A blog series by afx & millirehm

Case study 2 Developing a DIY bird-photography safari

This is the story of a dream that has not yet been concluded. There was a dream, to go to the Romanian Danube Delta. This largest European wetland area (5000 square kilometers) offers the option of photographing birds similar to an African safari.

But there are special things to consider.

Most of the Danube delta is covered by reed and water. There are settlements, of course, but while shooting you rarely can rely on solid ground. You need a boat, and you need a guide who knows the delta otherwise you are lost.

You can’t rely on a tripod as you are used to in other regions. In case of our travel group we had chosen May for our trip because it is an attractive time of the year and we wanted to avoid the inhuman hot and humid summer temperatures. There had been a lot of rain and consequent floods so there was even less opportunity to get solid ground beneath my feet.

So far I have made stage 1 the year 2005, the  reconnaissance trip. Standard prearranged Danube Delta trips are shorter. I did 10 days. We were traveling around on a small motorized vessel, and I tried to get an overview where to find what. Whereas there are species you can find everywhere in the Delta it appears that some of them only live in specific regions.

My equipment was rather minimal. A Nikon F4 body, a 28 mm and a 105 mm f/2.8 Micro for general purposes and my 400 mm f/5,6 Nikkor together with a TC14B converter served as the workhorse for bird photography. A Rimowa Ultralight case-bag which is waterproof and floats appears to be a necessary piece of equipment for the Danube delta environment. Having sufficient protection against water is a mandatory requirement and makes one much less nervous.

I made the decision to use 35 mm Film for the following reasons: digital SLR photography was early in its development curve and market success. The digital Nikon bodies were way too expensive for me. (Now I am well equipped but this was before my partial shift to the digital photography world.) And most important - the power supply. I was making a 10 days trip and switching the place to spend the night often. I did not know what I exactly had to expect,

Batteries require recharging often. There was no guarantee that there would be the required continuous power supply for the short charging intervals of a digital camera body.

Lessons learned:

The reconnaissance mission was successful for giving me initial knowledge about the delta and where to find what. The estimation that I will be way off the usual infrastructural standards was proven right.

On the downside I heavily underestimated what the vibrations of the boats engine will cause. There was only one opportunity to get on a rowing boat, most of the time we were spending on the motor vessel. Even though I tried everything not to hard-link equipment to boats parts and use my body for vibration reduction it was not sufficient. Having VR would promise some improvement for the delta conditions, but still would not be sufficient. I guess I’d need a Gyro-Stabilizer, but these are expensive, energy consuming and you can’t call them silent and as well so I don’t see this as a solution.

For the next time I am planning to have more time, stay longer at one place (which was impossible within the framework of the guided tour last time), use a motor vessel only for the intermediate long distance transfers and rely on rowing boats, and a guide with better support for photographers needs. They can also use the small channels which are outside reach for the bigger boats.

Actually it was a rather small motor- boat but its draft was too deep for a lot of channels (and its not easy to stop and go like you can with a car and would have required a more flexible crew)

I need a home base with the required infrastructure enabling me to go digital.

I would need a local guide that is more flexible than the last one (it was a very individual kind of travel but not what you really would need for photography -i.e. using the golden hours in the morning.

Getting basic skills in Romanian language would be advantageous for the required communication with the guide. Be warned: Taking a boat, and going on your own is by no way an option. Due to the size and structure of the Delta you will almost certainly get lost.

For the next time I will get waterproof bags like kayak-drivers are using to protect bigger lenses and equipment. Before my last trip I just had acquired the 600 mm f/4 MF. As it is more than 6kg I decided to leave it at home due to the uncertainty in what travel conditions I would end up. I was right I - could not have made proper use of this lens on the conditions of this trip but a range of 600 mm and  the faster f/4 would have come handy.

For the next time I’d take my AF-S 500 mm with me, (in this special case a 600 VR could make sense, but I simply don’t have it and won’t afford another 600) and a 200-400 f/4 VR zoom which I currently don’t own. Together with a DX and an FX body this would be the perfect combination for a Danube delta bird safari.

Monopod and Bean bag, some hide improvisation will complete the equipment

Swimming Hide usually is a revolutionary idea, but it requires that you move inside the water and as the delta is full of bloodsucking creatures, this is not recommended.

I don’t know when I will be ready to go for the next time but it is a long term project but there will be a stage 2.

Case study 3 The “home-safari” as the most simple approach

For some people safaris in more distant/exotic countries may not be an option due to resource or  time constraints, or different considerations. But even in this case all hope is not lost, a kind of “home-safari” may be the option of choice, and it’s the easiest thing to plan a safari in your home environment.

If it’s o.K. for your view and imagination, you might get similar excitement than in a real safari even when sometimes wild-life conditions (like in Europe) require to using a hide and a lot of waiting. But even Europe is not that bad, there are options for wildlife photography while moving around , including car-based safaris as well.

As there is always a benefit. These “small scale” safaris may not be the big thing but they are cheaper than flying to exotic destinations, it is also a good way to get familiar with your gear so that you know how to use it instinctively through training. Usually it is easier to get sufficient power supply and your equipment has not be compromised by the requirements of long-distance travels.

An extended discussion by other Nikongear members on ’safari’ issues may be read at this thread

A blog series by afx & millirehm

Misc On-Safari Information

Non photographer gear that I found helpful:

Inflatable seat cushions can make bumpy rides in open safari vehicles much more enjoyable - especially if you have a weak back. Using trousers with zip off legs, known as ‘convertibles’ in the catalogs - will make it easier to adjust to temperature changes during the day.

Safari shirts with inside pockets are useful to keep your papers and money always on you. Liquid soap from a small hotel bottle does not take up much space in your pocket and can come in handy on the road. Brimmed hats are essential if you are without sunshade for hours during the day (baseball caps leave your ears exposed and lead to nicely roasted ears).

