Testing my new camera at the Nairobi National Park

[optig]

I recently returned to Nairobi National Park to try out my new camera. I must say it is an improvement from the previous one.

I stayed at Emakoko Lodge for the second time and it was excellent. The food was especially yummy.

The rhino and lion sightings were particularly good.

[AndrewB]

I would be interested to know what the new camera is, if you don't mind sharing?

[TonyQ]

Some lovely photos there @optig

You did very well for Lions and Rhinos 

[Dave Williams]

The Rhino shot is excellent, a great point of view and framed shot IMO.

I know it's difficult when you are trying to concentrate on the subject but keep an eye on the horizon too, especially if the shot includes water. You can of course also straighten them out later in post processing.

[Dave Williams]

Liked the Rhino shot so much I have tweaked it slightly to give the one on the right a bit more room and light. Hope you don't mind.

[Kitsafari]

@optig good shots Owen! the camera seems to be working its magic. what equipment did you get this time? 

[Thursday's Child]

I too really liked the rhino shot @optig In fact I quite liked it with the right-hand rhino almost just a sillouette against the sky- I think it gives a good feel for how impressive an animal the rhino is.

[optig]

@AndrewB@KitsafariI bought a Fujifilm XS10. It is much smaller, weighs half as much, and takes much sharper pictures compared to my previous one which I had for 7 years.

[optig]

@TonyQ@Thursday's ChildThank you so much.

Edited October 12, 2023 by optig

[optig]

@Dave WilliamsThank you for the compliment. The edited photo looks much better. I am still a novice when it comes to photography but improving.

[AndrewB]

2 hours ago, optig said:

......Fujifilm XS10. It is much smaller,

Fairly certain this is the model a friend bought and I had a play with a year or so ago. I was very impressed (surprised actually, being a long time Canon user and never held a Fujifilm before). Her photography is mainly landscapes and portraits and she uses a small zoom. What lens (es) are you using @optig

[optig]

20 hours ago, AndrewB said:

Fairly certain this is the model a friend bought and I had a play with a year or so ago. I was very impressed (surprised actually, being a long time Canon user and never held a Fujifilm before). Her photography is mainly landscapes and portraits and she uses a small zoom. What lens (es) are you using @optig

@AndrewBIt is a beginner 17-70mm F/28 lense.

[AndrewB]

1 hour ago, optig said:

@AndrewBIt is a beginner 17-70mm F/28 lense.

Good results with this camera and lens combination.

I hope you won't mind me making a few suggestions?

Take pictures, and then more. It doesn't matter what the subject is, cows, goats, birds in the garden. The more you take the more you will learn and then be in a position to grab the really good subjects.

Play around with a smaller aperture, stop down to f8, f11. More depth of field. Let the ISO run higher, modern kit can manage higher ISO so well. Over 1000 ISO can give great results that only fall over if you want to crop heavily or print on a large (ish) paper.

Read what other people with your camera are using as "go to" settings for wildlife. (I bought a new camera this year and spent ages watching Youtube videos to help get my head around the huge range of options I had available before my next trip. Kenya last February)

I like a "warmer" picture when in Africa. You can do this in the camera by playing with the white balance or later (on the computer, tablet or even phone).

The beauty of modern, digital, photography is that we can snap away and take hundreds if not thousands of photographs without having to worry about changing rolls of film and waiting to see what the results look like. It is immediate. I have my camera linking to my tablet and can then look over pictures on a bigger screen immediately. I think you can do this with the Fujifilm remote app (certainly on Android).

Enjoy!

[optig]

20 hours ago, AndrewB said:

Good results with this camera and lens combination.

I hope you won't mind me making a few suggestions?

Take pictures, and then more. It doesn't matter what the subject is, cows, goats, birds in the garden. The more you take the more you will learn and then be in a position to grab the really good subjects.

Play around with a smaller aperture, stop down to f8, f11. More depth of field. Let the ISO run higher, modern kit can manage higher ISO so well. Over 1000 ISO can give great results that only fall over if you want to crop heavily or print on a large (ish) paper.

Read what other people with your camera are using as "go to" settings for wildlife. (I bought a new camera this year and spent ages watching Youtube videos to help get my head around the huge range of options I had available before my next trip. Kenya last February)

I like a "warmer" picture when in Africa. You can do this in the camera by playing with the white balance or later (on the computer, tablet or even phone).

The beauty of modern, digital, photography is that we can snap away and take hundreds if not thousands of photographs without having to worry about changing rolls of film and waiting to see what the results look like. It is immediate. I have my camera linking to my tablet and can then look over pictures on a bigger screen immediately. I think you can do this with the Fujifilm remote app (certainly on Android).

Enjoy!

@AndrewBThank you, I will definitely try this out.