Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 04:00PM
Resource Magazine has some imagery and text from me in their Winter 2013 issue. It’s a photographers’ travel guide to Botswana, and if you have the time check it out.
Botswana, PR, Resource Magazine, africa in PR clippings Monday, February 11, 2013 at 10:52AM
Leopard on a Branch
Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/4 L IS, 1/500 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 1600
A few months ago I led a pair of safaris into Botswana’s Okavango Delta, and here is my write-up from my experiences. My goal is to not bore everybody with a day-by-day account of all of our game drives and activities, but rather what made these two safaris unique and exciting. Read on…..
I left home the day after our USA Thanksgiving, and when I arrived in Botswana I spent 16 straight nights between two camps in the Okavango Delta: Nxabega Tented Camp and Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, both operated by &Beyond. These two camps are quite different in both lodging style as well as the ecosystems where they are located. Nxabega is considered more of a ‘wet’ camp, with both boating activities as well as game drives. Sandibe is a dry camp, especially later on in the season in the months of October, November and December.
Equipment Used
Even though I use a Phase One medium format system, I did choose to only bring along a small Canon kit that I rented from my friends over at Borrowlenses.com. Why did I not bring my Phase One gear? At the end of 2012 I can safely say that I was pretty darned tired from all of my travels with big and heavy gear. I also realized that I needed to return to my Canon roots and know what my Canon-shooting customers are using these days. Here is what I brought:
That’s it. Seriously. I took a Gura Gear Bataflae 26L camera bag, and had tons of room leftover for clothing items. I didn’t bring a second 35mm camera because I just wanted to be simple about the trip, and if I had an equipment malfunction at least I knew that I am not directly earning my living from my photographs. My living is made by running the best photo safaris that I know how to run, and the happiness of my travelers is much more important than any images I bring home. My Sony RX-100 was used for people shots, behind the scenes types of shots and any other quick grab shots. It was very liberating to take such a small amount of camera gear, which reminded me of what my camera bag looked like back in 2002 and 2003 when I had a Canon 300mm f/4 as my longest lens. The only difference was that this time I was shooting with a full-frame 1Dx camera body and back in 2002/2003 I had the Canon D30 or 10D. Talk about a long time ago in technology terms.
The 300mm f/4 worked perfectly for the way I like to shoot, which means I like having plenty of space for my subjects to ‘breathe’ in the frame. Call them animal-scapes or whatever you wish, but I just photograph in a way that tells a story about a place as well as a subject. After looking at my favorite images from the trip, I used the 70-200mm more often than the 300mm. And I rarely used the 1.4x teleconverter at all. I am glad that I don’t need a longer lens in Botswana, because my Phase One equipment has a maximum focal length of 300mm, which is actually closer to 190mm in 35mm terms. On a side note, longer lenses are needed on the open savannah grasslands of the Masai Mara and Serengeti, so please regard the above comments as being specific to Botswana or South Africa.
My Vehicle Mates
Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, 1/3200 @ f/3.2, ISO 320
Elephant
Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, 1/200 @ f/2.8, ISO 1600
Helicopter Flights
While at Nxabega, we spent some time flying around in our privately chartered helicopter. Nxabega is a fantastic location for aerial photography, because the flood plains to the east and north of camp are some of the most beautiful in all of the Okavango Delta. We had flights over papyrus forests, open flood plains and dry savannah. We had superb cloud reflections, elephant herds, giraffes, cape buffalo and the super special sitatunga. I am a big supporter of not interfering with wildlife on these aerial flights, and this means keeping a respectful distance from my subjects. I am NOT a fan of aerial photos with wildlife subjects who are running away with scared and fearful nonverbal communication. Not a fan. It’s also reckless.
Elephants From The Air
Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/8000 @ f/4.5, ISO 2500
Take-off
Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, 1/800 @ f/8, ISO 800
Peek-a-Boo
Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, 1/1000 @ f/4, ISO 800
Big Cats
We had more success at Sandibe with the big cats, and I likely had more leopard sightings per day than on any other safari in the Okavango in the past. On my first safari we logged 7 leopard sightings in only 4 days. We even had some great cheetah sightings, including a lone male cheetah on his recent kill. And lions were plentiful as well. We observed leopards stalking and hunting on a few occasions, as well as mating lions. Oh, and lions hunting wild dogs. More on that below under Unique Sightings.
