Tuli Nature Photography Workshop

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Limited to 6 photographers this Nature Photography Workshop includes a number of truly unique photographic and wilderness activities.

This four-day workshop takes place in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve in Botswana and will give you the chance to truly immerse yourself in nature and focus on your wildlife photography.

During the process of compiling a 12 image nature photography portfolio Gerry and Andrew will guide you through:

Tuli Nature Photography Workshop

Working with a specific goal in mind, and with the help of your facilitators, workbook and interaction with like minded people you will be in the perfect position to improve your own nature and wildlife photography skills.

Highlights of this workshop includes:

This Nature Photography Workshop will take place on:

• Information
• Detailed Itinerary
• Recommended Equipment
• Destination Info

• What’s included:

  • Nature photography workshop, manual and all activities
  • Four nights accommodation on a sharing basis
  • All meals and game drive snacks
  • Drinks including soft drinks, water, beer, wine and selected spirits
  • Return road transfers to and from the Northern Tuli Game Reserve (from Johannesburg)
  • Two photographic facilitators and two local guide

  What’s not included:

  • Gratuities (at your discretion)
  • Personal expenses
  • Travel Insurance
  • Should you choose to arrange your own transport to and from the venue this will be for your cost.

• Day 1:  Arrival in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve

  We leave Johannesburg early morning and then drive through to either the Platjan or Pont Drift border post.

  After our arrival at Tuli Wilderness we will enjoy lunch and then head out on our first afternoon game drive.  This drive will allow us to get to know each other, give us a chance to discuss everybody’s photographic goals for the weekend and get a glimpse of what our private concession has to offer us.

  Upon our return to camp, just before dinner, your facilitators will do a short presentation to share the itinerary for workshop, discuss the various photographic activities you will be taking part in and share some of their own images.

  During the 4 days in Tuli your facilitators will guide you, through the various activities and crit sessions, as you work on compiling a portfolio of ten nature images.  Working with a specific goal in mind, and with the help of your facilitators and workbook, you will be in the perfect position to improve your own nature and wildlife photography skills.

  After dinner there will be time for a few drinks around the camp fire and then off to bed.

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  Day 2:  A walk next to the Limpopo River and an Afternoon Game Drive 

  After a quick early morning cup of coffee we will head off to the banks of the Limpopo River where we will spend the morning on foot as we set out to photograph the landscapes, rocky outcrops, river banks and massive trees in the area.

   

  

   

  Breakfast will be served upon our return to camp follow by the first ‘portfolio building session’.  During these sessions your facilitators will assist and guide you in choosing the correct images from a shoot, processing them and assist with any other photographic issues you might want to discuss.

  After lunch you will have a few hours during which you can kick back and relax or walk around the camp in search of more photographic opportunities.

  During the afternoon game drive we will focus on photographing wildlife but with specific photographic goals in mind.  These include photographing animal portraits, animals in their environment and a number of other specific goals to help you look at your subjects differently and improve your wildlife photography.

  When we return to camp we will enjoy dinner, a few drinks around the camp fire and then off to bed.

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  Day 3:  Game Drive, Photowalk and a true Wilderness Experience

  After a quick early morning cup of coffee we will again head off on a game drive to photograph wildlife.  Without having to worry about other vehicles, radio chatter or lodge schedules we can take our time as we work on getting various types of images while trying various photographic techniques.

   

  

   

  Breakfast will be served upon our return to camp follow by the first ‘portfolio building session’.  During these sessions your facilitators will assist and guide you in choosing the correct images from a shoot, processing them and assist with any other photographic issues you might want to discuss.

  After lunch we will have a small break to get our gear together before heading out on a truly one of a kind photo walk which will see is spending the evening in the African wilderness, under a canopy of stars.

  A short drive will take us to the base or Eagle Rock from where we will set out on an afternoon walk, always accompanied by armed rangers, which will take us to one of the most amazing vantage points you can imagine – height above the open plains of Tuli.

  During the walk we will have the opportunity to no only photograph whatever game we might find on foot but also the landscapes and the smaller subjects we are bound to find en route.  Walking in the African wilderness is a truly humbling experience and the photo opportunities are different to what you might be used to – a magical experience.

   

  

   

  Once at the top of Eagle Rock, and after a nice cold drink, we will have lots of photographic opportunities ranging form amazing landscapes and macro images to abstracts and black eagles that nest just below our vantage point.  Once we are done we will continue our walk past some amazing landscapes and rock features which historically also includes a number of brown hyena dens.

  Our wilderness experience continues when we arrive at our ‘camp’ for the evening.  Set in a protective rocky amphitheater we will enjoy a true bush dinner prepared by the camp staff and ranger.  After dinner our focus will shift to low light photography as we point our cameras skyward to photograph the beauty of the African sky.  With virtually zero light pollution we will be able to capture amazing star trails, time lapse and milky way images.

  This type of photography is not as difficult as people think and through the guidance of your facilitators, and some amazing features to include in your images, you will walk away with amazing images and a lot of new tips and photographic tricks.

  We will spend the night under wide open skies, next to a camp fire, as we truly immerse ourselves in an African wilderness experience – an amazing way to compliment our nature photography activities.

   

  

   

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  Day 4: Photowalk and a Game Drive

  After a night under the stars, and a quick cup of coffee, we will set off on a walk that will take us back down to the open plains of Tuli.  During the walk we will specifically focus on macro photography and pay attention to the smaller subjects we find.

