landscape and wildlife.
Namibian Deserts and Wildlife
PLEASE NOTE this trip is postponed until 2022 due to Coronavirus and social distancing.
In conjunction with Natures Images, join us in the sweeping dunes, rocky outcrops and huge skies of Namibia. With a little patience, the wildlife that can be found within this often dramatic landscape makes it a truly engaging place to visit. Photos courtesy of Natures Images.
DETAILS
The stunning landscapes will, naturally, be on our agenda. However with desert-adapted Elephants and Giraffe, fascinating reptiles of the dunes and barren coastlines bursting with Flamingo or teeming with Fur Seals offer variety alongside the traditional game to be found in the country’s flagship Reserve of Etosha. This will be a truly immersive experience in one of the driest and dramatic corners of the African continent.
Group size
This photography workshop holds a maximum group size of 6. With two photographic guides this offers an exceptional 3 to 1 guest to guide ratio.
Fitness level
Physical activity will be kept to a minimum however there will be early starts and long strecthes of driving between accomodations.
Accomodation
We will be staying in a combination of high quality lodges, hotels and comfortable guest houses depending on our location.
The stunning landscapes will, naturally, be on our agenda. However with desert-adapted Elephants and Giraffe, fascinating reptiles of the dunes and barren coastlines bursting with Flamingo or teeming with Fur Seals offer variety alongside the traditional game to be found in the country’s flagship Reserve of Etosha. This will be a truly immersive experience in one of the driest and dramatic corners of the African continent.
Group size
This photography workshop holds a maximum group size of 6. With two photographic guides this offers an exceptional 3 to 1 guest to guide ratio.
Fitness level
Physical activity will be kept to a minimum however there will be early starts and long strecthes of driving between accomodations.
Accomodation
We will be staying in a combination of high quality lodges, hotels and comfortable guest houses depending on our location.
GUIDES
Richard Peters is a Nikon Ambassador with a style that often favours dramatic light and contrast. He offers a relaxed, down-to-earth approach to his guiding and has won multiple international awards including twice in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year. He is also one of the only British photographers to have recieved the accolade of European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, alongside being a judge for both that and other international photography competitions.
Tom Way is professional photographer and Natures Images guide who has seen success and awards in various competitions, including the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year. He favours a fine art style approach to his wildlife images and regularly exhibites his work at art fairs around the country.
TESTIMONIALS
N Kingston
As a fan of Richard Peters’ work I was delighted when my wife booked a 6 hour one-to-one workshop for my birthday. I have enjoyed taking wildlife photographs for a long time, gradually improving but realised I was taking the same old photographs. It was time for a new approach, good advice and a fresh pair of eyes. Upon arrival to our workshop, Richard bought me a coffee and we sat down to a short portfolio review. Richard looked at how I had composed, cropped and processed my images using Lightroom and suggested options and alternatives. It was a fantastic eye opener to have professional opinion and critique and Richard shared his technical skills and passion for photography, along with some methods of using light creatively. This Lightroom overview helped me learn some great shortcuts, which have since made a big improvement to my workflow. A run through of important camera settings, lots of questions from me and lots of great answers from Richard and we set off with our cameras to put the theory into practice. We soon spotted a very co-operative heron in some great light, I snapped away listening to Richards tips and it was great to see my shot then the next shot with Richards suggestions incorporated (you could really see the difference). The afternoon ended with an amazing sunset and, taking Richards advice, I waited until the sun had dropped low enough to experiment with backlighting. The 6 hours flew by and it was a fantastic day, with advice and encouragement from Richard throughout, and some great shots on the camera. Richard’s knowledge, and ability to pass it on in easy to understand ways, made this a valuable experience for me to push my photograph forward and help turn the same old photos into something new. Thank you!
K Bangs
As a relative newcomer to the world of photography, I booked a one-to-one with Richard with only 4 months experience of using a DSLR camera.
My aim was to improve my overall understanding of the different settings, including manual, with an overall objective to improve my wildlife photography (off the auto setting!) prior to my impending holiday to Africa. One of the specific issues I had been finding tricky was focusing on moving subjects, Richard soon put me on the right track and resolved this.
Richard also provided me with lots of well explained advice around different camera settings and image composition, which we put into practice throughout the day. I opted for the image review at the start of the session, I found this particularly useful as it helped highlight any areas that needed development during the session and also increased my confidence through the constructive feedback. Overall the workshop was really beneficial in terms of improving my knowledge and understanding, but it was also a really enjoyable day.
I would highly recommend a one-to-one to anyone wishing to develop their skills.
T Gehlot
Having seen Richard’s incredible work I was naturally a little intimidated when I initially booked my one-to-one with him. However he immediately made me feel at ease with his humour and friendly nature and our workshop had a great flow and was well thought out.
What I loved the most is that it was informative yet open and relaxed. Richard is a humble and passionate photographer who was very willing to share his tips and tricks and as a result of only a few hours together, I now have a much better understanding of where I am as a photographer and the areas I need to concentrate on to improve my photographic skills.