Lion
Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/4 L IS, 1/80 @ f/4, ISO 1600
Leopard
Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/4 L IS, 1/400 @ f/7.1, ISO 1600
Leopard
Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/4 L IS, 1/1000 @ f/4, ISO 800
Wild Dogs, Wild Dogs and More Wild Dogs
On my second stint at Sandibe we had African wild dogs near camp for 2.5 days straight. We followed them on a hunt, which wasn’t the easiest of game drives. Wild dogs can run straight through the bush, which can make for a very rough experience. Of course some times they can run out in open areas as well, but I haven’t seen that very often when they are on a hunt. We spent enough time with the pack on 5 straight game drives where we all came away with wonderful experiences. And we had the wild dog pack being stalked by 2 adult lionesses. UGH. That really tore me apart, so read on in the next section.
African Wild Dogs
Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/4 L IS, 1/1600 @ f/6.3, ISO 800
Unique Sightings
We had great sightings on these two safaris, however a couple of them really stood out. Let’s dive into the first one, which involves leopards and dogs. At the same time. On one afternoon we located the dog pack, sat with them until they woke up from their afternoon naps and then watched them get excited about going on a hunt. This was our first sighting of the pack on the safari, and so we had tons of desire to spend as much time as possible with them. When they began to hunt we worked very hard to keep up with them as they ran through the thick bush. After 45 minutes of bushwhacking our way to keep up with the pack, we lost sight of them but still knew their general direction. The light was fading quickly, and then we realized we had found the pack on a kill. Not just a kill, but a kill from a leopard and her two leopard cubs. The dogs had chased the leopards up a dead tree. We positioned our vehicles where we had good lines of sight of both sets of predators: dogs on the left and leopards on the right. The dogs had stolen a kudu from the leopards, and the dogs were all over it. And the leopards were stuck up a tree that they couldn’t come down from, as the dogs would continue to pursue them. Predators are extremely competitive, and a leopard with cubs will not put her cubs into a life or death situation without any benefit. African wild dogs 1, leopards 0. That was a first for me to see interaction between leopards and wild dogs, and this was a humdinger.
The other unique sighting was both thrilling and sad at the same time. There are two dominant lionesses in the northern NG31 concession, and we had spent some time watching them on earlier game drives. On this particular drive we were out searching for the wild dog tracks in an attempt to locate the pack. We found the pack sleeping under some shaded trees and sat and waited for them to get ready for their late afternoon hunt. After some minutes went by we noticed 1 lioness stalking into the area. The dogs did not see them and by the time the 2nd lioness had appeared there was 1 male adult dog fighting for his life. The lionesses had ambushed the pack from two different sides, and nothing makes me sadder than to see a wild dog meet its end. African wild dogs, often referred to as painted dogs or cape hunting dogs, are the most endangered predator in Africa with roughly 4,000 individuals left in the wild. The primary challenge for them is loss of habitat, as well as human / wild dog conflicts.
As the two lionesses stood over the wounded dog, those in my vehicle had nothing but sad thoughts. I don’t often get emotionally charged with wildlife interaction, but this one just didn’t sit with me. We left the scene as soon as a few shots were taken. Even our guide and tracker were shook up by the event.
Lionesses Killing a Wild Dog
Canon 5DMk3, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/1600 @ f/5.6, ISO 1000
Weather and Scenery
Northern Botswana can be a difficult place to learn, especially for somebody like me who has to build a business around leading the best wildlife photographic opportunities possible. The challenge is that each concession, park and camp has their own unique ‘best’ times of the years, and I have to always be on the ball to know when and where to go to serve the needs of my travelers. November and early December are a fantastic time to be in bush in the Okavango Delta, as it is when babies are born (zebras, impalas, etc), the colorful migrant birds are present and most importantly the skies are very very dramatic. Think huge clouds, reaching high in the sky, that are filled with moisture and color. The grasses are starting to green up a little bit, however it isn’t later in the season when the grasses can get tall.
