Wild4 African Photographic Safaris: 2014 SEPTEMBER - Samburu, Kenya

Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya is a unique place to photograph african wildlife. It has a very dry climate, it is hot around midday, and has unusual species not found in many other parts of Africa.

On my two scheduled trips to Kenya we always spend 4 days in this wonderland where you do not have to drive very far to find amazing landscapes and wildlife encounters.

When you first arrive at Samburu it is usually 1pm, so it is hot, the sun is harsh and most animals are huddled in the shade. You start to think "why did I come here ?" However, towards the end of the day the temperatures begin to fall and the nights are pleasantly cool.

The early morning and late afternoon light in Samburu is unbelievably beautiful, you soon forget the harsh look of midday and the place is transformed into a totally different world.

The Lions in Samburu are regularly seen and they have a different look to them. Sleek is a good word to describe them ! Their fur is not very long and they seem to have larger ears than other lions. Fully grown adult males do not have much of a mane at all and they have an unusual menacing look to them.

Rainbow over Samburu - taken with my iPhone on Panorama Mode

This is big sky country, not only good wildlife but wonderful landscape too. The Doum Palms are characteristic of the reserve and are found concentrated along the Ewaso Nyiro River - a permanent river that has its source in the Aberdare Mountains. If rain in the mountains is heavy it can flood in Samburu without a single drop falling in the reserve.

shot details: Canon 1Dmk4 70-200mm 2.8 lens

1/200 sec @f8 ISO 100 - Manual mode

time: 14:59

One afternoon we headed to the bush line that follows the Ewaso Nyiro River which offers shelter from the hot sun. As we rounded a bend we noticed a few vehicles parked up ahead and soon noticed a Lioness looking intently in the direction of a small group of Gerenuk (one of the unusual animals found in Samburu). At close quarters I always find that using my shorter 70-200mm lens works best for fast action sequences, so anticipating that the Lioness might give chase at any moment, I immediately assessed the the light conditions which were a mix of sunlight and shade (tricky for a setting in manual mode), so I settled on dialling in 1/1000 sec in TV mode as well as setting my ISO to AUTO as I knew the shade would be an issue with the shutter speed even at f2.8 - this would lead to an underexposed shot where the aperture is left "blinking". The Auto ISO would kick in if I needed more light

The shorter lens is easier to handhold and follow the action. You might not always get a frame filling shot, but that is the huge benefit of cropping later when dealing with the large file sizes that modern DSLR's offer. I managed to get one shot of her with my 500mm lens but then she made her move. I barely had time to pick up my 70-200mm and 1Dmk4 Body, but seeing I had set up for this exact situation, I just had to focus and fire, this is the sequence I captured at 10 fps (frames per second)

The Lioness as we first found her

shot details: Canon 5Dmk3 500mm f4 lens

1/640 @ f5.6 ISO 800 - Manual mode

Time: 16:32

A second later she was on the move and I switched to my 70-200mm lens which was on my 1Dmk4 Body. This is another great reason why having 2 camera bodies each with a different lens attached is a good idea.