Photography by Randy Hanna » Travel

Tanzania Photo Safari

Randy Hanna — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:38:15 +0000

Aug 2012 brings another safari to Tanzania. This safari will feature the all of the highlights of Tanzania. From the elephant rich Tarangire National Park to Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the famous Serengeti National Park. This safari gets it all including the northern area along the Mara River. If you are interested, check out all of the details here.

45 Days and Counting until Safari time.

Randy Hanna — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:31:32 +0000

It has been a cold snowy past week (actually last week) in the Seattle area. On the heals of this, the 48 hour flu ht me right between the eyes, just as I was planning to travel to San Diego to do some nature photography.

On my mind these days is my next safari in March. I’m leading a private safari focusing on Wild Dogs and Rhinos in Kenya. Operating exclusively in private conversation areas, off-roading and foot tracking will be the order of the day as we strive for outstanding up close and personal photography of these wonderful subjects. We will also be spending time with a local Samburu Village for some wonderful travel shots. Below is a shot from my recent trip to the Mara Plains area. Place this in Google Earth to see where the image was taken at:

1 24.12921S, 35 8.3947E , elev 5182ft.

Drinking in the Mara

Nikon D3s, 200-400 VR @ 200mm, ISO 320, f/8 at 1/320 sec

Cheers and happy photoing.

Not An Animal In Sight

Randy Hanna — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:51:47 +0000

A setting sun and the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro in the background with wonderful cloud formations and not an animal in sight; what’s a guy to do? Looking around the parched river bed, I located the skull of a Wildebeest and decided it was going to be the best that I could do. I placed the skull in an angle that would throw nice shadow off to the left with the setting sun over my shoulder. After the shots were taken, everyone decided to name our find Fred. Fred found his way onto the front of our jeep, going everywhere we went for the rest of the trip. Clearly we were in good hands with Fred on guard.

Our Man "Fred"

Nikon D3s, 24-70mm @ 50mm, ISO 400, f/8 at 1/80 sec, spot metering mode, EV-2/3rds.

Cheers and happy photo’ing

Happy Holidays – Smithsonian Travel to Tanzania

Randy Hanna — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:48:19 +0000

Happy Holidays to All

I’m going to be taking a couple of weeks off, so no (or limited) posting for the next two weeks unless I sneak a photo or two in.

Meanwhile, some exciting news: I will be leading a photo safari for the Smithsonian into Tanzania next December. This will be an exciting adventure and will put me in the bush for Christmas for the first time. You can read about December Smithsonian Photo Safari here.

Last Safari Update – Funny Observations

Randy Hanna — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:43:03 +0000

On each safari, I always learn from things that did not go as planned. All of the items below have funny stories, for the most part, to go with each entry. Just let your mind wonder and I am sure you can conjure up images to go along with tag lines. If you are on a future safari with me, be sure to ask about any of these.

When your taxi driver does not speak English, Swahili, or Arabic and you do not speak Hindi, there is a very good chance that you will not arrive at your desired destination without of lots of effort (rush). No, I’m NOT going to learn Hindi (Dubai).
Dropping your Nikon 14-24mm lens on asphalt in the middle of the night….yes, the open bag hot air syndrome again…Ouch. Bounce went the Nikon and off to Melville for repairs upon my return (Dubai).
Letting the driver put your camera gear in the back of the bus (should always go on your lap). The transfer drivers always want to be most helpful however, lots of bags moving around in the dark of night made for unnecessary risks (Kenya).
Hyperdrive transfer with the new Delkin 16GB COMBAT Drive (could not read the CF card) – needs a firmware fix. Lexar cardreader could read the card.
One day delay from United caused us to miss several planned photographic opportunities in Dubai. Better to have a 6 hour overlay and make the connection than to have a two hour overlay and miss an entire day and night of travel.
Moving camera equipment from hotel room to conditions of high humidity and high heat, serious fogging. Need to allow plenty of time for temp changes between shoots (Dubai).
Do not surrender your camera bag to hotel staff (Dubai, Kenya) ; they don’t understand your investment. God gave us shoulders to carry our camera gear.

That’s the very last trip update for this past trip, yes is has taken some time to get to here. What a great adventure and most importantly, a fun time was had by all with plenty of stories to go around.

Cheers and happy photo’ing.

Happy Thanksgiving To All

Randy Hanna — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:31:57 +0000

Safari Update – What Worked Well On My Last Safari

Randy Hanna — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:00:28 +0000

After each safari I consult my travelers and make a list of what went well, as well as those things that need improvement. For this post, I will highlight what worked well for us or those things that made our lives on safari just a bit better (or a lot in some cases). Before we get to the list, I would like to share the photo below. I seldom have my photo taken, but Steve was able to capture my sheer joy of being in the bush. If I had my way, I often wonder if I could find a way to simply live there.

