Tanzania - The Great Migration - Photo Safari

August 21 – August 30, 2018This is a trip of a lifetime for 10 of you to observe and photograph The Great Migration in Tanzania this coming August. More than 1 million wildebeest and over 200,000 zebra migrate from The Serengeti in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara in Kenya – crossing the Mara River at the risk of meeting their demise in the jaws of a Nile crocodile. This is the GREATEST wildlife spectacle on earth and we put you in the middle of it and we put you there in comfort!Not only will you observe the migration but you have excellent prospects at photographing every other awesome animal there is to photograph in Tanzania – giraffe, cape buffalo, leopard, cheetah, rhino, lion, elephant, birds galore, monkeys, hippo, waterbuck, mongoose, baboon, crocs, serval cat(maybe), gazelle, topi, wildebeest zebra, and many, many more.This safari has an unbeatable price for photographers of all skill levels.  Accompanying spouses/partners are most welcome to participate.  Call 617.759.0010 or use the contact page if you need more information Check out the details and confirmed camps 

Star-trails in the Southern Hemisphere

Finding Polaris or the North Star is easy in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, finding Sigma Octantis is very difficult. The star lies in the constellation of Octans and has a magnitude of 5.5 making it barely visible even on a clear night.  One can use the Southern Cross to make an attempt at locating its position but it will never be really accurate.  I did my best and set up my cameras to do a time-lapse.  This was the night Germany played Brazil in the World Cup.My tripod and camera must have aroused the curiosity of the night security guard at Eagle Island Camp.  He kindly moved my rig to a more secure position on the tiles of the swimming pool.  This was after 395 images had been captured with about 105 to go.  Sequence disrupted but in my opinion the stack is interesting.  Sigma Octantis is in the top left corner of the frame - INVISIBLE.Stars in Africa are incredibly bright as indicated by the EXIF data.  These images were captured using the Panasonic Lumix GH4 and the 12 to 35 mm Lumix Vario lens.  Exposure triad: f/2.8, 13 sec, ISO 200 - no noise reduction required.In hindsight, I should have added an ND filter and increased the exposure to 25 seconds or closed down the aperture to f/4.  This would have extended the individual trails.Your comments would be appreciated.

Southern Carmine Bee-eater

It was a rare but awesome opportunity to see this pair of Carmine Bee-eaters in Botswana. The Southern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicoides) is primarily found in sub-equatorial African region. These are migratory birds that spend the winter August to November (breeding season) in Zimbabwe. They move south to Botswana and  South Africa for the summer and then migrate to equatorial Africa from March to August.

Chobe National Park - Leopard

Leopards are normally shy and elusive, not this one.  This very large male allowed us to follow him for an hour while he marked his territory.  At times he came to within ten feet of the Land Cruiser we were following him in.  We lost him when a large male hyena charged him.  This was one magnificent specimen and as per the guide one of the largest leopards in Chobe National Park - Botswana. The animal is partially backlit that made this image worth including in this post. Click on the image for a larger view.Photographed with a Panasonic Lumix GH4 and the 100 - 300 mm Lumix lens.  Exposure triad: f/8, 1/500 sec at ISO 400.  Focal length 170 mm (340mm full frame equivalent).

In search of the Lilac Breasted Roller

I do not believe a trip to Southern Africa would be complete without a good image of the Lilac Breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus). Many images were taken during this trip to Botswana and many rejected till this opportunity. The bird is fairly skittish and very fast in leaving its perch. Here it gave me a lovely pose and the catchlight was just right.Panasonic Lumix GH4 with the Panasonic Lumix Vario 100-300 f/4-5.OIS lens at 264mm. Exposure Triad, f/5.6, 1/3200 sec, ISO 400. The image has been slightly cropped on the left for improved composition.

Using Mirror-less Cameras in Africa

For my 2014 South Africa and Botswana photo tour I used only MILS cameras - a Sony A7R for some of the big landscapes and night photography, a Panasonic Lumix GH4 for action and wildlife (mainly with the Lumix Vario 100 to 300 mm which is  a 200 to 600 mm equivalent) and the Olympus OMD EM1 mainly with a Lumix Vario 35 to 100 mm (70 - 200 mm equivalent) for closer subjects and wider FOV.  Have no regrets and no disappointments at all.  The focusing is fast, shutter actuations at 12 and 11 FPS, accurate tracking and continuous focus. The next two images are of a sunset captured in the Shinde concession in Botswana: Earlier in the day this Red-billed Francolin was captured sitting on a termite mound.Contact Gary Farber or Keth Patankar at Hunt's Photo & Video for all your Mirror-less Camera Needs

Absence

It has been over a month since I posted on my blog. Here is the excuse - I left for an Iceland trip (the third one this year).  We did a complete circle around the island and more.  It was an incredible trip.  Many images - downloaded but not reviewed yet.  Came back to the USA for three days - enough time to pack for the next excursion - Africa. Specifically South Africa and Botswana.  A WOW trip.  Flew back on Thursday arriving at 11:30 AM.  Home by 1:00 PM - a quick switch of suitcases, shower and off to Amherst for the 69th annual NECCC conference.  This is undoubtedly the best photography related event in the US if not the world.  Next year it will be extra special - the 70th.It has been a lot of fun and getting used to the mirror-less world.  Took a Sony A7R full frame, Panasonic GH4 and Olympus OMD EM1, both MFT bodies with a full compliment of lenses from 7 to 300 mm (14 to 600 equivalent in full frame terms)  I have never been happier - small, light, easy, and super image quality.I posted this on Facebook but here it is again:Panasonic Lumix GH4 with the Lumix Vario 100 - 300 mm f/4 - 5.6  lens at 300mm. EXIF info:  ISO 400, f/6.3 and 1/100 sec.  Hand held with image stabilization on.Contact Gary Farber or Keth Patankar at Hunt's Photo & Video for all your Mirror-less Camera Needs

African Skies 2 - A Timelapse Video

Gunther Wegner the developer of LRTimelapse software has just released African Skies 2.  This excellent time-lapse video showcases the beauty of the African landscapes and animals in film and time lapse sequences, that have never been seen before.The production took more than half a year - and has been compiled from 4 terabytes of raw-data.  All editing (time lapse and even video) was done, using the new LRTimelapse 3.2 and Lightroom 5.2. !The video sequence can be seen on Vimeo but is available at a nominal cost as a HD video and a 4K video.  The sale proceeds will be used to fund and support the African wildlife and environmental protection organizations.  This funding was done from proceeds from the video too and I commend Gunther for his efforts. we decided to sell the film as download in much higher quality in Full HD and even 4K. With the revenue we again want to support local animal and environmental protection organizations.Click here to be directed to the LRTimelapse Web and then use the African Skies Tab to purchase it if you would like to support the cause.Please share this post with your family and friends.  Gunther has created an excellent video and I hope this can be viewed by all.  Please click on HD and open it in full screen view.[video type="vimeo" id="78610518" width="400" height="200"] Click here to be directed to the LRTimelapse Web and then use the African Skies Tab to view the video and purchase it if you would like to support the cause.