Each day this week I will take you on a virtual photo safari to Kenya's Masai Mara. Each post will feature a safari tip and a photo tip - or two.

I took the images for the posts on a recent trek to the Masai Mara that was organized by &Beyond, a leader in Africa travel tours. Bateleur was our base camp for the eight-day adventure . . . and what an adventure.

The pictures in the post were taken with my Canon 7D and Canon 100-400mm IS lens.

Scroll down to see my other posts.

Shoot me an email soon if you want to get on the list for my 2012 Tanzania Great Migration workshop/tour.)

Safari Tip: Plan on downtime and download/back-up time between the very early morning and very late afternoon game drives – when most of the action happens. During the late morning and mid-day hours, most of the animals take it easy - some after having had a big, fresh breakfast.

Photo Tip: See eye-to-eye and shoot eye-to-eye. Get down as low as possible in the safari vehicle so you can shoot at eye-level to the subject. The person in the safari vehicle pictured below is in the top-most seat, which is good for viewing, but not the best for photography. The first row, which is lower to the ground, is a much better shooting position. Next to the driver is even better.

Also, try to book an open-sided vehicle, that is, one without glass windows. You'll get clearer shots.

Try black and white. It's fun and creative. Above: I used Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro to create this image of black and white animals - or are they white and black? :-)

Above: Here's a look at the Nik Software Silver Efex main window. For a discount on all Nik plug-ins, as well as some of the other plug-ins I use, click here.

Be prepared for the lions to come very close to your vehicle - which is thrilling. Don't worry, the lions don't recognize you as food as long as you are in the vehicle.

Explore the light,
Rick