Giraffe and Oxpecker
Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/1250 @ f/6.3, ISO 1000
Early Morning Game Drive
Canon 1Dx, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, 1/640 @ f/5.6, ISO 800
Closing Thoughts and Looking Forward
In all of the times I have been in the Okavango Delta and Linyanti ecosystems this was likely the happiest set of travelers I have ever had on any safaris. I cannot wait to return again in November 2013. I have already announced the details on my dedicated safari page:
Botswana: The Premier Okavango Delta Photo Safari, November 8-17, 2013
The schedule is nearly identical, and the costs are exactly the same as last year. Come join me and Grant Atkinson in Botswana this November! It will be a safari experience you will not forget.
Botswana, Nxabega, Okavango Delta, Sandibe, africa, safari in Safari Reports Friday, February 1, 2013 at 08:06PM
I am super excited to be running a safari in November 2013 to two camps in the Okavango Delta. Here are some of the highlights:
Botswana: Okavango Delta Photographic Safari
I have setup an information page for additional information. Please email me at info@andybiggs.com if you are interested in joining me in Botswana in November. This safari in November 2012 was one of my most popular safaris to-date, as I ran a pair of them and both were sold out more than 9 months in advance.
If my November date does not work for you, I do have other safaris on the books in 2013 and beyond, and you can see my entire schedule online here.
Bull Elephant near Sandibe Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Thursday, January 3, 2013 at 10:18PM After I said goodbye to my safari group, I spent the next 3 nights in the Selinda Reserve with my good friend and guide, Kane Motswana. Kane and I have been on many game drives together, and I wanted to see him as well as spend some time between two of the camps in the reserve, Zarafa and Selinda Camp. Selinda Reserve is managed and operated by Great Plain, one of my favorite safari outfitters in Africa. They not only have great camps, but they also have a great ethos of delivering low impact, high value safaris. This really means few travelers, big pieces of land, community involvement and employees who care deeply about conserving habitat for wild animals.
During my three nights in the reserve I spent a night at Zarafa Camp and two nights at Selinda Camp. We had some great sightings, but nothing compares to the numerous game drives of nothing but African wild dogs (lycaeon pictus). I have a soft spot for wild dogs, often referred to as African painted dogs, or cape hunting dogs. We had 4 game drives in a row when the wild dogs were within 5 minutes of camp, and on one occasion they hunted down a young reedbuck and made their kill within 2 meters of my vehicle’s door. Awesome. Amazing. Violent. Efficient.
On another occasion we left for our game drive, only to turn around after 50 feet to follow the dog pack back into camp. After a few minutes we heard the staff screaming in the lobby area, and it turned out that a wild dog had chased an impala through camp and through the dining room. The impala got away, and it was funny that we would have had a better photo opportunity if we were still sitting on the couch, sipping a coffee or tea. We had some good laughs over that sighting.
As I left Selinda at the end of September the temperatures were starting to rise, and I was worried that my next safari in Namibia would be scorching heat, which ultimately never happened. Usually we refer to October as being the warmest month in Botswana, then some rains hit in early November to cool things down a bit. These early rains also coincide with very intense clouds, making for a very dramatic backdrop for photography.
I am planning on running some safaris to Selinda Camp and Duba Plains in the coming years, so look out for those on my calendar.
