Safari Updates

Wim Reports:Heavy clouds rolled into the area overnight fuelled by a chilly wind that caused us to bundle up before setting out this morning. The animals seemed to react to the cold as well but as we moved around we saw impala and numerous Fish Eagles again.                                                                        We moved to a side channel for a while and as we returned to the Chobe River the sun was breaking through the clouds, sending strong shards of light to illuminate patches of the beautiful scene.This afternoon we returned to our favourite spot - Elephant Beach. Many Fish Eagles were around, fishing and swooping above the water, keeping us busy for some time.         A large herd...

Wim Reports:The sunrise found us on the river again after our usual early start.A large number of Fish Eagles inhabit the area and we were fascinated to watch as these beautiful birds persistently fished in spite of our presence. We were able to get really close to them to watch their activities, and watched in amazement as they successfully caught fish time after time.                                 It was interesting also to see the poaching - occasionally, after a successful catch, before the bird had a chance to settle and enjoy its meal, the fish would be snatched in mid-air by a rival, sending the first eagle straight back to start fishing again.One eagle was particularly friendly, and used our boat as a cover as he flew over the water in search of fish. We felt that we got...

Wim Reports:We arrived at our meeting place in the afternoon and enjoyed a beautiful scenic drive along the Chobe River to reach the Nguni Voyager moored at Serendela in time to grab our cameras and board one of the small boats to start our first excursion into this unbelievable area.Just as the sun neared the horizon we found a large herd of elephants strung out along an island that fingers its way into the waters of the river channel.   The elephants were feeding on the grass and occasionally taking a quick drink from the river. They were so unfazed by our presence that we were able to approach to within two to three meters of the quietly grazing herd.The beautiful, dramatic sunset provided the kind of backdrop that people travel far and wide to capture, and with our perspective from water level, our results were stupendous.     Each individual...

Andrew’s News:   This morning we headed straight out to the Rapids on the Chobe River. The light was quite poor because of some cloud cover so we headed up onto one of the side channels. There we captured wonderful images of Fish Eagles engaged in their early morning fishing expeditions. Grey- headed Gulls were swooping around, picking up scraps from the river and also providing wonderful photo opps for us, as Skimmers gracefully skimmed across the water.   We spotted a large crocodile on the bank and edged closer and closer. He was so relaxed and unfazed by our presence that we ended up using 24-70mm lenses to capture full frame images of the slumbering reptile.   The light had improved greatly giving us the chance to return to the rapids for photographs of rock Pratincoles, Yellow-billed Storks and more crocs draped across the rocks all the better to soak...

Brendon's NewsWe left at first light to make the most of our final morning in this heavenly place. We went straight to the Lesser Striped Swallow nests and spent most of the idyllic morning photographing the birds as they carries fluff and feathers to repair and line their nests comfortably. The light was wonderful and we captured some amazing images, distracted only momentarily by other (abundant) wildlife: Then we concentrated on some busy Fish Eagles. They performed beautifully for us and again our memory cards filled quickly.  All too soon it was time to return to the Nguni Voyager for a late breakfast and to depart for home.We all agreed that these idyllic days had given us exactly what we came for - a wonderful time in beautiful, comfortable surroundings, and memory cards filled with amazing images. We all know that we plan to return ......

(click on image to view bigger)   The Carmine breeding season on the banks of the Zambezi River is a highlight in any avian photographer's books. This year ODP has arranged for the Nguni Voyager, our house boat we use every year, to be at one the biggest breeding colonies on the Zambezi River for the last 5 safaris. This is bird photography as never seen before... Have look at our ODP Safaris page for more details on this new safari destination.  ...

Capturing a Silhouette Silhouettes are great way to create mood in an image especially if you have some sort of attraction in the back ground. In this image I have the setting sun which helped create this great silhouette. In order to capture a silhouette and as with most types of photography there are a number of roads to the same destination. Here is the road I follow: First, you will need to place your camera in the Manual mode, as you want to tell the camera how to expose the image rather than the camera trying to expose the image as it thinks it should. Now, with your camera set to Manual, you have the ability to change your ISO, your aperture and you shutter speed in order to get the desired exposure. I suggest using an ISO in the region of 400-800 as a good starting point. You...

  To capture birds in flight or birds engaging in some sort of fast moving activity, such as this Fish eagle taking a fish, requires two critical technical elements. In order to freeze the moment one needs a very fast shutter speed, usually anything faster than about 1/2500 sec should be adequate. Ensure that your aperture is high enough to obtain the required detail. I typically try to shoot at nothing lower than f6.3 - 7.1 - however, higher would be better whenever possible. As with all images, exposure is of utmost importance, and will differ with every scene. In this image I knew I had to underexpose to avoid burning out the whites. However, what I found very interesting was that I had to over- exaggerate this by an additional 1/3 of a stop to compensate for the glare coming off the water. This image was captured on an ODP...