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Specialist African Safaris - More than just a game drive
Co-ordinates S24 55 26.3 E31 39 33.3
The world-renowned Kruger National Park offers a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in Africa. Established in 1898 to protect the wildlife of the South African Lowveld, this national park of nearly 2 million hectares is unrivalled in its biodiversity and is a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies. Kruger is home to an impressive number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals.
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Rhino Post Safari Lodge |
Rhino Post Safari Lodge |
It is at Rhino Post Safari Lodge, a 16-bed lodge, set on the banks of the Mutlumuvi River that we have chosen as a base for our Kruger National Park Photographic Workshops. The camp is situated very close to the border between the Kruger National Park and the Sabi Sand Game reserve. Rhino Post Safari Lodge is in its own 12,000 ha (about 24 000 acre) private wilderness concession in the park and during our workshop we will have all but exclusive use of this area. This unique wilderness area offers ecotourists the ideal place for encounters with the Big Five and allows visitors to track elephant and rhino on foot or view and photograph them from the comfort of open safari vehicles.
While on the workshop, we will spend 2 nights at Rhino Post, sleep out for 1 night on their very unique elevated wooden platform overlooking a waterhole and then spend a further 2 nights at the "Out of Africa" styled Plains Camp - sister camp to Rhino Post. This is the only place in the Kruger National Park offering this unusual sleep-out accommodation and it will give us a superb opportunity to do photography of wild animals at night at full moon.
Early mornings, late afternoons and the early evening are spent in the field capturing images and the rest of the time is spent back at base working on the images in Photoshop and evaluating the field sessions. This workshop is aimed at the intermediate photographer.
Please note: Kruger National Park is in a malaria area and as such you should take precautions. Consult your doctor regarding Prophylactics, wear long sleeves and trousers and spray exposed skin with insect repellant.
The following topics will be covered on the workshop:
- Understanding your camera.
- Image composition and adding impact to your picture.
- The secret of using light.
- The art of seeing and creating a photograph.
- Camera controls.
- Principles of Photography.
- Using the histogram to judge exposure.
- The use of Blinkies to prevent blown out highlights. (Blinkies? Come to the workshop and find out).
- Image editing in Photoshop.
- Use of Photoshop layers to enhance images.
Programme
The following program is fairly general and needs to be flexible. Nature does not operate by the clock and we'll need to be able to respond to what ever is happening out there. If the idea is to do some scenery and we hear about a leopard nearby then we need to change our plans quickly.
Friday
Arrive at Rhino Post by 13:00 for check in. Half the group will spend the first 2 nights at Rhino Post and the others will transfer to Plains Camp. At 15:00 those staying at Plains Camp will return to Rhino Post for tea followed by an introductory talk, show and for setting up laptops and programs. We will then have pre dinner drinks on the deck overlooking the Mutlumuvi River and waterhole. Guest staying at Plains will return after dinner.
Saturday
Meet on the deck at Rhino Post/Plains Camp at 06:15 for coffee and a light snack and leave on a game drive by about 06:50. During the drive, we'll arrange to rendezvous in the veld at a suitable spot where we will work through various photographic issues. About 2 hours after sunrise we'll head back to Rhino Post to download images onto our computers. Participants then select 3 images to include in the evaluation session and at about 10:30 we head into the dining room for a scrumptious brunch.
The day continues with discussions, Photoshop tutorials and image analysis. This part of the workshop is critical – we work with your images, looking at composition, impact and technical details. We hold these sessions in an open and constructive environment and group participation is encouraged – it's where we can make a significant difference to your images very quickly.
High tea will be at about 15:00 and then we head out on a game drive. Once again we'll be on 2 vehicles – Pat on one and Roger on the other. We'll work different areas to the morning's drive, staying in radio contact so that we have more “eyes” out there and if we spot anything we can quickly meet up. We'll do sundowners before returning to Rhino Post for drinks and dinner.
Sunday
The same as Saturday: Meet on the deck at Rhino Post/Plains Camp at 06:15 for coffee and a light snack and leave on game drive by about 06:50. We'll work different habitats to Friday, stopping to look at interesting things – perhaps taking a short, easy walk. Before returning to camp we'll meet up for coffee and some informal discussions.
The morning will following a very similar routine to Saturday and then after lunch, at about 15:00 we'll take a slow drive to the sleep-out platform. After hanging up mosquito nets, fly sheets (only if necessary) and preparing beds (yes! we do encourage our guests to be included in every aspect of this unique interactive experience in the bush) sundowners can be enjoyed on the platform that also overlook a waterhole. This sleep-out experience is quite rustic and only the minimum needs to be taken along. We may need to share sleeping areas.
This unique experience has been scheduled over full moon and we will be doing photography during the night – tripods are essential. The rumble of an elephant passing by or the roar of a lion at the nearby waterhole, are the only things that may disturb our experience in this peaceful wilderness.
