Are pictures a priority for you when on safari or on any hunt for that matter?

Personally, they are everything to me. They tell the story. I was on safari this July and took in the neighborhood of 2,500 pictures. Most likely excessive to most but the outfitter knew well in advance I take photos and a lot of them. I would guess each trophy had at least 50 photos as I pray for one good one.

When I look back at photos from even ten years ago I cringe. Tongue hanging out, sitting on the back like I am riding a horse, the list goes on. Now everything needs to be perfect or else. I will gladly give up 2 hours of hunting time for a proper photo session.

At the same time it is not all trophy photos either. It is camp, sunset, landscape, the fauna and flora, live animals (my favorite) and the list goes on. I cringed when on safari this year and the lone jackal I shot was blown up so bad it made for a terrible pic.

For me, I can never have enough pictures.

I love to take a few pictures on any hunting trip. I am not a photo-aholic though. A couple dozen plus trophy pics and I am usually good.

I usually take at least 500-600 on a safari. Less than 20% will be “hero” shots. That’s the nice thing about digital media- take all you want, then weed out the bad ones once you get home. No wasted money on developing film costs.

A very big part of my hunts and travels. Looking back at them bring up so many wonderful experiences and memories. A good PH will make every effort to assist you with good pics. It is positively good for thebPHs company as these pics get around the h7nting community, it just good advertising for them and it’s free.

quote:

Originally posted by LittleJoe:
Are pictures a priority for you when on safari or on any hunt for that matter?

Personally, they are everything to me. They tell the story. I was on safari this July and took in the neighborhood of 2,500 pictures. Most likely excessive to most but the outfitter knew well in advance I take photos and a lot of them. I would guess each trophy had at least 50 photos as I pray for one good one.

When I look back at photos from even ten years ago I cringe. Tongue hanging out, sitting on the back like I am riding a horse, the list goes on. Now everything needs to be perfect or else. I will gladly give up 2 hours of hunting time for a proper photo session.

At the same time it is not all trophy photos either. It is camp, sunset, landscape, the fauna and flora, live animals (my favorite) and the list goes on. I cringed when on safari this year and the lone jackal I shot was blown up so bad it made for a terrible pic.

For me, I can never have enough pictures.

2500?

You are not even close!

Try harder

I'm fortunate in that the PH I've used on my four Namibian hunts (Jan du Plessis of Sebra Hunting Safaris) is a master of preparing harvested trophies for photos. He makes sure to wipe away all blood and arrange the animal to show off its true beauty. He takes a number of shots with his personal camera and then takes shots with my I Phone 5. When we get back to his home ranch at the end of the day, where he has Wi-Fi I can then email the pictures to friends and family back in the USA. I'm proud to say a good number of my trophy pictures have ended up on Sebra's website, where Jan posts "Trophy Pictures" for each calendar year.

What I do is take give a camera to every member of the safari.

With instructions to take photos of anything they like!

I copy the photos from them in the camp in the evening.

I get lots of duplicates, but get lots of very nice photos too.

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Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by LittleJoe:
Are pictures a priority for you when on safari or on any hunt for that matter?

Personally, they are everything to me. They tell the story. I was on safari this July and took in the neighborhood of 2,500 pictures. Most likely excessive to most but the outfitter knew well in advance I take photos and a lot of them. I would guess each trophy had at least 50 photos as I pray for one good one.

When I look back at photos from even ten years ago I cringe. Tongue hanging out, sitting on the back like I am riding a horse, the list goes on. Now everything needs to be perfect or else. I will gladly give up 2 hours of hunting time for a proper photo session.

At the same time it is not all trophy photos either. It is camp, sunset, landscape, the fauna and flora, live animals (my favorite) and the list goes on. I cringed when on safari this year and the lone jackal I shot was blown up so bad it made for a terrible pic.

For me, I can never have enough pictures.

2500?

You are not even close!

Try harder

...Says the man who takes over 10,000 per trip!

Absolutely! When I get home and review all my photos I find about 100 that I wonder, what made me take a picture of that? Then I'll remember where it was taken and it will remind me of something interesting on the hunt.

The big thing about hunting pictures is:
LONG before you're ready, you'll get to the point of not being able to go hunting again.

