Kilimanjaro Safari

[PolynesianLily]

I was listening to a previous podcast where Pete was talking about how you cannot take a good quality picture of the animals on this ride. I always find myself getting a little bit frustrated because I really want to take pictures of the animals since they arn't things I see everyday but my timing is always off. Does anybody else have this problem, where they can't take a good picture on the Kilimanjaro Safari? Any tips or tricks?

I found that with the camera I use, it has a delay, so I might have pressed the button to take the picture, but the picture won't actually be taken until 2 or 3 seconds later, and sometimes, that's too late - we would have already passed the animal. So what I do is when I see an animal coming up, I press the button right before I see the animal and when the picture actually gets taken, the animal will be in the picture.

It turns from this:

Into this:

This podcast was from March 11 2010 (I know i'm a little behind on my times).

 

[GrumpyFan]

Wow, that's crazy, and requires some good timing.
The 2-3 second delay is the camera checking light levels, trying to focus and acquire a good image before it snaps the picture for you. I might suggest taking a look at the settings on your camera and see if it has a "Continuous Focus" mode as opposed to the "click and focus". I have a Kodak pocket camera that will do this, however, you might want to change it back after your done riding because it will drain your batteries faster. Another option would be if your camera has a "sports" mode, this will usually help with moving objects or if you're moving.

 

[safetymom]

Most cameras also have the ability for you to hold the button about half way down before taking the picture. This will adjust the settings and hold them. When you want to take the picture just depress it all the way down.

 

[FireDancer]

If you have a sports or action setting on a camera it would be a good option for these kinds of shots. On mine it cuts the time from button press to photo down noticeably.

 

[Kimberle]

I took tons of wonderful pictures. I went on the Sunrise Safari (available to AKL Concierge guests). You spend a good hour on the safari and stop for pictures whenever guests want. Each truck has a person guide who explains everything on the savannah, no script.

It's well worth the $$ and early rise.

 

[PolynesianLily]

Thank you all for your suggestions!
Unfortunately, the camera I have is like 8 years old. It's pretty good, but I havn't checked out the settings yet. I don't remember ever seeing the ones mentioned above. I was going to do that when I move back home on Monday. Just in time to prepare for our Disney trip. Don't get me wrong I took great pictures while moving, but my timing certainly was off.

I'm 99.9% sure I took this picture while moving too:

I should change the quality of the picture though, on the highest quality it only takes 900 pictures. On our last trip I took 930.

I also think the fact that our camera doesn't really like our memory card. We got the largest size for our last trip, and it took forever for it to load between photos.

 

[gkrykewy]

I would echo the suggestion to try the sports/action mode on your camera. Age of the camera is no excuse! I took these on a 7 year old nikon coolpix camera, many of them in sports mode:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1943768&referrerid=93883

 

[PolynesianLily]

Ah! I looked online and you can do the "AE Lock Extinction" like safetymom said! Thank you for suggesting that! I am excited now.

The camera is a Fuji A203 Zoom

 

[minie_meese]

The delay is the reason I replaced my camera and got an SLR. Without flash (which I rarely use) there is no noticeable delay on my Canon XTi and it has a continuous mode that will take a photo every second or so. Other than the added bulk of the equipment I don't miss my old camera at all. Even with a good camera it is hard to get a good photo on the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride because they only stop for a second or so. I have managed a few good photos however.

We just made reservations in October for the Wanyama sunset safari which is a 90 minute ride with 12 people through the savanna around the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It doesn't have the predator animals like you see inside the park but I am figuring I should still get some good photos.

The Wanyama Safari is run every day and open to anyone staying at the AKL, not just concierge. It includes dinner at Jiko with wine pairings. Participants must be 8 years old or older and there are no discounts. The cost is $170 per person which includes the safari, dinner and gratuities. It's definitely not inexpensive but I didn't think the cost was that bad given what you get.

 

[rotlex]

The absolute best way to take shots, while moving, on something like the safari, is using the continuous focus mode, and of course, a higher shutter speed, available on most DSLR's. If you are not familiar with it, continuous focus keeps "focusing" on the subject in the focus point as long as you depress the shutter half way. It does not obtain "focus lock" until you fully depress the shutter. This is very different than the standard auto focus mode, which "locks" focus at the shutter button half press.

Again, this is usually only available on a DSLR, and not on many of the lower end models, but you will find it on camera's such as the Nikon D90 and above. (Not sure of the lower ones from each MFG's line).

 

[gkrykewy]

The delay is the reason I replaced my camera and got an SLR. Without flash (which I rarely use) there is no noticeable delay on my Canon XTi and it has a continuous mode that will take a photo every second or so. Other than the added bulk of the equipment I don't miss my old camera at all. Even with a good camera it is hard to get a good photo on the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride because they only stop for a second or so. I have managed a few good photos however.

We just made reservations in October for the Wanyama sunset safari which is a 90 minute ride with 12 people through the savanna around the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It doesn't have the predator animals like you see inside the park but I am figuring I should still get some good photos.

The Wanyama Safari is run every day and open to anyone staying at the AKL, not just concierge. It includes dinner at Jiko with wine pairings. Participants must be 8 years old or older and there are no discounts. The cost is $170 per person which includes the safari, dinner and gratuities. It's definitely not inexpensive but I didn't think the cost was that bad given what you get.

FYI, check out the link I included in my previous post (above) for some great photos from the wanyama safari. We thought it was terrific.

 

[Sphyrna]

The delay on digital cameras can be annoying. I found this to be the worst at Sea World when trying to take pictures of the shows. You try to take a picture of Shamu jumping out of the water but your picture ends up just being a tail going back into the water. With practice I've gotten pretty good at timing when to push the button. It also helps knowing the show and what's going to happen. On my last trip I started using the continuous mode. It'd just keep taking pictures one after the other. It resulted in a lot more pictures I had to weed through but I like the results.