African Photogragphy inspiration wanted!!!
 

As I ahve psoted before, I am really excited to be going to Kenya for a
safari, and in readiness for this trip, i have invested in a Canon 400d DSLR
camera ( the xti rebel to my american friends!).

So far, im only armed with the kit lens 18-55mm and a cheap canon 90-300mm
telephoto lens, and seriously considering taking evening classes so I can
take really good shots...what i am asking in this post is if any of you have
uploaded your safari pictures could you please share the links with me, as
I'd love to see the type of photo opps that *may* present themselves to me
on my vacation...

As my safari is overland and camping, I am not anticipating any sort of
electricity points to charge my equipment ( or showers and decent toilets,
for that matter!), so I will be amred with 5 or 6 pre-charged batteries and
tons of 2gb compact flash cards :-)
Peace!



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

African Photogragphy inspiration wanted!!!
 

the_niner_nation wrote:

As my safari is overland and camping, I am not anticipating any sort of
electricity points to charge my equipment ( or showers and decent toilets,
for that matter!), so I will be amred with 5 or 6 pre-charged batteries and
tons of 2gb compact flash cards :-)

Buy an inverter. That's a relatively small device that fits in the
cigaret lighter of your car, and gives 220 V output. They are usually
between 70 and 130 Watt (but I've seen them up to 300 W). Even 70 W is
enough to power your battery charger.


--
Johan W. Elzenga johanatjohanfoto.nl
Editor / Photographer http://www.johanfoto.com

African Photogragphy inspiration wanted!!!
 

It definitely helps to be very familiar with your camera, as things can
happen quickly, and don't be afraid to use high iso when the light gets
bad, as it often will.

It's also a good idea to think about composition, rather than placing the
animal in the middle of the frame every time. Possibly practise at your
local zoo.

Just my 2c worth.

These shots were taken in South Africa 3 years ago:

http://www.pbase.com/mrk03/south_africa_2004

Regards, and have a great trip.

Michael

African Photogragphy inspiration wanted!!!
 

In message ,
the_niner_nation writes
As I ahve psoted before, I am really excited to be going to Kenya for a
safari, and in readiness for this trip, i have invested in a Canon 400d DSLR
camera ( the xti rebel to my american friends!).

So far, im only armed with the kit lens 18-55mm and a cheap canon 90-300mm
telephoto lens, and seriously considering taking evening classes so I can
take really good shots...what i am asking in this post is if any of you have
uploaded your safari pictures could you please share the links with me, as
I'd love to see the type of photo opps that *may* present themselves to me
on my vacation...

As my safari is overland and camping, I am not anticipating any sort of
electricity points to charge my equipment ( or showers and decent toilets,
for that matter!), so I will be amred with 5 or 6 pre-charged batteries and
tons of 2gb compact flash cards :-)
Peace!



Your first trip will be very exciting. It will only be surpassed by
your second; and then your third...

You should be able to charge from the cigar lighter socket on your
vehicle. If its an overland truck I would expect them to have some
provision for charging - some of their clients will not be able to
survive without their mobile phones!

My next most important piece of equipment is a bean bag which you can
fill with rice on your first day.

I recently switched to digital and was pleasantly surprised to find I
could use ISO 400 and get excellent results (Canon 5D). Check how high
you can go with acceptable noise. This will help give high shutter
speeds and sharp pictures. (If you are considering another lens then
Canon IS is worth the extra money.)

You can buy cheap image storage devices - basically a portable hard
drive - you may take more pictures than you expect!

Ask the driver to switch off the engine before taking shots.

You will get your best pictures in the morning and the evening, make
sure you are out early and late.

Practice focussing on the eye and recomposing - may be at your local
zoo?

Experiment by all means, but you will still get most good shots with the
sun behind you!

My wife and I have done a few trips, mainly southern Africa but also
Kenyan, Tanzania and Uganda. Please have a look at our offering and get
back to us if we can help further.

www.wildworldweb.co.uk

--
John Macdonald

African Photogragphy inspiration wanted!!!
 

In message
"the_niner_nation" wrote:

As I ahve psoted before, I am really excited to be going to Kenya for a
safari, and in readiness for this trip, i have invested in a Canon 400d DSLR
camera ( the xti rebel to my american friends!).

So far, im only armed with the kit lens 18-55mm and a cheap canon 90-300mm
telephoto lens, and seriously considering taking evening classes so I can
take really good shots...what i am asking in this post is if any of you have
uploaded your safari pictures could you please share the links with me, as
I'd love to see the type of photo opps that *may* present themselves to me
on my vacation...
I hope your cheap 90-300 is better than the cheap 75-300 Canon I
bought which is a real discrace - the equivalent Sigma is better,
though I went for the 100-300EX as a replacement.

As my safari is overland and camping, I am not anticipating any sort of
electricity points to charge my equipment ( or showers and decent toilets,
for that matter!), so I will be amred with 5 or 6 pre-charged batteries and
tons of 2gb compact flash cards :-)
Peace!

