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Olympus E-M1 at ISO 6400, using the 50-200/2.8-3.5 ED. This was also on the 2017 safari and hasn't been processed or published before.

This year I am celebrating 10 years of hosting wildlife and cultural photographic safaris. In this thread I will take a look back on those 10 years and relive some of the stories and images that I made on safaris during that time. So where and how did this safari stuff all begin? The idea of putting on safaris was sparked way back in 2006, in the very early days of the Nikongear forum. A member named Jorge contacted me and asked me if it would be OK if he started a thread asking the rapidly growing NG membership if anyone would like to join him on an expedition to Patagonia in a Land Rover Defender he had recently bought and was going to drive from Chile through the Patagonia region. I was absolutely captivated by this idea, not just in the hope of joining such an expedition myself, but because it seemed like a perfectly logical thing for me to do myself here in Africa. I didn’t get to join Jorge on his trip and I am not sure if any of the NG members did either, but the seed of an idea had been planted firmly in my mind. The idea began to sprout in 2007 when a member named papa-g joined up on NG. Geoff Cronje was a very well travelled guy who just so happened to live about 30km from me. He had recently gotten into photography and after he bought a Nikon telephoto lens from me, a friendship grew and we began to discuss the possibility of hosting a photo safari for NG members here in South Africa. Geoff would design the tour and I would do the organising and marketing. At the time I was going through some very difficult personal circumstances. The company I had started a few years earlier was facing a bleak future (or lack of any future at all). Long story short, don’t build a business that is entirely dependent on one supplier, because when that supplier disappears, so do you. So at the beginning of 2008 I found myself in a bit of a tight spot, my company had closed and I was being hounded by debt collectors. However, in spite of the difficulties I was going through, I had my eye set on this safari seed. I was going to make it work, one way or another because I knew that if I could just get it going properly, everything else would fall into place. I met with Geoff a few months into 2008 and we started talking seriously about putting on our African photographic safari. Then tragedy struck. I was sitting at home on a Saturday afternoon in July when I got a call from a mutual friend telling me that Geoff had died. What? How? Apparently he had collapsed of a heart attack after having an altercation with a security guard over a parking space at his workplace during the Durban Airshow. It felt surreal. I felt as if God had set up a permanent raincloud above my head. In the meantime I was eking out a living doing odd photography jobs and helping people build websites. It wasn’t a great time for me at all. I was undeterred though. A few months after Geoff died I started earnestly looking for somebody in the travel industry who I could partner with and get the photo safari business off the ground. I needed somebody who not only knew the game and could put together itineraries based on what I wanted to do, but who would also meet all the requirements as far as South Africa’s tourism legalities were concerned. I didn’t want to start a new business myself after all the drama I had been through with the one I had just been forced to close. I wanted to stay a sole proprietor with as few administrative responsibilities as possible and get paid commissions from the suppliers involved in the safaris. So I placed an ad on a local tour guide portal outlining what I wanted to do and that’s when Pepe Jones (real name Penelope) popped up. She came up with a proposal that was much better than all the others I had been sent from other operators. I got Bjørn Rørslett to join us as a drawcard and the first Nikongear Photo Safari was born. We had 6 people sign up. The numbers were a bit short of the 9 I had been hoping for, but it was better than calling the whole thing off, so in August of 2009 the first NG photo safari finally happened. For our road trip Pepe had arranged this colossus of a Land Rover Defender called the Kalahari Ferrari as well as a Toyota Quantum bus to ferry the 9 of us (me, Pepe & Bjørn included) around the eastern parts of South Africa and Swaziland over 2 weeks. I drove the Quantum and she took the Landy. Looking back, it’s a miracle that we didn’t end up as a tragic global headline, because the brakes on that Land Rover failed twice on our trip. It was also seriously unstable and the back of it fishtailed constantly at speed. Driving behind it I had visions of Nikon equipment and users being flung from it’s massive windows as it wound its way up and down the mountains of Swaziland. Headlines indeed! That first safari was a real eye opener for me. We had some very interesting people join it. Some got along well, others didn’t. In spite of it all some strong friendships were made (which still exist today on the new NG) and I learned a great deal about not only what not to do on a photography safari, but also about managing guests' expectations. For me the most important take away from safari #1 was that national parks in South Africa were not where I wanted to take guests. Apart from being logistically challenging for photography (you can only leave camp at sunrise and you must be back before sunset), animal sightings all depended on luck. In a big park like Kruger you cannot travel off-road and if anything interesting is happening near the road you will find yourself in a jam of other vehicles all straining to see the same thing. Situations like these tend to bring out the worst in people, which is not a good ingredient for a successful photographic safari. In spite of the dramas with vehicles and the occasional butting of heads between tourists, two weeks later I found myself back home and already planning the next adventure, one that would be entirely different and that would set the tone for the way things have been done on my photographic safaris ever since. But that’s a story for the next instalment. In the meantime here are a few images from Safari #1. \ The infamous Kalahari Ferrari parked outside my house on day 1 of the safari. Our first animal sighting was a giraffe in Hluhluwe Game Reserve. One of my favourite zebra images. This was taken in Mkhuze Game Reserve, just north of Hluhluwe. Left: Cheetah at Emdoneni rehabilitation centre. Right: A Zulu "warrior" at Shakaland, which is a bit of a tourist trap. Driving North towards the St. Lucia wetlands. In the waters at Lake St. Lucia you will find loads of these malevolent creatures. The scariest ever moment was when this elephant in musth charged us. Re-worked image of the mountains in Malolotja that form the border between Swaziland and South Africa. A carver at the market in Manzini, Swaziland, working on a small drum I bought for my son (he still has it!). We got as far north as the Tropic Of Capricorn. Well, I suppose that would be far down south for most of you! This also gives you an idea of the sheer size of the Kruger Park.

