Text geschrieben hat und die Foto Safari und Foto Workshops nach Sabi Sand (ein Teil des Krüger Nationalparks) organisiert und durchführt. Mehr Information über ihre workshops und Fotoreisen erhaltet Ihr beim Klicken auf das Foto.

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It might sound far-fetched, but Quantum Physics is the starting point to understand and photograph leopards. Everything is made of the same energy and everything is connected to everything else is an essential lesson from Quantum Physics, that applies to us as it applies to leopards, a coffee mug and the car we are driving in. Because we are all made of the same energy, we are also all connected and communicate on the energy level all the time. That means that the energy we are made of vibrates or moves in different frequencies, higher or lower frequencies, faster or slower. We might experience situations where we immediately have a good “click” with somebody. Most likely this persons communicates on energy level on the same frequency as we do. When we experience a situation that we find it difficult to be in the presence of a certain person for too long, because we start to feel tensed and restless, like pressure is building up, we might have an encounter with somebody of a high frequency energy and our energy frequency finds it hard to adjust to the same level. In the other direction to a lower frequency the adjustment is easier and mostly not experienced as demanding or unpleasant. But what does all that have to do with photography and especially leopard photography?

An easy answer could be, wait until you look one into the eyes, but it is helpful to know what happens when you are in the lucky position to be near a leopard and able to spend time with the animal. The difference in photographing wildlife in general and leopards in particular is the very high frequency energy this incredible cat has. Being conscious about that helps a lot when photographing them.

Imagine you are on a game drive and suddenly there is the leopard you were looking for already for days, right in front of the vehicle on a termite mount. Now just shoot away. Don’t think. Let the adrenaline from the excitement out and also take the pictures you can get, before the leopard possibly disappears. This moment might take a minute or two. You will feel when the excitement has settled and you will sit more relaxed in the vehicle. First thoughts of how to photograph the leopard properly will pop up. The next thing might be a feeling of impatience and negative thoughts about the light, the not doing anything animal, chaos with the camera settings, maybe a bit cursing, annoyance and eventually anger why we are still here with this leopard, enough leopard. This is a very important moment. When you decide to leave the sighting, you will miss the chance to connect with the animal and to get the most beautiful photos. All the negative thoughts and the physical reactions of feeling uncomfortable are caused by the difference in energy vibration/frequency. The leopard as a high frequency animal is just sitting there and doing nothing, only sending out on his/her frequency and your energy is trying to tune in to the leopards energy frequency. This tuning process causes the uncomfortable feeling. It will disappear as soon as you are tuned in and from there its as easy as what to photograph this amazing animal and to get the most beautiful leopard images.

Be patient. Stay with the animal and give yourself the time to tune in. As soon as you are tuned in on the leopards frequency the whole “energy situation” on the sighting will calm down and all present parties will connect on the same level. The leopard will start doing his/her thing and the most incredible photo opportunities will occur.

Hier nun, nach dem spirituellen Ansatz bei der Naturfotografie, die harten Fakten: Foto Safari für Leoparden Fotos macht man in Sabi Sand, Südafrika. Was ihr dafür benötigt:

Here comes the hard facts for photographing leopards: Recipe and ingredients for an Amazing Leopard Photography Course

Hardware – Kamera Ausrüstung:

1 or more camera(s)

1 or more lens(es)

1 or more fully charged battery(ies)

1 or more memory cards/films

1 laptop or other backup medium

1 or more power adapter(s)

1 card reader or cable for image upload

1 or more camera bag(s)/backpack

Software / Foto Workshop: Roho Ya Chui Leopard Special Photography Course in the Sabi Sand (part of the greater Kruger National Park in South Africa) conducted by professional photographer Ute Sonnenberg (reviewed by National Geographic Traveler).