With lots of pictures, you'll be able to relive all those great trips.

Take 'em, especially now with the digitals.

YES! I take as many as possible, then sort them, then write a 200 page photo book for myself and family....

I take a few hundred and do spend more time, than I used to spend, taking pic's. However, I can certainly give up a few pic's if I can hunt a bit more.

I have made a few books from past hunts and I do enjoy having them.

When I get home from my African hunts, I select the best of the best pictures and email them to my local Costco Photo Shop. For $33.99 each, they will print stunning 11" X 14" Metal Prints that are all ready for hanging. Turn around time is a matter of a few days, and the results are truly stunning and will last a lifetime. My grandkids will be able to look at them long after I've reverted to room temperature

While I like photos and take a bunch generally, I will say they are not my priority when hunting. Hunting is the priority, I learned that on my first safari when I was busy trying to take a photo of a giraffe and missed a shot opportunity on a buffalo. Rifle slung over my shoulder, camera in hand, and a nice almost 40" dagga boy staring at me from 30 yards away.

My PH let me know that was not "proper" quickly.

I was a slow learner.

My second hunt had a similar issue with a kudu.

Now the dang thing stays in the truck or in my pack with the trackers. I could always pay photo rates for a photo safari...

I believe in taking a fair number of good pictures, but I subscribe to the hunt being the most important thing and photos second. As an outfitter/guide I have seen far too many exceptional trophies walk away unscathed because of hunters screwing around with cameras and especially video cameras.

You can hunt or you can take pictures. If they are real important to you hire a camera guy. Just this fall one of our hunters messed up and lost his chance at an easy B&C black bear that had to weigh 700+.....cause he got caught with his pants down messing around with his video camera and his remote control unit.

Up to everyone on a personal basis, but in the end, I concentrate on my hunt as I may never get to do it again and I think I will have a good chunk of it etched in my brain...always have.

The only time I am more focused on photos is when I know they will be needed for an article, and even then, I can usually flesh out what I need without screwing up an opportunity on what I am there for.

I did the video thing when it first became the rage, but soon found out that most people are bored by them, unless they are keen hunters and interested in hunts "away" from home. And on a personal note I usually let them collect dust after I have seen them a few times.

But that is just me......I am sure many will disagree.

Yes, pics are a priority, there's more animals, but only todays sunset.

I always take a small Nikon or Canon digital camera, it always goes in the front right hand pocket of my cargo shorts, I never have to hunt for it, its out of the way, it takes hundreds of pics without a recharge, and downloading the chip takes seconds. I also have a nicer camera with long lens on it, wrapped in a towel, in my back pack on the truck. IF I need it, it's easy to get. I would no sooner go hunting without binoculars as leaving the small camera behind, and they take great pictures too, within their limitations.

As Saeed said, when taking new people ( like wife and her sister ) I bought them both new cameras, extra batteries and SD cards and a carrying case for the belt. Once every day or two, I take their SD cards, download to the mini laptop I started carrying, and so keep everything on file. Usually comes out to well over 5000 pictures for two weeks. I find that making a separate subdirectory for each SD card, prevents losing or overwriting perfectly good pictures. The SD cards are not erased until I get back and have backed them up to a storage drive.

Keeping the phone in my pocket, helps prevent the missed shot opportunities, but yet has it right there when I need it.

I agree about the video - its more trouble than its worth usually. Pics are much easier to take as well as share.

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
The big thing about hunting pictures is:
LONG before you're ready, you'll get to the point of not being able to go hunting again.

With lots of pictures, you'll be able to relive all those great trips.

Take 'em, especially now with the digitals.

Exactly my sentiments.

Don't forget to take pictures of the mundane as well! Pictures of the camp, the kitchen, the knives the skinners use...take pictures of the trackers riding high on the bakkie, pictures of wildlife as small as the ants and as large as the elephants.

I love taking pictures of the faces of the people around me, especially if they aren't posed. There's nothing quite like that faraway look the PH has as they scan 700 yards out and beyond for game. Or the look on a trackers face when he's looking for that one telltale blood spot.

My own rule is that when we get to within 500 yards (i.e.: mid to final stalk distance) the camera goes away, if not sooner. If we get on game and it's not the quarry we seek (too small, etc.) then I'll pull the camera out and take a couple more from the safety of our hiding spot.