Organizational Things

By the time you have enough gear collected to call this a photo safari, you will have quite a bit of money invested in your gear. Make sure you have insurance with world wide coverage that covers theft from vehicles and on the street (and not just secure hotel rooms) as well as your own silliness like inadvertently dropping a lens down deep gorges.  Sometimes there is an option to attach photo gear to other insurance. This option usually costs less than dedicated photo insurance.

Depending on where you go to, make sure you have all the right immunizations.

Medical insurance and other documentation

If you are traveling a long distance from your home and especially to a country that has, perhaps, less than your standard health care, it would be advisable to consider medical insurance with evacuation protection. That will allow you, if injured or ill, to be evacuated to your home country or a region with adequate health care. Evacuation with a serious injury can easily cost $100,000 and, while rare, is a definite consideration. Read the policies carefully.

Check the validity of your passport and visa requirements. Beyond the normal visas, many countries have odd requirements; for example that your passport not expire for some number of months past your trip or that there be some number of additional blank pages in your passport.

Make sure any connection flights leave enough room to actually reach the connecting flight when planning the trip. It is no fun jogging though an airport with several security check points carrying a heavy photo backpack when your Munich - Zurich flight is half an hour late and you only had 45 minutes to begin with to catch the plane to Dar es Salam. This is crucial when you change airlines or when you book all the legs by yourself and separately.

Booking rental cars in advance via an international agency is usually the better method to get a car from an agency that has lots of support throughout the country. Depending on where you go to a 4WD might be necessary or not (I never had one). Places like Krueger or Etosha are easy in that respect. If you drive in places where gas stations are far apart, also arrange for a petrol can and a second spare tire in advance. It’s no fun sitting 50Km outside Walfish Bay without gas when the sun sets and you don’t even have camping gear with you (I was stupid enough to trust the gas gauge)…..

In most African countries it is better to exchange money in the country then at home. So bring Euros, Dollars or whatever and exchange it there.

International Travel

Hopefully this is not your first international trip and you know what to bring along for yourself in general….

Make sure you have carry photocopies of copies of your passport, tickets and your gear insurance list with the serial numbers in various pieces of luggage.

A good medical kit is essential. Especially anti inflammatory stuff, painkillers, anti diarrhea medicine, and whatever you usually use to handle sprained ankles. The further away from cities you are, the more you are dependent on yourself. (I’ve been on a trip with a macho man that did not bring anything, even laughed about my preparations and then had to grudgingly admit that our kit saved his butt.). Of course sunscreen and mosquito repellent are a must. If you travel in a malaria area, stay away from Resorchin and Lariam, a lot of people do get interesting side effects. Malarone is much more friendly to your stomach and mind.

Spread your gear into sensitive essentials for the hand luggage and the other stuff in the checked luggage. Bring clothing that fits the area and is easy to wash.

I’d rather bring less clothing and wash on the trip than leave other essentials at home. In many camps in the parks you can get your laundry done easily and cheaply.

Heavy stuff that is replaceable or not mandatory should be always in checked luggage.

Even if you’ve booked fully equipped huts in the big parks in southern Africa, bring one sharp knife and a basic camper cutlery set. You never know… If you are a coffee addict like me, be prepared for a shock. In the parks and even in hotels depending on country, the standard coffee is instant (and the milk is white powder). Having a plastic Bodum travel presspott and our own coffee supply can get you through this (and you might make friends quickly with other travels if you share).

A good multitool with pliers is always handy. On out first trip to South Africa the fastener for the hood of the rented VW Jetta vibrated loose while driving at 80Kph along a gravel road. Apart from this being an interesting experience in itself, we had to wait ’till someone showed up with tools to fix it. If I’d had my Swisstool already then, that break would have been much shorter.

Travel Itself

On your travel day, make sure you have comfortable clothes with lots of (inside) pockets to store your papers and money. A photo vest can hold gear if your camera backpack looks already overweight. Wear your heaviest boots on the flight instead of putting them into your checked luggage (bring extra socks to walk around in the cabin). Side pockets of trousers can be useful for storing glasses, reading material for the trip etc..

Once you arrive, get some money changed at the airport. In some countries paying with Dollars or now also Euro is preferred over the local currency, so check in advance on how much you’ll need. Some places will charge credit card fees on top if you want to pay by credit card, again, check in advance (I ran into that problem in our hotel in Zanzibar).

If you are on a trip with self accommodation and self catering, inquire for the next shopping center. In South Africa we usually picked up some Styrofoam insulation boxes to keep our stuff fresh and bought some plastic dishes before setting out for Krueger. Why bother putting it in your limited airline luggage if it can be bought cheap locally (and someone will make good use of it when you return the car). Part of the fun experience is stopping at local markets and buying fresh produce and fruits. This depends a bit on the country though. Namibia for example is quite dry, so the choices there are not as abundant as in South Africa.

Generally make sure you get gas when you can and do not trust the gas gauge (see the example above about being stranded outside Walfish bay…). If you are taking small planes to the parks, make sure you have a camera and something in the range 28-100mm ready. Even shooting through dirty airplane windows will give you at least memory shots for yourself.

Shooting

If you are in camps in public parks, you will probably have regulations that govern when you can access the park, something like gates open at 6:30 in the morning and close at 18:00 at night. Combine that with sunrise/sunset and you’ll have your schedule set out.

Be among the first to be through the gate in the morning (On our first trip to Krueger I was traveling with friends in several groups and we had a competition going who was the first to line up at the gate in the morning). Use the next two to three hours for shooting, then turn in for brunch, rest etc. Get out again at 3 hours before the gates close.

Most parks do not allow you to get out of the vehicle on the road. So plan your rest stops accordingly. Of course you can drive around all day and see more. But the light will be not very pleasing and you will tire much more while usually not gaining much in photo opportunities.

In Krueger we tried to be at a camp always before the restaurants close for breakfast to grab a big brunch.

If you stay outside a park, you might be even further restricted and not be able to enter long after sunrise and you’ll have to be out before sunset. This of course is not desirable, so check in advance.