That Safari Grin

The top fifteen tips or observations of what worked well on the last safari:

Ramadan did not pose a problem while in Dubai. Before you go, spend time learning to work around cultural events in foreign countries.
While Fairview was nice and always my first choice for lodging in Kenya however, you need to stay in the main building (rooms 3 and 5).
Transfers with additional camera equipment between Kenya and Tanzania with Precision Air, was relatively painless.
All coordinated transfers were painless.
Packing and planning well in advance for differing conditions reduced shooting stress.
Mobile camp at Senera (unit) was really special – fast response by Thomson’s to alter location to better support photography clients (BIG PLUS – these guys are simply the best).
Mobile camp at Kekogona was perfect for northern work and river crossings.
Inverters in the trucks are great support.
Amod tracking device was flawless, and worked well on rechargeable batteries.
Hyperspace worked great, less the combat card issue and having one of the units dropped which fractured the hard drive connection point.
Jerimah Beach Hotel in Dubai is THE place to stay (not cheapest)
The maps that Thomson’s provided was used often buy all of the travelers – great resource.
Difficult but rewarding hike up the side of Mount Meru. This was an optional trip for some of my travelers. Great to do if you are in shape.
English-Swahili ‘Useful Phrases, TMP Book Department – TABORA’ – the best book I’ve seen thus far.
A visit to Shangaa, was rewarding as usual.

Cheers and happy photo’ing

Sometimes A Sign Says It All

Randy Hanna — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:27:15 +0000

While walking around the Fairview Hotel in Nairobi bringing to the end of another exciting safari month, I came across this sign located just outside of the stairs leading down the wine cellar. Of course being a wine guy, I had to have a look. What I found was a wonderful old world cellar stocked with mostly European and limited South African wines; seems that they have yet to discover the new world. Anyway, I could not pass up grabbing a photo of the sign – a sign that says it all.

Nikon D3S, 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 6400, 1/25 sec at f/5.0 (hand held)

This image was taken here. Yes, I shot this at ISO 6400 and hand held it at 1/25 sec and without any noise treatment or color correction – straight out of the box, as they say. I have been shooting with the D3S as my primary body (D3 is my backup) for more than two years now and I continue to be amazed at the low noise and its ability to capture fine details in low light. This camera really causes me to push the limits when it comes to shooting in low light conditions. Controlled breathing, strong abs, and solid camera holding positions are the keys to getting images like this. Remember, I am shooting upward at a sign that is over my head and therefore you will see just a bit of angular distortion. I love the colors of the warm light and the details in the post. A slight angular tilt of the camera added some emphasis to the lines.

Cheers and happy photo’ing

From Kauai – The Old Sugar Mill at Koloa

Randy Hanna — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:52:13 +0000

Hello everyone. I’m on Kauai taking a much needed R&R and photo break of sorts. Since arriving, it has been raining with heavy cloud cover every morning and the same at night, less last night. While going for some herbs at the local market, I came upon a view of the old sugar mill from an angle that I had not seen before. Fact is, I have never taken this particular cut-off road since they built it some four years ago. On the first pass, it was pretty flat so I continued on for some shallots and my handy ‘Hawaiian Rub’ for the rack of lamb. I decided to take the same road on the way back to the condo, and man-o-man, did the clouds part and I was treated to some very long shadows and golden light. After a number of shots, I decided to head up to the mill for some close-up shots of the structures. At the gate I was greeted by very forceful looking security guards who made it very clear that I was not to cross the gate. I made a couple of jokes about myself with these guys and before you know it, I was able to take a couple of quick photos and off I had to go. I could have spent hours at the mill, but I was pushing it and so were the guards. After visiting Kauai on an annual basis for nearly some 18 years, I have never been so challenged with the rain and clouds, as this trip. My guided trip deep into the highlands to photograph ‘guardian falls’, was canceled due to all of the rain in the upper reaches of the mountains. Despite the rain, it has been good to catchup on reading and writing.

Koloa Sugar Mill

Nikon D3s, 70-200 f/2.8 @ 150mm, ISO 400, f/8.0 at 1/250 sec

Given the age of the old mill, I thought a B&W conversion would be fitting. I processed the image below in CS5, with little assist from Nik Software, to highlight all of the steel structures giving it some additional depth. Man I just love their control point technology. The control point tools, allows me put additional emphasis right where I want it, without some very complicated photoshop work.

Koloa Sugar Mill

Nikon D3s, 70-200 f/2.8 @ 110mm, ISO 400 f/8 at 1/500 sec

Enjoy and happy photo’ing

Safari Update – 27 Aug 2011 – Quotble Notes

Randy Hanna — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:53:07 +0000

Back home and filled with wonderful memories.

Over the next few postings, I’ll be hitting the highlights of what worked on the trip as well as what did not work or is in need of further exploration. For today, it’s all about those precious quotable quotes from the field. On every safari, there are always one liners that need to be remembered. So here are some of the beauts from the trip:

Kenya: To our driver: Who lives in the large nice houses? Response: “Only the corrupt people.”

Tanzania: Is that a lion or an Ostrich with a tail?

“Haraka Haraka Hyena Baraka”

Warning: Elephants running toward you ARE closer than they appear in your lens.

Is someone going to give us a class on scat identification? There is a nice pile of something over there.

My tent was next to the parade of ants.

Beware of women carrying hoes….I did not take her picture, see……

Kale kakuku kadogo kako kwako kaka (Swahili tongue twister: Is the little chicken at your place my brother?)

Simba mwenda pole ndio mla nyama (A lion that walks slowly is the one who is successful)

Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

—————-

Cheers and happy photo’ing