In preparation for my April Tanzania photo safari (see my Workshops page)
I'm running a new series here on my blog: Six Days of Africa Photo
Safari Tips. Scroll down to read my previous posts in this series.
Today's tip: Strive for animal behavior shots.
Sure, portraits of wild animals are nice, and I'll share a few of my favorites tomorrow here on my blog. But behavior shots tell more of a story, such as the photograph above of a small herd of elephants protecting their young.
For good behavior shots, you first need to be lucky, as I was when I took the above photograph of a lion and lioness fighting.
But as lucky as you may be, being prepared to capture the behavior is a must - you must have a good understanding of light and composition, which I cover in my on-line classes.
And, of course, you must have the right lens. I recommend always having two cameras ready: one with a wide-angle zoom, say a 24-105mm, and one with a telephoto zoom, perhaps a 100-400mm lens. That's for starters. After that, you may want longer and shorter lenses in your camera bag. All my gear, including those lenses, is listed on My Gear page.
Planning can also help you get good behavior photographs. I planned one of my Africa photo safari workshops so the group would be there for the annual migration of the zebra and wildebeest. Talk about getting good behavior shots! The opening image of the migration is one of my favorite photo safari photos.
In my first post in this series I shared a portrait I took of our guide. Again, portraits are nice, but behavior shots tell more of a story, such as the above photograph that I took of a Masai warrior demonstrating his jumping skills.
Here's something else about behavior shots: they can make you smile, as I do when I look at this photograph of a mommy elephant and her baby.
I hope to see you on a photo safari or on any of my workshops. I'm there to help you make great pictures and process your images.
Explore the light,
Rick
