African Safari- Kenya October,2023

[Dale D]

Hi Dale...I do remember that you went just a few years ago, ( if I remember correctly).....that looks like a the trip of a lifetime...now my wife wants me to take her there more than ever after showing her this...hoping to make it in the next few years....you did get some great shots!

Hi Mark
This was our 14th safari! We are addicted to African safaris. We've been to just about every country there at least once and often more than that. Our last trip was during COVID, Tanzania 2021 for the migration river crossings ,and we went through hell to travel like that. We were even tested with nasal swabs while in the field!

If you go, I'd be happy to advise. You can always contact me on the private conversation part of the forum.
Thanks for watching.

Dale

 

[thusly]

Thank you for watching my video.

I used a Really Right Stuff tripod and ball head.

Thanks! Really perfect combination of video and photography - diverse skills demonstrated! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Dale D]

Thanks! Really perfect combination of video and photography - diverse skills demonstrated! Thanks for sharing!

My learning progression- First came photography but I found out that viewers got bored with just slide shows, so next came timelapse, a wonderful hobby taking hours of time doing and processing, then came astrophotography, another learning challenge, and finally, video editing, the last frontier for me. Now I am able to keep the attention of my viewers longer!

Dale

 

[thusly]

You certainly captured mine! Thanks for sharing your craft - extremely well done!

 

[SmilingOgre]

Magnificent!

 

[Dale D]

Magnificent!

Thanks Ogre! Thank you for watching. Feels free to comment- likes, dislikes etc.

 

[SmilingOgre]

Thanks Ogre! Thank you for watching. Feels free to comment- likes, dislikes etc.

I like it all! Excellent sequencing, excellent timing, great audio choices. Nice mix of people, places, animals, and activities telling a great story. Have no idea how you got the stabilized video while driving, amazing! Your photography skills have been established so that part is a given.

 

[Dale D]

I like it all! Excellent sequencing, excellent timing, great audio choices. Nice mix of people, places, animals, and activities telling a great story. Have no idea how you got the stabilized video while driving, amazing! Your photography skills have been established so that part is a given.

I was shocked at how well the Osmo Action (like a Go Pro) camera stabilized the bone jarring rides through the deep trenches and constant ruts. I am really impressed with DJI's stabilization abilities. The camera was whacked all over the place during these filming. Even the main dirt roads were too bumpy to shoot a regular camera. I could barely hold on with one hand to the handrail and hold the Osmo Action up on a selfie stick to film as stable as I could hold it.
As far as timing, I knew I had a lot of material so I shortened the still images to approx. 2:25 seconds. The cross/dissolve transitions helped smooth it out. Normally I would have preferred 3 seconds screen time for a still image. I have polled viewers here on the forum in prior posts and everyone liked 4 seconds. That's way too long for a fast-paced film for my tastes.

It is these comments that I value for learning for the next video.

I am concerned about some audio choices such as Louis Armstrong's estate coming after me but I never monetize these so nobody is really hurt. (I used his song for closing credits).

 

[smbishop]

Thank you for sharing this experience. When I saw your initial photos, I thought that everywhere you went, you were surrounded by tour groups in vehicles. From your description, this wasn't the case. Your video was a wonderful mini-vacation during my Thanksgiving break.

The closest I have come to your experience was a two week stay at Camp Denali
Alaska Lodging | Camp Denali at the end of a 90 mile dirt road in Denali National Park. Also a luxury experience that caters to its customers (past presidents and other VIP).

I'll put yours on my bucket list, at 60 there is still time!

 

[SmilingOgre]

I was shocked at how well the Osmo Action (like a Go Pro) camera stabilized the bone jarring rides through the deep trenches and constant ruts. I am really impressed with DJI's stabilization abilities. The camera was whacked all over the place during these filming. Even the main dirt roads were too bumpy to shoot a regular camera. I could barely hold on with one hand to the handrail and hold the Osmo Action up on a selfie stick to film as stable as I could hold it.
As far as timing, I knew I had a lot of material so I shortened the still images to approx. 2:25 seconds. The cross/dissolve transitions helped smooth it out. Normally I would have preferred 3 seconds screen time for a still image. I have polled viewers here on the forum in prior posts and everyone liked 4 seconds. That's way too long for a fast-paced film for my tastes.

It is these comments that I value for learning for the next video.

I am concerned about some audio choices such as Louis Armstrong's estate coming after me but I never monetize these so nobody is really hurt. (I used his song for closing credits).

