Your photographic equipment :

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I will start by asking you a question.

What is your opinion of the determining factor in a very beautiful photographic shot?

1°) the camera casing?
2°) the camera lens?
3°) both?

In fact it is not the casing, nor both, but it is the camera lens!

The rule is to spend around 2/3 of the budget for the lens and the rest for the casing.

If you are travelling with the tour operator that I mentioned, you can make do with a 28/200
zoom for example (never mount a lens converter on a zoom, the result will be poor).
You can also take 2 x 28 and 200 mm fixed-focus lenses with a 1.4 or 2x maximum
multiplier (a fixed-focus lens can be multiplied), as the driver will get fairly close,
they are real specialists (not all) and know where to find the animals.
(If you have a 28/80 and a 75/300 zoom, that is also good).

The ideal would be two camera casings, one with a short lens or a little zoom like the 28/80
for example that would also be used as a spare casing. (Check out second-hand market).
And the other casing with a long lens, 200 or even 300 mm, or a long clear zoom on a
single casing, such as the Canon 100/400 LIS with an anti-shake optical stabiliser , such
as those found on video cameras! It is a real advantage to have a "tool" like that.

Do not bother about these long lenses that the "pros" generally have. You will have no
more holidays, you will be a slave to your lens! You won't dare to leave it, even to go
to the toilet! And these optical components are very difficult to handle - so difficult that
it takes several sessions for an insider to be able to obtain a good result
with this very expensive "pro" equipment!

Personally I produce slides, as I show projections within the club. I use Sensia 100
and Velvia 50. If you want paper copies and you do not do projecting, buy Fuji Xtra 400
negative films, they are the best films for paper photographs and for 400 ISO, there is
no grain! You will avoid "fuzziness" at slow speeds and you will have a good
depth of field. Believe me, you will thank me.

Why take 400 ISO for standard negative films on paper?

It is worth taking at least 400 ISO for your paper copies, as this way you will have depth of field and speed

Is there grain with 400 ISO? No, there is no grain with 400 or 800 ISO Fuji! Note that KODAK 400
or 800 ISO is clearly not so good; some "pros" who produce negatives, such as some sport
agencies only use Fuji (for this sensitivity). Personally, I under-expose sometimes
even with 1600 ISO and there is no grain!

Obviously if you take photos under a completely grey sky, I do not know what will result!
But who would want to take photos without a little light, or even without good light?

What are the lighting conditions that are encountered?

1°) A totally cloudy sky, with no room for a ray to pass through! This is the worst case
- nobody takes photos in this case.

2°) If the sky is overcast, but there are breaks in the cloud, the subject must be lit and
the background must be dark. This is the best case, for the best result! But make sure
that the subject is always well lit!

3°) If the sky is blue, there is no problem, proceed as standard, but hope for a few white clouds.

4°) If the sun has set, there is little light, but even so you need enough good warm light to
be able to expose the film.

For safari photos, there are several rules and restrictions:

a) do not take photos between 10.30am and 3.30pm. (The light is too vertical and too white)

b) you have to adjust the aperture frequently in order to have clear animals and
foregrounds (hyperfocal)

c) you supervise the speed, which must not go below 1/focal length and even further
because of vibrations from the vehicle

d) you often take photos while the vehicle is still moving, to capture the animal's natural
position before it turns its back and flees. To summarise: The more beautiful the light
the less there will be and there will be less speed!

What happens at midday when the light is strong?

Between 10.30am and 3.30pm, the light is strong, so you don't take photos - they will be ugly!

When the light is vertical the animals' eyes and whiskers will always be black! This is because
the eyelids and the nose will make shadows. Imagine a top model with shadows
on the eyes and under the nose!

When and how do you take good safari photos?

The most beautiful safari photos are taken during the 3 hours (maximum)
following sunrise, and 3 hours before sunset.

Example during a safari:

The light is 1/500th to F8 to 100 ISO. It is strong midday light. At 16.00 there will be 1/125th
F8 and 100 ISO left. If we take a photo of a lion with a 300 mm 100 ISO and F8 at 16.00
it won't come out! This is because the speed 1/125th is not enough
(1/lens = 1/300th seen higher up)
The photo will therefore be blurred!