African Wild Dog (Lycaeon Pictus)
Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 300mm f/2.8 APO
African Wild Dogs (Lycaeon Pictus) at the end of a kill
Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 300mm f/2.8 APO
African Wild Dog Puppies (Lycaeon Pictus) at play
Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 300mm f/2.8 APO
African Wild Dog Puppies (Lycaeon Pictus) at play
Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 300mm f/2.8 APO
African Wild Dog (Lycaeon Pictus)
Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 28mm lens (17mm equivalent)
Kane Motswana
Botswana, Great Plains, Selinda, Wild dog, Zarafa, africa, safari in Safari Reports Thursday, January 3, 2013 at 09:32PM The Move To Medium Format
Back in September I led a safari to northern Botswana, which was my first safari where I shot exclusively with digital medium format gear. Sometime in the middle of 2012 I actually sold off all of my Nikon 35mm gear, adopted a Phase One IQ160 (60mp) digital back on a Phase One DF camera body and pursued the world of the biggest and best files I could possibly obtain. Here is the complete camera setup that I took with me:
Drawbacks
There are major drawbacks with this approach, and the major issue is that autofocus speed an accuracy isn’t even in the ballpark of what 35mm gear can deliver. Another major limitation is that I am limited to ISO 100, 200 and 400 in a pinch. I have to make sure that I stay within my opinion ISO range, which is ISO 100 or 200. Oh, and I haven’t even gotten to the best part: my preferred wildlife lens is a Mamiya 300mm f/2.8 APO model, which I was able to find still in the original box and was unused. The 300mm lens equates to about a 190mm lens on a 35mm camera, so the images won’t be ‘in your face’ type images that fill the frame with the face of a lion. The catch? It is also a manual focus lens. Oh, and aperture selection is manual (on the lens) and cannot be controlled on the camera. So my process isn’t exactly what I would call easy, but then again I absolutely love challenges and the payoffs that go with them. These drawbacks are just obstacles on the way to HUGE files that can be printed at any size that I wish. My goal is to always make images that stir the soul, and to be able to print these images at any print size that my 44” printer can accommodate. 30x40” prints are my desired target on a fiber / baryta type paper, and 40x60” on canvas.
The Safari
This safari took place in northern Botswana, and we split our time between Chitabe Camp in the Okavango Delta and DumaTau Camp along the Linyanti River. I always like to split up my time between camps when I am in Botswana, because every camp has a different ecosystem, wildlife, look and feel that need to be experienced. Other places in Africa can work for only 1 camp, such as the Masai Mara, however Botswana is best when split between 2 or more camps.
While at Chitabe we took sole use of the camp for our 4 nights there. I typically take over a camp in order to control the dining schedule, as well as have sole use of all of the vehicles. September is a great time to be in northern Botswana, as it is one of the dry months and wildlife is easier to locate and photograph when the grasses are short.
After we left Chitabe we had 4 more nights at the newly built DumaTau Camp, which sits at the edge of the Linyanti River. These two camps could not be more different, as the vegetation, wildlife, scenery and feel are completely different. Between these two camps we had over the top lion sightings, great leopards, elephant water crossings, hyaenas, wild dogs and also general game. I have been running photographic safaris for the past 11 years and this was one of those safaris that had an excellent balance between all of the available mammal and bird species.
Ok, on to some of the images!
Elephant Along The Linyanti River
Phase One DF, IQ160, 300mm f/2.8 APO
Leopard On A Termite Mound
Phase One camera, IQ160 digital back, 200mm f/2.8 APO
Two Giraffes Drinking From A Puddle
Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 300mm f/2.8 APO
Leopard On A Tree
Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 300mm f/2.8 APO
Elephant Parts
Phase One DF camera, IQ160 digital back, 300mm f/2.8 APO
Gura Gear Bataflae 26L camera bag in tan
Phase One camera setup with 300mm f/2.8 APO lens
Phase One camera setup with 200mm f/2.8 APO lens (gaffer tape all over the place, to ensure the back was sealed)
Pile ‘O Gura Gear Bags at the airport
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 02:42PM
Our Safari Group - July 2011
I love to take group photographs from each safari, and this one was no exception. It’s great to look back at so many happy faces after some amazing experiences out in the bush. On this particular safari we visited 2 camps in northern Botswana, Chitabe and Savuti, and came home with some stellar photographs.
Botswana, Chitabe, Linyanti, Savuti in Photo of the Day Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 09:53AM
Lion, near Mombo Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana. July 2011
Nikon D3, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/800 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 1600
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 10:24AM
Elephant Family in the Okavango Delta. July 2011
Nikon D3, 28-300mm f/3.4-5.6, 1/2000 @ f/5.6, ISO 1250