When discussing photography with our guests here at Londolozi I try my best to advise people that there’s a fine line between photographically capturing a moment out in the wild and simply just enjoying it yourself. What I mean by that is; I believe it is important to capture the moment on a camera but I also believe it is even more important to enjoy a few particular experiences through your own field of view rather than your camera’s.
A few afternoons ago we sat with a breeding herd of elephants for about 30 minutes. This particular female caught all of our attention. Her significantly long tusk provided a very different photographic scene. We got a few photos of her as she fed in the beautiful golden light. We then decided to put the cameras down and just sit quietly as the herd moved slowly past us and into the setting sun.
Alumni Londolozi Guides trying to get the best photo.
When travelling on safari I highly recommend travelling with a camera, whether it is just your mobile device, a camera you’ve rented from Londolozi’s photographic studio or your own personal camera and lens. It’s very important to return home with a few memories which you can look back on, remember and discuss with your family and friends.
A large male giraffe striding through an open clearing with two Red-Billed Oxpeckers flying close by. Giraffes are extremely graceful animals. Sometimes just sitting and watching them go about their day can be very entertaining.
The Londolozi photographic studio is where guests are able to have tutored Lightroom sessions with qualified guides, touching up and enhancing photographs taken during your stay with us. It is a special space where both guests and guides can make their images come to life using state-of-the-art iMac computers for the best experience. On top of all this, if an image really stands out, why not print it onto a canvas of whatever size you desire.
For me, capturing a moment or an experience is very important. Getting the best pictures possible whilst enjoying the experience is the ultimate goal. Something I’ll often mention to people and in fact, often remind myself, is to take as many pictures as you can but once you’ve got what you need, take a moment to sit back and enjoy what’s unfolding in front of you.
A very cute elephant calf is pictured underneath its mother. For me, the cool aspect of this image is that the little calf is framed by its mother’s body. Elephant calves are amazing animals to spend time with. They are often full of energy and are pretty adorable.
One of the most amazing chances we get whilst viewing wildlife at Londolozi is the unbelievable privilege to spend up-close and personal time with many different animals. We get the opportunity to spend time sitting with different species, observing, waiting and watching them go about their daily lives as if we weren’t even there. I would say that 90% of the sightings one will experience here at Londolozi, you’ll have ample time to photography and then to just sit and enjoy what’s happening around you. Listening, watching and observing nature and what it presents to us is such an important part of the safari experience, I believe.
A young cub from the Ntsevu Pride. This cubs is one of the last off spring of the Birmingham Coalition. This was a great moment to capture as the young female glanced at us through the thicket line. She was busy feeding on a kudu kill that her mother had made the day before. Taking the odd picture but also enjoyed listening to the crunching and action around the kill.
All in all, I guess what I’m trying to get at is; take as many photos as you can, and capture every special moment that presents itself. But most importantly, don’t forget to take it all in, enjoy each moment as it comes and allow yourself to watch, listen and use your own, natural field of view.
Dan, you are right about simply relaxing and enjoying a moment. It is a wonderful and fulfilling experience in itself.
One of my best experiences in Africa not just a Londolozi moment was just sitting on a boulder by the causeway and just watching a family of elephants, no camera – just the moment , well more an hour just sat watching them move about two hundred yards
You are so right Dan in your assessment of capturing a few photos to tell the story of what you’re seeing and then stop – let the action, or inaction, envelope your senses. Sometimes it’s good to leave the camera in your room and take memory photos that are always with you.
It works both ways, which is quite good too. I so enjoy seeing all your photo’s en videos and then remembering similar situations and sights. And of course with the Sunday vlog I always get drawn into what is unfolding before us.
Lovely, you are all heroes!
Thank you Dan. I hope the lion cub survives and
Will carry on the Birmingham genes. Such string beautiful males that fought enemies off until the end, she will not surely give up.easily if she manages to survive
Dan it is fascinating just to sit and watch the animals going about their daily routines. Forsure one must take foto’s of the animals while on safari to ensure your memories are captured and printed. Working in the studio under guidance can make a huge difference to your foto’s.
Beautiful photos! I think you are so right about photography. It is so much fun, but we also need to put the camera down once in a while and enjoy what is happening right in front of us. That is hard to do though! 😂
The experiences are wonderful and the photographs capture allow you to remember and experience the moments again back at home!
Amen! I know the first time I visited Londolozi I almost overwhelmed my little camera with all the pics and videos. The second time I was more judicious. And for our August trip I plan to observe and enjoy, then maybe snap a photo or two.
With almost everyone having a camera built into their phone, everyone’s a photographer. It is sooooo important to sometimes just put the camera down, and use your eyes, ears and nose to drink in the scene and the scenery. Some of my most memorable moments are stored in my mind, not on my hard drive.
You are so right, Dan. It is important to sometimes just sit and watch and enjoy what is happening out in the bush. And it is great, like being there for a second time, when one comes home and can look at all those photos again and recall and remember all those special moments.
Dan, what you’ve wriiten is so true. On our very first, visit we observed a cheetah steathily stalking a herd of impalas for nearly an hour. She singled out one and turned it –directly at our vehicle. As it approached us, less than 10 metres away, she knocked it down and summoned her 2 cubs who were hidden away. I got several early and late shots. However, at the moment of the takedown, I dropped my camera to watch the vigneete happen. I can stiil hear the sounds of the impala and the pounding of paws on the ground. That recalled experience is greater than any photo.
I totally agree with you Dan, it’s all about balance isn’t it – capturing enough moments to enhance my memories, but sometimes just watching and enjoying. During my trip in 2012, we were following the Mashaba female and Marthly male, who were mating frequently. Right at the start my camera battery died (I always carry a charged spare now! ) I cursed but it was actually a blessing as it meant I just watched rather than worrying about camera settings. About 3 months later Nkoveni was born, so I may have watched her being conceived!
💯!!!