Virtual Photo Safari Part II: Planning is Key

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

I took the images for the posts on a recent trek to the Masia Mara organized by &Beyond, a leader in African travel tours. Bateleur was our base camp for the eight-day photo safari.

Safari Tip: Plan your safari well in advance. Do a Google search on the weather, where and when most of the animals might be in a certain location, if off-road driving is allowed, medical precautions and so on. Do your search well in advance, as even taking several different meds may require specific timing.

Photo Tip: Use a zoom lens for maximum framing flexibility. All of these photographs were taken with my Canon 100-400mm IS lens on my Canon 7D. If you use a fixed focal length lens, you may run the risk of cutting off part of the animal's body in your photograph. Also, try to shoot around f/8 - where this, and most lenses, are the sharpest. Important: always sharpen selectively. In these examples, I only sharpened the animals. Here is a movie/lesson on selectively sharpening.

For more travel photography tips, see the travel section of my creativeLive class, or my ebook, Travel and Nature Photography.


Explore the light,

Rick 

P.S. If you plan on going to Kenya, have been to Kenya, have dreams of going to Kenya, or simply want to read a wonderful adventure book, check out West with the Night.

Virtual Photo Safari: Part I - Behavior Shots

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

I took the images for the posts on a recent trek to the Masai Mara. The entire trip was organized by &Beyond, a leader in African adventure tours.

I used my Canon EOS 7D and Canon 100-400mm IS lens for most of the images in the posts. The wider-angle shots were taken with my Canon 24-105mm IS lens. All hand-held.

Safari Tip: You'll need three ingredients to get good photos: patience, luck and time. A great guide is also important. I was very lucky to get most of my keepers (80 percent) on the first four days of the photo safari. I also had a great guide!

Photo Tips: Go for behavior shots in addition to taking portraits. 

Use plug-ins to change the mood and feel of a picture. Above: I used the Full Dynamic Range Soft filter in Nik's Silver Efex Pro. Below I used the Yellow 1 filter in the same plug-in. I also added the image borders in Silver Efex Pro.

Remember, when you remove the color from an image, you remove some of the reality. When you remove some of the reality, your picture can become more artistic and creative.

Check out my plug-ins page to save a few bucks on Nik Software and other plug-ins.

Below is my original photograph.

If you'd like to join one of my travel tours/workshops, see the Workshops page of my site. Also, if you are interested in an exclusive, 4-person workshop to Tanzania in 2012, shoot me an email.

I will be giving a presentation on photo safaris at the Explorers Club (where I am a member) in NYC in the spring of 2012. Stay tuned for the date.

To see more pictures from Kenya, check out my friend Andy Williams' SmugMug site. Nice work, Andy!

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. If you plan on going to Kenya, have been to Kenya, have dreams of going to Kenya, or simply want to read about a wonderful adventure, check out West with the Night.

One Week Virtual Photo Safari: Preview

 

Starting Monday here on my blog, I will take you on a daily virtual photo safari to Kenya's Masai Mara. Each post will feature a travel tip and a photo tip - or two. I can't wait to share the photographs with you! It was truly an amazing adventure, from start to finish.

I took the images for the posts on a recent trek to the Masai Mara. The entire trip was organized by &Beyond, a leader in African adventure tours. Bateleur, which is adjacent to Kichwa Tembo, was our base camp for the eight-day trip. The camps have, what many feel, are some of the best guides and service in the business. Our guide was Moses Kibet, who gets part of the credit for my photographs, because he got me into position to get the shots I wanted. Thank you Moses!

I used my Canon EOS 7D and Canon 100-400mm IS lens for most of the images in the posts. The wider-angle shots were taken with my Canon 24-105mm IS lens. All hand-held.

Speaking of Kenya, my friend Scott Kelby has a favorite charity, Springs of Hope Kenya. It's a worthwhile organization. You can make a donation - and a difference - by clicking here.
 
As a preview of photo safari week. . .

Photograph by Susan Sammon

Safari Tip: Go on a walking safari. It's a totally different experience from riding in and shooting from a safari vehicle. Here I am hanging out with Francis Nkulet (left), who was on the constant lookout for hungry animals, and Jackson Tunai, our Masai guide for the two-hour trek.

Photo Tips: Focus on the eyes. If the eyes are not in focus, you've missed the shot.

To sharpen this shot, I used Nik Software's Sharpener Pro. Check out my plug-ins page to save a few bucks on Nik Software and other plug-ins.

If you'd like to join one of my travel tours/workshops, see the Workshops page of my site.

Finally, thanks to entire &Beyond staff for making our trip a memorable experience!

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. If you plan on going to Kenya, have been to Kenya, have dreams of going to Kenya, or simply want to read a wonderful adventure book, check out West with the Night.

Taking Some Time Off to Plan "Seven Photographic Wonders of the World" project. You can be involved!

Photograph © Rick Sammon

As you know, I have posted articles here almost every day for the past two years.

For the next week or so, I am taking some time to plan a mega project: The "Seven Photographic Wonders of the World." Therefore, there will be no new posts here for a while.

However, you can use the search feature on my blog to learn about stuff like HDR, Speedlites, travel photography, and so on.

You will have the opportunity to get involved in the "Seven Photographic Wonders of the World" project.

I'd give you more info now, but a site will be set up for your recommendations. Therefore, for the time being, just think about places or sites that you would consider a photographic wonder of the world.

Stay tuned and see you back here in a bit.

For my previous 7 Wonders project, click here.

Explore the light,
Rick

Friday's Fab Photographer: Christie Mellor

It's Friday - time for another Friday's Fab Photographer here on my blog!

Thank you so much, Rick, for inviting me.  It’s such an honor! 

As a photographer, the creative process is largely made up of all the decisions I make before ever pressing my shutter button. Before taking the shot, I have thought through location, lighting, wardrobe and even weather. And while the goal will always be to get the best shot possible straight out of the camera, there’s a whole other creative journey that begins the moment the shutter is pressed. It's true that good editing will not save a bad photo, but it can turn a good photo into a great one!

Taking photos is an art unto itself, and I, for one, will be learning new things and bettering myself for as long as I live. Likewise, learning to use all of the amazing editing tools we have at our disposal will be a life-long endeavor. This pursuit is close to my heart, because how I choose to edit my photos is as much a part of my style as how I choose to take a shot. Wouldn’t you agree? Post-processing is part of how I tell my story, and one of my favorite story-telling techniques is to simply create a B&W image. When I say B&W, I mean the full range of warmer, chocolate-like B&W to the cooler, almost silver B&W photo.

I often open my photographs in Nik’s Silver Efex Pro and get beautiful and dramatic images.

By adding contrast, structure and a color tone, you can easily take one of Silver Efex Pro’s many presets and bring out the details that otherwise might get lost in your image.

One thing that has struck me looking back at my earliest B&W photos is how easy it is to convert an image to greyscale and just leave it that way, without drawing out the highlights and bringing details back from the shadows. There are so many amazing tools to help you not only convert the image, but really accentuate all of its elements! Nik’s Silver Efex Pro is just one of my favorites.

Even if you do not use a plug-in, you can get fantastic results using Lightroom and Photoshop. By paying close attention to highlights, shadows and contrast, you’ll be able to create something much richer and with more dimension than ever before. Everyone loves eye-popping color, but the next time you just want the focus on your subject, try a black & white!

Thanks again, Rick, for this opportunity.  You are a tremendous resource, and I so appreciate all you do to teach others!

Blogsite:  http://christiemellorphotography.com
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/christiemellor
Google +:  https://plus.google.com/103393890254128395355/about