Digital changed the playing field with photos completely. In the past, take a couple rolls of Kodachrome 64 and hope a couple were good. Now you can edit as you go and the finish up later with lots to choose from.

Always more animals. Interesting statement as there are not always THE animal you and your outfitter worked long and hard for. Well maybe for some who can afford to do that hunt a number of times....but for those of us that can only do it once, there are not ALWAYS more animals of what you are hoping for as a hunter.

If you screw things up on your one and only chance in your lifetime, both financially and opportunity wise, I thin that is foolish. But then some people are more concerned with that aspect of the hunt than I will ever be.

I hunt for me......not to provide any significance for what I do to others. I could care less if they like it. If they are inclined that way they will let you know and then you can feed them what you want from what you have.

No mater what I hunted or where I traveled I have always wished that I had taken more pictures and video.

Even if I shot thousands of pictures anyway.

There is no such thing as too many pictures-only the opposite....

Yes pictures and video but only if there is something worthwhile in capturing.Taking pictures of really wild animals and their habitat.Video of good shooting.Pictures of yourself and others looking healthy and in shape.If everything is a F-up best to not want to be reminded of it not to mention paying for it.

Don't miss the experience due to taking photos. Yes, they are all you have to remember, until the trophies arrive -- a year or so later. However, if obsessed with poses, lighting, etc. you may miss out on what is actually happening.

Taking lots of photos is a priority, bringing home trophies is not.

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Originally posted by shootaway:
Yes pictures and video but only if there is something worthwhile in capturing.Taking pictures of really wild animals and their habitat.Video of good shooting.Pictures of yourself and others looking healthy and in shape.If everything is a F-up best to not want to be reminded of it not to mention paying for it.

That’s really funny coming from you, shootacow maybe you should repost the video of your cow shoot and brag about how the rest of us are just jealous of your prowess.

To me personally, pictures and trophies are not really that important.

With me it is a case of ever encroaching reality. As I have aged and watched others over the years, age and pass on, I have grown to realize the memories I have die with me, and the pictures and "Trophies" I leave behind, really will not mean anything to anyone, more so since I have no children, only step children and they were already approaching their teens when me and their Mother married.

Lora will hang on to some of the stuff while she lives, but as in so many cases I have watched, when the hunter has departed for that camp over the hill, any left behind to remember/mourn will have the mementoes from the hunter's trips but they will have no actual knowledge of what those trips/pictures/trophies meant to the person that took either.

That is just my opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
To me personally, pictures and trophies are not really that important.

With me it is a case of ever encroaching reality. As I have aged and watched others over the years, age and pass on, I have grown to realize the memories I have die with me, and the pictures and "Trophies" I leave behind, really will not mean anything to anyone, more so since I have no children, only step children and they were already approaching their teens when me and their Mother married.

Lora will hang on to some of the stuff while she lives, but as in so many cases I have watched, when the hunter has departed for that camp over the hill, any left behind to remember/mourn will have the mementoes from the hunter's trips but they will have no actual knowledge of what those trips/pictures/trophies meant to the person that took either.

That is just my opinion.

True. The cold hard facts.

Damn, I did not mean to kill the discussion.

It is all a case of personal priorities and at my age having seen what I have, with few exceptions our "Legacies" do not endure as we often hope they will.

Well for me at least pictures have become more important the older I've become. Years ago I didn't take so many photos and it seemed most people didn't but I chock this up to the film camera days when processing cost money. Today with a digital camera I don't see any excuse not to snap away unless it's not important to you personally.

The older I've gotten the more the memory of the hunt and what went on from day to day is what you like to relive through photos and videos I've taken. The trophy quality and staring at a mount on the wall has for me become secondary.

We love our photos and take a lot of them but there is a time and a place for everything. Also, I do not like viewing the world through a camera lens/iphone. When its time to hunt, we hunt. We love our trophies as well but more are becoming European mounts with a nice photo below the shield.

Safe travels...........LL

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
To me personally, pictures and trophies are not really that important.