Monday
We take a slow drive back to our individual camps, breakfast and to pack. Those that have been at Rhino Post will move to Plains Camp and vice versa. We'll all meet back at Rhino Post at about 11:00 for brunch and to download images.
Evaluation of images and working in Photoshop will continue until its time to go out on a drive again at 15:00 after a sumptuous tea. This is the day when we may want to do some images of the moon rising. Sunset is at 17:24 and moonrise at 17:55 so we will have scouted a suitable location over the previous few days and will be in position in good time – sundowners (moonrisers?) in hand.
Tuesday
The day's program will be very similar to Saturday's with perhaps a little more time spent at base working on the images that we have shot over the previous few days and dealing with any camera and imaging problems.
Wednesday. We have a choice here that we make on Tuesday. Either we head out really early and do the sunrise from the high level bridge over the Sabi River or we stay at Rhino Post to do a few last minute things to the images and Photoshop. We wrap the safari at about 10:00 after breakfast.
Equipment required is as follows:
- A Digital SLR Camera preferably with removable lenses (a fixed lens camera will work but will limit what we can do to a certain degree). An advanced point and shoot camera will be fine for beginners, but it should have a fairly long lens, as we will be doing some wildlife photography (e.g. Canon G9, G10 or S5, Nikon S60, P80 or P6000 or something similar).
- Zoom lenses - the selection is broad but at least 2 zoom lenses are recommended, one wide angle and one medium to long telephoto, which should preferably have some form of image stabilization.
- A flashgun.
- A sturdy tripod.
- A laptop computer with either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements loaded on to it. This is essential. Instruction will be in Photoshop Elements 6. It is recommended that you have some form of backup medium - DVD's or a portable hard drive. We will have copies of Photoshop for sale at the workshop and also free versions of various other programs available to load onto your computer.
- A memory card reader or computer cables to connect your camera to your laptop.
- The charger for your camera/s.
- Memory Card/s.
- The manual(s) for your camera(s).
- A hat to keep off that hot African sun.
Workshop Dates: Please emails us for the dates of the next scheduled Kruger Photographic safari.
The cost for this workshop is ZAR13 650 for the 5 nights and includes accommodation, all meals, 2 game drives a day, course notes and a certificate of completion. Drinks and extras are for your own account.
Please email us on roger@africaimagery.com or info@oldcanvasexpeditions.com for more information.
We run a host of other photographic safaris, the details of which are given below:
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| Zululand Photographic Safari |
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Located in the heart of Zululand is Bonamanzi, a privately owned, 4000ha game reserve. Bordered by a World Heritage site, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, in the east and with Hluhluwe Game Reserve a short drive to the west, it's easy to see why we've selected Bonamanzi for our Zululand Photographic Safaris. It also happens to be widely recognised as one of the best birding destinations in Southern Africa. Read more..... |
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| Midlands Photographic Safari |
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Howick is situated in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands some 20 Km to the north of Pietermaritzburg. The region is well known for its incredible scenery and wonderful climate. Its here that we hold our Beginner/ Intermediate Photographic and Photoshop workshops. Read more..... |
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| Big Cats of Mala Mala Photographic Safari |
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If you really want superb images of Africa 's big cats - lion, leopard and cheetah, then there can be no finer spot to get these than Mala Mala Private Game Reserve in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The game viewing experience here, especially of Africa 's big cats, is unsurpassed, and this is why Roger and Pat chose MalaMala as a base when they did their book, The Big Cats of MalaMala . While one can certainly not guarantee sightings of these big cats, at MalaMala one stands more chance of getting them than anywhere else that the de la Harpes know. Read more..... |
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| Baine's River Camp, Zambia, Photographic Safari |
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Set in the heart of the unspoiled African bush, on the northern banks of the Zambezi River and directly opposite Mana Pools in Zimbabwe, is Baines' River Camp. This is a true safari lodge, named after the famous artist and explorer John Thomas Baines, and offers a very different wildlife experience: While Baines River Camp does have the usual 4X4 game drives, much of the game viewing is done from boats on the Zambezi River and Roger and Pat have done some of their best wild life and scenic photography here. Read more..... |
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| Tuli - Land of Giants - Photographic Safari |
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The Northern Tuli Game Reserve - home to places like Mashatu, Tuli Lodge and Nitani - is set in the eastern corner of Botswana where it meets with South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is here that Roger and Pat lived when they wrote and photographed their book Tuli Land of Giants. It's a stunning place; as old as time itself, with a history of human inhabitation going back over 50 000 years. There are 7 world record tree species (the highest or largest) and some of the most relaxed elephants that Roger and Pat have worked with. All in all, a wonderful place to be doing photography. Read more..... |
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