Vulture 800mm - Kenya, Masai Mara Safari - Photography Blog
I was on safari in Kenya, on the Masai Mara plains, which is where Kenya meets the Serengeti in Tanzania when i took the photograph below.
I was using a Nikon D3 with a 200-400mm lens using either a 1.4 or a 1.7 tele-converter, but often just shooting 200-400 without a TC, so my maximum focal length was 680mm. In the vehicle with me was a guy who had a Canon EOS-1D Mark III with a 800mm lens (EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM). We are talking $12,999 for the lens alone. Plus i guess about $4,000 for the camera body.
He was a Nikon user who switched to Canon simply because they make a 800mm and Nikon do not. So the Nikon vs Canon banter was extreme in the vehicle and at all meals during this safari.
As you can guess from the header photo on this post, there was big glass everywhere.
So after days of fun banter about Nikon vs. Canon we switched cameras for about 10 minutes. I would have switched for an entire day, but he wanted his 800mm back! I can't blame him.
I shot this Vulture in a tree far far away and i am happy to share it with the Steemit community for the first time.
When challenged as to the practicality of a 800mm lens, the owner demonstrated that you can shoot hand held with a 800mm , though he didn't shoot hand held for very long!
Thank you for the opportunity to share this photograph and a little story from my safari adventures.
ps. For the full blow photo-nerds who "have to know", the header photo is, from back to front, Nikon D3 + 600mm then Canon EOS 1D + 800mm then Nikon D3 + 200-400mm. The 600mm looks bigger because it has a very wide lens hood. The 800mm has quite a long and comparatively narrow lens hood.
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amazing post and pics. Thanks for sharing the detail of the camera, thats some serious hardware. By the way, I love the camouflage on the lenses, it looks totally bad-arse!
The camouflage looks so pro that we even once had a Land Rover pull up next to us, with a family in it doing normal vacation safari. I hear in whispered tones the father says to his sons "Look kids, they are with National Geographic".
Great post and something very close to my heart. As a family we holidayed to Kenya every xmas usually for 3 weeks for 11 years . Amazing country. We stayed in Mombasa in Shanzu which in all was a beach holiday, however always did 2 day safaris when there. I have done the majority of safaris and Masai is so hard to describe to people if they have never been. One of the best was Voi which was out of this world. Would have to dig out all my old photographs but thanks for posting as it brings back so many happy memories.
I am very glad to bring back memories for you. Follow me for many more safari posts from Kenya and also South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
Resteemed
Thank you for that. I hope your followers enjoy it.
amazing shot .. just starting in photography, hopefully one day I can be as good!
A safari is my ultimate dream destination.
Thanks for the share
I will say that birds and birds in flight are very challenging. In flight you have some 5-8kg of glass in hand and you're waving that around following the birds path, trying to grab focus... but even a bird sitting in a tree is a challenge, mainly due to branches and leaves and DISTANCE!
Often you will hear accomplished photographers saying that "the camera/lens does not make the photo/photographer" but in the instance of birds, you simply must bring a fairly long lens to the party or you'll end up with pictures of bushes/trees.
Super cool. I am a Nikon shooter myself and once in a while I get to use some of those super telephotos at promotional events and such. I don't think I would ever need one myself for my line of work but they sure are fun to play with! Great post :)
My first safari i rented a 200-400 in Johannesburg and took that to a game reserve near Kruger national park. After that trip i flew home, ordered a 200-400mm from B&H and flew back to Africa to go on this very trip.
I have/had a 70-200 but in Africa that is almost a wide angle.
My last trip i shot with 3 bodies.
D3 + 200-400mm
D3 + 14-24mm
D300s + 70-200mm (because this one vignettes so badly on a full frame body)
In the future i hope to retire the 200-400mm and replace with a 300mm fixed and a 600mm fixed. A fixed super tele is so much sharper than a zoom. I am sure though once i do this i'll miss the flexibility of the 200-400mm.