Africa provides the exciting spots for nature photography with a lot of scenic natural features, beautiful flora and plenty of fauna and avifauna species. With photography being a serious business of speaking and listening to nature, your success as a nature photographer starts with furnishing your camera bag with all the required accessories. In this guide we shall cover some of the vital equipment you should pack for your photo safari

1.      Two camera

There is a wide range of wildlife camera options.  However, there are several factors you ought to consider when making the choice of a camera.

Must have excellent low light capabilities. This can be achieved by going for a full frame camera with excellent ISO capability.

• Must have good autofocus. Automatic focusing save time andis most likely more efficient than manual focus. 
• Must be burst mode enabled. The burst mode enable you to take multiple shots at a go. This gives you several poses of an action within seconds.
• Must be portable. Your camera body shouldn’t weigh more than 1500 g.  This makes it easier to carry around with your sling bag for several hours.
• If possible get a waterproofed camera. The weather in Africa is quite harsh with dust and possibilities of thunderstorms. It would be a big loss if your camera crushes while on a safari.

Importantly, you will always get it right with photography if you know your way with your camera. Ensure you have the best experience with the camera you are using. In case you are a beginner, try versing yourself by taking photos of sceneries around your home.

2.      Lenses

Notably, we recommended 2 camera bodies; one that is fitted with a midrange lens(70 mm to 300 mm focal length) and another with a 300 mm – 500 mm to capture scenes at a longer distance.  However, if you can only make having just one camera, you can use a single lens with about 400 mm focal length for East Africa’s national parks and reserves where you will always have to take photos at a distance as vehicles are strictly supposed to remain to the roads. If you are planning to go to places like mara conservancies where off-road driving is allowed 300mm will be great. For places like Ol Pejeta where you can engage in Lion tracking walking safari, we recommend a 150 mm lens. Any lens beyond 600 mm may not be very effective for wildlife photography. When possible carry along a wide angle lens( about 80mm ) for picturing small animals and insects.

Importantly, wild animals are more active in the morning and in the evening before dusk than during daytimes. These are therefore the best times to capture great game scenes. These periods are characterized by low light conditions which may lead to poor quality photos. To beat such challenges ensure your lens have large aperture. This will help you capture more light enough to expose your subject. Besides your camera must also not weigh more than 1500 g.

3.      Teleconverter/ Extender

This is a more pocket friendly option for travelers who may not afford two lenses. A telephoto or extender is a gadget that helps you magnify the size of your camera focal length, mostly coming in X1.4 or X2 converter. For Africa photography we commend an X1.4 converter with about 300 mm lens. This will help you adjust to above 400 mm range which will be the furthest for most of your shots while on a game drive. However, a teleconverter reduces your camera aperture size, which reduces your camera focus speed. Some images may as well not be of the desired quality. Notably, ensure the extender you are seeking to purchase is compatible with the lens of your choice.

4.      Monopod, tripod or bean bags

Even though the 3 helps in stabilizing the camera they all serve differently when looking at a photography safari. Tripods and monopod are good for travelers going for walking safaris. Bean bags are on the other side better for game drives. Notably, most photography safari vehicles have been designed in such away you can mount the tripod head in the vehicle side bars. This, however, limits your flexibility to reposition your head for the best angle in all directions. Bean bags are also more portable than tripods as you will just carry an empty bag and we will help you fill it up when you arrive. In addition, beans bags are the way to go when looking at the cost. 

5.      Batteries and charger

Carry at least 2 spare batteries for your trip and a 3 plug charger. Importantly, most canon and nikon camera batteries has are only able to make up to 2500 shots before they die off. A single batteries wont therefore be sustainable when going for about 6 hrs no-stop game drives especially with the burst mode on. You wont as well be lucky to find a charging point in the remote African wilderness. you will therefore have to arm yourself with at least two other fully charged batteries whenever you are leaving your camp.

6.      Memory and backup.

When embarking on a photography safari, you will require a good memory card and a laptop where you can store your day shots each time you retreat to your hotel. Importantly, the idea of carrying a laptop may seem as an overkill but it’s worthy if you can’t bear the risk of losing all your safari photos in case your SD card get damaged. Remember, you shouldn’t delete the images from your memory after copying them in your laptop. Ensure your memory has enough space for images you will be taking throughout your trip. You should also ensure that your memory is highly reliable. Safari photography is highly dependent on speed and it would cause you harm if you will have to keep having hitches with your memory.

7.      Camera and lens cleaning kits

Always remember that your photography gears cleaning kits are very important items. Notably, getting your camera sensor or lenses cleaned by a professional after damage could be very expensive. Such situations can be avoided if you protect them with body caps and a UV filter in addition to regularly cleaning them with cleaning tissues, air blower, lens pen and cleaning liquid. This will remove dust and fingerprints mark which might lead to low quality or blur images.