East Africa Travel Photography Guide: Equipment Preparation and Precautions

Introduction: In recent years, more and more people have gone to special tourist attractions to take photos, but few people have written about how to prepare for leaving memories for this possibly once-in-a-lifetime experience, so although the technology is not good, Let me write and share some of my experiences when traveling to East Africa. East Africa Travel Photography Guide: Equipment Preparation and Precautions

Ask questions before preparation

The first thing is what to take photos of, where to take photos, and when to go? In fact, East Africa (here) Refers to Kenya and Tanzania) It is nothing more than taking photos of animals and scenery, and many people’s first choice is between June and September, because that is the time of the great migration of animals, and tens of thousands of them can often be seen Wildebeest, among which the hunting of cats and the culling of crocodiles, crossing the river is the most famous. In terms of humanities, it is mainly local markets and Maasai villages.

The way to travel is to use various means of transportation to go to national parks with different landscapes, and then conduct GAME DRIVE about twice a day, where the driver will drive you to find various animals in the national park to take pictures. You are not allowed to get off your vehicle in the national park.

Because the themes are so different, each photographer has different preferences and quality requirements. It is difficult to write down a choice of photographic equipment that everyone will recognize. I can only share some of my accessories and Method for your reference.

Two fuselages

You never know which fuselage will break, so I always carry two fuselages. My personal choice is Canon 5D III+7D, mainly because they use the same lens, memory card and battery, which is very convenient to carry. In addition to having a safe backup, this combination can also be equipped with lenses of different focal lengths to avoid the dilemma of having to change lenses temporarily but not taking a picture, and it can also greatly reduce the chance of dust.

　▲Canon 100-400mm I mostly use this as a close-up lens

The lens you need

I am mainly light-weight, so I bring it The ones are 24-105mm, 100-400mm, 50mm fixed focus lens, and APS-C dedicated 18-200mm travel lens. The two bodies, plus this combination, can cover the focal length of 24-400mm (60 on the APS-C body), which can meet my needs most of the time.

Since most hotels in African national parks save electricity, they still need a lens with a large aperture. I chose 50mm/F1.4 mainly because it is compact. As for the 18-200mm, it is mainly used when different focal lengths are required, but the environment is too harsh to change the lens, and it is not suitable to carry two sets of bodies. Hot air balloons are a good example. For the ultra-wide-angle part, I always use image pickup instead. When traveling, I rarely use large aperture lenses because I want to preserve the background and most of my travels are during the day.

　▲50mm/f1.4 is very suitable for shooting in hotels with insufficient light

Tripod

The probability of using a tripod in Africa is not high because it is not allowed in national parks. It doesn’t make much sense to put a tripod in the car when you get off the car, because there are a bunch of photographers walking around in the car and it is impossible to stabilize it. The only possibility is to take photos of night scenes and star trails in the hotel. The problem is, I am not interested in either of these subjects. Africa is one of the malaria-endemic areas, and there are many mosquitoes at night, so I didn’t want to take any chances. I recommend a simple sandbag on the car so that people can place the camera near the car window to reduce the chance of shaking hands. ?

▲I prefer to use wide-angle for large scenes

▲Everyone spends time on composition and storytelling

Four batteries

Although the current battery life is very good, and the battery status will be checked by the body, it is not like the sudden death in the past, but it is more prepared. First of all, because I am often outside when taking photos, although it is unlikely, there is still a chance to use up an entire battery in one day.

The second is that sometimes the time for returning to the hotel to rest is not long, and there is not enough time to charge, so at this time, I just leave one exhausted battery to charge in the hotel, and two takeaways are included. There are only three inside, one is spare, not too much.

▲The compression effect at the telephoto end of the travel scope is also very suitable for distant objects

Bring as many memory cards (or large-capacity memory cards) as possible

Basic Anyone who comes to Africa for the first time can’t help but keep clicking the shutter. After all, everything is new. Everyone either uses the largest image file or RAW. After six hours a day, the memory card will be used up in a few days. I personally hate carrying many memory cards. They can easily cause confusion, loss, and duplicate file names when inputting files, so I always buy 64G high-speed cards. This also creates the risk of damaging the memory card, so I only buy the SanDisk I love.

After a trip, I brought a 64GB SD card, a 64GB CF card and a 32GB CF card. In fact, I only used less than half of them.

　▲Your focal length is never enough in Africa

A computer that can edit pictures

Although you don’t have much time, you basically still have time. Using a computer, in addition to connecting with the Internet in civilized society, is to view and back up your photos. No matter how good the photographers I have met are, they all have the habit of reviewing the photos they take to make sure they feel the same as they want them to. These small aperture, shutter, focus and noise ratios and differences are very important to some photography enthusiasts, and they are not easy to see on the small screen on the camera. So, it’s better to bring a small laptop.

Move your feet more and try different compositions and techniques

This is really a matter of self-expression. If you can tell a set of principles, it will become a photo that everyone can take. They are exactly the same and have no meaning. Try different compositions and shooting combinations yourself, check the results and make corrections. This is also one of the fun parts of photography: "anticipate preparation and check the results."

　▲Use a giraffe to lead the football field behind

　▲Use a cow to lead a bird on its head

Other things to note

Bring a camera with you Polar photography is meant to be taken for granted. The so-called "drip-proof and dust-proof" is an insurance, not a guarantee. Personally, I highly recommend bringing a "wireless" battery charger, and using a CARD brand plug for multi-country plugs, because you can connect the plug and USB charging at the same time, and bring a LENSPEN lens cleaning note.

Many people say that when traveling, you should use your eyes to see. This is different in Africa, because people often see through telescopes, so there is no need to use a camera. At the same time, East Africa is also the most suitable tourist attraction for traveling with two bodies, because most of the time is spent waiting in the car to see animals, which does not cause any physical load.

I never leave my photographic equipment without fear of losing them, so I always transport them by hand, especially in Africa. Please note that the weight limit for hand luggage is approximately seven kilograms, and tripods cannot be placed due to flight safety regulations.

▲The valley is decorated with baboons

▲In a hot air balloon, you really need everything from wide angle to telephoto

The equipment I use with my friends is from Full frame, APS-C, mobile phone, DC, film camera. Lenses range from large three-dimensional lenses, small three-dimensional lenses, travel lenses, and fixed focus lenses. I can only say that it is entirely a matter of personal preference. I have been to Africa twice, which lasted about two months. I strongly recommend that people who have advanced requirements for photography quality use equipment of a certain quality. After all, the cost of going is not low, and you will save money by not having to stay here (photography equipment can be Good lenses retain their value and are easy to resell).

I don’t recommend “dual-camera flow” or single-eye for every polar region. The North and South Pole are very suitable for one camera and one lens, and the islands are very suitable for waterproof cameras. I will introduce them one by one in the future when I have the opportunity.

Don’t think about taking some stunning masterpieces, relax, the photos will retain your happy feelings and memories of the moment no matter what. After all, these photos are 80% not for winning awards or making money, so why should you care?

▲Composition can better explain the photographer’s beauty than technique