No, I wouldn’t dare consider myself as a wildlife photographer, not even close (especially after undertaking my first Safari holiday). But my passion for photography and animals moved slowly but surely towards capturing wildlife, with the odd occasionally nature/landscape shot thrown in. Where else except in Africa, with its abundance in wildlife, can one with that passion be richly rewarded?

Mid 2010, I decided that I wanted to fulfill my dream of visiting Africa and started researching the types of photographic safaris available. I came across a wildlife photographer by the name of Greg Du Toit ( http://www.gregdutoit.com/ whose body of work was both inspiring and motivating, especially the shots he took whilst submerging himself in a local waterhole ( http://bit.ly/9kWhmh

Together with my two sisters, we undertook a private guided Safari Adventure that was a trip of a lifetime with Greg Du Toit, lead by NasPhoto Safaris ( http://www.nasphotosafaris.com/.

As promised on both of their websites, our safari adventure was a trip of a lifetime. We were able to capture the best photographs possible, whilst making the most of every photographic opportunity during our time in Tanzania.

Photographic Host

Greg provided a pivotal role of photographic host, teaching us photographic skills in a practical manner whilst out in the field. Having the ability to ‘pick ones brain’ in any given situation was simply fantastic. As my sisters and I were at different levels of photographic experience, Greg provided invaluable teaching in answering all of our questions.

Furthermore, his easy-going manner and meal-time discussion conversations were a highlight of our trip and have left us with many treasured memories.

With his help, our skills and understanding of our cameras improved dramatically thereby increasing our ability to capture that ‘perfect shot’ and for that, I will always be in his debt. Thank you Greg for being so generous with your time and your humble approach to photography.

Tour Company

If anyone is planning on going on a photography safari, I highly recommend NasPhoto Safaris.

As stated above, I organized a private guided safari for my 2 sisters and myself. Being the perfectionist that I am, I probably drove Nas and his wife Donna, completely nuts before the tour actually commenced, with enquiring about every small detail.

But to their credit, the trip excelled my greatest expectation. I can’t highly enough recommend their services as it was simply fantastic. The people, the accommodation and the food that was provided was exceptional.

I have so many wonderful memories that I am forever grateful for, especially the cooked breakfasts in the middle of the Serengeti, plus those yummy butter cakes for afternoon tea. When planning this ‘camping holiday’, I did not envisaged a four poster bed in the middle of the Serengeti National Park. I can’t see myself camping any other way ever again.

Lastly, their driver/guide, Godwin. Simply put, his fantastic and one of a kind. I left Africa with the impression that he knows everybody in Africa. His infectious laughter, humour and eyesight (his ability at finding animals were quite extraordinary) were amazing. The trip would not have been the same without him.


Reflections of the Safari trip

I had always envisaged that capturing wildlife within a limited time frame is pretty much like pot luck; you can get lucky and witness some incredible actions from a fairly short distance, or the action is far away, practically out of reach even with my longest lens or simply, you don’t see any actions at all.

Well I am glad to say that I was proven wrong. The volume of animals that we saw were amazing (weather had a lot to do with it, I’m sure) and Greg said that we were extremely lucky to see 2 kills in a day.

Please take the time to look at each sub gallery as I personally believe that this was a wonderful trip, which couldn’t have been done with the assistance of both Greg and NasPhoto Safaris.


Photographic tidbits:

I took three cameras with me on this trip, (i) a Canon 7D with a 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens (telephoto) attached; and (ii) the very much loved and used Canon 40D with a 17-55 f/2.8IS USM lens attached; and (iii) a Panasonic LX3 point and shoot (also used for video). Most of the time I used my 7D but sometimes I wished for the 500 f/4 lens. All cameras performed extremely well, given the situations and were cleaned thoroughly each night.

Also took a 580EXII external flash but wished I had purchased a better beamer for it as the flash did not always extend far enough (now on my shopping list). Batteries did exceptional well (which surprised me).

Bean bags were provided by our tour operator but we also brought our own (Safari Sack II) as it became a pain having to move the bean bags from one side of the car to the other side (yes, we were extremely lucky to be shooting from both sides of the landrover).

Greg (du Toit) had a panning device that he sat on his bean bag. It allowed for greater movement. Must really look into one of those gadgets as I sometimes felt frustrated when I was not able to pan on the bean bag.

This is a list/display of the photographic/computer/backup/cleaning items I took with me on this trip: https://pbase.com/draco13/image/133632770

Thank you for visiting and please feel free to drop me a line should you wish to know anything else about this trip, or even maybe vote for this gallery for others to share.

Until my next trip (wherever that maybe)