Here (finally) is episode 2 of the behind the scenes series of videos I am making of the Ultimate Big 5 Safari we did this past August/September. In this episode we head off on the first of our 12 game drives and we encounter Maxabeni, the dominant leopard of the area as he was finishing off a kill. It's not too long at 12 minutes, so please enjoy. Those of you who have been on safari with me will definitely enjoy this, and hopefully those of you wondering what it's like to be on a safari with us will get a really good idea. Don't forget, bookings for the 2018 edition are open. Full details, including dates and pricing can be found here. View full article

I spent some time this afternoon transferring my stills from my laptop external drive to my desktop drive. Also decided to rework a few images in my main Lr catalog using the much bigger iMac screen. I think I have improved them with some adjustment brushes in Lr, but you can let me know what you think. I'll write up an article about this year's trip as soon as I can. Maxabeni got into a fight with some other leopard before we got there, hence the nasty gash on his face. He shall hemceforth be known as Scarface. As mentioned in my previous post, an elephant died not far from our camp and every day was just a mass of activity. On one morning, with beautiful light, we caught the Southern Pride feasting on this enormous carcass. These are some of the cubs we saw as 6 week olds last year. They are growing up nicely.

I spent some time this afternoon transferring my stills from my laptop external drive to my desktop drive. Also decided to rework a few images in my main Lr catalog using the much bigger iMac screen. I think I have improved them with some adjustment brushes in Lr, but you can let me know what you think. I'll write up an article about this year's trip as soon as I can. Maxabeni got into a fight with some other leopard before we got there, hence the nasty gash on his face. He shall hemceforth be known as Scarface. As mentioned in my previous post, an elephant died not far from our camp and every day was just a mass of activity. On one morning, with beautiful light, we caught the Southern Pride feasting on this enormous carcass. These are some of the cubs we saw as 6 week olds last year. They are growing up nicely.

Dear Fotozones members, I am turning to you to get some feedback and some ideas on a safari I am planning to join later this year. I am looking for input regarding locations and who can help with the trip planning. Here is what we know today: We are planning a ~3 weeks trip, starting around mid or end of May 2017. The group will be 4 people (2 pairs), and we don't want to extend the group. We would like to have our own guide(s) for the trip. We have roughly decided to focus on Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Because of the countries we have seen before, South Africa, Namibia, and the countries around Kenya and Tanzania are out of scope. 3 of the 4 people are photographers, so the focus of the trip should be primarily on safari / wildlife, but also on landscape / nature (for example, Victoria Falls), and this is the reason why I am posting this question here. We are looking for input on the following: Recommendations on which places to visit and which ones we can skip Recommendations on who can assist with planning the trip and book flights, lodges, hotels and arrange guides Other recommendations you feel might help Any input from your side is highly appreciated. My last visit to Africa was about 30 years ago, so consider me a newbie. I have looked at travel guides, but they are no substitute for the collective wisdom of people with experience. I am sure I missed some key information, so please let me know what other information I need to provide. Thank you very much in advance, Robert

