Photography is one great experience for an African safari. With plenty wildlife sanctuaries, beautiful sceneries and birding hot spots, Africa has numerous scenes where you can capture some of the best wildlife photos. The success of your photography safari is however determined by how you utilize the given photo opportunities in the best way possible. Besides choosing a destination and getting the best camera equipment, the vehicle you are going to use and the size of the group you are sharing the vehicle with matters. In this guide we will cover group size and features in terms of both open sided and closed safari vehicles.
How different safari vehicles types are
customized to meet your photography needs?
In East Africa there are 2 main type of safari vehicles; closed and open-sided vehicles. Closed vehicle which mostly comes as vans or Land cruisers are more common than open-sided vehicles as they double as transfer means between destinations. Compared with Land cruisers, vans are more cost effective but less adopted to Africa’s rough roads. Open-sided vehicles are bound to driving within the parks and you will have to opt for air transfer if you must use them. However, with more travelers demanding for vehicles that enhances optimal safari photography, there have been a lot of improvement in design for both vehicles designs to catch up with travelers need.
Closed safari vehicles for photography
Besides the cost factor, road-based safari helps you discover more photo scenes en route. Interestingly, most bush destinations in East Africa are set on the floor of the great valley flanked by beautiful earth formations you might want to stop and photograph as you transfer to a new destination. Although safari vehicles are custom made and not two vehicles are designed the same, most closed vehicles has the pop up roof where guest stands and take images of their subjects from the rooftop. However, this doesn’t give you the flexibility you need to capture images in different angles for the best shots are attained from almost ground level. For optimal photography we have modified our vehicles creating more features like
- Totally open roof. This creates space for maneuvering and turning around while taking images.
- Padded roll cage bars. These acts as storage for your photography equipment.
- Extra-large totally opening side window. Some closed safari vehicles are configured to create the feel of an open-sided vehicle by enabling complete lowering of windows.
- Camera rails. You will be able to keep more than one camera at standby. We recommend at least two cameras one for mid-range and another for short-range shots.
Group size recommendation for a closed vehicle photographic safari
For optimal photography in a modified closed safari vehicle, you should be able to take positions in both ends of your seat row. We therefore recommend one guest for every row which translate to a maximum of 4 or 3 guest depending on the vehicle you are using.
Open sided vehicle for photography
Since the open-sided vehicle are not allowed in public road outside game parks, open-sided safaris are in most instance provided by hotels and luxury lodges in different national parks. Though they are not as safe as closed vehicles, open-sided vehicles have adaptations like roll down canvas to shield you from raindrops in case of a downpour. This type of vehicles create unbeaten feel of proximity to the wilderness and gives unobstructed view of your subject. In essence, not many travelers who had prior experience with open-sided vehicles would go for closed safari. Open sided vehicles are also better in photography since low angle photos are more attainable than in a closed safari vehicle. Some of the most common modifications include:
- 360 degrees swivel seats. This helps you take images from all sides of the vehicle without having to rise from your seat.
- No door and the sides of these vehicle drops right down. This enables you take images lying down on a padded mat and get low level angle. This is the best angle for capturing eye focus images like lions headshot.
- Charging point. This saves you the hustle of running out of power in the remote African wilderness.
Group size recommendation for an open-sided safari.
Most open-sided vehicles has been modified to have only 3 swivel seats. A custom built open-sided vehicle can only take a maximum 3 guests. A vehicle with three seats will give you more room to find the best photography angles without distractions.
Point to note
When going for a photo safari ensure tha at you are only combined with other safari photographers if at all you have to join a group. Safari photography is different from general game viewing as it involves going into the details of a wilderness a luxury you might not get when on a normal game drive. However, we recommend that you go for a private safari. Even though you will pay more for exclusivity you will have more flexibility.
