NOTES FROM ZAMBIA
By STEVE PRICE

BASIC BACKGROUND: In late May I returned from more than two months of serious wildlife photography in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park. The photos posted here are but a fraction of the more than 5,500 images I shot during that trip.

Totaling more than 7,000 square miles, South Luangwa is Zambia’s premier national park, but among Africa’s game viewing safari destinations the park, and indeed much of Zambia itself, rarely grabs any headlines. The park is essentially wilderness, and from the air, much of it appears to be totally untouched by human development. Travel within the park is largely limited to a narrow corridor along the Luangwa River, which flows from its headwaters in the mountains of Tanzania more than 700 miles to its confluence with the Zambezi. For much of the park, the river forms its eastern boundary.

A number of safari camps are located on or near the river, and I spent extended time at two of them, Lion Camp and Kapani Camp, about 30 miles apart, although I visited several others. While these are permanent camps, the Zambia Wildlife Authority, which administers the nation’s parks, allows each permanent camp to operate seasonal “bush camps,” that are temporary and much more primitive.

Wildlife, particularly elephants and hippos, is abundant. Estimates put the number of hippo along the entire Luangwa River at 30,000, with more than 10,000 of these in the park. There are no cheetah in South Luangwa due to the brush and rough terrain, but lion and leopard are not uncommon, and I was able to photograph both on numerous occasions, generally at night. Birdlife is nothing short of phenomenal. Other wildlife of interest to photographers include distinct species of giraffe (Thornicroft’s) and wildebeast (Cookson’s).

PHOTO INFORMATION: For my assignment – to produce a coffee table book of the park and its wildlife – I shot both film and digital equipment, relying entirely on Nikon F5 and N90S film cameras and a Fuji S2 Pro digital camera. All my lenses were Nikon (I have used Nikon equipment since 1975) and ranged from a 24-120mm zoom to a 500mm super telephoto and I relied heavily on a Bogen 441 carbon fiber tripod with a Kirk King Cobra Action Head. Film was Fuji Velvia and Provia F 100. All digital shots (about 1,000) were taken in RAW format, which Fuji reports are at 12 MP.

To carry part of my gear, both on the planes as well as in the field, I used an MP-3 Photo Pack, developed by Moose Peterson at Wildlife Research Photography (760/924-8632). As one who has gone through any number of hard Pelican cases, LowePro and Tamron backpacks, and special photo vests over the past 30 years, the MP-3 proved to be the perfect solution for my requirements in South Luangwa, and it will be with me when I return for another two months of shooting this September. It was well worth the $297.00 I paid for it.

Walking is permitted and encouraged in South Luangwa and a number of my images were taken while on foot (I made more than 40 such treks, most lasting three to four hours). I must admit, however, that I do not recommend walking for serious wildlife photographers because the wildlife is much spookier and obtaining good images is difficult at best, particularly with tripod-mounted equipment.

I also shot a lot from a vehicle, the standard (and normally more successful) way to photograph on most African safaris. For this I kept the 500mm lens mounted on one camera body at all times and held it as we drove. This was my fourth extended trip to film in Africa, and I would not recommend going without having either a 300mm lens with a teleconverter, or a 500mm or 600mm lens. Even in Kenya’s Masai Mara where the game is much more relaxed around vehicles, I still have found a big telephoto to be indispensable.

ADVENTURES: Of course any wildlife filming trip to Africa is an adventure in itself, but in South Luangwa I experienced things in the wild I had not seen on previous Africa trips. Two lionesses made a double kill on two antelope, and on another occasion a lion killed a leopard just 15 feet from my vehicle. Late one afternoon while waiting to photograph the sun setting over a lagoon, I was lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time when two hippos began fighting. I spent nearly five hours one afternoon filming a pack of wild dogs. There were too many encounters with elephants while walking to recount; and of the 5,500 photos I took, at least 1,000 of them were of the nearly 50 different varieties of birds I identified.

It was easily the adventure of my photographic career, and I’m looking forward to returning in September, even though it will be much hotter and drier than during my March-May stay.

If you have any questions about the equipment I use (I have to buy all of it) or just want to discuss African photography, feel free to contact me at bookman@granbury.com.