The Great Safari Dilemma: Chase the Checklist or Wait for the Moment?
You’ve landed in Africa. You’re finally here and stressed about taking the best photos when on safari. The golden grasslands, the big skies, the smell of dust and acacia in the morning air—it’s everything you hoped for. You grab your gear, jump into the vehicle, and then it hits you:
Do we go? Or do we wait? How Do We Take the Best Photos When On Safari
Should we cover as much ground as possible, checking off every species in the book like an overachieving birder on a caffeine bender? Or do we slow down—wait for that lioness to rise, catch that quiet eye contact between a mother and her calf, or maybe nail the decisive moment when a cheetah hits full stride?
It’s a question every guest wrestles with at least once during their first safari. The thrill of seeing a new animal around every corner is real. But so is the regret when you blow past an incredible scene because you were chasing something else.
Safari Isn’t Just a Game Drive—It’s a Game of Patience
Let me tell you a secret: most of the truly memorable images I’ve made in Africa didn’t happen in a hurry. They weren’t the result of racing around with a checklist. They were the result of sitting with a subject, watching, reading behavior, waiting for the light to shift… and being ready when it did.
Like the time we sat for nearly two hours with a pride of lions that looked like they were doing absolutely nothing.
They were flat in the grass, bellies rising and falling in the heat. We debated moving on—until one of the lionesses flicked her ear, then rolled to her belly. A second lifted her head. And then the third stood.
You could feel it change. It was like watching chess in slow motion—one lioness circling wide, another creeping up a slight rise, and the last one—our sleeper—vanishing into the brush.
A mother zebra and her foal were grazing in a small clearing ahead, unaware.
The lionesses weren’t sprinting. They were orchestrating.
We watched through our lenses as the zebra pair grazed right into the trap—herded without realizing it into a narrow corridor. The ambush lioness was now crouched—completely still, waiting.
And then it happened. The explosion of dust. The scream of hooves. The chase.
We didn’t rattle off a thousand frames. We watched. We timed it. And we got the moment.
That photo—a lioness mid-leap, zebra twisting, baby scrambling—isn't just a shot of action. It’s the result of patience, of reading the land, and trusting that something was going to happen.
That’s the Kind of Safari We Lead
This is what I teach on my safaris.
Yes, we’ll find the Big Five. Yes, we’ll track down predators and scan trees for leopards. But more importantly—we’ll slow down, wait for the right light, anticipate the behavior, and help you walk away with the kind of photos that make people stop scrolling and say, “You were there?”
Our February photo workshop in Tanzania is designed for moments exactly like this. We time it around the wildebeest calving season—not just for the birth scenes, but for the predators that follow. Cheetahs sprinting across open plains. Lions using the dust to their advantage. Hyenas lurking near the edges.
If you want more than snapshots—if you want to create images with tension, light, and story—join me. I’ll be right beside you, helping you capture it all.
Let Africa slow you down. Let it teach you patience. And when the moment comes, let’s be ready.