Paying higher fees for staying inside can quickly pay off with better photo opportunities. In Namibia I did not plan for self catering. So we had to stay in the hotel outside the Sossuvlei park. If we’d had stayed inside on the campground, we could have gotten to the vlei much earlier with much more interesting light.

If you are self driving in a regular car, and you are two people, spread to front and back row instead of sitting side by side. This allows each of you to get to each side of the car quickly.

If you have a driver from the camp, make sure he knows what you are interested in. A knowledgeable driver/guide can make a huge difference for the trip. Make sure you engage him in your activities. Show what you are shooting. If you develop a good interaction with your driver,  you and he will have a more pleasurable day and you will get what you want more easily. Tipping is another good way of keeping your driver happy.

Our driver in Tanzania was exceptional. He already knew our travel companion and his desires. So we spend little time on things that did not interest us photographically but went straight for action.

As you will be usually shooting from a car you need to think about how you support your long glass in the vehicle. Tripods are usually too big unless you are in an open car with few passengers (A tripod works well in an open Landrover with only two people). I found monopods work well in open cars if there is not enough space for a tripod.

Clamps on the windows/doors can be used or just beanbags over the windows. I once used pipe insulation material to rest the lens on the window. The more people there are in the car the more unwanted movements will happen. Bolting a lens to a window clamp can be quite cumbersome then. On the other hand, if you only lean your lens on a beanbag, you constantly need to hold it. Use all the long lens techniques you hopefully trained in advance.

Keep in mind that a car window leads to a specific camera position in relation to your subject. It might be too high or low. In open vehicles, crouching down and shooting below the railing might give you a more interesting angle. Or for shorter focal lengths, attach the camera to a monopod, prefocus it, lower it to the ground and use a cable release to get a different angle

Getting low in a boat as close to the waterline as possible is also quite useful. I still don’t own any VR lenses, so I can’t offer specific advice here. Theoretically, they should be very useful in your typical safari shooting situation.

While driving around make sure no gear is unattached. Lens caps and other small items easily get lost on bumpy rides (I did mention to bring spares, did I?) and flying cameras are not something you want to see. A photo vest helps to quickly store and retrieve the smaller stuff.

If you can get out of the car for shooting, watch your environment. Boots and long pants help to protect your feet and legs from various thorny things and hungry insects, being alert helps against being surprised by wildlife. When you are outside of the car, a beanbag can help you getting shots at ground level. A few rolled up t-shirts will do as well.

Typically you will drive up to some interesting animal and start shooting. Now instead of just blasting away, make good use of the RGB histogram after the first few shots and check your exposure. There is no excuse for having series of under or over exposures anymore with digital cameras. Zooming in occasionally will show you whether your current setting will yield sharp images.

If you have not scared off the animal by now work on your composition. Think about what you are shooting. Instead of the usually full frame centered animal shots, try to get some that include the environment or go for details.

On my Tanzania trip I initially tried to work with a fixed sunny or shady WB but quickly gave up and went back to auto WB with a slight warm shift as adjusting the WB constantly proved to be quite annoying and inefficient while not giving me any better results than auto  anyway. Standard exposure setting was center weighted with a -0.7 compensation.

If this is your first safari, make sure you trained in wildlife parks at home first. I have a year pass for a local pace 15min from home and go there quite often. Most of the time the shots are nothing new. But it allows me to train with my gear and commit thinks to muscle memory so that I can react faster once I need to get the shot.

Daily Routine

When coming back to camp, copy your CF cards to your storage devices. I usually copy from CF to laptop first, then to an external backup disk. Then I start culling on the laptop. The images on the external disk never get culled, just in case I mess up.

During or after the first culling start to caption your images while your memory is fresh. You can’t have enough notes….

You will have a crowd around you quickly if you do your culling/captioning at the camp bar. For me the funniest things where the complaints about the shots that I deleted. Most onlookers  claimed that they would have been happy to get the shots that I nuked.

Always make sure your batteries are charging while in camp. Bringing your own power strip is helpful when trying to run battery chargers and a laptop at the same time (and you’ll need only one plug converter).

Check your lenses for dust and examine your sensor (shoot a bright sky at F22). A good blower should be sufficient to get rid of most of the daily dust.

A blog series by afx & Millirehm

Case study1: Planning An African Wildlife photo Safari

So you want to go on a photo safari. Great! Here are some practical tips that hopefully can help you with preparation and execution.

While this text has a focus on the classic African wildlife destinations (based on my experience in South Africa, Namibia and Tanzania), it can be applied to other forms of photo travel and and other continents as well.

Scouting out the Destination

On our Tanzania trip in 2007 the only thing given initially was the camp at Selous and the dates because of the arrangements of our travel companion. The hotel in Dar es Salaam was found by Googling (we found quite a few trip reports that recommended specific places) and cross referencing that with the tour guides. The hotel on Zanzibar was also the result of similar research coupled with the desire to have sunsets over the ocean (which translates to a west coast accommodation in contrast to the major tourist resorts on the east coast). Here we hoped to make a day trip from the hotel to an island to shoot tree crabs. Well, this is also a place where we should have booked ahead so we missed that opportunity (a good incentive to come back).

On South Africa safaris in the ’90s we only booked the parks and the first night after arrival in advance and then we did everything else via local bed and breakfast guides obtained at the AA (the local auto mobile club) and only called one day ahead (of course that was not during the main South African holiday seasons).

Once you found your destination, use Google to find out about as much as you can. This includes seasonal information, accommodation and travel information, airlines fares, local security considerations, etc. Buy several of the usual travel guides and check them for advance information that helps your planning. Check the local tourist boards and see what they have to offer. As some destinations have strict limits you might need to book more than a year in advance (for example various wilderness trails in South Africa). So start checking and planning early.

Checking about your destination online will help you find comments from other travelers which should make it easier to decide on accommodation, choice of locations and operators and other details.