You will therefore realise that to take clear photos at 300 mm, you need speed!

Simply use 400 ISO Fuji, you will then have enough speed and your photos will
not be blurred!

Will the depth of field be good?

I won't give you the hyperfocal calculation formula which is very complex but remember
that for a Lion with a focus of 10 metres on the nose, a 300 mm F5.6 lens, the depth
of field or clarity field starts at 9.85 metres and ends at around 10.16!

If this is the case, the Lion will therefore not be completely clear and if you focus on
the nose there will be 15 to 20 centimetres of depth of field! The result is that the top of the
head will already be blurred! And if you focus on the top of the head the eyes and
nose will definitely be blurred.

What can you do? My advice:

Always take the Fuji Xtra 400 ISO colour paper negative film every time! All your
problems will be resolved and even in the midday sun, not only will you lose
nothing but you will gain with every picture!

If you have the slightest doubt, or you want the Excel file with the hyperfocal formula
write to me - I generally reply fairly quickly unless I'm in the bush :o))
Click here to see my photographic reports and photos !

Films at airports
created 01/08/00 modified 10/01/02

NEVER PUT YOUR FILMS INTO THE BAGGAGE HOLD!!!

Above all, never put your films into a lead box as they will become damaged! Baggage hold
detectors are so strong that nothing escapes! If the operator sees a dark object that looks
dubious, he will turn the machine up to get a better look inside it.
He will succeed - imagine the condition of the films!

This is not the case for hand luggage, where the machine does not normally
go above 3200 ISO. Also try to negotiate a manual search.

HOW CAN THIS BE DONE?

Put them in your hand luggage!
Here is how to work it out:

Check the films' sensitivity on the box. If it is a 400 ISO "paper", therefore with negatives
that many travellers use, knowing that the hand baggage detection machine is 3200 ISO,
you can put your films through 3 machines with no problems. Why? Because 400 ISO
800 ISO 1600 ISO 3200 ISO = 3 stages = 1 slide each time, each time being double or
half the light, from the fourth time they would be a little fogged, and the 5th time, even
more fogged and so on with a cumulative effect!! For 200 ISO, if you follow this
line of thinking, you can have 4 possible journeys, and for 100 ISO slides, 5 times.

Why did I choose 400 ISO? Because travellers the world over should know (they don't
generally know) that 400 ISO should be used! (We are talking of course about paper
photos , from negatives). Why 400 ISO? Because with Fuji 400 ISO (no I don't work for
Fuji, but please be aware that Kodak is vastly inferior) the quality is fantastic
with no fuzziness, and still with good speeds and depth of field!

THESE ARE THE BASIC PHOTOGRAPHY PARAMETERS!

For example: You are leaving town = 1st detector, then transit in Paris/London = hand
baggage is checked again = 2nd detector. On the way back the same thing = 4 journeys
altogether, already a little fog! If you have an extra stopover, there will be 6 extra
baggage checks, causing major fog!

If you take your travel photos with an unassuming little compact camera, the fog will be buried
in the median (more or less) optical resolution but if you have a reflex camera or a camera
with good optical components and that you like for your photos, pay
attention to the number of times you go through the detector!

Do not forget that you know in advance how many stopovers you will be making (fortunately).
If you have 6 planned, negotiate with English-speaking staff and explain the number of times
you will be going through the detector, show them your films and their sensitivity, make
some calculations with them, justify your reasons, ask them to manually check your
equipment without putting it through the detector, if not, call the manager!!

(Before arriving at the machine, simply place everything into a plastic bag, as they do not like
rifling through photographic bags). If you successfully avoid two baggage checks by this
method, that will be enough to save your photos!! (They may be subjected to other
vagaries in the photo developing labs, but that's another issue).

You can write to me for further explanations!

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Have a good trip, whatever your chosen destination.

André Brunsperger.

These photos are protected by the author's copyright ©. However, the author allows
these photos to be copied for prived personal use only with no commercial link.
For any other use, feel free to ask the author.

© copyright Photo André Brunsperger All rights reserved