Comfortware / Kleidung+Essen: comfortable clothes for all possible weather conditions, delicious food & beverages, professional travel planning provided by Roho Ya Chui

Mindware: passion, inspiration & a high spirit

Method / Methodik: Make up your mind when you would like to go on your leopard adventure and get in touch with Roho Ya Chui for the planning. Be conscious that this will be more than a “usual” Wildlife Photography Course. You will meet the cat of the cats.

Take all technical ingredients, check them, clean them and decide on the cameras and lenses. Check with Roho Ya Chui for advice. When you made your choice put the technical equipment in the camera bag or backpack.

Add the environmental ingredients. Make sure you have all necessary clothes and accessories packed, not more. Check with Roho Ya Chui for advice.

Finish with putting the cherry on the cake; the ingredients passion, inspiration and high spirit.

Enjoy your Leopard Photography adventure.

safari-photographer on Google+

Posted by dc on August 30, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography. Leave a Comment

I set up this lovely site, just in case someone out there wants to join me on G+, lease follow the link underneath the logo.

safari-photographer on Google+

Tips Fotoausrüstung Safari/ Safari photo gear

Posted by dc on August 30, 2012

Posted in: Ausrüstung, photo gear, safari gear, Safari photography, wildlife photography. Tagged: camera equipment, Foto Ausrüstung, foto tips on gear, Safari. Leave a Comment

There seems to be a lot of search going on regarding the best equipment or photo gear when on Safari. I like to be mobile and light, that is why I choose zoom lenses. Especially for the Serengeti animals are getting really close to where you are, which can cause a challenge for the use of telephoto zoom lenses with afixed aperture. Click on the image in this post to get linked to my camera gear for safaris, and let me explain there why I did choose this gear.

Nach Auswertung der Suchbegriffe scheint mir, dass viele Leser nach Tips und Hinweisen für die Fotoausrüstung für eine Safari suchen. Ich habe meine Foto Ausrüstung hier aufgelistet, vielleicht hilft das schon mal als Hinweis. Die Idee ist, eher Zoom Objektive als Festbrennweiten zu nutzen, einfach um flexibler zu sein. Optimal wäre natürlich, 50 Kilo an Euipment und eine Kamera für jedes Objektiv, dazu mehrere 600er, 400er Festbrennweiten. Dann kann man sich die Zoomobjektive für die Safari sparen!

HDR and the new Canon 5D MkIII

Posted by dc on August 28, 2012

Posted in: Canon, photo gear, Safari photography. Tagged: 5D Mk III, 5D MkII, camera equipment, Canon, Foto Ausrüstung, photo gear. Leave a Comment

Please read this very intersting and detailed description of how to do HDR photography with the new Canon EOS 5D Mk III. If you, just like me, are thinking: Do I really need to invest in this new camera?, this review might give you some inspiration. If you aks me, it is just another eraon to upgrade from Canon EOS 5D Mk II to Mk III.

Sehr schöne Beschreibung, wie in der neuen Canon Kamera EOS 5D Mk III die HDR Fotografie funktioniert. Für alle diejenigen, welche mit dem Upgrade von der EOS 5D Mk II auf die 5D Mk III liebäugeln, wahrscheinlich genau der richtige Hinweis, den dies ist ein echter Funktionsfortschritt bei Canon…

Namibia Wins Bid to Host the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s 2013 Adventure Travel World Summit

Posted by dc on August 27, 2012

Posted in: Safari photography. Leave a Comment

Reblogged from GondwanaCollection:

Gondwana Collection Namibia congratulates the NTB (Namibia Tourism Board) and MET (Ministery of Environment and Tourism) for bringing the 2013 Adventure Travel World Summit to Namibia!

Below you can read the official press release by the Adventure Travel Trade Association:

Seattle, WA – For its 10th Adventure Travel World Summit, the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) has selected Namibia – one of the few countries in the world with conservation and environmental management mandated in its Constitution – to host the 2013 Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) set for 26-31 October in Swakopmund and Windhoek, the first time the ATTA has placed its global gathering in Africa.