If you're on one of these big overland truck things, your main
problems will be keeping everyone else still while you're
photographing (any overlanding trucks I've seen have had several
children/teens on board and/or their priorities have been 'other than
wildlife viewing' (they tend to be very noisy and often scare animals
away) and an odd, high angle for all of your pics. While on a normal
safari minibus or 4x4, I take probably over 50% of my pics from the
lower window rather than the roof hatch for the better angle. Though,
of course, the height will help you when the animals are behind or in
bushes.

Loads of pics on my website so you'll get the idea. They're almost all
scans of slides and all are heavily scrunched down from when I didn't
have broadband. Digital will be fine, I just haven't had the time to
upload from last year's 100% digital trip. I second the advice to get
an inverter: you'll certainly need more than 6xbatteries worth, also
for storage (but lock your very best images on your card as backup)
and practising at the zoo.

Safari njema

Liz
--
http://www.v-liz.com - Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos
Photo Gallery:
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/g...emberID=165111

African Photogragphy inspiration wanted!!!
 

"John Macdonald" wrote in message
...
In message , the_niner_nation
writes
As I ahve psoted before, I am really excited to be going to Kenya for a
safari, and in readiness for this trip, i have invested in a Canon 400d
DSLR
camera ( the xti rebel to my american friends!).

So far, im only armed with the kit lens 18-55mm and a cheap canon 90-300mm
telephoto lens, and seriously considering taking evening classes so I can
take really good shots...what i am asking in this post is if any of you
have
uploaded your safari pictures could you please share the links with me, as
I'd love to see the type of photo opps that *may* present themselves to me
on my vacation...

As my safari is overland and camping, I am not anticipating any sort of
electricity points to charge my equipment ( or showers and decent toilets,
for that matter!), so I will be amred with 5 or 6 pre-charged batteries
and
tons of 2gb compact flash cards :-)
Peace!



Your first trip will be very exciting. It will only be surpassed by your
second; and then your third...

You should be able to charge from the cigar lighter socket on your
vehicle. If its an overland truck I would expect them to have some
provision for charging - some of their clients will not be able to survive
without their mobile phones!

My next most important piece of equipment is a bean bag which you can fill
with rice on your first day.

I recently switched to digital and was pleasantly surprised to find I
could use ISO 400 and get excellent results (Canon 5D). Check how high
you can go with acceptable noise. This will help give high shutter speeds
and sharp pictures. (If you are considering another lens then Canon IS is
worth the extra money.)

You can buy cheap image storage devices - basically a portable hard
drive - you may take more pictures than you expect!



Thanks for a really useful response...I already have a portable hard drive
( an Archos 60gb personal media player), but the challenge with taking that
is that it will drain battery life from it's self at the same time as
draining the camera battery at an alarming level durning photo transfer

I am entertaining the idea of taking a laptop with me, but on an overland
safari, I can't even begin to think how practicle this would be.


awsome photos in your web journal..really amazing :-)



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

African Photogragphy inspiration wanted!!!
 

If you're on one of these big overland truck things, your main
problems will be keeping everyone else still while you're
photographing (any overlanding trucks I've seen have had several
children/teens on board and/or their priorities have been 'other than
wildlife viewing' (they tend to be very noisy and often scare animals
away) and an odd, high angle for all of your pics. While on a normal
safari minibus or 4x4, I take probably over 50% of my pics from the
lower window rather than the roof hatch for the better angle. Though,
of course, the height will help you when the animals are behind or in
bushes.

Loads of pics on my website so you'll get the idea. They're almost all
scans of slides and all are heavily scrunched down from when I didn't
have broadband. Digital will be fine, I just haven't had the time to
upload from last year's 100% digital trip. I second the advice to get
an inverter: you'll certainly need more than 6xbatteries worth, also
for storage (but lock your very best images on your card as backup)
and practising at the zoo.

Safari njema

Liz
--
http://www.v-liz.com - Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos
Photo Gallery:
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/g...emberID=165111


Hi, Liz, thanks always for your help..

i have no idea if my lens is better than yours, the lens I have is this
one..

http://www.canon-europe.com/For_Home...4556/index.asp
it dosn't have image stabilisation.

I don't have the steadiest hands int he world, so i will be taking a bean
bag and maybe a tri/mono pod, as I realise that the majority of game drives
are very early morning or at dusk when lighting isn't optimum.

being new to 'proper' photography, I might potter around the independant
camera shops and ask for advice, and prepare to spend way over my modest
budget for the right lens...no matter how hard i try or alter the settings
on my camera, even using a tri pod I can never get the crisp,sharp picutres
everyone else seems to be getting with their 400d, so i am certain I need to
invest in a decent lens.

I realise that overlanding isn't the best safari, but on my budget it's all
I can afford, but the operator has said that they use mini-buses and not the
big trucks, but I see your point and I am somewhat resigned to being in the
company of restless kids.

Thanks again for yr help, I have seen your weblink often and it's in my
favourites!




--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

African Photogragphy inspiration wanted!!!
 