Regular readers will know that I have been a mirrorless convert since late 2013, which is when I got my Olympus E-M1. That camera has now been on 6 safaris with me in the past couple of years, including a foot slog through the iMfolozi game reserve last year. Apart from an issue with the rear command dial not making proper contact (apparently caused by dust) it has been 100% reliable. In a few weeks time it will come with me back to Sabi Sabi for yet another safari. The Mk II version is expected sometime this year but to be honest, it will take something truly extra-ordinary to come out for me to consider upgrading. I’m not that keen on more mega-pixels and I have found the auto focus system to be quite suitable for my needs. Improvements in the menu interface would be welcome though. I suppose the EVF technology is also improved quite a bit these days, although while what’s in the E-M1 now is perfectly fine for me, I do recall that the jump from the original E-M5 to the E-M1 in terms of EVF was significant. So, camera sorted, what lenses have been the best performers for me on safari? Over the past couple of years I have used a variety of different telephoto lenses on safari. When I was first getting into the m43 system I had the Panasonic 45-175mm X series lens (90-350mm F35 angle equiv) which did well in good light. It’s probably the one m43 lens I most regret selling, especially since the lens I gave it up for, the Olympus 75-300mm really failed to impress me. The Panasonic is very small, has a motorised zoom and while it’s got decent sharpness in its focal range, it’s best feature for me is the fact that it doesn’t change length when zooming. For a lens that is less than 10cm long, it makes a very worthy travel option. However, on safari you might find yourself wanting more range on the long side. Image taken with Panasonic 45-175mm and Olympus E-M5 The Olympus 75-300mm that I mentioned certainly does give you the extra zoom range (150-600mm F35 eq) and could be considered good enough in terms of sharpness, but that slow aperture of f/6.7 at the long end just proved to be too slow, especially when light levels drop. Also, one has to understand that with such a narrow angle of view (4.1˚) you really do need good stability to get sharp photos. Even with the IBIS I often battled to hold this lens steady enough when used at 300mm. I don’t have a single photo shot with this lens that I am totally happy with. At the time I got it though it was the only game in town for m43, unless you were fortunate enough to have some legacy 4/3 telephoto glass in your back pocket, like Olympus’ 90-250/2.8 and their 300/2.8. Image with Olympus 75-300mm on Olympus E-M1 In 2014 I did manage to obtain an Olympus 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD lens which I used on both the Wild Waterways and Ultimate Big 5 safaris that year. I was very happy with the reach and the image quality from that lens. The equivalent Nikon/Canon option is the 80-400/100-400mm lenses, but those are slower by 1.5 stops when compared to the humble Olympus (which I should add is still obtainable new for around $1200). In my old Canon days I had the original 100-400mm lens and hated it immensely. I believe the new one is much, much better, as is the new Nikon 80-400mm. Those lenses are much more expensive than the Olympus. The Olympus 50-200mm didn’t come with me on safari in 2015. Instead I opted to use the Olympus 40-150/2.8 PRO with the 1.4x TC. This was a mistake. The 40-150 is very good for subjects that are close to you (like within 30m or so), but as soon as those subjects get a bit further away I found that the lens performance dropped off. The images just seemed to lose their pop for me and subjects weren’t well defined at all. Also, the bokeh of this lens is a bit nervous in my opinion whereas the 50-200mm has beautiful bokeh and is also quite good on distant subjects. This will be my main lens for safari again this year. Here are some images with that old Olympus. Not hard to see why I like it so much. New lenses I would like to try on safari include the new Olympus 300/4.0 PRO and the Panasonic 100-400mm. The Olympus continues to get rave reviews from users, but I fear that it will be simply too long to use at a place like Sabi Sabi where we get very close to our subjects. If I was interested in birds then that would be a different story. The Panasonic remains an unknown entity for safaris so hopefully soon I might be able to get one for evaluation. It certainly does have a good range for that use. Bag wise I am considering taking only my little ThinkTank Retrospective 7 this year. I have the much bigger Retro 50 which can take my laptop, but once I am there I don't want to carry such a big bag around on the vehicle so I will probably take the Retro 7 with the 2 E-M1 bodies, the 50-200/2.8-3.5 on one body with a grip and my other body with the 12-40/2.8 PRO for general purpose snapshots. If I get a demo lens from either Panasonic or Olympus to try out then I will have to take the bigger bag. One thing is for sure, I am really looking forward to being on safari again! View full article

Franscois does a masterful job of placing the new for 2016 Photo Rig Land Rover into position for a leopard sighting. Fred, Ann and Chris were "armed" and ready for the action to start.

