Kathy Phipps joined me on safari in August for a few days. August is prime-time in the Luangwa so as expected, the sightings were spectacular! She and her group had particular skills that they wanted to develop during their trip so we focused our attention on certain elements, rather than particular animals or sightings. Kathy’s Flickr page shows lots more of her great photos, but some of her favourites are below. She wrote this about her trip:
If you love viewing wildlife without crowds, a safari in South Luangwa National Park (SLNP) should be on your bucket list. But if you are a photographer (amateur or professional), the item on the top of your bucket list should be a photo safari in SLNP with Edward Selfe. As both a guide and photographer, Ed was able to find wildlife but best of all, he was able to position us so that we had the best photo opportunity possible. Unlike most other safaris, Ed’s trips are customized to the needs and wants of the group. If the light was perfect we would use the light, if he expected unique animal behavior we would wait, if we were tired of antelopes we would move on, if we wanted a carmine bee-eater in flight we could shoot until we were happy. This type of customization is simply not possible when you are sharing a vehicle with non-photographers. While Ed’s guiding and photography skills are outstanding, what made our four days with Ed so special were Ed’s charm and wit. We enjoyed SLNP and Ed so much that we are already planning a return trip in 2019.
When we booked our trip with Ed we had some specific goals. We wanted to learn how to take night photos, use backlight and we also wanted to take more photos of animals that included their natural surroundings. We accomplished each of these goals and have continued to use our new skills during all of our other adventures.
Thanks so much Kathy for writing up your trip, and I look forward to seeing you again in 2019!
