FEATURE : Destination
Zoom lenses
It goes without saying that you’re going to need at least one good-quality zoom
lens on any safari trip, but if you have a spare, your life will be a little bit easier.
Most of the action that you’ll be shooting will be at a distance, so you’ll need a
zoom lens to ensure that those gamboling lion cubs aren’t just two specks in the
distance surrounded by a lot of beige.
Anything upwards of 300mm should be fine for most photographers’ purposes,
although a 100-400mm lens would give a greater range and ensure that you’ll
come back with some spectacular wildlife images.
Avoid the temptation to go much larger than 400mm;
anything bigger can be incredibly cumbersome to drag
around, and you’ll just end up leaving it in your hotel
room or cursing the day that you bought it. Unless
you’re shooting for National Geographic, you probably
don’t need the biggest lens
you can find!
Don’t forget to also take a tripod, for those low-light
shots that you just can’t miss.
Filters
Majestic animals don’t tend to congregate in wellpaved areas, so you’ll be spending a lot of your safari
photography trip in dusty, sandy areas with a lot
of wind. This can cause havoc for your equipment,
especially when you’re shooting in these conditions for
several hours each day, so putting filters on your lenses
will help to preserve the clean glass and save you from
having to clean them every morning.
As long as you’re going to be taking filters with you,
you might as well choose one or two that can help you
bring some diversity to your nature photography. If you
only take one filter, it should be a polarizer. This type
of filter will help to saturate the already vibrant and
gorgeous colors of an Africa landscape, and will lend
a professional look to your images before you even
get into post-production. A simple blue or red filter
will also help you to catch some gorgeous colors in the
savannah skies, whether it’s sunset, sunrise, or the
middle of the afternoon.
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