Wildlife Photography Behind the Scenes in Kruger
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 เม.ย. 2022
- Episode 4: I'm heading south from Punda Maria to Shingwedzi in the northern Kruger Park. The weather has been terrible for wildlife and photography, but I need to make the best of it. I drive through the vast and silent Mopane woodland that covers the entire northern Kruger. Its almost physical presence is a constant of all photography up here.
I'm looking out for elephants between the grey tree trunks, as well as special birds like helmet shrikes. It's a lonely journey but Basil is always a good companion.
Along the way, as always, I run into some amazing animals and try to photograph them!
NIGEL DENNIS - KRUGER BEST ROUTES (Not Affiliated)
Nigel is a pioneering wildlife photographer now retired in the UK, he has a wonderful collection of books and stock photography. He was a source of inspiration and advice to me when I first arrived in South Africa and still is through his excellent guides and books.
I haven't told him that I've mentioned his book - it's available here: www.nigeldennis.com/kruger.htm
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My name is Will Goodlet. I am a wildlife, landscape and astro photographer working in the African Safari business. I spend my time exploring the dusty roads of Africa with my Land Rover, Basil.
I've been taking photographs for 40 years, first in Hong Kong, where I grew up and later to follow my dreams of a life photographing Africa.
#KrugerPark #WildlifePhotography #SouthAfrica - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
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Thanks Will, I love spending my time in Kruger vicariously through you, love your work. Looking forward to my trip there in August.
Thanks Lawrence! Really great to hear that and August will be here in no time :)
Thanks Will. Super shot of the swallow! I’m off now to buy a car repair mat!
Camping mats are more comfy I've discoreved! Cheers Ray :)
lovely. thanks Will!
Thanks Rob :)
Beautiful as always !
Thanks Mark :)
Yet another great video! Really enjoying this series of your travels through Kruger.
Thanks Giles :)
When you stopped for the trees and the elephant appeared. Spontaneous moments like that that really make a trip, especially when it’s cold and cloudy and you think it’ll be a “wasted” day. Lovey video! Overcast days give the story and trip a bit of character even if the lighting isn’t “ideal.”
Yes totally, more than half the fun is being surprised :) Thanks Jose
Hi Will, I was just in South Africa last month photographing animals. The weather was much the same as you described in your video but that dull sky made for some great shots of vultures in the trees. I wasn't in Kruger but it is someplace that I would like to visit. I always enjoy your videos and just happened to catch this one moments after you posted it. Thank you for posting, it keeps my dreams of coming back to Africa alive.
Hi Steven, great that you made it over here and glad to hear you got some good shots. I like the rainy season, sometimes the blue skies get a bit monotonous ;) What was really killing things was the cold weather (12 degrees centigrade in what is supposed to be 45c) and the wind!
As expected, wonderful video
Cheers Ken 😀 Cracker of a meerkat by the way
@@WillGoodlet thank you so much
Glad to see you again Will
Cheers and thanks Dimitris :)
Great video Will, as always. Good to see you back up and running now and look forward to the next one 👍
Thanks Mark!
❤️
I really enjoyed this film Will, thank you for sharing it with us 😀👏👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent video Will. Rainy weather in the Kruger challenges you to think out of the box for photos.
Thanks for watching Izak, yep very true. The wind was very disappointing though - kept everything sheltering from it.
Great video!!
Thanks David, glad you enjoyed it 😀
What an enjoyable and entertaining video! You really have great production value and you know what you're talking about and make it pleasant and interesting. Best of luck to you Will and good weather!
Thanks Forrest! Really glad you enjoyed it and sorry to moan about the weather :) Can't complain about rain in this country. We need it.
Awesome episode and love the extra little details.
Keep up the amazing work
Thanks, will do!
What a fantastic video- thanks for sharing a glimpse of your beautiful work! The info about the animals is also appreciated as I know nothing about the birds of Africa.
Thanks Vivian, so glad you liked it :) Good to know the animal info is useful too!
Another great video of life and sightings in the Kruger, thanks Will. I love watching your videos and the music is great too!
Thanks 👍 Really glad you enjoyed it Alice!
Hi Will. I am new to your channel. As a beginner in wild life photography, it helps a lot. I love it. In many of your videos you mention that you don’t like over cast condition particularly and I understand why - light. BUT I have to say that I like those days (as well), because then you can get some great high key photos. Are high key photos not something you do or like? Just not your style?