My trips were mostly self organized but I asked friends who have been there already for their advice beforehand. The trip to Namibia in 2000 was the only one where I relied heavily on an (unfortunately no longer operating) travel agency. I only gave them some cornerstones and they arranged the whole trip. Those guys where an exception. Most travel agencies where I asked about Safaris where either horrendously expensive or totally clueless.

In general, you have the choice between three types of safaris: you can either book a completely ready made packages for photo safaris, hop onto a regular tour, or organize it all on your own (potentially with the help of a travel agency). How you do this depends on your budget (the more ready made, the more expensive), your level of adventure and your willingness on spending time on preparations. While ready made photo trips are probably the most convenient especially for first time safari travelers, they are also the most expensive form. Using regular travel packages will usually be slightly cheaper but have the huge inconvenience that they are not geared towards photographers which means the schedule does not take into account the needs of a photographer for light and time to prepare good shots. You will also share a vehicle with people that probably do not understand your need to move about in the vehicle to position your lens properly or to be perfectly still while shooting. And you still pay much more than you would if you organized it yourself (I usually squeeze 30% more time at the destination out of DIY organization vs. ready made packages). So if you are on a budget, DIY is usually the best way to go. And that means investing time in planning and finding out as much as you can in advance.

A typical trap people fall into when going on such a trip is to cram too much into too short a time. Visiting Krueger park, the Cape and the garden Route in South Africa within a week is a typical nonsense trip that people end up doing. You’ll spend at least as much time in travel within the country as you spend really seeing and shooting things if you cram too much into your schedule. So try to set up trips of at least two weeks and try not to cover to many things and too much miles while you’re there. A place like Kruger National Park needs at least 5 days. And as you are doing this on your vacation time, rushing from place to place is not really helpful to get relaxed and comfortable, which is a prime reason to go on vacation. For all our Kruger park trips we had one night between arrival in Johannesburg and arriving in Kruger. That gave us enough time to shop for provisions and getting there without wrecking the car. And we stayed in Kruger for ten or more days, only covering less then half of the park each trip. After all, you’re there to see things, not to tick them off on a shopping list.

A good way to structure things is to plan a few nights in an initial location where you get accustomed to the country, just take it easy and get attuned to your surroundings while spending more time at the pool than chasing images. Then go off to your core safari destinations and at the end, see that you find a comfortable place to hang out a few more days taking it easy and winding down. That type of schedule is also more compatible with spouses traveling along. For example on my 2007 Tanzania trip we spent a few days near Dar es Salam in a hotel, did a simple city trip and just tried to mentally arrive before we went off to the Selous. Winding down was on the beach in Zanzibar for a few days (which also included photo opportunities of course, but also lots of hanging out at the beach).

Another thing to keep in mind when planning the trip is the season you will travel into. Being stuck in heavy rain all time does not make sense even though rain can add quite a bit to the mood. So check whether your planned schedule fits with the local season.

Equipment

What to bring on a photo safari is often asked in photography forums and there is a wide range of answers. Some annoying wisecracks maintain that Africa has lots of sun, so don’t bother bringing fast lenses. This of course is crap as the most interesting light is in the morning and evening. Also, African wildlife is smart enough to not move much during the heat of the day. Shooting snoring lions in a mid day blaze is not too exciting. It is much more interesting to capture animals in action in nice light.

So after you have read about the long glass above, here are some safari specific recommendations:

On DX I found the 300/2.8 with the TCs to be near perfect, though not as versatile as a 200-400VR, leading occasionally to lost opportunities due to the time needed to add or remove a TC.

Unless you are a macro buff, using a simple Canon 500D in front of the 80-200/2.8 is a good light weight travel solution.

So should you bring an FX or a DX body? I’d say both if you can. A D300 or any of the other DX sensors will give you reach which is always useful for wildlife . On the other hand a big pixel FX (D700, D3) will give you a better chance to capture furry and feathered creatures when the light is low without killing details in fur and feather (it gives you at least one stop).

So a perfect kit would be 14-24/2.8, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8, 200-400/4 plus TC 14 and TC17 with D300+MBD10 and a D3 or D700+MBD10. Add the 500D and maybe a 50/1.8 and you’re all set (ok, that is the pricey option, but the earlier generic lens section should give you enough hints on how to adjust to your budget).

Whatever body you end up choosing, do not travel with one body only. If your collection does not have two bodies, rent one or buy a used one before the trip that you sell afterwards. On half of my trips so far I had a problem with a body. A second body not only helps you to continue if there are problems in the first one, but it also reduces the number of lens changes and therefore the risk of getting dust on the sensor. Plus you can react quicker when not needing to change lenses.

Should you bring a flash? I’d say yes. There are occasions in the camp or even with wildlife where a flash comes in handy. In some parks (Etosha for example) you can sit at waterholes during the night. The light there is often not sufficient for shooting, so a flash helps. Using a “Better Beamer” to focus the beam of the flash can be quite useful (never used one myself though, I just added another flash, triggered by the first one via an SU-4 trigger).

Of course the usual assortment of lens and sensor cleaning kits, micro fiber cloth, blower, remote release, spare caps is implicit.

One advantage of using a D700 with an MBD10 over a D3 is that you can use AA batteries, so even a lost charger will not hold you up.

Bring binoculars. Especially when traveling with non photographers. They do not have your long lens to see through, so giving them binoculars keeps them busy while you are getting the shot. The last time I forgot that rule and I paid dearly for it…..

Unless you have a body with a voice recorder, a small digital dicta-phone can be quite useful for recording meta information while on the trip. Or if you are proficient enough, bring along audio recording gear to capture live sound that you can later on add to image slide shows (high on my to-do list for the next trip as I do have my personal radio journalist with me and that will keep her busy ;-)).

Bring a tripod, monopod and other forms of camera support. What to bring exactly, depends on your environment. See the shooting section. In general, make sure all support systems use the same clamping mechanism (preferably Arca-Swiss style) so that switching around is easy.