After the first safari I hosted for Nikongear in 2009, I decided that road trips with a group of people were not the kind of adventures I found conducive to good photographic experiences. Getting everybody to convene at pre-determined times and stay together was like herding cats, an exercise in frustration. Also, we’d no sooner get into the groove of a place before we found ourselves on the move again, keeping up with an itinerary. All the packing and unpacking became quite a strain over the 2 weeks of that first trip and I’ll admit, it didn’t bring out the best of my personality. I wanted something more rewarding from a safari. I can’t recall exactly where I read about Sabi Sabi, but I’d heard of this private game reserve that was situated on the border of the Kruger National Park where the rangers and trackers used a variety of methods, including radio comms with other rangers to locate animals for their guests. Only after driving yourself around the KNP for long stretches of the day and seeing nothing can you appreciate the value of having specialists do that successfully for you. It wasn’t very difficult to make up my mind that a single week spent in a place like Sabi Sabi would be a much better proposition than 2 weeks of driving around national parks hoping to find good sightings, all the while competing for position with many other self-drive safari seekers. And so the Ultimate Big 5 Safari was born. The concept behind this now very popular safari is simple; we take over an entire camp for a whole week and let the experts do their thing as far as finding the animals goes. Over the 6 years since our first UB5 edition we’ve never been disappointed. We’ve seen cheetah chases twice, lions hunting and feasting, leopards making kills (and also losing kills to hyenas), giraffe males fighting, African wild dogs hunting successfully and numerous other incredible sightings. Unlike many “photo safari workshops” organised by others, we’re not selling education. People who join our UB5 safari are generally already familiar with basic photographic principles and all we do is put them in the right places at the right times to make amazing photos. That said, what we’ve found over the years is that many who join our groups usually have some techniques that they share with us (and of course us with them), be it a camera hack or even a cool way of post processing. We just go there to have fun and enjoy the company of other people with an interest in wildlife photography. These safaris are for fun-lovers, not disciples of any particular exponent of photography. As we get ready to enjoy edition #6 of the UB5 safari I thought I would share some memories of previous visits there. Click to enlarge the photos. UB5 #1 This first trip was held towards the end of October in 2010 and it will forever stick in my mind for the two amazing rangers we had looking after us, namely Ranger Rich and Rika. I had more fun with the banter that we had going between the two vehicles than I did photographing the animals. Sadly they have both moved on from Sabi Sabi, but we still keep in touch on Facebook. Here they are pretending to be giraffes on one of our drinks breaks. The stand-out moment on that safari came on our very first drive. We may have been about 20 minutes in when we came across the cheetah (the first I have ever personally seen in the wild). Little did we know that a few minutes later the sleepy male would be up and stalking some impala before breaking into the chase, albeit unsuccessful. That was absolutely exhilarating to watch. Because it was so dark already I didn’t bother trying to photograph the actual chase - I just watched it and I am really glad I did. Some memories are better without blurry photos. After he had missed his dinner he stood on some burnt ground and I got this shot. UB5 #2 The next time we got to enjoy Sabi Sabi was a couple of years later in 2012. This visit became all about lions, specifically the dynamics around the Southern Pride. I think we saw the pride almost every day we were there. One morning when Pepe and I were driving from our guide rooms at Bush Lodge to Little Bush Camp a whole bunch of them were sprawled out blocking our access road to the camp. Being as we were in a Hyundai H1 there wasn’t much we could do to go around them, so we just waited there until they decided to rouse themselves. I love lions. They are definitely my favourite creatures to observe and photograph in the wild. They don’t seem to care much about anything other than eating and loving. UB5 #3 2013 was a smaller affair with only 6 guests joining us for an earlier than usual week at Sabi Sabi. The reason for this was because we had scheduled a month long safari from Cape Town through Namibia and Botswana for September, so the UB5 trip had to take place during the last of South Africa’s winter. I never thought it could get cold in the bush, but boy was I mistaken. The early mornings that August were pretty fresh. It’s not so bad while you’re standing still, but as soon as those open Land Rovers begin moving though the cold air it’s only the Bear Grylls sort who admits to not feeling a bit cold. Even one of our guests from Chicago (a city not known for their mild winters) had a few layers on. For a guy like me who lives in a sub-tropical climate this sort of thing is ridiculous, so I surrounded myself with as many hot water bottles as possible whenever we headed out. The highlight of this safari was coming across a white rhino one morning who had given birth to a calf just hours before we arrived. It was probably one of the most special sightings because there was also a hyena lurking, waiting perhaps for an opportunity to snag the little one. A short while afterwards a leopard we’d been following earlier also showed up, so we had a kind of stand-off happening as both the cat and the hyena sized up their opportunities. UB5 #4 In 2014 there were a few changes in my approach to photography, not least of which was the move away from Nikon to Olympus and their mirrorless technology. I found that I was getting much faster and more accurate auto focus with the Olympus E-M1 than I had ever gotten with the Nikon D700. As a result I got more in focus shots than ever before. Also, I began shooting video on this safari and found that certain moments that I may have missed with stills I now have memorable video of, including that of the leopard and her cub losing their kill from its high position in a tree to a waiting hyena below. Watch this video - it's classic! There were also moments I recorded where a young leopard had killed a scrub hare and began playing with its dead lunch. It was almost as if he was trying to impress us with a re-enactment of his hunting skills! UB5 #5 Last year saw another smaller group on the UB5 safari which we linked in with our Wild Waterways Safari in Botswana. However, in spite of the smaller numbers, the sightings we had were simply amazing. There were lion and leopard sightings, including leopards mating, which is something most people can only dream about seeing. Not only that but we came across a colony of dwarf mongooses living in an old termite mound. Usually these diminutive animals will scarper as soon as they see humans, but it was almost as if we had on an invisibility shield because they sat and posed around their home for us for what seemed like ages, giving us some very rare photo opportunities. In just a few weeks we’re off to do UB5 #6 and I can’t wait! Be sure to follow our adventures here and on the Photographers.travel social media pages. Bookings are open for UB5 #7 so if you think this is the kind of safari you'd like to experience please go check out the page. Spaces are getting taken quickly, so don't delay if you're serious about going as we will only offer one group safari to Sabi Sabi in 2017. View full article

I am shifting my main browsing computer to my iMac and I can't seem to find an EXIF viewer for this latest version. I have it on the Mavericks version of Safari but it doesn't appear to be available on the El Capitan one. Any ideas?

Hey everyone, just a heads up that the spaces for our 2017 group Ultimate Big 5 Wildlife Safari to Sabi Sabi are now available and we have already had 3 confirmed bookings for it. There are only 6 suites available so this leaves 4 open. Details are here. The price for 2017 will only be known to us next month, but as always we anticipate a 10-20% Rand value hike. This is almost always offset by a decline in the value of the Rand against major currencies, so for 2017 the trip will probably be the same in USD, maybe even a bit less. For this year's sold out safari (2016) we are doing something a little different by adding a third vehicle (a special photographic Land Rover) to make it even better for photographers. Also, this year the extensions to the safari will see our safarians spend some time in other private game reserves in South Africa, specifically Madikwe which is near to Sun City and the Botswana border and then Phinda which is near me and close to the Mozambique border. We will do the same things in 2017 again. If you can't make the dates in 2017 (it's a bit earlier than usual) then why not let us create you your own Ultimate Big 5 Safari to be done in your own time frame? We do this now and you won't be disappointed because we always ensure you get the best guides and we can also arrange the photographic vehicle for you.