I wish I can get out there more often. Keep the vids coming please.
Love the image of the elephant reaching up. I think that image might look fantastic in B&W as well...Hope you and yours are doing well Will. Take care. Greg
Good idea! I will try it, thanks Greg :)
Really enjoyed the video Will! Nice work!
Thanks Mark :)
Great job will,just a question from a Australian amateur,any thoughts on the r7.
Another awesome episode. Thank you for sharing. I am however feeling a little under equipped looking at your camera equipment! 😂 I need to start saving and learning what I need and how to use them.
Thanks Bruce, appreciated - 'under equipped' Says the guy with a drone and a chase car!! ;) I wouldn't worry about kit too much, usually we just end up with too much of it! I'm always looking for ways to make things more simple.
@@WillGoodlet hahaha a chase car! Love it. Thanks Will really enjoying your channel. All the best.
Hi will, another lovely video. Its just so nice to watch. Just got that africa feeling again. So recognicable were you are driving. Remember standing in yhat brige in the end of the video. Today I talked to my friends and they are probably moving back to South africa again in June. So hopefully they will start there life again and I will be able to visit them in the future. Would be nice to shoot some videos there for my own youtube channel. 🙂 looking forward to the next part of the video. Did you manage to get everything up and running again after the lightning strike? Grt guido
Hi Guido, thanks for watching and commenting again :) Glad to Bring some memories back. Hope you manage to get back out here - I think there are a lot of places to explore for your channel!
I'm up and running again, but not my Lightroom catalog - I need to spend a lot of time to sort that out.
Looking forward to catching up with your videos in the coming days - I see you have released quite a few now.
@@WillGoodlet yes I realy hope we can get back to sa sometimes this year. Would love to show my kids all the wildlife. Would be nice to have a drink with you if you have time 😉 yes my channel is growing prety fast. Didn't expect that at all but people seem to like what im doing. I've recorded so many videos lately in amazing conditions. I released the 7th video last Thursday and I recorded my 12th video last weekend so there is a lot ready for the future. And I'm leaving for a 2 week trip trough schotland in a few weeks so enough content to create weekly videos. I think they are getting better and better also. Can is ask how you find the music you use in your videos? What program do you use for it? There is so much possible don't know what Is right. Grt guido
Yet another great video Will.
Thanks James! Hope all's good over there?
@@WillGoodlet all good here. Have my WhatsApp messages not been getting through?
Hello Will still here in Latvia in a waiting patter to see if the war will reach the country. I am not sure if leaving now would be wise. I am glad you got some time t o visit the bush enjoy your time and as always great content.
Seems like the perfect time to get out of there and head south! I think it's very unlikely now that Latvia will be next on the list. Thanks for watching as always!
Fantastic video’s . I must ask who is your back ground music group singing on this video , absolutely love it . 👍😎🇦🇺
Thanks Peter! I’m on the road right now but will check my notes when I get a minute and let you know
Thanks Will , keep up the brilliant video's . A breath of fresh air in this troubled World ...,
@@peterrussell7667 Hi Peter, It's a song by a small acoustic folk band called Windshield. It's titled 'it's you again' facebook.com/windshieldmusic
Thanks for this latest installment of your trip - always exciting to see one of your videos show up in the TH-cam feed.
In another video, you mentioned switching from PC to Apple recently. I have recently made that switch as well and am tip-toeing toward doing some video work to accompany my photography.
Can I ask whether you are using DaVinci, Final Cut, Premiere, or something else and what the deciding factors were in making your choice?
Thanks for any insights! And apologies if you have answered this elsewhere.
Thanks for watching again Brandon :) Yes I moved to Mac mainly because it was the only option at that point (just before intel released the 12th gen chips) I love the Mac I won’t go back to PC now.
I use Davinci - I moved away from premiere because of price but I think resolve is way better software. It’s a pleasure to use and makes a lot more sense to me.
I haven’t tried final cut because I bought resolve before the move and it’s working very well for me.
I believe final cut is pretty good too but never even opened it as yet.
@@WillGoodlet Yes, I am very intrigued by what DaVinci is offering compared to the others. I think I will likely give the free version a go and then progress to Studio if warranted.
I hear you on the Mac. Those M1 chips convinced me to make the move but I am finding the OS a pleasure to use as well.
@@WillGoodlet Also, as an aside, the M1 chip performance for Topaz Denoise, Gigapixel, and Sharpen were one of the big reasons I jumped to Mac and it was your Denoise TH-cam video from way back that turned me on to that software. So thanks for that! The Topaz software has “rescued” many of my older photos taken with the Canon 400D and even the 7Dii.