Also an assortment of Velcro tape, cable binders and small clamps can be quite useful especially when shooting in camp or with macro work. A big piece of cloth to cover the gear while driving can help in dusty environments. On my Namibia trip I was so paranoid about dust, that I set out with each lens in a ziplock bag. Looking back, I’d say this was overkill.

If you plan on hiking, make sure your backpack fits your back. Test in advance. My 2m frame absolutely disagrees with Tamrac Expedition backpacks. But I only learned that after I bought one and I had to buy different type on short notice.

Apart from that any rugged bag or backpack will do, some are more airline friendly and efficient than others. My preferences are Tamrac for shoulder bags, LowePro for serious backpacks and ThinkTank Photo for efficient travel gear.

Although modern big lenses and cameras don’t fit very well in photo vests, I still use them to keep caps, memory cards and other titbits in reach.

For the digital shooter one of the biggest questions is where to store the images. Typical options are to bring enough cards for the whole trip, use an image tank or bring a (sub)notebook. Cards is usually not the best option as you will need many of them. Image tanks are the best to use if power is absolutely limited. The most comfortable solution is to use a small laptop if you are in camps with electricity. Add an external disk for backup and a card-reader and you’re ready to go. I used an old Thinkpad T30, small enough, no commercial value anymore and good enough for a first screening. If you bring a laptop, bring a second USB/firewire attached disk for backup. And any Linux boot CD. That saved my butt in Hungary once when the laptop’s disk went dead. I could boot from the Linux CD, mount CF cards and external backup disk and copy my shots over. If you are not familiar with Linux, train this first while at home (and yes, that also works on Macs, even the PowerPC based ones with the right Linux Distro).

A blog series by afx & Millirehm

Miscellaneous knowledge (pre-safari)

Metering

The history of photography has brought us a lot of methods or gadgets to determine the desired exposure, the sunny f/16 rule, using hand-held light meters, using the camera’s measuring and  exposure modes, check against the display.

Choosing your cameras metering mode

Centre weighted and Spot metering serves as your a stable basis for your own correction, whereas multi-pattern metering (aka matrix metering) gives more control to the camera and although the results often are very sophisticated, it has more of a black box approach from the photographers viewpoint.

In Flight Action

When doing action photography of birds in flight you frequently need to deal with a rapidly changing background . In these situations,  especially when photographing against the sky, automatics will not give you reliable exposure any more.

There are two workarounds to deal with that. Set the camera to M, measure some neutral object, set aperture and shutter speed and then leave it as it is and shoot (under sunny conditions in middle Europe I often end up with f/4 and 1/500 at ISO 100).

Spot metering gives the possibility just to measure the target. In former days this was more for the slow approach and unusable for action. In modern cameras, the option of hard linking spot metering to the active AF field range theoretically offers the possibility of tracking the main subject to measure it while at the same time staying on automatic settings. This approach shows promise but how valuable it really is still to be tested out.

Knowledge about animals with special focus on birds

Biological/ecological knowledge and insight of the environment your living objects of interest are to be found is at least as important as having the best gear you can find. You can improve your chances of success if you know when animals are active and what the typical ecosystems they prefer are. And don’t forget acoustics. A lot of animals (especially birds) create unique sounds. Knowing their voices enables you to locate them, even when you don’t see them first hand. If you can hear a bird approaching his nest this makes you more alert and better prepared for upcoming photo opportunities.

A positive side effect of increased knowledge: it enables you to treat your objects of interest respectfully and stay outside of their critical distance. In protected areas appropriate behaviour is a must for peaceful coexistence with national park rangers, etc.

In many world regions wildlife has adapted to landscape formed by mankind’s culture, animals have moved into urban and suburban regions. They are still wildlife, but maybe less shy, thus increasing the chance of a good shot.

A few words about “digi-scoping”

The availability of compact digital cameras caused the evolution of a new branch of photography. Birdwatchers are making extended use of the telescopes in their mandatory equipment by using digital cameras to capture their eyepiece’s image. Coupling devices were developed and are available on the market (sometimes for ridiculous prices). The promise: get good bird shots without carrying too much stuff.

Brief summary: I have seen digiscoped images (small birds at rather large distance) you simply can’t get with SLR-equipment, and despite the disadvantage in using this method, the image quality was not bad. But my personal experience is that the success rate is rather low - the shutter delays are long so you can’t snap a shot and do fast action, to avoid vibration is difficult.

I have used both, there is no comparison if you once have seen what you can do with a fast and modern SLR and a supertele, but there remains an interesting niche.

Supporting needs: tripods, monopod and heads

One thing should be very clear, “Big glass” superteles are mainly not for free-hand use, but require some support. Whereas a 400 f/3,5 or a 300 f/2,8  can be used free hand this   becomes futile with longer ones. Whereas I still can use my 500 like that, but rarely find it making sense,  it is impossible to use a 6+kg 600mm manual focus lens. I can hold it but not hold and focus it at the same time, because it is unbalanced. Most of the weight is concentrated on the front element. the focusing ring is way behind. The modern 600 VR is lighter (at the price of a poor collar) but against all advertisement (cite Nikon Pro) not really a free-hander.

Monopod

is always a compromise but can be very helpful in just supporting the lens so you don’t need to hold its full weight. A monopod extends the time range of handling big glass superteles significantly. Burzynski and others (Kirk, RRS) offers a nice piece of gear to support a monopod head (a tuned Manfrotto XXX). Whereas a head is not required on a monopod, this special gives additional degrees of freedom in nature photography.

Tripod

is the main supporting gear of supertele use, and the most comfortable (after you have brought it in position). It should be a stable tripod/head combination. The best are Sachtlers, but I am afraid they are not compact enough for flight travel.