Wildlife Photographers (2): Marlon du Toit

Posted by dc on August 22, 2012

Posted in: Canon, photo gear, Safari photography, wildlife photographers. Tagged: camera equipment, Canon, Foto Ausrüstung, wildlife photographers, wildlife photography. 1 comment

In our series about wildlife photographers (part 1 you find here), I am honored to present you Marlon du Toit of Singita, South Africa. If you really want to know what makes his photography so full of live and love to nature, check out his Facebook page, and you will find out. Users there just love the dynamics of Marlons images, his closeness to the animals, and the way he is able to capture this with his camera. I mailed him my set of questions, and Marlon took the time for safari-photographer.com to answer all questions very thorougly. That is the reason why I decided to publish Marlons answers in the form of an interview. Thanks again Marlon for the effort and the great insights you are giving us!

Marlon du Toits camera gear is like this:

Canon 1D Mk3
Canon 400 2.8 IS L
Canon 70-200 IS L II
Canon 16-35 2.8 L II
Clik Elite and Redged gear (endorsed)

What is your favorite lense, and why?
Currently the 400 2.8. It creates lovely sharp and rich images with great tone and a beautiful bouquet. I have taken some sweet images with it. I don’t mind the extra weight for the quality of images I am getting!

What is your favorite place for wildlife photography in Africa/the rest of the world, and why?
I recently visited Mana Pools National Park and it will take a whole lot to beat it!! I have been to northern Tanzania too, stunning up there! Have not photographed abroad but would love to photograph grizzly’s and wolves, tigers and a snow leopard
I would also love to spend time in Peru and other parts of South America.

What is your current project you are working on?
I am a full time guide with Singita. I have also taken on the role of photographic guide and ambassador for Wild Eye, a south african based photo safari company, some very exciting developments there. I will also host workshops for Africa Geographic middle September, as well as lead 2 five day photo safaris for them in November.

What are your concerns for the future regarding protecting the African wildlife and national parks?
Being an African you obviously want to protect your country and continent not only for yourself but for your children and so forth too. I want my kids to see what I saw, and how sad it would be if animals like rhinos vanish within twenty years. There are too many concern with Africa at the moment, from the road through the Serengeti to the mining of Mana pools. We just have to try and fight this till the end. Every signature and effort helps in the end and if everybody helps in their own capacity and stand up for mother Africa, perhaps she will be around in her natural state for many generations to come.

What do you try to achieve with your photography?
I try and capture a unique and special moment in time, a moment that will make people sit up and take notice. I wish for all to see how amazing and beautiful Africa is. There are constantly issues threatening African wildlife and any awareness I can create through my talent is a step forward for me.

Do you consider yourself being an artist?
Yes, I think that photography on a professional level requires a huge amount of time and patience. Spending countless hours out there trying to capture the shot and then painstakingly finishing your image up in your digital darkroom is an art without doubt. After all the word photography refers to “painting with light” …

In unserer Reihe “Wildlife Photographers” habe ich nun die Ehre, einen wirklich fabelhaften, extrem authentischen afrikanischen Fotografen vorstellen zu dürfen: Marlon du Toit. Marlon arbeitet hautberuflich für Singita Game Reserves, welche einige sehr schöne, Upmarket Lodges in Südafrika, Tansania und Zimbabwe betreiben. Marlons Fotografie besticht durch seine authentische Direktheit, und seiner Nähe zu den Tieren. Ein ungekünstelter, inspririerender Moment von Nähe zu Tier und Natur zeichnet seine Tieraufnahmen aus, und das wird besonders deutlich in Marlons Facebookprofil. Aus Sabi Sands gibt es einige wirklich tolle Leopardenaufnahmen!

Marlon ist ein Canon Benutzer, und arbeitet hauptsächlich lediglich mit drei Objektiven (siehe oben): Ein 400er Festbrennweite, das lichtstarke Canon L 70-200 2.8., und ein schönes Weitwinkel für Landschaften, das Canon L 16-35. Mehr braucht man nicht unbedingt, schein mir!

