Keeping the memories alive

A safari is truly the trip of a lifetime ... but it all goes past so quickly! Slowing down and paying attention to your surroundings can help fix the experience in your memory, but an even more effective tactic is simply to take some fantastic shots of your exotic luxury safari holiday experiences. Here are out top 13 tips for photographing your luxury African safari.

1. Choose your time of year carefully

Just like flowers and trees, the wildlife you'll encounter on luxury safari holidays arranges its life according to seasonal cycles. Your luxury African safari tour operator can help advise you on the best times of year for wildlife photography in general, as well as for capturing individual species.

2. Think outside the box

When it comes to wildlife, there's more to see than elephants, zebras, leopards, lions and giraffes. Think about capturing fish, crocodiles and birds as well as the famous land animals.

3. Look for operators with local knowledge

Go for safari operators that specialise in Africa to improve your chances of getting a magical shot.

4. Consider one of the 4 best wildlife photography destinations

There are really hundreds of great photo destinations for luxury African safaris - but if you want guaranteed sightings, go for Kruger National Park in South Africa, Serengeti in Tanzania, Etosha in Namibia or Masai Mara in Kenya.

5. Invest in a good lens

If you want to get the best photographic record of your luxury African safari, go for a great lens, then get the camera to fit ... a good lens with a mediocre camera will take great pictures, a mediocre lens with a great camera will not.

6. Make sure your lens has very good magnification and aperture

You'll need about 400mm magnification to get optimal shots of mammals, and at least 600mm if you're photographing birds. The larger the aperture, the better photos the camera will take in low light conditions.

7. Go for a compact camera if you’re a beginner

Luxury safari holidays aren't the ideal time to be learning the intricacies of photography! If you're a beginner, get a compact camera rather than an SLR.

8. Always use a beanbag or portable tripod

The fact that you'll be using high magnification lenses with sizeable apertures means that every little jiggle of blood through the arteries of your hand will create blur in your shots! Use a little beanbag to rest your camera on, or grab a 'Gorillapod' style portable tripod.

9. Remember your rule of thirds!

Go back to photography basics with the 'Rule of Thirds' ... you can crop them afterwards, but they're never quite the same.

10. Get some practise taking night photos

Especially if you've chosen a luxury African safari where you'll be sleeping in a tent under the stars. The jungle comes alive at night, and you might find magic to capture! You'll probably want a DSLR camera for night photography, however.

11. Be patient ...

Whenever you have the prerogative to determine what you do next, start by stopping! The wildlife around you will largely stop as soon as they see you moving. You'll get the best shots when you just sit and wait. Of course, if you're trying to take your photographs on a guided tour you won't have as much freedom to stop and start as you please ... just do what you can.

12. Blur the background

This is a great retouching trick if you have a wildlife shot with a clear foreground and background - blur out the background, so you can focus on the amazing luxury African safari animals!

13. Look at me!

With every wildlife shot you take on your luxury safari holiday, try to focus on the eyes - position them in one of those four optimal spots created by the rule of thirds.

Put a little thought into your luxury African safari type, your equipment and your technique, and you'll come home with memories that will stay vivid forever!