I love the “in the field” videos you put out, but have also found your processing/gear videos extremely helpful. Always honest and well delivered. Kudos!
Thanks. I’m trying to think through what I will be producing this year, seems that in the field stuff is not so popular.
I’ve been having problems with crashing of topaz but n the M1 but re-installed everything last night and things seem better
@@WillGoodlet I think you're always going to cast a larger net when it comes to reviews and how-to videos and that will translate to a lot of "views." That isn't unique to you - it's common across most TH-cam channels, I'd say. So if your metric for success is views per video...yeah, you may want to angle that way. But, if I can offer an unsolicited opinion, I think that'd be a shame. I really think your field videos compare favorably even to channels with massive followings (e.g. Morten Hilmer). The question, in my mind at least, is "What you want to accomplish with your channel?" Is it personal satisfaction? Monetizing the channel? Some combo of both? If I can offer my own experience for insight (though it is a sample size of one), I was first drawn to your "field" videos, which then brought me into the technical/review videos, and eventually on to purchasing your Wildlife Toolkit, purchasing DeNoise via your link, etc. Maybe this is an atypical path to connecting with you, but that would be a bit hard for me to believe. Apologies if I'm speaking out of turn with all this, but I really value the material you're putting out into the world. Wishing you all the best whatever route you take!
I see a lot of video where you don’t see much in Kruger, maybe the dry season is the best time to go if you’re spending thousands of dollars to get some epic pics?
Hi Jim,
I prefer the summer, there is so much more going on. We get the clouds breaking across the sky, while in winter there are none. The breaks of light and shadow. The greens and golds and bright colours. The migrant birds that make the bush shout and come alive (so much so that winter feels like a land of ghosts). We get the Impala drop, in November, when those thunderheads growl and the rain spits. The young are everywhere, the population of animals doubles overnight. There is a frenzy of predation and interesting things happening.
But there is also a lot of risk.
You may have a settled weather system that sits on you for a week or two. Wind blowing through, unseasonable cold. Shivering animals low in the grass and invisible. Not forced to come out to find water or food because it's all around them. Summer is for people that have time. Mostly that means people that live here or who can come back for another season. Summer is also, usually, disturbingly hot - especially in October. It cools down when the rains come in during November. When I say rains, I mean a traditional clear African morning with the slow build up of cloud and atmosphere that bursts around 3pm.
Winter is a safer bet. Often, especially following a poor summer, the grass is heavily grazed and the deeper parts of the bush exposed. The dust hangs in the air in the cold mornings and the sun filters through it. The sun also hangs lower in the sky for longer and the lions lie on the road to stay warm. You have more time in good light in winter. It's often the case that the animals are forced to find water and they come together daily to run the gauntlet of predators sleeping by the waterhole.
You don't need to spend too much to get into it. Depending on how adventurous you feel. I used to come over from the UK every year when I was younger and not earning a lot. Airfare, share a hire care with a friend/s. Bring a tent and a sleeping bag. Food and fuel is cheaper here and South Africa still has affordable park entry fees unlike most of the other countries..
Fantastic as always! What is the elephant doing at about 9:30 in the video?
It’s a youngster offended by me passing by. He’s trumpeting and mock charging then shakes his head in anger.
It’s fairly common for these ‘teenagers’ still with the breeding herd to react like this. They are not big enough to follow up with the attack but enjoy the drama.
You need to be wary of mothers with calves nearby or big males (usually solo or pairs) when in musth. Hormones can be elevated up to 60 times normal. Watch for aggressive head shakes and wet streaming patches on side of the head.
They will usually let you know that they are irritated and it’s best to keep well back - remembering that high gearing in reverse means the Ellie can be faster than you!!
@@WillGoodlet One of those areas of knowledge that is better acquired from someone else than by personal experience. 🙄
Brilliant stuff buddy!!! Loved that, you can’t pretend cheesy Cheetos are carrots though 😂 …. Obviously they don’t know just how fast a hippo can charge eh 🙄 absolute divs 🙄
Cheers JP... sadly I think the carrots are still in m fridge ;) I'm trying to step back from getting upset when I see bad behaviour. In the past when confronting people, even politely, they get very aggressive.
I remember seeing one guy directing his girlfriend to pose 2m away from a feeding elephant - she walked right up to it and stood behind it! Unbelievable attempt to win a Darwin Award.
