A very cool experience!
On a tour last year in Tanzania Africa, we were working the trails in a great park called Lake Maranyara. We stop for our lunch at a group area near the dried up lake, so I quickly “wolfed” down my chicken and snacks, and started working the area on foot.
Our Guide
Nickson gave me a bit of rope, but said not to move out of sight. Well, I stretched it a bit! On the way into the lunch area we photographed some bee-eaters from a “high point of view” in the safari truck. I knew for a fact I would never be happy with these images, so trekking back to this location on foot was a bit of a risk. Eventually I did get yelled at!
No tripod
Since I left my support kit at home, I was working hand held, and crawling on the brush near the Little Bee-eaters favorite perch. Nudging in closer as the birds were very tolerant with me, I finally got into a suitable angle, (low), and a good distance that I was happy with. ( this process usually take up to hours, but I was in a great position in about 10 minutes.) – and no hide needed!
3 Birds
These birds are so active, eating and hunting non-stop through the mid afternoon. Some light cloud cover became my friend, as diffused light mid-day is the ultimate. I had seen many bee-eaters eating everything but bees, so this was a cool find.
This was an excellent location to wander and shoot. The birds were familiar with people, and unafraid. An excellent day! (Tripod on my next trip and my awesome Jobu Pro Head)
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- Little Bee-eater
Raymond Barlow Photography Tours will connect you with the wildlife photography that you dream about, Tanznaia, Costa Rica, Newfoundland, India, or the Grizzly Bears of Alaska.
We offer several tours around the world, private workshops, group rates. Please review the latest tour info on this webpage, and thanks for your visit here with “Focus on Wildlife”.
Raymond Barlow
Ray Barlow's passion for capturing birds and wildlife began at the Manila Zoo in 2004. Since then he has established himself as a professional bird and wildlife photographer. Ray is based near to Toronto Canada and hosts photography travel tours and workshops around the world. He goes to places like Yellowstone, Tanzania, Costa Rica, India, and British Columbia. Action photography including animals in chase or birds such as hummingbirds in flight is Ray's specialty. Now being sponsored by Jobu Design gimbal Heads.
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