  A short drive will bring us back to camp after which breakfast will be served.  After a shower and bit of down time we will meet up for the day’s ‘portfolio building session’.  By this time you will have a huge amount of images to work through and, as with previous days, your facilitators will guide you through choosing images, processing them and ultimately building your own mini nature photography portfolio.

  After lunch we will set off on our final game drive during which you will have the opportunity to focus on whatever photographic technique or type if images you are still looking for.  As always your facilitators will be close by should you need any advise, suggestions or just friendly conversation.

  When we return to camp we will enjoy dinner, a few drinks around the camp fire and then off to bed.

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  Day 5: Presentation and Departure

  The morning will start with an early cup of coffee after which each person will have the opportunity to present their portfolio of 10 images to the rest of the group.

  After having had four days of amazing photographic opportunities, guidance from the workshop facilitators, and sharing time with like minded people you will have had the perfect platform from which to focus on your own nature photography.

  Working towards the goal of putting together, and presenting, your own portfolio of images is one of the very best ways in which you will learn and grow as a photographer and more than that you will walk away from this workshop with not only new techniques, inspiration and an amazing wilderness experience but a mini portfolio of your best images.

  After the portfolio presentations we will enjoy our last breakfast in Tuli before traveling back to Johannesburg where we will arrive around 17h00.

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• For this Nature Photography Workshop we recommend the following equipment:

  • DSLR Camera
  • Wide angle lens in the 14mm to 35mm range – preferably with wide aperture for stars
  • A macro lens
  • A 70 to 200mm lens
  • Sturdy Tripod and tripod head
  • Clik Elite Escape Backpack
  • Cleaning Kit in case of dirt getting into camera
  • Laptop with your choice of processing software

  The above are purely recommendation and by no means a requirement to join this workshop.  The goal is to improve your nature photography regardless of what equipment you have so please bring whatever cameras and lenses you have as you will almost certainly use it at some point during the trip.

  If you have any questions on equipment please feel free to contact Gerry.

  If you need to rent any photographic equipment for this workshop check out the Wild Eye Rentals.

• Tuli Wilderness

  Our workshop will take place on a private 5,500 hectare concession in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve.

  The Northern Tuli Game Reserve boasts the world’s largest elephant population on privately owned land and elephant viewing is unparalleled with some incredible sightings, providing fantastic photographic opportunities. Lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted and brown hyaena are amongst the many carnivore species that occur on the reserve.

  Tuli Wilderness’ iconic Bat-eared fox is often spotted on night-time game drives. Large herds of free-roaming eland, zebra and wildebeest are seen regularly and many other plains game are also found in the area.

  Birding at Tuli Wilderness is excellent with over 370 species identified in the area. Species range from Pel’s Fishing Owl, Secretarybird, African Hawk Eagle and Southern Ground-Hornbill to Three-banded Courser and Dusky Lark. We have a resident pair of breeding Verreaux’s (Black) Eagles on the concession.

  Whilst the dominant cover is Mopane, the tall Apple-leaf and gigantic Mashatu trees are numerous and groves of Acacia occur in some areas of Tuli. The Sesame bush, with its swollen stems and angular stiff branches grows prolifically alongside the rocky ridges.

  Tuli Wilderness borders on the Limpopo River in the south and on the Motloutse River in the east and many small tributaries of these rivers criss-cross the land in between. The landscapes are diverse ranging from riverine forests through alluvial floodplains to Mopane veld and interesting sandstone ridges.

  The Tuli area is rich in archaeological heritage and beautiful San rock art sites have been discovered alongside numerous archaeological sites dating back from the Stone Age. Scattered artifacts are still being discovered over the concession.

  Game viewing is excellent during the drier months of April to October. This is also the best time to participate on professionally-guided walking wilderness trails and tracking courses. The southern night-skies appear to be studded with more stars than during the other seasons. The stark beauty of the landscape towards the end of the dry season is synonymous with the Tswana word “tuli” (meaning dust).

  Tuli Wilderness’ ‘green season’ occurs from November to March and this is when the African bush puts on a whole new look. Most animals produce their young while the migrant birds return to their sunny southern African summer homes.

  Once the rains return to the region, the bush lays a lush green floral carpet and the sky is spectacularly blue, all combining to make this a special season to visit Tuli Wilderness Trails.

  Accomodation

  Our camp is located along the shady floodplain of the Limpopo River under the many massive riverine trees including the magnificent Mashatu and tall Apple-leaf trees.

  Game, including elephants, leopard, bushbuck, bush pigs, warthogs and African Wild Cats, can be seen drinking at the waterhole just below the camp.

  Birders will be pleasantly rewarded with sightings of many species occurring in this camp’s habitat.  These include Meyer’s Parrot, Meve’s Starlings, Southern Black Tit, African Mourning Dove, African Scops-Owl visit all year and summer brings visitors like Broadbilled Roller, Eurasian Golden Oriole, Woodland Kingfisher and Levalliant’s Cuckoo. Raptors include Little Sparrowhawk and Gabar Goshawk.

  The unfenced camp offers comfortable accommodation in five fully serviced safari-style tents.

  • All of the tents have two single beds, fans and both electric and hurricane lamps
  • All of the tents have en suite showers and flush toilets
  • All bed linen (duvets) and towels are provided

   

  

  

  

If you are looking for a truly unique African nature and photographic experience then you have found the workshop for you!

If you are still looking for a reason to join us check out this video we put together during one of our previous workshop.

Request info!             Book now!

We look forward to welcoming you on our Nature Photography Workshop!