I think it held a great pace and timing. Regarding the audio recording, I wouldn't worry too much. It totally depends on the artist or the artist's survivors. I was talking once with Ted Nugent once and mentioned that I'd love to play one of his songs in a veterans benefit and his response was "I insist you play it!". Usually, if there is an objection the first action is simply to have the audio removed. Many artists consider the use of their material to be free advertising especially if there are no proceeds to tap into. That Osmo footage cut nicely with the Z8 footage. Bravo per your editing!!!

 

[Dale D]

Thank you for sharing this experience. When I saw your initial photos, I thought that everywhere you went, you were surrounded by tour groups in vehicles. From your description, this wasn't the case. Your video was a wonderful mini-vacation during my Thanksgiving break.

The closest I have come to your experience was a two week stay at Camp Denali
Alaska Lodging | Camp Denali at the end of a 90 mile dirt road in Denali National Park. Also a luxury experience that caters to its customers (past presidents and other VIP).

I'll put yours on my bucket list, at 60 there is still time!

Dear smbishop:

Firstly, all national parks (such as the Masai Mara) have many camps of varying levels of luxury or lack thereof. They are all out to please their guests with good game drives. They have all cooperated by establishing a radio channel that is always open and they will announce a sighting! Once this sighting goes out to all of the vehicles they race to the location. So we had to fight off other vehicles at times when a rare sighting (e.g.: a leopard, or cheetah with cubs) was announced over the radio. Often, there would be 15-20 vehicles trying to see and position their vehicle for photos. Every vehicle would be jockeying for a good position. For sighting such as a migration crossing of wildebeests at the the Mara River there could be upwards of 75 vehicles!

For the most part, our vehicle was mostly always alone on the roads far from camp, and out in the middle of a huge space the size of Connecticut where you could see in any direction forever! If you were not near the announced sighting, it would be too far to drive before the animal left the area or went in the bushes and hid.

My advice is that you should not delay a bucket list item. There are camps that cater to every budget. Age 60 (I am 85) would be ideal. You need to climb into and out of high vehicles, and of the most part there is no hiking.

I am happy to advise by personal correspondence should you need some input.

Dale

 

[Chrislaf]

Well done Dale! I enjoyed the collection of stills, Timelapses and video in this compilation. Looks like you are enjoying and making good use of your Z8 and new lens. It’s too bad you cannot use your own drone (sub 250g) for non safari shots for example the shots of the lodges.

Chris

 

[Dale D]

Well done Dale! I enjoyed the collection of stills, Timelapses and video in this compilation. Looks like you are enjoying and making good use of your Z8 and new lens. It’s too bad you cannot use your own drone (sub 250g) for non safari shots for example the shots of the lodges.

Chris

Great to hear from you Chris:

Not being able to use the Mini 2 was a blow, but I really didn't expect that it would actually be confiscated at Kenya Customs in Nairobi Airport. I went through 2 hours of absolute hell getting it back. In order to retrieve it, I had to get to the airport 4 hours before flight time. I had a driver from our tour company who absolutely saved me! He stuck by me through a dizzying round of steps I would never have been able to do on my own. I first had to go to my own airlines for boarding passes to prove I was leaving the country and not sneaking the drone in for sale or use). The check in did not open until 9:30 PM for an 11:00 PM departure! There was already a line! After finally getting the boarding pass, he drove me to the other terminal where the Mini was stored, and where came into the country. Parking was a problem. I had to sign out my drone. It was in a huge metal cabinet with at least another 50 or 60 drones and it was bubble wrapped so we had trouble recognizing it. After several minutes of searching the cabinet, we found the drone.Then it had to be unwrapped, signed out in their huge ledger book, and I had to pay a storage fee! then back to the car, and back to the departure terminal. I was really ready to just sacrifice it but I wound up getting it back.

I was lucky in that at both lodges there were professional photographers who worked for the lodge to help guests. They both agreed to do a flight over the lodge back and forth for me, and that was what I used in this film.

I'm glad that you watched the video, and took note of the many shots where there was a bird in flight or a leaping impala, or cheetah. Those shots would have been totally impossible with my old Nikon D750 DSLR at 6 fps. These freeze frame shots are taken at 30 fps RAW!!! It was also immensely important to be able to use the 600mm lens.

I should also add that drones are becoming more of a threat to countries due to terrorists such as the Houthies in Yemen, and of course, the Kenyan government is afraid that drones are being used to find ivory bearing animals such as elephants and rhinos.

Dale

 

[IFlied]

Magnificent photography !
Magnificent experience !
Thank you for sharing !

 

[SWTSU]

Fantastic work!!!! That must have been a blast. So jealous, haha!