Photographing Tanzania — Jonas' complete guide to unforgettable safari photos
I have taken thousands of guests on game drives by now. And I have seen one pattern: the people who take the most beautiful photos are not always those with the most expensive equipment. They are the people who listen, who wait patiently, who know when to put the camera down and just look.
Here is everything I have learned in 20 years.
Light is everything — plan your game drives around it
The Serengeti has two golden hours: the first 90 minutes after sunrise and the last 60 minutes before sunset. During those periods the light is soft, warm and direct — the light that makes every photo better.
The problem: many lodges serve breakfast at 7:30 am. As a guide I make sure my guests are in the vehicle at 6:00 am, before breakfast. Discuss this explicitly with your guide before departure. The best photos are taken before others are awake.
Midday light (11:00–15:00) is flat and hard. This is the time to relax, leave the vehicle at a picnic, or simply enjoy the landscape. Try not to photograph wildlife during this period — the results are disappointing.
Camera settings for wildlife
Always use the fastest shutter speed your light allows. Wildlife moves — a leopard leaping from a tree, a cheetah hunting, an elephant drinking. Motion blur is the most common photo mistake on safari.
My basic settings for most situations: - Shutter speed: minimum 1/500 second, preferably 1/1000 - ISO: let your camera adjust automatically — modern cameras are good at high ISO - Aperture: f/5.6 to f/8 for most situations - Use continuous autofocus (AI Servo on Canon, AF-C on Sony/Nikon)
For sunrise and sunset photos: use a slower shutter speed and a tripod (or beanbag on the vehicle window ledge).
The beanbag — the cheapest accessory with the biggest impact
A beanbag is a small bag filled with rice or beans that you rest on the car window edge as camera stabilisation. Much better than a tripod in a vehicle — you can pan and position quickly. Costs €15, has more impact than an expensive lens.
Do not always zoom in — context is also story
Most safari photographers zoom in maximally on every animal. Understandable — but not always the best choice. A lion in its environment, with the vast plains behind it, tells a more complete story than a portrait that could just as well have been taken at a zoo.
Alternate: wide context, medium shot, close-up. The series tells more than one perfect photo.
Wait for the moment — not the animal
The most beautiful wildlife photos require patience. Not patience to wait for an animal — patience to wait for the right moment. That moment is when an animal does something: hunts, drinks, fights, tends a calf, or simply looks at the camera unexpectedly.
I always tell my guests: engine off, camera ready, but do not talk. When we find a lion resting in the shade, I wait. Sometimes ten minutes, sometimes an hour. And then it stands up, stretches and yawns — and that is the photo.
The mistake everyone makes
Everyone photographs the first lions, elephants and giraffes with shaking hands and racing hearts. Understandable. But after two game drives the routine improves — and then you notice that the most beautiful photos are still to come.
My advice: on the first morning, deliberately put the camera down for 30 minutes. Look. Ask me why this animal is here, what it eats, how old it is. Understanding what you see makes you a better photographer afterwards.
What I promise you
As your guide on safari I make sure you are in the best location, in the best light, when something is about to happen. But you have to take the photo. Camera ready, patience maintained, pressing at the right moment — that is your job. My job is to arrange everything so that moment comes.