"the_niner_nation" wrote:

...what i am asking in this post is if any of you have
uploaded your safari pictures could you please share the links with me, as
I'd love to see the type of photo opps that *may* present themselves to me
on my vacation...

Here are a couple of links to a trip we took in January to
Tanzania ... some cat pics, starting with lions (the serval catching
mice was the cat highlight though) ...

http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/ta..._2007/lion.htm ...
and a few bird pics ...

http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/ta...07/birds_1.htm

Follow the links and there's a narrative describing what we saw each
game drive in January. The Mara should offer similar opportunities.

Your 90-300 won't be long enough for the tight bird pics but it's
enough for the herbies and cats (sometimes the lions will lay by the
car to get shade, and click around a bit and you'll find a cheetah who
jumped onto the roof ... I needed a 24 mm to get him :).

Have a good trip!

Bill

African Photogragphy inspiration wanted!!!
 

In message
"the_niner_nation" wrote:


Hi, Liz, thanks always for your help..

i have no idea if my lens is better than yours, the lens I have is this
one..

http://www.canon-europe.com/For_Home...ras/EF_Lenses/
Zoom_Lenses/EF_90300mm_f4556/index.asp
it dosn't have image stabilisation.
If it did, you wouldn't be calling it 'cheap'!
I think the one they say it's "optically similar to" is the one I've
got. :-(

I don't have the steadiest hands int he world, so i will be taking a bean
bag and maybe a tri/mono pod, as I realise that the majority of game drives
are very early morning or at dusk when lighting isn't optimum.
I can hardly imagine you could set up a tripod in a minibus. I usually
just rest my lens on the edge of the window opening or the top. Last
year, the construction of one of the vehicles my group used made that
a bit difficult and it was a bit high for me (c5' 7") but that's the
first time that was an issue. When I was just travelling with my
husband, I had window mounts with quick releases in strategic places,
not feasible in a group. It depends how many in your vehicle are keen
photographers: you have to share the space, but often people just want
one quick shap. *But* then they don't want to wait for you to get your
'better shot'! Morning and evening game drives are to give you the
chance to get best light. However, the sun rises and sets incredibly
quickly, so you have to be lucky to find something within range to
shoot in the good light. Again, in a group trip, others may only be
interested in e.g. lions, leopards or elephants and won't want to stop
while you photograph whatever's in the best light. Again, it depends
on who you have in your group.

being new to 'proper' photography, I might potter around the independant
camera shops and ask for advice, and prepare to spend way over my modest
budget for the right lens...no matter how hard i try or alter the settings
on my camera, even using a tri pod I can never get the crisp,sharp picutres
everyone else seems to be getting with their 400d, so i am certain I need to
invest in a decent lens.
Sadly, that sounds very like my cheap Canon.
I could even see on the LCD screen that the images weren't sharp,
often without zooming in.
One of the blokes on my last safari was using a similarly priced Sigma
(75-300 IIRC) on his 30D and his images were fine. I panicked into
buying the more expensive 100-300 which is great, but it has no close
focus and it's too heavy for me to carry round my neck for long.
Advantage: it has f4 to 300mm.

I realise that overlanding isn't the best safari, but on my budget it's all
I can afford, but the operator has said that they use mini-buses and not the
big trucks, but I see your point and I am somewhat resigned to being in the
company of restless kids.
With any safari, who you're with can make or break your trip. Best is
to arrange an independent trip, then you can decide where and for how
long you're going, what you're going to do every day and when etc. but
it you're on your own it's a very expensive option, especially if you
have to go in the high season. One other person, and it's hardly any
more expensive than an organised 'seat on a bus' trip!

I wonder why your trip is called an 'overland' rather than a 'mobile
participatory camping' trip? I always think of overlanding as being
long trips on these big high trucks, blaring music loudly.

Anyway, unless your travelling companions are a real nightmare (one
woman on my trip last year was pretty bad, but we soon split into the
'fun bus' and the 'other one', so I hardly saw her.) you'll have a
great time and hopefully you'll fall in love with Africa.

It's great that you're going when you can: I left it far too late!

Safari njema

Liz
--
http://www.v-liz.com - Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos
Photo Gallery:
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/g...emberID=165111

African Photogragphy inspiration wanted!!!
 

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:39:33 +0100, Liz Leyden wrote:

I can hardly imagine you could set up a tripod in a minibus. I usually
just rest my lens on the edge of the window opening or the top.

The little trick here is a little bean bag, which I always carry
with my compact camera. Mine is actually a rice bag. Lentils and
similar things work just as well. Even sand works, but is heavy.

If you make one, it has to be about half full, never completely
full. And it can be fairly small, about as big as the camera,
but not as thick.

You can put it on top of the upper edge of the window glass
pane, then you can crank the window up or down to adjust the
height. You can also fold the bean bag into a corner of the open
window area and squeeze the camera against it.

Its main advantage, compared to putting the camera directly onto
something, is that you can adjust the camera angle, and the
camera tends to stay that way more easily.

Hans-Georg

--
No mail, please.