Are
you thinking about expanding your current operation to capture the
'photographic' market niche? If so, what would you answer to a prospective
client who asks you on the phone today "do you offer photo safaris?"
Yes or no? What does guiding for a Photo Safari really mean?
Well,
let's explore some of these questions and issues. First let's agree
on a definition.
According
to the Etymological definition, a "Safari" is a word deriving
from the Swahili language meaning "journey, expedition,"
and/or from the Arabic, lit. "referring to a journey," safar
"journey." I think that we could agree with a definition
of Photo Safari as "outdoor photography with intensity, dedication
and a twist of adventure".
Outdoor
Photography vs. Photo Safaris
How involved is the Outfitter
We used the term Outdoor Photography but we don't quite like. It is
a very generic, mild, almost insipid way to describe people in the
outdoors carrying cameras. When we instead speak or read the word
Photo Safari, the images come into focus, so to speak. They sharpen,
they almost become a 3D sensation with bright colors, sounds, sunshine
and wild animals. Lots of wild animals. For those of us that grew
up with Africa in their hearts (I crossed the Sahara desert at age
18 with a front wheel drive Renault 850cc) the word safari is what
life should be all about. An adventurous journey.
I feel
that the major difference between Outdoor Photography and a Photo
Safari is truly the level of involvement of the Outfitter. In the
Photo Safari the Outfitter is fully involved. He/she plans, prepares,
studies and explores. The outfitter will be expected to work with
the same attention to details and dedication that he presents to a
hunting client in order to provide the same opportunities for the
photo safari client. Are you ready to do that? A typical Outdoor Photography
tour could be as simple as loading a bunch of tourists on the back
of a truck to see elk feeding in the meadows at 400 yards away. It
is indeed more a Wildlife Viewing operation, which may or may not
have, depending upon luck and other unplanned circumstances, photo
opportunities. This is not my definition of a photo safari.
A photo
Safari outfitter may be required to improve the habitat for the game;
experimenting with new salt licks; testing new feeders set in a natural
way so the images collected will not involve 55 gallons drums; building
blinds like they have never done before. It may be a new niche, but
it will require new work.
Photo
Safaris where
Africa only or worldwide?
Good question. When you type the word "Photo Safari(s)"
on a Google search, the first two pages of results are exclusively
African destinations. Does this mean that the word safari is still
perceived by the general public as an exclusively African experience?
Let's see.
Photo
Safaris were historically linked solely to the African continent.
Many of the African expeditions at the end of the 19th and beginning
of the 20th century proved to be a creative combination of hunting,
reporting, noveling, and geographical and cultural explorations. Africa
was the place and safari was the word.
Photo
safaris today are found in all corners of the world and the consumers
have begun to associate the word 'safari' to a broader variety of
locations and adventures.
However,
let me add a word of marketing caution here. The word safari still
has a very strong and deep bond with a purely African experience.
Thus, if you want to be found by a new prospective client using this
keyword, make sure that you start including 'photo safari' in all
your marketing production: your brochures, your Christmas Cards, your
internet website and your business cards. In short, make sure you
help them associating the word safari to your company name.
The
photo Formats - know your weapons [Please take a moment to take
our Photo Test below]
Know the tools of the trade
Much like it happens in the hunting safari world with the choice of
weapons (bow, rifles, muzzleloaders, etc.), the choice of your client's
photo platform, film and the lenses at his/her disposal, will dictate
the type of animals you may or may not be able to approach. In short,
know the tools-of the-trade.
Let
me test you a bit. So, let's see…. a Hasselblad 6x6 vs a Linhof
6x12? If an 8x10 is a studio camera is a 6x17 a field camera? Wait,
are these numbers in inches, millimeters or centimeters? Centimeters
right! So, 24x36 are centimeters……right? No, those are millimeters.
Can you have the same film speed on a 6x6, a 8x10 and a 24x36? And
again, can you control the speed of the film? But, but, but ……
ok! Stop!
The
point that I am making here, is that "a little knowledge is a
very dangerous tool". If you want to approach a new market niche
and you want to be treated as a true professional, you may have some
studying to do. You don't need to become an expert, but you must have
an honest basic knowledge.
If you
are a hunting outfitter you know how many articles you have read in
your life about the perennial controversy between 30-06 and 270Win.