Since 2009 Pepe and I have put on 7 photographic safaris. The only year we missed was 2011, which for some reason we couldn't find any takers for the 4 different trips we had planned that year. Probably had something to do with the hangover from the 2010 Soccer World Cup held in South Africa, but we did make up for it over the past 2 years by doing 2 safaris every year. So, I decided to pick 7 photos, one from each of the safaris and present them here with a short back story of how each was obtained. So here we go (don't forget to click for the enlarged version). 2009 - The Nikongear Road Trip This remains the best (and only) bird in flight shot I have managed to get on safari. This fish eagle was soaring high above us while we were taking a boat ride on the St. Lucia Estuary. As he got closer I started taking photos using the Nikon D700 and 70-300mm f/4-5.6 VR zoom. Those shots were no good, but then the bird suddenly got a lot lower and I quickly lifted the camera to my eye again, snapped a burst of about 5 shots. This was the first of them. 2010 - Ultimate Big 5 Safari #1 This shot is from our first ever visit to the Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. We were about 20 minutes into our first game drive on a really hot and dry day (temps were over 40˚C) when we encountered this male cheetah resting in the shade of a bush. After it woke up, it started yawning and walking around. We didn't think anything was going to happen, but then it spotted a small group of impala a short distance from us and it began stalking them. By this time the light was pretty much gone so trying to get a decent shot of the hunt was a crap shoot, so I opted to watch what was about to unfold instead. The cheetah suddenly burst into a full on attack and began chasing down one of the impala. The next few seconds were chaotic as our 2 vehicles sped off trying to keep up with the fastest animal in the world. He didn't get his meal, but he came to rest on a burnt out section of the plain where he stood out incredibly, resulting in this shot. The camera here was the Nikon D700 and the lens was the first version of the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8. 2012 - Ultimate Big 5 Safari #2 In 2012 we went back to Sabi Sabi and once again only a short while into our first game drive we came across this lone lioness who had become separated from her pride for some reason. We watched her for a short while and then she got up and began walking onto a nearby rocky mound where we caught her in the very last of the afternoon's golden light. I shot this with the Nikon D700 and the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 OS (the second incarnation of this fine lens). What happened next was that the lioness spotted a wildebeest off in the distance and believe it or not she began stalking it. I have some video of that encounter up on our YouTube channel. It was really hard for me to pick just 1 shot from this year because we got so many great lion sightings. 2013 - Ultimate Big 5 Safari #3 We had a slightly smaller group join us for the third UB5 safari, but it ended up being a good thing because with fewer people on the vehicles we were able to shoot out of both sides and rotate this privilege amongst guests who were travelling together and would otherwise be sharing the same row of seats. This shot came from one of our drives where we followed the Southern Pride. They are juveniles who were enjoying playing together in the chilly morning air. The social behaviour of lions is what fascinates me and they have become my favourite subject on safaris. The gear used here was the Nikon D700 and Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 OS. 2013 - Namaqualand To Namibia Roadtrip Safari About a month after we did UB5 we found ourselves doing our most ambitious safari ever in 2013. This was a 32 day long road trip that took in a very cold and wet Cape Town (it snowed on Table Mountain!), the wild spring flowers of Namaqualand, a very long drive through the entire length of Namibia as well as a short excursion into the north-west section of Botswana on the Kavango river. Along the way there were an amazing number of outstanding photo opportunities, but the highlight for me was this scene I called "Dawn Of The Dead" taken in the Deadvlei area of Sossussvlei. We stayed at one of the camps inside the reserve which gave us the ability to head out to the Deadvlei before the reserve opened to the public. After trudging across the dunes at the end of the 60km road we got to the area just as the sun was coming up. The initial plan was to try and emulate that famous shot of Deadvlei by a photographer who's name I have forgotten. I couldn't get that quite right, so I turned my attention to the sun coming over the dunes. This was the result. I used a LEE Filters Seven5 filter kit on my Olympus E-M5 with the Olympus 9-18mm f/4.-5.6 wide angle lens. It's one of my favourite shots from that safari. 2014 - Wild Waterways Safari #1 The Wild Waterways safari was probably the most photogenic of all the trips we have done. Apart from the drama I had at the beginning where somebody picked up my bag at the airport, it by far exceeded my expectations. The houseboat and specialised photography boats were amazing and our guides got us into some brilliant positions for awesome photos. This shot was taken on the Chobe at sunset using the very capable Olympus Stylus 1, which accompanied me just about everywhere on that trip. I think I made more shots with that camera than I did with my Olympus E-M1. 2014 - Ultimate Big 5 Safari #4 The 4th trip to Sabi Sabi was without a doubt the most amazing wildlife safari we have ever done. Our sightings were beyond belief and included multiple leopard sightings, including watching them hunting successfully (twice!), watching a mother and her cub losing a kill to a hyena as it fell out of a tree (that video is on YouTube) and many other incredible encounters. However, the highlight for me and the guests was undoubtedly what happened on our last drive when we came across a pack of African Painted Wild Dog. And we got to see them on a kill! This photo is one of many I took from this sighting. The camera is the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the lens is the Olympus 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD (one of the best lenses I have used on safari, incidentally). So, there you have it, 7 shots from 7 different safaris. We're heading off to both the Wild Waterways and Ultimate Big 5 this September and I am getting really excited to see what kind of amazing things Africa is going to show us this time. View full article