Ballheads

Ballheads are good for a vast range of opportunities but are not the proper heads for Superteles. They still may be the best compromise for travel. Tilting is the main issue. There is the FLM-centerball series that enables an additional tilt control knob, but Its hard to imagine that this could be sufficient for 6 kg lens plus power-driven camera (worse FLMs are reported to suffer from flawed design (afx: I can attest to that, FLM, never again…)).

Gimbal heads

The best for using superteles are Gimbal type heads

There are epigones now but nothing comes near the legendary Wimberley head ( now available in the enhanced Mark II version). Its absolutely great. You can adjust it in a way that you don’t feel the weight of the lens at all. With most of the common camera lens combinations it enables the combo to stay in every given position if you let it loose (some of the completely faulty constructed Nikkors require a replacement of their tripod connector otherwise it wont work because the distance is too high). It’s a dream for action photography, for following birds in flight. For the latter you can easily get down on your knees and bring the combo in steep angles to capture birds right above you. You can’t do that with any other tool. What you get is nearly free-hand flexibility with tripod support.

The downsides: Expensive, heavy, not compact (so it does not travel very easy), and as it offers more surface and leverage to wind it is more subject to wind generated vibrations (Especially side winds) than the Burzynski head described below.

Wimberley sidekick

I have no personal experience with that tool , but the sidekick is more of a traveler than its bigger sister. Together with a strong ballhead it offers a Wimberley type comfort - lacking the possibility that everything stays in position. No personal experience.

Video heads

(like the sachtlers) are reported to be a good solution. Heavy and very expensive, and not as flexible as a gimbal head like the Wimberley

Burzynski head

It’s a ballhead and it is not. It’s a 2D and it has a broad basis and narrow heights and therefore offers a unique height/diameter ratio, which gives it incredible stability. In terms of stability and vibration but also craftsmanship it is the best tripod-head I ever had in my hands, full-stop. But even with the friction control of this you cant avoid the tilting problem. For static situations it is ok but not for pursuing birds in flight, here the Wimberley has its domain. Depending on what I want to do I decide which head I take. All of my heads are equipped with Arca-type coupling mechanism, and all the lenses have Burzynski plates (the way their corners are shaped makes it easier to sneak in the plate into the rail)

Mounting consideration

Super-teles have a lot of momentum and leverage. Protecting all (ideally) connections to ensure that only your lens is panning (doing so only when it is not fixed) and nothing else is a must. For your lens mount you need that means you need at least two mounting points for the quick release plate. My 500mm and 600mm offer 3 /2 threads so this is not a problem here. For lenses only providing one mount point, I recommend drilling an additional hole and put in an additional special screw or provisionally just take the screw to put additional pressure (for my 80-200 that appears to be sufficient so far).

I have not used VR lenses myself so far. They might enhance your options, but they don’t make a tripod useless.

Special “big glass” requirements for shooting technique

Evidently your physical shape is more important when working with super-teles than it is in any other type of photography using a 35mm like format. To say it short, you need muscles! :-). Carrying them around, holding them (free hand) can make you tired earlier both physically and mentally. As a consequence agility and concentration are reduced, that may have an effect on reaction time and creativity.

Two consequences: be prepared for the additional power drain and train as much as you can, plus use all means of support you can get your hands on.

Camera bodies

There was a time when the camera was just a film holder, well not  in terms of speed and features, but given somewhat accurate shutter speed steering the IQ was determined by optics and the film only and it was easy to upgrade older or even ancient cameras with better film. The digital era has removed this equality, the sensor and the algorithms behind them have become of crucial importance. Based on current experience we would recommend a two-fold way. Taking an FX body for making use of its high ISO reduced noise in low light and even more important their superior dynamic range. The main reason a DX body is still favourable  is the additional range you get at at superior resolution over cropping DX out of an FX body.

Binoculars

In addition to other useful side effects described in the African safari section below, binoculars extend the range of your perception, makes you detect approaching animals earlier, and can bring additional joy even if observed animals don’t enter your photographic range.

Power supplies

Mechanical cameras were the perfect candidates for expeditions. Cameras like the F4 or F5 were more energy consuming. Besides some advantages the digital camera era brought increased dependencies. Better batteries like the EN-EL4 appeared to have mitigated this problem a little bit. But this is a crucial point to consider when planning your trip - especially if it is a round trip. Check out the charging opportunities. Be sure to have enough batteries with you and a backup charger if possible. Although it may sound trivial beware that when you travel to different countries you may face not only different grid voltage/frequencies but also different types of plugs. You may need adapters. Depending on the situation a 12V car adapter might be useful too.

by Taran Morgan (aka yunfat)

I tend to talk a lot of smack on online photo forums, which is odd, because I am an expert in absolutely nothing… I have no formal education in photos or the fine arts, save the odd criticism class in University (I’m actually an english major). My photography training was, in effect, a baptism by fire… one day I was shooting nightclubs for fun and the next I was a stringer doing photocalls for the NY Post with Giselle Bundchen in front of my camera. It happens like that sometimes… I was lucky and unlucky at the same time. On the one hand, I had access to celebrities and made $500 a photo, on the other, I got involved in the seedy underworld of bourgeois photo agents who know it is unlikely you will find the photo of yours they just sold to People in Espanol or a German tabloid, a photo which you weren’t paid for (you can’t find the german tabloids at the local supermarket, ya know). Media is a strange place, and undergoing rapid and violent change. Photographers are largely treated as disposable objects at all but the highest levels, and sometimes a name is more important that being competent. Remember that… you could be the worst photographer in the world and still make a killing off your well marketed shots, you could be the best photographer in the world and still be anonymous when you are looking for gallery representation, that’s just the way it is. Be humble, be smart, and learn to value what you shoot, especially when it’s not an assignment.

That said, I would impart the following 10 things to anyone thinking about photography “seriously”. It is unlikely any of these things will actually help you generate income, however, they are the things that you should consider for the ultimate advancement of your photography in the “marketplace”. As they say before boxing matches: “Protect yourself at all times”.