I wasn't sure going in how much benefit I would get from my workshop but it exceeded my expectations, everything was explained with great clarity and it inspired me to be more creative and confident.
Richard's knowledge and demeanour left me eager to push my photography further and once I’ve hit my next set of challenges, I’ll look forward to booking in again to learn more! Richard, thank you for such a wonderful experience.
ITINERARY
Day 1: We will leave Europe during the afternoon for overnight flights to Windhoek, Namibia.
Day 2: Arriving in Windhoek during the morning we will collect our vehicles for the long drive north to Etosha National Park and our base for the first 3 nights, Mokuti Lodge. The lodge is conveniently based just a few minutes outside of the eastern end of the park. We will have been travelling along time until our arrival so this will be an opportunity to rest and acclimatise in the comfortable surroundings. We’ll be briefed on the Etosha leg of our schedule with the local guides and drivers and get a good night’s rest.
Days 3-4: Using a specially adapted VW transporter’s for the duration of our time in Etosha, these unique vehicles (along with drivers and guide) have rotating seats that allow everyone their own station to photograph using tripod heads in through large open windows. This vehicle can accommodate 4 guests each with the remaining 2 guests each shooting from our main vehicles, driven by Tom and Richard. This ensures everyone will get plenty of opportunity to work in these unique vehicles. For each of these 2 days we will explore the eastern part of the park around Namutoni, entering at dawn and basing ourselves at the best waterholes for good periods of time to allow the activity to happen and photographic opportunities to develop. A short break for lunch when the light is at its harshest will be taken back at Mokuti each day. Etosha is excellent for all the main herbivores (elephant, zebra, wildebeest, oryx etc) as well as holding good numbers of lion, leopard and cheetah so there is plenty of excellent potential. We are visiting during the heart of the dry season when all of these will look to come and drink each day hence the waterhole staking strategy.
Day 5: A similar morning schedule except we make our way that afternoon to the west of the park, basing ourselves here for our final night, inside the park itself at the Okaukuejo rest camp. The main attraction here is the floodlight watering hole that provides potential to photograph black rhino, which visit most nights.
Day 6: For the final morning in Etosha, we’ll spend time at the camp waterhole which often provides stunning sunrise light and offers reflections of the visiting animals. After our morning session here we’ll head west to Damaraland and our base for the next 3 nights near the settlement of Sesfontein.
Day 7 - 8: Save for a few waterholes, the river valleys of this area will be dry at this time of year. The valleys however, are home to the desert-adapted elephant, giraffe and a small population of lion. Do catch the best light we will leave early each morning in our private vehicles and driver guides, to search the river valleys for these specially adapted mammals. This also offers an opportunity to try and see these often photographed animals in more unique and different settings.
Day 9: Following breakfast we make our way to the Skeleton Coast region, visiting the largest breeding fur seal colony on route. Here the sights and sounds are nothing short of extraordinary and will provide an enjoyable photograph session ahead of the second half of the journey to the coastal town of Swakopmund.
Day 10: A private tour during the morning into the sand dunes of the surrounding Namib Desert, with a local guide and expert in the so-called Little 5, which includes namaqua chameleon, Peringuey’s adder and palmato gecko. The aim will be to these animals up-close with macro and wide-angle lenses. The afternoon will see us spending time at the lagoons in the nearby Walvis Bay. This will take us right up to sunset and will feature huge numbers of both greater and lesser flamingos, where they gather, providing flight, portrait and group photographic options.
Day 11: We’ll return to Walvis Bay early in the morning before heading south within the Namib region, to the internationally renowned Sossusvlei area. Here we will enjoy the afternoon exploring the grasslands and iconic red sand dunes before settling at our hotel near the Sossusvlei National Park. This will be our base for 2 nights.
Day 12: An early start at dawn to visit the iconic Dead Vlei and Sossusvlei. The photos from here will already be familiar to you as they are unique locations for photographic opportunity. Paradise for landscape photographers in fact. From a wildlife perspective oryx are reasonably common in the area so there will hopefully be plenty of wildlife to add to the landscape opportunities. We will spend the full day here, with a break for lunch during the day.
Day 13: Dependant on final flight times/schedules we hope to have a final early morning session in the park before heading back to Windhoek and our evening flights back to Europe: a perfect Namibian location on which to finish the trip.
Day 14: Arrive back in UK/Europe in the morning after our overnight flights.
PRICE & DATES
Deserts and wildlife of Namibia, £4495 sold out
Postponed until 2022.
A deposit of of £545 is required at the time of booking.
Book your space now via the Natures Images booking form.
What’s included
- All internal flights and transfers
- Accomodation
- Meals
- Park fees
What’s not included
- Flights to and from Albuquerque
- Sundry items
- Alcohol
- Tips & gratuities for camp staff and drivers, where applicable.
More workshops available: see the full range
More workshops available: see the full range