@@WillGoodlet I get that buddy, oh well let the wildlife pick them off it'll do us a favour 😂 ....
Hi mate, so glad your back on YT everyone else is too basic lol. Btw, could you do a video in regards to the R5 and R6 I noticed you have both and use them interchangeably, Id love to hear the rationale between this alternation and what circumstances dictate it.
All the best,
Alfred.
Hi Alfred, thanks :) I've been trying to brainstorm what videos to make as most views seem to come from gear type videos that I have been reluctant to make - mainly because there are already so many and I don't have the same access to equipment as other countries. I'm planning to do a comparison between the R5, R6 and 7D mark ii.
Thanks as always, Will. Behaviour always trumps for me even of I don't get the shot. I can't wait to be in Africa again (going to Zimanga in June). Hoping to do a self drive in Kruger next year. What time f year would you recommend?
Oh I’m jealous!
You need to avoid school holidays in Kruger (I’m never 100% sure when they are - there are two different sets for private and public schools).
November is harder but the impala lambs drop and it can be very interesting for photos and also predators. The grass can still be low.
The best time is probably winter for light and concentration around water holes. May - Sept. the drier it is by sept the better. Leopards often seen on sept,
But winter has fewer migrant birds.
I think summer is for those of us who have been many times and are looking for something new and will take a hit or more often a miss.
If you are only coming one or two times - winter is the best.
Thanks for your reply. I need to get cracking as I expect the camps get booked early
Great vid as usual Will, I really enjoyed it.
Thank you !
Just a brief question, as you mentioned the sky being all grey and too bright to properly photograph that Tawny eagle (besides the branches in front of it).
On that note, do you or is there any use in wildlife photography to use, filters like a GND or a ND to mitgate the brightness of the sky or horizon compared to the forground ?
Or do you reckon it's to much hassle to carry a set of filters together with everything else ?
Just curious ....
Thanks for watching and the good question. I do actually carry an ND, grads and polariser. Mainly because they are very important for video.
The main reason most don’t use filters is because they are either using telephotos where the thread is too big and the filter too expensive or they don’t want to spend on drop-in filters.
It’s one reason I really rate the 100-400 and 400 f5.6 because it takes a standard 77mm.
Nd is really useful for panning shots with blurred movement. Also static shots with moving backgrounds.
Grads are nice for wider scenic shots and polarisation can really reduce sheen on feathers and leaves.
I think most of us are a bit lazy or don’t want the expense. But no question they can and are sometimes used.
One of my first videos uses an ND for wildlife I’ll link it in another reply
th-cam.com/video/SL4YFajgQBY/w-d-xo.html
@@WillGoodlet
Thanks for your feedback and comments !
That's what I thought ....
As I'm saving up enough money to buy me a EF 100-400 f4.5-4.6 L USM II to use on my 7d2, I'm kinda stuck shooting landscapes with my 24-105 f4.0 L USM II and that's fine for now but doing so it crossed my mind how to solve the way too bright sky without the use of a GND for example and not just whilst shooting landscapes but also later on when shooting birds and other wildlife.
I hear you when you say that a decent set of high quality filters, especially drop-in square filter sets are expensive when looking into it recently, hence I came to the same conclusion and appreciation of the standard 77mm thread on the 24-105 and 100-400 L series lenses.
That being said, on the other hand I'm in doubt whether to trade in the 7D2 and EF 24-105 lens I currently own for an R6 and a RF 24-105 to begin with as I struggle a lot with noise in medium to low light conditions when shooting in AV mode on a fixed aperture of f5.6 (the largest aperture of the 100-400 lens - a take away from your field review of that lens) to see how the 7D2 manages in these poor light conditions in combination with the largest aperture of the 100-400 before spending all that money on one.
I tried to compensate / minimize the built up of noise by applying a variety of fixed ISO values i.e. 1250 ISO however that tends to decrease the shutter speed so much it's useless when shooting flying or moving birds or animals or even any other fast moving object like sportscars, professional racing cyclists and so forth .....
Again it’s really got me wondering stick to my 7D2 or trade it in …. I might try shooting in Tv mode for bit whist saving up cash before I decide what to do.
@@b.bimmer4688 I wouldn't say filters are game changer in wildlife, normally one avoids the sky in the frame like the plague - they have their uses and if you aren't being lazy they are useful around 5% of the time.
