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Safaris tailored for nature photographers and wildlife
enthusiasts
Welcome to the section of my website dedicated to
photographic safaris. Here you will find all the information related
to the safaris that I organize in Kenya. For any additional
information or whatever you can't find here, please don't hesitate
to contact me at my e-mail address:
federicoveronesi75@gmail.com
On Safari With Me
The safaris that I organize and lead are designed for
professional and semi-professional photography of African wildlife
in their natural habitat and to the in-depth observation of the
animals and their behaviour. On this safari we shall maximize
the time we'll spend in the field with the animals. We'll be out for
more than ten hours per day. We shall leave camp way before dawn in
order to have time to locate our subjects and be with them as the
sun rises. We'll photograph especially during the early and late
hours of the day, when the light is best. During the hottest hours
we'll follow the rythm of nature, we'll keep track of our subjects
and will keep ready to photograph any interesting behaviour that
might occur. The most unusual and interesting behaviors often occur
unexpected and unforseen. My experience in the field tells me that
anything can happen anytime when you are dealing with wild animals.
The only way to have good chances of capturing unusual images and
see extraordinary wildlife activity is to wait a long time with the
animals and have a lot of patience! We shall also be ready to watch
a pride of Lions do nothing but chase the shadow of the tree they
are sleeping under! However, most of the time patience is abundantly
rewarded!
Additionally, this approach will make you live your
safari in a completely different way. You'll be much more involved
in the life in the savannah, and you'll live it through the eyes of
the animal we are following. It could be a mother Cheetah raising
her cubs, or a Serval kitten waiting for its mother to return to the
den. There will be times when we'll spend three or four days or even
a full week with the same animal, every day from dawn to dusk. The
choice of the subjects to focus on will be shared and based on the
photographic potential of each situation available at the moment in
the park.
Considering the above, I generally propose and
recommend safaris where you spend more days in less locations with
good photographic potential. Staying a long time in the same
location will enable you to interiorize the pace of the place you
are in, to know its best locations and its animals, and to avoid
being in a hurry to see everything in one day.
A Professional Photographer Resident in the
Masai Mara as your guide
There are plenty of photographic
safaris in Africa available. My safari is different from the others
because it will be me driving and guiding you. I am a photographer
myself, I live in the Masai Mara throughout the year, and I have
your same passion for photography and wildlife.
In my opinion, photography
essentially requires vision and taste, and the capacity to visualize
the image rapidly and act accordingly to realize that image.
The main components of a good
photograph are light, composition and behaviour of the animals.
Realizing an image with these elements requires good positioning.
This is why you need a photographer at the wheels of your vehicle. I
will always try to put you in the condition to capture the most
dramatic and beautiful images, also because I will also be
photographing like I do when I am photographing on my own. You will
not get mad to tell me how to position the vehicle in relation to
the light or the elements of the scene. And you will not need to
worry that your driver will take you back to the lodge regardless of
what the animals are doing or how the light is.
At the same time, and differently from many photographic safaris,
our main priority will be not to disturb the animals. Their well
being and their life will always be the most important thing, and if
needed we will miss good pictures if taking them means altering the
animal's behaviour. I see so many vehicles loaded with photographers
run like mad to anticipate a Cheetah or a Leopard walking in order
to take a photo as it walks towards the vehicle. This disturbs them
a lot, especially if they are hunting. I often see vehicles
destroying vegetation to enter a bush where a Leopard with cubs is
resting. We shall wait in the open for the Leopard to come out and
come towards on its own accord. We'll often park away from the
scene, where we can have good photo opportunities, while leaving
space for the animals to carry on with their own lives. In my
experience and in the long run, this approach provides much better
photographic opprtunities than the ones offered by a more invasive
attitude.
In every safari I will be driving one of the vehicles. On this
safaris each photographer will have access to a full row of the
vehicle and exclusive use of a roof hatch. This is extremely
important to avoid having other people in the way of your picture
and to have space to keep your equipment at hand. You will be able
to photograph comfortably on both sides of the vehicle.
For groups comprising more than
two photographers we shall employ a second vehicle, driven by a
local guide, chosen by myself and acting under my instructions and
supervision. On request, for people who are not photographers and
don't have large lenses or equipment, it will be possible to seat
two in one row, with a reduction in the overall cost of the safari
per person.
A Day in the Masai Mara
The alarm rings early in the Mara, when the sky is still dark and
filled with stars. We'll have a quick coffee in the restaurant, we'll
collect our picnic breakfast and eventually lunch, and we'll start
our game drive. As the light starts appearing on the horizon, we
shall look for our subjects before sunrise. In this way we'll
already be in position when the sun comes up and the light is at its
best. We'll then follow our subject throughout the day, having
breakfast under a tree or in the car if our animal is particularly
active. During the migration, from July to October we might head
down to the Mara river in the hottest hours of the day to see if
there is any activity at the crossing sites.
Sometimes we might go back to camp for lunch if we feel that the
situation in the field is not particularly promising. Otherwise, we'll
have a picnic lunch out in the plains, while we keep our subject in
sight.
In the afternoon we'll wait for
our subject to wake up, hoping for a nice afternoon light or good
photographic conditions. This may or may not happen, the animals
might sleep until dark or be up already immediately after lunch. In
any case, we shall be there until dark. With the sun safely behind
the horizon we'll return to camp for a nice shower to wash the dust
of the day away. By now it will be dinner time, then coffee time and
then to bed soon, as we'll have to be ready for the following full
day on safari!
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