Da Marlon meine Fragen sehr ausführlich und toll beantwortet hat, erscheinen Sie in Form eines Interviews. Den ersten Teil der Reihe von safari-photographer.com über Naturfotografen findet ihr hier

Seine letzte Antwort hebe ich mir für den deutschen Part des Artikels auf, es ist schön, dass man auch Fernweh bekommen kann, wenn man täglich in einem tollen Gebiet wie Sabi Sands in Südafrika arbeiten darf:

What is a dream project for you in the future?
To be a full time and successful photographic guide and adventure traveller, photographing the places of my dreams across the world. I am allowed to dream a little hey

Great Review of Canon 5D Mk III and comparison with Mk II

Posted by dc on August 18, 2012

Posted in: Canon, photo gear, Safari photography, wildlife photography. Tagged: camera equipment, Canon, canon 5d, Foto Ausrüstung, foto tips on gear, photo gear. 2 comments

Please have a look at this: Great review of Canon 5D Mark III, I especially like the table with the key differences betweens Canon new 5D modell and the predecessor 5D Mk II.

Grossartige Untersuchung von Canons neuer 5D, der Mark III. Mir gefällt besonders der Vergleich der Spezifikationen zur Mark II. Da wird einem sehr schnell klar, ob man upgraden muss oder nicht…

Verweis ist hier/ Here comes the link

Well, actually I came upon Markus Mauthe because I wanted to link from my blog to his very detailed and inspring report about being in the Serengeti. Then I found out that this guy is a great wildlife photographer as well, with a very interesting upcoming project with foto sessions in Patagonia, Tasmania, Nepal, Palau and the Arctic, among other beautiful places of our little blue planet.

And yes, this planet of us is in danger, and that is why Markus is working together with Greenpeace, to act against the destruction of nature, wildlife, and the oceans. Photographing the beauty of planet earth is one way to make people think and feel, and this you can see in Markus`photography, his workshops and lectures.

Markus Mauthe uses Nikon camera gear and lenses, this is his equipment:

Nikon D3x + D4
21 mm Zeiss
35-70 mm Nikon
200-400 mm Nikon
600 mm Nikon
Gitzo Carbon tripod – ballhead: Really Right Stuff
beanbag

When in the Serengeti lately, most of the pictures he took he used the Nikon 600mm lens, which is a bit of his favorite lens. When on location, Markus tries to capture the specific character and beauty of the landscape in a typical, unspoiled manner. He wants to document it, and show in his images the true character of the region.

I always ask photographers , if they are fans of other photographers or if they have an idol. Markus told me, he does actually not. Well, maybe with one exception, which is Ingo Arndt, one of the best know German masters of wildlife photography.

His project together with Greenpeace “Naturwunder Erde” (“earths natural wonders”) is about showing the beauty and vulnerability of our planet, and will lead him quite a bit around to some stunning places, like described above. You can follow this project on Markus´blog wildview.de (and on this blog, too), and on Facebook.

In loser aber regelmässiger Folge wird safari-photographer.com über ausgesuchte Natur – und Tierfotografen berichten. Den Anfang macht Markus Mauthe, den ich eigentlich wegen seines hervorragende Serengeti Berichts angeschrieben hatte. Aber dann sah ich, dass er ein Klasse-Fotograf ist, und das war die Idee für den Beginn der Reihe “wildlife photographers”. Seine Nikon Kameraausrüstung ist oben beschrieben, sein grosses Projekt “Naturwunder”, zusammen mit Greenpeace” könnt ihr auf seinem Blog verfolgen. Die Links zum Blog als auch zu Facebook kommen im Anschluss. Für die deutschen Leser interessant sind sicherlich auch die Vortragsreihen und Workshops, welche Markus veranstaltet, mehr dazu auf seiner Homepage.

Markus Mauthe Homepage
Sein Blog und das Projekt “Naturwunder”
Facebookrepräsentanz

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