In our world some things stay the same while other things are constantly changing. One of the things that does both is my camera gear. As my regular readers will know I tend to change things up in my bag quite a bit, so each year that I have been on safari has seen me taking different things with me. This year I am carrying a lot of the stuff I took last year, as well as one or two new items, which I have not yet decided on. Here’s the low down on what’s probably going in my safari bag this year: Camera Bodies I am taking 2 Olympus E-M1 bodies with me. One of them is mine, the other is borrowed from Olympus and will serve as a backup as well provide me with some alternative options for closer subjects. The E-M1 has proved itself to be the most capable camera I have ever used. As you get more comfortable with its strange interface, you’ll find that you can change things on the fly quickly. It’s also a good test for your memory! I recently sold my original E-M5, so for the first time in 4 years I won’t have it with me on safari. I will however, take my little PEN E-PM2 which is basically an E-M5 without the EVF and IBIS and with a much simpler interface. That will probably stay in my Lowepro Dashpoint 30 which I attach to my belt. Having a little camera like this handy at all times definitely helps with documentary shots, which I tend to do a lot of on safari. The lens I will use on it will probably be the Panasonic 14-45mm which has proven itself to be a very capable performer over the years (and was the lens I used most when I first got an OM-D E-M5). Lenses Here’s my conundrum: I have recently acquired an Olympus 35-100mm f/2.0 SHG zoom lens, which is a massive beast of an optic but has just wonderful image quality. However, it’s very heavy at 1.8kg and it’s short on magnification compared to the 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 I used on the last couple of safaris. I can’t take both of the lenses with me because of the weight restrictions, so its going to come down to which of them is going to be of more use. The magnification issue of the 35-100mm can be resolved by getting an Olympus EC-20, which is a 2x teleconverter. All the reviews I have read suggest that this is a very good teleconverter and it will effectively give me a 140-400mm f/4 lens in 135 format terms, which is more than adequate. However, finding an EC-20 in South Africa is proving to be a somewhat difficult task. Nobody has one. This leaves eBay as an option so I could ask one of our returning safarians to bring one in for me (if they have the space for one more tiny little thing). I’m going to have to think long and hard on this one because the TC is an expensive item. I can get the same reach and half a stop advantage from the 50-200mm lens, but it’s just not quite in the same league as far as sharpness and bokeh are concerned, so this is a point to pause on. I suppose I might be able to borrow a 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO and 1.4x TC which would render this whole debate moot. The other long lens I have is the understated Olympus 75-300mm which is very useful for birds and other distant subjects in good light. It has a slow aperture of f/6.7 on the long end, but it’s a really good lens that takes up very little space, so it will be coming along with me to Botswana and Sabi Sabi. Other lenses that will join me are the Samyang 7.5mm fisheye (“Bubbles” as it’s affectionately known), and my Olympus 75mm f/1.8. The 75mm has proved itself to be a wonderfully useful lens when encountering predator feeds at night that are lit by the trackers’ spotlights. What I do is put it on spot metering, open it up fully and I am guaranteed to get shots that are full of detail and generally wonderful. For wide angle stuff I will be using the very capable Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6. The Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO is out now, but there’s just something about it that doesn’t seem quite like an extreme wide angle to me, so it’s unlikely that I will ever get this particular lens. The BEAST: Olympus 35-100mm f/2.0 SHG Computing & Storage As I have done in the past couple of years, I will take along my 2012 non-retina MacBook Pro running Lightroom CC to do my importing and quick edits with. I will have an external hard drive to run backups to at the point of import, a nice feature that Lightroom offers. Bagging It Last year I used the ThinkTank Retrospective 50 messenger bag which is more than adequate to hold everything. However, this year I will have a new lightweight backpack from Mindshift Gear that I have been fortunate enough to be chosen as a test user for. These are very comfortable backpacks that can accommodate all my gear and will also be easy to manage as carryon luggage in the planes. I can’t talk too much about them yet as they haven’t been officially announced, but I will be providing a review early next month, so look out for that. Camera Support I have a fantastic little travel tripod from Sunwayfoto that I will be taking with me (in my checked luggage) just for use when we do night photography in Sabi Sabi. The head is the FB-28 ballhead which I have used for a few years now. This really compact support system fits in everywhere and offers great support for the lightweight micro four thirds system. If you can’t find the Sunwayfoto in your local camera store, look them up on eBay. There are a few people who sell them on there. And there you have it. My somewhat simplified safari gear solution. Compared to previous years when I was always stuck on weight and size, this year I will have less gear, but will remain just as ready for every photo opportunity as before. If you have any questions or suggestions to make, please pop them in the comments/replies section below. View full article