1) IPTC captioning. A long time ago, my photo editor once said to me something which still resonates with me today. “A bad photo with a good caption is better than a great photo with a bad caption”. Within the publishing industry, IPTC captioning is the standard data field embedded in every photo. This metadata is handled by such programs as PhotoMechanic, Aperture, and Lightroom, to name a few. The reason why this is so important is because if you don’t put IPTC data into your photos, no one can/will pay you. No publisher will publish a photo that doesn’t have this information, because they simply cannot contact the photographer who took the shot. If there is no contact information, the photo is anonymous, and it won’t be published because the person publishing it doesn’t want to get sued down the road for printing a photo without proper accreditation. Your photos are worthless, no matter how good the shot.

2) Learn to “ingest” properly. Ingest is the operation that occurs when you transfer the photos from your flash memory to your computer. Photographers in the digital era deal with thousands of images. It’s not uncommon for me to shoot a wedding and have 2700+ images between me and my assistants. If you don’t stay organized, this will get confusing very fast. When I ingest a photo, about 6 major things happen.

1- images are titled with the name of the subject
2- images are dated
3- copyright and contact information is embedded in the IPTC
4- the photo is tagged
5- the photo is given a four digit numerical suffix
6- a folder with the name of the subject/event with a date is prepared to receive the photos.

This all happens instantly, with no work done by me save the title of the photo and the name of the folder. For example, if I were shooting today on the streets of manhattan, the photo name would look something like this: nyc street 6.16.091234, and the folder receiving the photo would likely be nyc street 6.16.09. This is scalable to millions of photos, I know, because I have millions of photos.

3) Learn to use an autofocus fixed focal length prime lens with a normal FOV and a fast aperture. For Nikon digital systems, this means four lenses only (as of this writing). In order of preference… DX- Sigma 30mm 1.4, Nikon 35mm 1.8, FX- Sigma 50mm 1.4, Nikkor 50mm 1.4.

Zooms are all the rage, and the quality and versatility of said “normal range” zooms is something many photographers could only dream of just 10 years ago. That said, they still can’t touch a good prime. The reason for learning one lens is simple, comfortability (yes, I know thats not a word). I am now @5 years with my sig 30. This means I can raise my camera to my eye and know exactly what I am going to get… I know where to place myself as far as photographer to subject distance, and I don’t have to think. Holding a d80 in my hand, there is little need for me to even look through the viewfinder. Even if the viewfinder of said camera is covered with electrical tape, I will still get a perfectly composed photograph, every time.

This is big, because there will be times (if you carry your camera around all the time as I do) when you need to do things unconsciously. Digital photography is more of a technical exercise than people think, the ability to reduce those variables that force you to actually think about what you are doing will pay huge dividends because you know you are going to get the shot, there will be no fumbling, no need to change the FOV, no need to turn anything… nothing. Point and shoot, be fast.

4) Replace the phrase “What should I shoot?” with “What can I shoot?” Going on safari in Africa with a nikkor 500mm VR is a good way to find interesting subjects, but few of us may ever have that chance. Learn to adapt to your surroundings and refine your sensibilities to the world in which you inhabit. The place in which you live may be boring to you, but not everyone lives there, and other people may want a peek, even if its bum fuck Idaho (I actually love Idaho, but I think you get my point).

A doorknob, a broken window, peeling paint, rust… shit like this is everywhere, but how often do we actually pay attention to such banal subjects? I recently saw photos in the $30-$50k range of womens mouths, heavily made up, stuffed with ornate jewelry (necklaces and such). They were splendid, and these editions were selling quite fast. I was looking at prints in the 40*80 inch range, bigger than most of us will ever print, nevertheless, the point is this… subjects are created as much as they are documented. Richard Prince sells $1 million dollar photos of magazine adverts he re-shot and blew up to extreme sizes. Call the guy a copycat bastard if you want, but his show filled the entire Gugenheim in NYC. The incredible foot traffic I saw at the Gug was testament to the fact that someone out there likes his stuff, knockoff artist or not.

My last tutorial on these boards featured 6” models I picked up at my local Target (big american retail box store). I was thrilled with the results, and happily created a nice series I am quite proud of and which was featured by Alien Skin software for their June newsletter. It’s not the Gugenheim, but it was well received. The ingredients list for this shoot: creativity, 30 minutes, and a $10 model. On this very forum I have seen outstanding stuff created with minimalist equipment, imagination is always the key.

5) Pony up for the full version of Photoshop. Lets face it, Photoshop is an expensive program, but it is still the industry standard, and will be for years to come. You can try to get around having it by using some of the newer products like Elements, Lightroom, Gimp, or Aperture, but the fact of the matter is, you will always be behind the curve. Photoshop is a complicated program, if you are intimidated, try and find a course at a local university or subscribe to Photoshop User magazine, this will speed up the learning process… better yet, find a graphic designer friend and try and sit in on some of their work, you will be flabbergasted at the things even a mediocre graphic designer can do with a photo.

More than that, thousands of tutorials are available in the public domain which help to make you a better photographer. The internet is a great thing sometimes, I say this because anything you are likely to do in PS, has already been done, and there is likely a tutorial available somewhere showing you the best way to do it. In addition to PS’s basic features, there are numerous plugins available that will make your workflow more streamlined and will enhance your photography at the same time. Some of these plugins cost more that PS itself, but they exist for a reason. To dismiss the robust tools available as PS plugins would be a serious mistake for any photographer. With enough time, you can do anything to a photo within PS’s core architecture, but some of the plugins available will make your job so much easier, you can concentrate on the creative process, rather than how to actually get there. What used to take me hours of fiddling and compositing can now be done in seconds, and the results are fantastic.