With me it is a case of ever encroaching reality. As I have aged and watched others over the years, age and pass on, I have grown to realize the memories I have die with me, and the pictures and "Trophies" I leave behind, really will not mean anything to anyone, more so since I have no children, only step children and they were already approaching their teens when me and their Mother married.

Lora will hang on to some of the stuff while she lives, but as in so many cases I have watched, when the hunter has departed for that camp over the hill, any left behind to remember/mourn will have the mementoes from the hunter's trips but they will have no actual knowledge of what those trips/pictures/trophies meant to the person that took either.

That is just my opinion.

All the more reason to have photos rather than trophies. I can see heirs discounting the value of mounted trophies. After all, if they weren't involved in the hunt, that head is just a stuff dust collector for most people. However, I believe that photographs stand the test of time. I love looking back at pictures of my parents and grandparents and wish that they would have taken more pictures of the hunts they talked about during my youth. With most of those old guys dead, those hunts are likewise dead. I hope and believe that my kids will cherish their hunts with me and with others and look fondly upon pictures of said hunts after my death and remind each other - "Remember that time when Dad helped me pack out that elk in the snowstorm?"

With that in mind, I take lots of pictures. Generally, after the hunt I tell myself that next time I'll take MORE pictures. I keep a well organized file folder on the PC and several backup locations of each hunt with processed and unprocessed pictures. Soon I'll print hard copies of the best and start a bona fide, hold-it-in-your-hands photo album of all the hunts I've done with my kids.

As much as Ive hunted I seldom used a camera until the last 10 or so years..Never even thought about it until I started booking hunts and guiding in Texas on our ranch. Even then I usually forgot the camera and the hunters usually had one...I photographed a lot more in Africa. Im still not much of a photographer, just like the excitement of a hunt and the memories..I got a lot of pictures from my hunters..Saeed filled a 55 gallon drum full of some fine photos, most got lost when my computer crashed, but I saved a few somehow..

If I had it all to do over, I would have improved my photo skills and taken a million pictures, even so I have a lot in a suitcase.

quote:

All the more reason to have photos rather than trophies. I can see heirs discounting the value of mounted trophies. After all, if they weren't involved in the hunt, that head is just a stuff dust collector for most people.

I see and understand your point, and for most folks I agree about the photos.

In my case, God was looking out for all the White People, and I do not have any heirs. In fact I am the last of two families.

I have some distant relatives I have never met and probably never will, and at my age they would not know anything about what those hunts/kills meant to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:

quote:

All the more reason to have photos rather than trophies. I can see heirs discounting the value of mounted trophies. After all, if they weren't involved in the hunt, that head is just a stuff dust collector for most people.

I see and understand your point, and for most folks I agree about the photos.

In my case, God was looking out for all the White People, and I do not have any heirs. In fact I am the last of two families.

I have some distant relatives I have never met and probably never will, and at my age they would not know anything about what those hunts/kills meant to me.

Since you are the last in your family what will it take for me to get to be at the top of your will or to oversee your estate?

I find myself looking and talking about pictures at work, SCI, on other hunts, etc and the pictures tell the story I cannot tell in person.

Well, at one point in time it might have been easy.

But I have an idea of who will get my guns and loading equipment. Friends and sons of friends and some will be sold.

I am hoping my wife will outlive me, and both of my step daughters and their husbands will get a gun probably.

In all honesty, depending on when my string runs out, I have serious doubts about the long term survival of hunting.

I have hunted for weeks on end with a camera in my pocket and never take a picture! I have an old Minolta 35MM under water camera that I used hunting in Alaska because of the rain and getting wet falling in the rivers there. There are 24 exposed pictures out of 30 on the film, and that camera has not been out of the camera case for at least 15 years. I have zero idea what is on the film, and it is hard to find anyone who processes 35 MM film these days.

I love to watch Saeeds' films of his hunts, but simply have never taken many pictures, or infact, mounted many of the animals I have taken over 70 yrs of hunting since the age of six years, now in my 81,s year. I don't think my family had more than one camera all the time I was growing up, so simply never found a need for the use of a camera till the army, and not much even then.

I wish I had taken more pictures, because my kids and grand kids would have liked to have them for family history. However, for me, the pictures are in my mind's memory but when I am gone the physical pictures would have been nice for my family! Too late now!

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