Safari!

In October 2018, I had a wonderful opportunity to participate in a photo safari in South Africa, the dream expedition for so many photographers. Our group, comprised exclusively of six avid photographers, was accompanied by Daniel Dupont, a trainer who was on his fourth visit to the Kruger Park. Daniel planned a 10-day intensive program, which allowed us to come back with spectacular memories.

Rising each day at 4:15 a.m. in order to be the first to enter the park at 5:30 a.m., we spent each day entirely focused on our task, taking photos right up to when the park closed at 6 p.m. Kruger National Park is very large, covering nearly 20,000 km² and receives over 1 million visitors per year. There are more than 500 species of birds, and 147 species of mammals.

For many photographers, the first goal is to photograph the famous “Big Five”, the lion, the leopard, the buffalo, the elephant and the rhino. It is a unique and awe-inspiring experience to be able to observe the different species in their natural environment.

Preparing for a photographic safari takes time, careful planning, and serious evaluation of the equipment due to the different restrictions of the airlines and the space available in the safari vehicle. On the air transport side, it was inconceivable to me that the photo equipment would be loaded with the checked baggage. My camera kit included two DSLR boxes (essential in the event of damage), four lenses: 500mm f/4; 200-500mm f/5.6; 24-70mm f/2.8; and 70-200mm f/2.8). I brought two flashes, a Better Beamer, a laptop and 2 external 4TB drives.

By the end of the safari, we had the opportunity to photograph 27 species of mammals and 68 species of birds. I took 16,614 photos, and backed-up the images each evening , making two full sets of files – one set per drive, just to be sure that the images would be preserved in the event of a possible malfunction or loss, which would have been a great disappointment.

Here is a small selection from my safari portfolio.

Author – Jacques Dumont