Hiya Reader!

What a crazy month of soccer/football. I don't know about you but I haven't watched this much footy ever. There's certainly a bit of emptiness but also excited to get on with our summer.

The World Cup came through like a tornado so fast that we never even really got to do a deeper dive into our safari trip to Zambia. This month, I thought it'd be helpful to talk about safari photography.

✈️ In this issue:

• 📷 Legit safari photography tips
• Latest posts and updates - keeping it fresh!

If you haven't yet, make sure to check out the latest on our social channels: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Safari Photography

Safari photography is incredibly exciting, satisfying, and can also be frustrating. As most of you know, I can call myself a pro photographer but I'm by no means a safari specialist. Wildlife is another beast and it takes a lot of practice, patience, and a good guide to get those money shots you're looking to get.

Without overcomplicating things with technical bits that are specific to your camera, I'll speak more broadly about what has made me "successful" in getting great photographs on safari.

Know Your Camera

This is easier said than done. These days digital cameras are incredibly complex with so many dials, buttons, and hidden settings. What it comes down to is this:

• Know what you're comfortable with - For me, this meant making a decision about whether I wanted to shoot in full Manual (M) mode or Aperture-Priority (A).
• Know what different settings do - For wildlife, a big part of it is nailing the shutter speed. Early morning and late-afternoon, low light is going to present a lot of challenges so you want to make sure you know how to handle this.
• Programmable modes - It is super handy to have a pre-set mode for birds, fast mammals, and slow mammals. The idea is that you can switch to one of those modes and be ready to go.
• Camera shortcuts - Program buttons to be able to change settings, modes with a quick button press as opposed to needing to go deep into the menu.
• Shooting speed - Your camera is going to have many different types of continuous shooting modes. You'll likely want to shoot multiple frames in any moment but how fast is important. What you choose for fast moving birds is different from lions that are sleeping.

Subject Detection

As much I was really hoping for subject detection to save me, it didn't. In the end, I had to rely on good old fashion single-point back button focusing.

The OM-1 Mark 2 has excellent bird subject detection and for birding, it was incredible. For other wildlife such as elephant, crocodiles, lions, leopards, warthogs, and monitor lizards, it was no help at all.

Yes, it has a "cat" mode and while sometimes it could lock onto a big cat's eyes, it simply wasn't reliable enough.

That's why I usually had a single spot for focus and need to react really quickly point at the eyes first, back-button focus, and then reframe for the shot. This meant that if it was moving, there was a lot of constant re-focusing, and praying as well.

Lenses

When going on safari, you'll want a few different types of lenses:

• Super telephoto: In full-frame terms, we're talking about 300mm and up
• Medium telephoto: Between 70mm-300mm
• Wide-angle: 10mm-80mm

The super telephoto is going to be the most expensive but having serious range (800mm in my case) is such a blessing to have because it allows you to get the type of shots where the animals face fills the frame.

Medium telephoto is often good for most situations where you want the include the full body of the animal.

Wide angle is often for the big wildlife, especially elephants that will almost always get closer than you think they will.

Camera bodies

We're not going to focus on the type of camera you should get but if it's at all possible, pack two camera bodies for safari.

One body should always have one of your telephoto lenses and the other should be your wide angle. Alternatively, you could have both bodies with telephoto lenses.

When you're on safari, you really want to avoid changing lenses because there's a lot of dust, and certain moments change quickly and you want to be able to just pick the body with the right lens and shoot.

Memory

Shooting speed we mentioned above matters not only because of the type of action you're capturing but also because it impacts how quickly your camera hits your max buffer.

Hitting your buffer maximum is the worst because your shooting speed halts to a crawl and you basically need to stop, wait for the buffer to clear (save them to your card) before you can continue to photograph at high speed or be able to switch to video or another mode.

Our tips:

• Expensive cameras have bigger memory buffers. That said, no matter how fancy you go, if you're shooting something like 120 fps in photos, you'll eventually hit the limit. That's why you need to adapt your shooting speed in the moment so you don't get impacted by your buffer.
• High speed memory cards matter. For SD cards, if your camera is capable of it, I only use cards that have a read and write of 300 MB/s.
• Large capacity vs. small capacity - On safari, I prefer larger memory cards because the worst is being forced to change a card in a critical moment.
• Back up cards daily - I have a very particular workflow where I am importing photos to Lightroom on my laptop daily using a 4TB SanDisk PRO-Blade. Depending on how many fast cards you have, every few days, I will eventually need to format my cards so I know that I'm never really near full capacity.
• Be ready to change cards - Inevitably, you're going to run into a situation where you'll need to swap cards. Always have your Pixel Rocket either on your body or nearby. Same goes for batteries.

Safari Vehicle Position

Safari companies and guides that pride themselves on having photography knowledge is so important here and I'm happy to say that Classic Zambia was awesome in this regard.

Multiple guides we had were always aware of the fact that there were photographers in the vehicle so they would try to position us (and not for themselves) to have the best angle.

They would also often ask us if we wanted to change positions. This is when the onus is on you to direct the guide to move a little forward, back, or reposition completely.

At the same time, a mark of a good guide is that they can anticipate and move the vehicle because they have the photographic eye to get you from a good shot to a great shot.

Our tips:

• Make yourself known as a photographer so they know that they need to think about your needs.
• Don't be shy about asking to move. Often times, a single blade of grass could be ruining your shot so tell them to inch a bit forward or back to fix it.

