AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 15
After a hot drink and a snack, we drove
off in our 4WD game vehicle with our
camera gear loaded. In the early twilight
which can have you seeing things that
might not be there, just a couple of minutes
away we saw the shadows of lions.
The light was very low so I suggested an
ISO setting of 6400 and Aperture Priority
mode at the widest aperture of the lens. As a
result we were getting a 1/90s shutter speed
or similar. There was some noise on the
smaller sensor cameras and even the 35mm
full-frame sensor battled with this light
level. We had two high-end, pro, full-frame
cameras with us and not surprisingly they
handled this type of situation much better
than the cheaper cameras.
But I whispered to everybody that
image grain was a secondary issue here –
it was getting an image that counted. So
everyone was blazing away with high-
speed motor drives, using ISO settings
they had never, or rarely, used before.
We saw nine lions, a mix of several
females and a couple of young males, and
they played around us for two hours. They
were the most active lions I have ever
seen! Of course the light improved, and at
around the ISO 1600-3200 mark we could
shoot some great quality images. Finally
the sun rose entirely and eventually we
were shooting my favourite default ISO of- What a morning!
After another two hours of driving we
headed back to our lodge with thousands
of images. At brunch our party was abuzz
about our experience from the morning.
Cameras today are only getting better.
AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY MARCH 2016
Photographers are also keener than ever to
improve and to try new photo opportunities.
As a result, we are shooting more amazing
photos of our beautiful world than ever
before. Don’t be shy to push your equipment,
yourself and your creative interests beyond
the text book principles. You might surprise
yourself with a special result that ends up as
the pride of your collection. And who cares if
it’s infused with a bit of grain?
Shoot creatively. ❂Darran and Julia Leal of World Photo
Adventures have been hosting photo tours
to unique locations around the world for
more than 27 years. If you’re interested in a
professionally guided photography tour in
a small group go to:
worldphotoadventures.com.au