Drive 12 - Morning Game Drive - Last Episode with a nice scenery, wild dogs and a few birds All good things must come to an end ... at 5:30 we started our last game drive and what a scenery awaited us. #1 70mm / ISO400: I could have stood there forever #2 280mm/ ISO 400: The 200-400 does landscapes (well, sort of...) Painted wild dogs are pretty tough to photograph. They are really fast and the damn grass is always somewhere between camera and animal but it was extraordinary to follow them and see and learn about their behaviour. What fascinated me most was the following piece of information ... when they hunt they let all the puppies at a safe place with some adults safeguarding them. After the kill they go and get the puppies and the guards to let them participate in the meal ... great approach! Ann already posted her images and the story of the painted wild dogs that we met during this last drive. Here are a couple of my takes on that encounter. #3 70mm / ISO 800: A good painted wild dog always keeps moving. It was definitely the drive with the fastest pace in order to follow these chaps. It was great fun #4 300mm / ISO 1600: ... just keep on moving moving ... #5 390mm / ISO 1600: be focused and run like hell ... food is waiting somewhere ... (sorry about the WB!) #6 280mm / ISO 1600: Ahhh ... finally something to eat ... #7 390mm / ISO 1600: Tasty meal it was ... #8 56mm / ISO 800: dogs are dogs are dogs ... I am a cat person but I assume that you dog people out there recognise that behaviour #9 280mm / ISO 1600: nuff meat ... nuff played ... back to running ... but first things first ... check whether there is a target worthwhile running even faster ... When we left the wild dogs (actually they left us) I was pretty sure that I am not going to take any more pictures at Sabi Sabi but then this little story happened on our way back to Little Bush Camp and I thought this will make a nice ending of my safari diaries #10 450mm / ISO 800: Kiss me Honey ... #11 500mm / ISO 800: What? that's all? #12 500mm / ISO 800: I pick your foot until you ... you ... !@# #13 500mm / ISO 800: The argument went on for a while and in the end it was as it always is ... They stopped talking to each other I hope you enjoyed these 12 episodes and maybe it helped you decide whether to join a Safari or not. For me it was an experience that I will never forget and certainly will repeat. Thanks to everybody who took the time to look and comment! ... End ...

Drive 11 - Evening/Night Game Drive - Elephants and Leopards After this most exciting morning drive we spend the day at Little Bush Camp and left at about 4:30 for our last evening drive which actually extended into a night drive with another great sighting. A beautiful and impressive leopard killed a hare and had his snack while we watched him feasting. It started rather quiet. We drove for a while with nothing particular happening. One of the rangers had the idea to drive into a dry riverbed to see whether we find some monkeys (what we did) or other animals (which we met as well). The first bigger sighting was a group of elephants that came along while we where in the riverbed. It was particulary impressing because the elephants were on a raised level in comparison to us in the riverbed. It was pretty much fun ... Richard positioned a GoPro and the elephants where curious enough to inspect this weird device. I saw the resulting hilarious movie somewhere but I really can't remember where ... Sorry for this ... Maybe Dallas has a copy or a link to it. #1 70mm / ISO 3200: Richard and the GoPro ... We had fun #2 70mm / ISO 3200: The group of elephants that came along ... To be honest I consider it much more threatening being close to elephants than being close to leopards. You almost sense the massive power of them especially when you are in a car that is parked in deep sand efficiently keeping you from driving fast #3 70mm / ISO 3200: This chap came a few minutes after the bunch, took a mouthful of leaves and eyed the GoPro #4 400mm / ISO 6400: After a while we proceeded driving around and suddenly met the star of the night. He just popped out of nothing ... amazing! The lighting was again provided by the trackers #5 185mm / ISO 3200: We followed him and it was clear that he was hunting but it was far too dark to actually see what exactly was going on. Suddenly the leopard made some fast moves and we heard a loud squeak. Another hare was gone and we found the hunter laying flat feasting on his success. #6 200mm / ISO 3200: Yummy ... #7 400mm / ISO 6400: This image is certainly not to everybodies taste but technically seen it is amazing that the focus on the eye of the hare came out as I had hoped for it. Sometimes I really love my equipment #8 210mm / ISO 6400: Well ... I don't taste good ... and I don't want your hare ... calm down kitty ... #9 300mm / ISO 6400: Bye Bye leopards of Sabi Sabi ... hopefully we meet again ... ... one more to come ...

Drive 10 - Morning Game Drive - My most intense Moment During this morning drive I had the most intense moment during this Safari. I had the 200-400 with the TC1.4 on my D4 and off we went. The story goes basically as follows ... After some time of eventless driving through the bush we met this wonderful animal at one of the waterholes. Ranger Rich anticipated where the leopard will head to and we met him again as he tried to approach a few Impalas to hunt breakfast. At least this is what my memory tells me although in the back of my head there is a nagging thought that a cheetah played a role as well but this is actually irrelevant to the episode told here. Afterwards it was discussed (and I think that this is very plausible) that the leopard used our car in order to approach the Impalas unseen by them but they fled in time. To give you an idea of what happend I add time, focal width and crop information to the images. The story of the images is as simple as it can get: A leopard approached our car. #1 07:12:57 / 390mm / ~15% crop ... isn't he strong and beautiful? #2 07:26:45 / 380mm / heavily cropped ... starting to be aware of us in the car #3 07:26:47 / 300mm / heavily cropped ... getting closer, still focussing us #4 07:26:51 / 280mm / ~5% crop ... still getting closer, still focussing us #5 07:26:53 / 280mm / ~20% crop ... permanently getting closer ... probably wondering about the sound of the D4 shutter in machine gun mode #6 07:26:53 / 280mm / ~15-20% crop ... well ... #7 07:26:57 / 280mm / Full Frame! ... very close and focussing me ... It was amazing, Looking into the eyes of this leopard from only a few meters away is something I will -never- forget. This is where I started to fail to get the extra sharp image but well ...some you win some you loose and the experience was an extra huge win all in all. #8 07:26:58 / 280mm / Full Frame! ... I don't know whether I just failed or whether minimum close focusing distance was reached. This is the last shot of that series ... At that very moment I heard Richard saying: "Don't move" and put down the camera. It was only then thatI realized how close the Leopard was. It was only a few meters but I don'know how many. One seems to get insane while pointing a camera at something ... #9 We met him again a few minutes later It is now a couple of months ago but still, while going through these images, I feel excited and remember the suspense looking directly into the mesmerising eyes of this animal. Mark did a video of that event but I couldn't get hold of it yet. ... to be continued ...