On noise - Have you tried de-noise software like Topaz or DXO?
Have you tried increasing the ISO? I know it's counter intuitive but exposing to the right on Canon is generally a good idea if you intend to pull shadows up in post. It's best done in camera and the shots come out cleaner when you do that.
The 7D2 is actually a pretty clean camera - Roger Clark even recommended it for Astro work back in the day.
It should be remembered that Aperture is not the same at different focal lengths. The Clear Area Aperture is larger on telephoto lenses, there is more light available to the sensor - if you are in doubt about that, look at the size of the front element of a 400mm f2.8 vs a 16mm f2.8. Or better still, this link ( the 400.. f5.6 has a CAR of 40cm2 vs 2.7cm2 on the 105mm - that's almost 15 times larger!)
www.omnicalculator.com/physics/aperture-area
Here's a lonely speck article with a paragraph explaining its impact on astrophotography www.lonelyspeck.com/lenses-for-milky-way-photography/comment-page-26/
Re: the R6 - it's a nice camera but it has a tremendous handicap for wildlife - you really need a 600mm on it to achieve the same field of view as your 7D2.
7D2 is 400.. x 1.6 = 640mm equivalent focal length
Of course there are other factors like frame rate, anti aliasing, and Af to consider, but I don't know if a stop (or two at most) noise performance compensates for all that reach at that price?
If wildlife is your real aim - glass is a better investment - I'd hesitate to recommend a 500mm f4 ( the second one - the one that is not the mark ii - the mark ii was actually the third...confusing - because they stopped making spares for it in 2017) but it's a killer lens if you take the risk. I had one and it's cheaper than an R6 - a friend is using one on an R6 and loves it. If you can find a good Mark ii and it's not too heavy for you that would be fantastic?
A compromise is the cheaper 300mm f2.8 which takes a 1.4 converter really well (I also had one - a favourite) solves the low light issue and offers a pretty good 420mm focal length for a little less.
Then there are the third parties - Sigma 300mm f2.8 is not to be sneezed at for the right price (never buy new - buy used and depreciated!) also the 120-300 f2.8 and the excellent 500mm f4.
If you want a 400mm at a good price - the prime 400mm f5.6 is excellent for wildlife -= fast focusing and sharp! No IS but why do you need it when shooting at 1/1600th of a second. It's usually easily found second hand and was my first super telephoto - great lens.
@@WillGoodlet
Hi Will,
Thank you for your valuable comments ….
re: on Noise
After trying to reduce noise in PS I recently started to use DxO PL4 with Nik3 and I must say so far I’m pretty impressed by the results even as a novice user !
re: on Increasing ISO
I’ve never tried exposing to the right [ETTR] on my 7D2 but will certainly read up on it and give it a go next time I’m heading out.
re: on Aperture
I didn’t know that the Clear Area Aperture varies between focal lengths, another lesson learned - TY
And thanks for sharing the link to the aperture area calculator, I bookmarked it straight away.
Furthermore your point and valuable comment on this subject is well taken - thank you so much ! Hence it gives me a total new perspective to my 7D2 and the fact that it’s still a very good camera despite the fact it’s noise characteristics aren’t bleeding edge technology anymore compared to the popular R series system cameras that are out there these days.
re: on investment on an R6 and glass
Your comments are precisely why I’m in doubt, but I think you’re right, the R6 is “nice to have” and although it offers good value for money it doesn’t come cheap especially for an amateur photographer like me, hence it’s probably at this stage not a wise investment. Thus glass is the better option to invest in, especially taken into consideration what you mentioned about the Clear Area Aperture on telephoto lenses.
That being said, I’m strong believer that good quality has it’s price and although Canon L serie lenses typically aren’t among the cheapest, (I reckon) they are among the best quality lenses out there and for that reason I will remain loyal to the Canon brand even if it means I need wait a bit longer to save up some more cash.
When it comes to prime lenses and again I’m a novice in that area, as it’s my understanding (and please correct me if I’m wrong) that when shooting prime lenses you need to move away or closer from your subject to get the desired composition as when shooting zoom lenses you can easily manage that by zooming in or out.
That to me sounds like a bonus and therefore a preferred method despite the fact it’s downside of having a variable aperture of 4.5 to 5.6.
Either way, I still have a few bucks to save before I can go out a purchase another lens hence I have time to decide what I want to do/buy.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, recommendations and feedback it’s highly appreciated !
BR
Anthony.
first :-)
Well done ;)