Summary

What Sabi Sands or Mashatu is for leopard photography, Zimanga is for photographing African Wild Dogs! And what is even better news: Almost every April a new litter of pups is born! Nature's Light offers a unique 4 day photography workshop that will focus primarily on photographing the adults hunting, as well as the den where we are likely to see and photograph the young pups play!
WHEN
T.B.C
PRICE
R15.800
FOCUS
WILDLIFE
GROUP SIZE
MINIMUM 2, MAXIMUM 6
INSTRUCTOR TO GUEST RATIO
1:6 MAX
DURATION
4 DAYS
ACCOMMODATION TYPE
Luxury 4 star country inn
NUMBER OF DESTINATIONS
1

In Detail

Wild Dogs of Zimanga
To maximise your learning, we have scheduled this Wildlife Course directly after our Wandering the Wild Coast Landscape Photography Workshop, where participants can join both courses. Those that book both courses even get 10% discount off the Wildlife Workshop price!

To allow the wild dog their rest and privacy, we won't be spending the full four days with them. Instead, we mix this workshop up with wildlife and bird photography from a hide, but when we do game drives we do tend to focus on the iconic African Wild Dog. We aim to have at least two full mornings only with the dogs, and if possible, we aim for another 2 full sessions, either afternoon or morning. Please understand we do not want to be too intrusive and we will base our decisions on the expert suggestions from the local safari guide and a biologist. In between drives/hide sessions, we rest and work on processing images under expert supervision. In the evening seminars covering editing wildlife images are conducted, whilst having a beer off course!.
key highlights
Photograph:
  • African Wild Dog or any of the Big-5 or other animals and birds from a customised photography vehicle, which may go off road to offer you the perfect position to photograph that particular animal.
  • African Wild Dog or any of the Big-5 or other animals and birds from a customised underground photography hide for those amazing shots at eye level!
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Enjoy:
  • Probably the world’s best instructor to participant ratio, maximizing your learning while on tour. For this tour we take a maximum of 4 guests. 
  • Having access to South Africa's first and only 'photographic reserve'. Zimanga private game reserve caters solely and exclusively for photographers. As a result you won't see any other tourist, and the game drives are all about finding the animals of our choice, and then photographing them under the most ideal conditions. In this sense it works differently than regular game drives at other game reserves and national parks, which are 'informative' and try to cover many animal species per drive. In 'our reserve' we can decide to focus on one animal only, let's say 'African Wild Dog' and spend the entire morning following them and photographing them. This certainly stacks the odds in our favour to get good and unique shots of these iconic animals. 
  • The animal photography hides at this Zimanga private game reserve are amongst the world's best, and not like any other 'viewing hide' you have seen before. These are built underground and you are at eye level of the water where the animals come to drink, bath or forage. Fully airconditioned, and equipped with Manfrotto tripods and Benro gimbal heads for your use, they allow for the ultimate in wildlife photography from a hide. 
  • Having highly experienced tutors watching over your shoulders and helping you on the spot as you craft your images of the amazing wildlife Zululand has to offer. 
  • Spending time with like minded people in one of South Africa’s most spectacular places.
  • Go home with a series of unique images of wildlife at eye-level, that you could have taken pretty much nowhere else!

Learn about:
  • Creative Composition in Wildlife Photography: Sadly, composition is often forgotten in Wildlife Photography. Good composition in a wildlife image can turn an ordinary shot into an extra-ordinary image.
  • Bird photography: We will spend a considerable amount of time in the hides where birds are the most prevalent objects, hence we will discuss and attempt bird photography at length. Get ready for that shot of a kingfisher in flight!
  • Basics to advanced techniques in digital wildlife photography. All levels of ability can be catered for. 
  • Workflow & digital asset management. 
  • Post-production using Lightroom, Photo Shop and Nik Software, specifically aimed at enhancing wildlife images

itinerary

NOTE

This itinerary should be seen as 'flexible' and will be modified based upon animal movements, weather forecasts and new hides opening, in order to maximise our photographic opportunities.
Day 1
All participants are expected to meet at noon at the 4 star Ghost Mountain Inn in Mkhuze. We'll have an introductory lunch together, and the instructor will sit with each participant to find out his/her particular objectives from this workshop. In the afternoon, we will go out on our first game drive on the reserve, focussing on an animal of the participants choice, often African Wild Dog
day 2
Around 6:00 am. we will as a group move into the underground Lagoon Hide, to photograph mostly herons, storks, kingfishers, other waterbirds and potentially crocodiles. There will be plenty of time to try out different techniques, such as panning shots, birds in flight, close up as well as wider angle shots, to get a large series of unique images, all shot from a very low angle. After about 3-4 hours we will return to the Ghost Mountain Inn for a big brunch around 10:00, after which you will have some time to rest of refresh. At 12:00 we will meet again for a 'guided' photo editing session, where everyone gets to work on their own images but with an instructor going round giving advice and answering questions. 
At 14:00 we'll set off again where we split up the group. Two will go into one of the hides with one of the reserves photographic guides, the others will enjoy a game drive looking for wild dogs like yesterday's afternoon. 
At 18:00 we'll be back at our accommodation, and after dinner we'll grab a beer and have a comment & critique feedback session. One of the best ways to learn about what works and what doesn't work in wildlife photography, is by hearing other photographer's constructive criticism in an easy going setting.
day 3
This day will be fairly similar to day two, with the only difference being that the morning we'll have the split group where two go into a bird hide, and the others go on game drive, and in the afternoon we all sit in the Lagoon Hide. This is great, as it offers entirely different light conditions over the lagoon compared to the morning session the day before. ​
day 4
At 6:00 am again, we'll be out and about, this time all on a game drive vehicle in search of Zimanga's wild dogs. We'll be back at the accommodation around 9:30, have a quick shower,  pack our bags (for checkout) and have our goodbye brunch. At noon we'll have to say goodbye to each other and everyone moves to their next destination, or home.
dates
T.B.C

Extensions: Please note that the Wandering the Wild Coast Workshop runs back to back with this Zululand Wildlife Photography Workshop.
price
Annual wild dog workshop, fixed date:
R 15.800,- per person (approximately US$ 1090,- as of 1st July 2016). Minimum of two pax required.

Single Supplement: R1400,- subject to availability 

Guided Tour Includes:
  • All Lodging (based upon sharing)
  • All meals and drinks for the duration of the workshop
  • Local tips for guides and for restaurants
  • Photography guidance by a professional photographer and photographic guide from the game reserve
  • All tuition including teaching material and hand-outs
  • All road transport during the workshop in comfortable vehicles
  • All entrance fees and photography permits

Guided Tour Excludes:
  • Airfares to and from nearest airport, and transport to Ghost Mountain Inn, Mkhuze
  • Single room supplement (R1400,-)
  • Non-meal time snacks if purchased on route
  • Possible extra excursions/activities and/or additional days
  • Travel insurances (mandatory!)
  • Photographic gear rental (if required)
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The Nature's Light Terms and Conditions apply to your booking with us. For more information see: 
Nature's Light Terms and Condition