P#7 Q4: How Do I Get the Best Photos Possible on a Photo Safari?

Take great photos by getting into the field early

Roy Toft: Africa, I have to say, is one of my favorite places to go. You just see tons of amazing wildlife in Africa. It's what we call an extremely "photo-rich environment."

There is stuff everywhere, you can't go wrong in Africa. But there are some tips I can give you, since I go to Africa at least once every year. That's given me some ideas of things that you can do to do a better job when you're there.

Number one: Get in the field as early as you can. You're going to have guides there, you're probably going to be working in a national park, you're going to be working out of a vehicle, and you're going to have a driver guide.

Often people go to Africa, they're on photo safari, and they're in a beautiful lodge that serves a great breakfast. So a lot of people think of mornings as being on vacation. They get up 6:30 a.m., 7:00 a.m., 7:30 a.m., go have a big breakfast, and then it's time to go on safari after the sun's been up an hour and a half.

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

You want to be a photographer. It's a photography trip. It can be both -- it is a vacation too -- but forego breakfast.

You want to get up as early as you can and be in your vehicle -- tell your driver you want to be in the park or wherever you're going in the natural area as soon as possible, at sunrise preferably.

The one problem with that: most of the national parks have a gate you have to go through. Usually the gate into the national park opens at sunrise. We tend to chase the light in the morning. If you're at a national park and you have that gate that you have to be at, you should be at that gate when it opens.

That's the biggest tip I can give you because the morning light in Africa... there's nothing like it. We're talking a big red ball of sun coming over the horizon, silhouettes galore, finding giraffes and things that present wonderful silhouettes, shooting your subject backlit with that big red ball of sun.

Those are the real moody, beautiful pictures of Africa that you will always remember, so get out there early. That's my biggest tip for going to Africa is get out there early.

Work the photo situation

We talked about this earlier: about not leaving a situation too early. That was the number one mistake that people make that we talked about.

I want to touch on this again because there's something about Africa, there's so much there to see, that oftentimes people leave a situation way too early, because there's other stuff to see... there's so much stuff there.

Another big tip would be -- if people in your vehicle can stand it (because a lot of people want to move on and see the next lion or the next cheetah) really sit with the animals and work that photo situation. The light's going to change, behavior is going to happen, and you're really going to get those interesting pictures if you spend time in a situation.

In conclusion

Roy Toft knows from experience that taking great photographs on a photo safari in Africa requires you to be in the field early.

He also reminds us that you mustn't leave a situation too early -- give it time for great photos to develop. Take the time to experience changes in light and animal behavior, and you'll be closer to capturing the true spirit of the animal.