Photo vs. Video

This is very particular to the challenges that I face but when you are tasked as one person to not only take photographs but also shoot video, in every moment, you are also faced with the decision of choosing one or the other.

Our tips:

• Know which one is your priority.
• For those magical moments, you can't do it all so commit to one and do it well.
• If the moment is long enough, switch to the other so you can at least get some coverage. Sometimes the moment comes back again and you're lucky enough to capture it on both sides.
• Knowing your camera is again super important because you need to be able to switch back and forth without taking your eye off your viewfinder.

Know Your Subject

Again, easier said than done but this is something where your safari guide will really come in handy. Knowing the behaviour of wildlife is really key in knowing where to point your camera to prepare for a moment that might happen or when they might move to capture a specific moment of motion.

In our case with Classic Zambia Safari's, my ear was always open to our guides where they might say something might happen imminently and I'd have to quickly prepare for it.

For birds in flight, some even offered to make a sound and that would get the bird to fly away.

Luck

As much as you hope that you're going to get all of the epic photos you've seen in magazines and on Instagram, you have to remind yourself that it's impossible to photograph animals in the perfect lighting and pose.

You might not have luck by your side in every moment but when you put yourself out there, you never know what might happen.

Even if you know your subject or you have a really great guide, mother nature will do its thing and on some days, you'll see the most incredible thing or you could have days when things are really quiet.

Bean Bag

I made a big deal out of this while I was packing for safari but in the end, I never even used the one that I brought.

First off, a bean bag is a bag that you fill with something like rice or beans. It's usually used on a vehicle window ledge to give yourself a stable surface to rest your lens on so you eliminate vibrations and reduce the strain on your hands.

This sounds great but the reality in the type of open safari vehicles we had is that there aren't really high railings that make it useful. The armrests are too low and impractical to put a beanbag on top of it.

On top of that, in Classic Zambia's case, every vehicle we were in had their own bean bags so I didn't even need to bring one to begin with. At Musekese Camp, they even had these customized circular resting pads that clamped onto the vehicle's poles that were a way better alternative to bean bags.

Thinking about our entire trip, I used the Musekese ones a handful of times and when I sat up front next to the driver, I used the bean bag when we spent hours watching a leopard when I had time to think about placing it strategically because my hands were getting really tired.

Otherwise, there's no time to use it. You need to rely on being stable in the hands, and relying on your camera's stabilization.

Check, Learn, and Clean

As best as you can, it's a good idea to review your photographs and see what worked and what didn't. That's why I like bringing the photos to the computer so I can properly check for things such as focus, framing, and settings I picked to see how I can do better next time.

Every night, you should also be cleaning your lenses for dust using a LensPen.

Phew, I know that was a lot but hopefully that helps! I didn't even get to talk about the monopod technique I tried!

If I wasn't clear about anything or you have any specific questions when you're prepping for your safari, don't hesitate to reach out to us!

Safari Packing Video

Speaking of camera gear, don't miss our video about the important things we packed for our safari.

💸 Travel Deals This Month

Here are the top deals that are currently live right now.

• Avis Europe: Save up to 20% until August 3, 2026 using code U273500. Rentals must be before December 31, 2026
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• Europcar: Up to 15% off this summer. Good for rentals between July 13 – Dec 15, 2026. Promotion ends July 27, 2026.
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• KnowRoaming: Get a free 1GB eSIM courtesy of us :)
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• GetYourGuide App: Use code GOINGAWESOMEPLACES5 on the app to save 5% when booking experiences on GetYourGuide

To get notified of all travel deals we discover, go to our deals group on Facebook.
​It's free to join!

✏️What's New on the Site

This month has been a bit of a focus on more Eastern locations for anyone planning to head over to Asia or New Zealand, plus a super handy article on how we pack everything we need into carry on bags - no excess luggage fees here!

In case you're not subscribed to our 'let us know whenever you publish something new' list, here are our new posts. We aim to publish posts twice a week so if you subscribe you are always kept in the loop!

☝️ What's Next at Going Awesome Places

If you missed it, check out some of the coverage we did for Toronto's World Cup account and our own Instagram account.

We have one project lined up for the end of the month but you'll see that come out at the beginning of August!

🍪 Travel Tidbits

Here's the latest from the industry that caught our eye this month. They're worth the read!
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  ​11 of the best hotels in Santorini, from windmill stays to cave suites: Long considered a honeymoon haven, Santorini now attracts travellers looking to explore beyond its resorts, with characterful stays to be found right across the island.
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• ​15 of the best places in the world for food right now: From Europe’s next great dining destination to the American Midwest’s most vibrant food scene, here are your favorite places in the world to eat and drink.
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• ​The Best & Worst Countries for Expats in 2025: Familiar faces show up in the top and bottom 3 of the 2025 Expat Insider survey, though one country surprises with its drop in performance.
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• ​World's second most visited country expects to welcome 100 million tourists this year: Can you guess which country it is?
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• ​Iceland, Finland, Norway and Switzerland spark Coolcation trends: Climate conscious travellers go Nordic for summer getaways.
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• ​$10 million injected into Giza pyramids transformation targeting 5 million visitors: Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris is investing an additional 500 million Egyptian pounds ($10 million) to turn the iconic Giza Plateau into a year-round destination for concerts, sporting events, and premium tourism.

How are you all spending summer?

Have anything on your mind? All you have to do is reply to this e-mail!

Ciao for now!

Will

Your Chief of Awesome

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