Drive 9 - NIght Game Drive - The Cook and Hyenas at Night The afternoon was very much like the morning was. Cold, dull, no animals around and all in all not really exciting. But again it payed to have first class rangers. They proposed to get back to the camp, have early dinner and then leave again for a night drive as soon as there are news of something happening in the bush. Well, we happily agreed. Back at Little Bush Camp I took the chance to ask for permission to take some images of the cook. This guy was the secret hero of the Safari. Every evening he stood in front of us all sitting at the table and announced the various courses of the menue. Every evening this was an event with us loudly cheering him and he beaming with pride and joy all over his face. It was so cool and the food was so nice ... Incredible! #1 The Cook and his smile #2 The Cook and his work All of a sudden hectic broke out and the rangers urged us to hurry. The reason for this very unusual behaviour was that the rangers got the news that a bunch of Hyenas stole a kill and were starting to have a feast on the carcass. I am a bit ambivalent when it comes to Hyenas ... They are extremely important in nature's system and they are fascinating in the way they perform their task but they stink like hell and they aren't exactly pretty. #3 Well, they can actually be sort of pretty when post processed with a little creative spirit applied #4 To give you an idea of the setup during such a night drive. The two vehicles where grouped around the hyenas providing the required light in varying modes. #5 One of the best opportunities were silhouette shots with one vehicle providing wonderful backlight for the photogs in the other vehicle. This is one of my favourite shots. #6 The D4/200-400 Combo really shined ... Taken at ISO3200, 400mm, f4 and 1/60s handheld. Watch the bloodshot eye ... #7 A Hyena after the feast ... It rested on the remains of the carcass ... Did I mention that I am ambivalent when it comes to Hyenas? #7 A last glimpse towards our vehicle ... #8 sleep well ... on your carcass ... till next time ... ... to be continued ...

Drive 8 - Morning Game Drive and a few from the lodge It was a cold and rainy morning and it seemed that even the animals didn't feel like roaming around. Consequently not much happened ... #1 the other half of the safarians #2 a dwarf mongoose sitting on a termite mound ... these critters are extremely alert and fun to watch ... #3 a brown-hooded kingfisher ... #4 a pied kingfisher #5 camouflage is important ... this guy certainly knows how to do it ... nature is amazing The next two were taken directly from my chalet at Little Bush Camp after returning from the drive. It is so amazing, you don't even have to move to watch and photograph wildlife ... What an experience! #6 #7 the left one is a bit blurred but I like it anyway ... ... to be continued ...

It's 90% sure my wife and I will book a 15-day tour to South Africa in March. It will be a group tour by bus, which is something we don't normally do but for a first acquaintance with South Africa it seems ok. Program: Day 1: flight Amsterdam - Johannesburg. Day 2: Johannesburg - Pretoria - Long Tom Pass (about 375 km). Day 3: Long Tom Pass - Panorama Route - Hazyview (about 450 km). Day 4: Hazyview - Kruger National Park - Hazyview. Day 5: Hazyview - Swaziland (about 275 km) . Day 6: Swaziland - Zululand - Hluhluwe National Park (about 235 km). Day 7: Free day in Zululand. Day 8: Zululand - Durban (about 300 km). Day 9: Durban - East London (about 674 km). Day 10 : East London - Port Elizabeth (about 310 km). Day 11 : Port Elizabeth -Knysna (about 380 km). Day 12 : Knysna - Oudtshoorn - Knysna (about 240 km) . Day 13 : Knysna - Mossel Bay - Cape Town ( about 340 km). Day 14 and 15: Free days in Cape Town. Day 16 : flight Cape Town - Amsterdam. Day 17 : Arrival in Amsterdam. I'll bring my Olympus E-M10 along with the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 lens and 45mm f1.8 lens. I'm now looking into the tele (zoom) options. I want/need long reach and a price below € 600. So far I've narrowed my choice down to two options 1) Panasonic 45-175mm f4-5.6 and and 2) Olympus Stylus 1 compact camera with 28-300mm f2.8 lens (but small sensor). The Stylus 1 could also be the backup camera. I don't want to spend the money (yet) on the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 lens. is long reach a necessity? Will the slow aperture of the Panasonic be a problem? The images I see of the Stylus seem slightly soft especially at the long end. Any other thoughts or suggestions are appreciated, thanks in advance.