You know that first caliber mentioned is an expression of a bullet
diameter with the addition of the year of adoption by our military,
while the second is a proprietary Winchester caliber totally different
from the 270 Weatherby. Do you need to be ballistic expert? No, but
it helps a lot to know the basic difference between a 30-06 and 270Win
when you sit around the dinner table. You need to apply the same rule
of thumb to the world of photography. Knowledge is a powerful tool.
This
means that when a new Photo Safari client tells you on the phone that
he works with a certain large format, you should know, without becoming
an expert photographer, what types of limitations his/her choice will
impose on your delivery of good service. The format per se, will not
determine the type of situations and subjects that can be studied
or pursued, but shall greatly influence your professional decisions
on how to approach them, the type of transportation to choose, the
set up, etc.
If I
pay Outfitter money for a hunting trip I expect him to have a basic
ballistic knowledge. Similarly, if I hire your service as a Photo
Safari Outfitter, I expect you to know the basics of the complex world
of Photography. Simple. By the way a phenomenal website with tons
of clear information is http://www.photo.net. Check them out.
Taking
wildlife photos
The main challenge for anybody who guides tourists with cameras is
to be able to bring his/her clients close enough to observe the animals
in their everyday's life routine. How they eat, yawn, sit, mate, sleep
or survive predation. The photographer is trying to 'capture' a slice
of the natural history of the animal by freezing it on film or, on
its newly purchased, memory chip. This should be done without disturbing
the animals or better yet without the animals knowing that they are
being observed.
Aside
from the obvious, there are huge differences between hunting with
a rifle, and hunting with a camera. A hunter may be able to take a
proficient shot at 200 yards. At the same distance most of the photographs
taken will be very challenging and the results (image obtained) will
be borderline useless or very marginal. There are very few lenses
that can bring an animal close. This is where the outfitter comes
in. In fact a more fitting paragon, should be made between archery
hunting and photo safaris. Bow hunters need to get in ranges of 20-30-40
yards, and much of the same will be true for the "cameras hunters."
A client
may ask you "Can I take a good photo of a grouse (12" bird)
at 100 yards? I mean a photograph that will fill the frame, like the
ones we see in National Geographic?" Well according to the calculations
presented in one of the 'bibles' of photography, the Kodak Professional
Photoguide, [another good source of information - and a book you can
buy at Amazon] this would require a mammoth 7500mm telephoto lens!!
A 600mm will cost about $10,000 so, the answer here will be: the outfitter
has to bring you closer. . If your client carries a 200 mm you know
you will need to invest more time, skills, and patience than his/her
richer counterpart who is sporting a top of the line 800mm telephoto
lens.
However, truly sometimes there is no way around it. You just need
more powerful lenses for you cannot get any closer to the subject.
Period. Thus in the list of 'bring along' that you exchange with your
client before their departure, you may end up talking about some of
these equipment-imposed limitations by saying for example ( …
for photograph of small antelopes we recommend a minimum of 500 mm
lens…). The size, the mobility, the natural history and the abundance
of the subject makes a huge difference on the equipment selection,
the film speed and number of hours that will need to be devoted to
a successful photo safari.
So,
once again know your client's equipment.
Not
only animals
However, a photo safari does not mean - lions, and tigers and bears
… oh my. Here again, your knowledge of the equipment used will
help you sending happy clients home. Thus, if you know that there
are certain limitations imposed by the equipment used (lack of high-powered
lenses, large format, impatience of the photographers, etc), you may
want to shift the focus of the photographic experience to more stationary
subject such as trees, flowers, still shots of same area photographed
at different times of the day with different light, etc. You know
your area; be creative and think with the mind of a photographer.
Many times a well-taken image of a majestic tree will express the
heart of a given habitat better that a lousy shot of an animal which
looks like a 'dot' in the bushes.
The
future of Photo Safaris
This market will not die
In the west we say that a hammer, and a handful of nails does not
make you a horse shoer. So, what is a Photo Safari Outfitter? A naturalist,
a photographer, a born again Hunting Outfitter? Most likely a bit
of all the above, but most is a devoted professional that wants to
send their clients home happy. Be the best professional you can be.
You have done it before. This is just another challenge for another
day. Good luck, and if you need us, we are here to help.
Have
fun in our wonderful outdoors, and I will see you on the trail.