Plugins like Alien Skin Exposure and Nik Efex should be a required part of every photographers arsenal… why wouldn’t you want 30 versions of a good photo (it only takes me a few seconds of batch processing to do so)? Then, you can turn to your client, and ask them to make the decision. Variety is the spice of life. When you give your clients options for a photo that could only been dreamed of 10 years ago, you look like a genius. Sepia, cross processing, grain, BW conversions, they can all be handled with the click of a button. To think that your photos wouldn’t benefit from multiple versions is naive (I speak from experience) because you simply can’t tell when a photo is going to take to different tonality and color. Sometimes the effect can transform fairly banal subjects into something that really pops. See Chris Fabbri’s sepia toning from the old railroad museum to see what I mean, the shots just take the sepia toning perfectly given the subject, and the photos are far more impressive.

6) Forget the rules. If you think your photos are going to stand out because you followed the rule of thirds and read the book about classic compositions, you are in for a surprise, even if they are technically perfect and the light was “just right”. Landscapes would be a good example. I went to the Peter Lik gallery in Manhattan the other day (you can google him if you have never heard of the dude). Any classic landscape you intend to shoot, has already been done, by Peter Lik, better. Not only that, but Mr. Lik has the best equipment, the best printing and framing, and has the resources to wait for the best light for any given subject. These are facts… you won’t be able to touch his stuff, and the prints are 1 meter by 3 meters plus. This is not to say you should give up shooting landscape, far from it, but what you should really be considering is how to do the classics different, where they resonate personally, from a unique angle.

It’s a cliché, but get off the beaten path (unless of course you are in Laos, the Falkland Islands, or parts of the Golan Heights, where there are lots of landmines). There are a probably 100 million people in the world with decent cameras (of the quality we are used to here on NG), if they all shoot just one landscape a day, thats a 100 million landscapes. Some of these photos will be terrible, but some of them will be great, perhaps even the guy who serendipitously stumbled into the best light ever, his first day out with his d5000. I use landscapes as an example but it applies to all genres within photography… go nuts. If you decide to read the books on how to shoot, do it so that you can know what has already be done, and then go forward with the intention of breaking the conventions.

7) Take blurry photos. The first couple of years I had a DSLR, I was obsessed with getting sharp shots. Hand holding technique, breathing, and physical exercises were all part of a regimen I constructed to enhance my critical sharpness while hand holding in the field. At some point you may find that sharp shots are, well, boring. I was forced to go in a new direction… meaning there was little more for me learn with regard to technical proficiency. Instead, my new goal was to achieve sublime imperfection.

Shapes and colors are just as interesting as sharp shots, sometimes more so. If you take enough bad shots, eventually, something good will come out of it. You will find that a particular shot, because of its blurriness, instead of in spite of it, is compelling. Abstract forms, distortion, and motion blur have been the hallmark of some great shooters. There is no need to fear them, as they are as much a part of photography as the rule of thirds. Learn to mess up a shot, learn to be distinctive… this of course will take some time, but in the end, you may be surprised how many keepers you get employing “bad technique”.

8 ) People photography. When someone is in front of your camera, they will do what they are told, even if they are the President of the United States (he gets posed too), provided you have extreme confidence. This is as much psychology as photography, but it is worth mentioning because I see a lot of young photographers second guess themselves in the field. My theory is that as the photographer, you are the director of the action, just like in the movies. I have an anecdote for this, please indulge me…

I don’t remember where I heard the story, but I will rehash it here as best as I can recall. The story is about Stanley Kubrick (who just happened to be a great photographer as much as he was a great director). One day, on a movie set, a delivery was made… it was a pair of directors chairs, the kind with the cloth back and the crossed wooden legs. An actor on set saw both of the chairs and noticed they were identical, in every way, shape, and form. Both were emblazoned with the name “Kubrick” on the back rest. This famous actor (I forget which one) decided to perform a little experiment on Kubrick to see what would happen. He would wait until the director was on set, and before Kubrick could see the chairs he would hoist them both in the air and ask Kubrick to pick one.

So, as the story goes, Kubrick returns to the set and the actor lifts both identical chairs into the air, one in each arm, and in front of the whole cast and crew, asks Kubrick which chair he wanted. “Which chair do you want?” he said, “The left one.” Kubrick replied instantly. Sometime later the actor asked Kubrick why he chose the left chair so hastily, when upon any inspection the chairs were patently identical. Kubrick responded: “It doesn’t matter what decision I make, as long as I sound like I know what I am doing”. The moral of the story is this: you are the director… as a photographer, when you make a decision in front of a subject/client, do so decisively, the only person who knows it’s a shitty decision will be you, and you can always bin those photos… but, if you waffle in your decision making trying to make a superb choice, everything you do for the rest of the shoot will be questioned by the participants.

If I happen to shoot a CEO, or a supermodel, they are going to notice even the slightest trepidation in your approach, that’s what they do for a living. These are extreme examples, but the lesson should trickle down to everything you shoot. Nobody knows you are fucking up but you, and if you fuck up confidently enough, nobody will know at all.

9) Color management is complex. This is actually 3 suggestions:

1- Shoot RAW for the widest possible gamut
2- RAW files must go into the ProPhoto color space when translated by your RAW converter
3- Buy a hardware calibration device for your monitor and calibrate regularly.

There are numerous tutorials on all this on the web and books available in print, so I won’t belabor the point here, needless to say, if you don’t do these three things, your photos are piss in the wind. ‘Nuff said.

10) Learn to print with an archival pigment printer of a professional grade, and visit a master printer or take a digital printing course (printing is still so complex that trying to learn it by yourself will set you back years). The cheapest printer I suggest for this available right now is the Epson 4880 (I wouldn’t invest in an epson 3800 at this time due to the newer inksets available). Unfortunately, any book you pick up on this subject is already old news, because 16-bit printing has just reached maturity… better to learn from the Epson Academy, what you can glean from online forums, or attend a Michael Reichmann or Nash Editions seminar. An investment of a few hundred dollars up front will save you thousands of dollars of wasted media down the road (and it saves trees).

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I hope you find these 10 things useful, I know personally that if I had known them “up front”, my photography skills would have been better from the start.

Taran Morgan

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