Edition 38: Spring 2007

When the sun goes down, the African wilds come alive and offer the well-informed photographer incredible opportunities. But be careful with those flashes! Andy Rouse and Tracey Rich explain.

One thing that most of us rarely encounter is the African bush at night. It’s a shame really that we’re not well equipped in the night vision department (despite what our mothers told us about eating our carrots) as the continent comes alive after dark with a plethora of creatures that rarely roam during daylight hours. Even other animals, easily seen during the day, take on completely different characteristics under the cover of darkness. Traditionally, cameras haven’t fared much better than our eyes at night, but modern digital technology is now allowing us to capture images our naked eyes can barely make out. OK, the quality might be a bit grainy, but some memories are worth preserving. So whack up the ISO and start shooting.

Stop! Before we go any further, one thing must be made clear: photographing animals at night, with a flash or torch, is intruding into their natural world and behaviour. Animal eyes are light-sensitive and can be damaged irreparably at night by carelessly using a flash or torchlight. Be aware that predators, in particular, use their stealth at night and by putting them or their prey in the spotlight, you could end up causing extreme stress, or even death, to the very animals you’re watching. If in doubt, don’t.

Lion cubs in tree
Taken with Canon EOS 1DS MKII, 100-400mm F5.6L lens, 1/250th at f5.6
Tree-climbing lions are not just found in Tanzania, they exist in Zambia’s South Luangwa valley too. We found these youngsters resting after a feast of buffalo one evening. Ably helped by our expert guide Ian Salisbury, we manoeuvered the vehicle as near as we dared and whilst balancing precariously on the bonnet we were able to grab a few shots before the cubs decided to come down the tree. As with any kitty stuck up a tree, this was a rather hilarious episode – there was no fire brigade to get this lot down! The trick here was to get some form of composition into the image. By setting the focus to the left-hand side, space was left in the direction that the lions were looking.

Pel’s fishing owl
Taken with Canon EOS 1DS MKII, 100-400mm F5.6L lens, 1/250th at f5.6
Well, what a stroke of luck, one of the biggest prizes on a birdwatcher’s tick list: a Pel’s Fishing Owl. Finding them is one thing, but photographing them is quite another. Although looking down into the riverbed, and a good distance away from the bird, we still needed to be careful not to disturb its fishing activity. We used a flash extender, often called a ‘beamer’, to double the range of the flash. It’s a simple piece of kit, which is effectively a plastic magnifying glass on the end of two arms. In our case it’s held on with an elastic band and a plaster. When photographing on safari a Heath-Robinson approach always helps.

Pangolin foraging
Taken with Canon EOS 1DS MKII, 500mm F4L lens, 1/125th at f4
Wow! What a weird and wonderful creature. A chance encounter while driving home one night allowed us to see its backside disappearing down a hole. After we waited for five hours with the lights off for the moon to set, the pangolin finally emerged. We couldn’t see it, but heard the characteristic rustling sound of its armoured plating. Since Pangolins have sensitive eyes, we deliberately underexposed the shot; i.e. shot it too dark to reduce the flash power and therefore minimise any disturbance. It then took a few clicks in Photoshop to resurrect the image you see here. This chap took everything in his stride and was far more interested in searching out termites and ants than us, and continued to rustle his merry way off into the undergrowth. Magic.

Young leopard cub greeting its sleeping mother
Taken with Canon EOS 1DS MKII, 100-400mm F5.6L lens, 1/60th at f5.6
This mother and her well-grown cub were resting on a kopje at Mala Mala, South Africa. They were completely indifferent to our presence as they’re used to the approach of vehicles and to having a spotlight shone upon them. Lights help you cut down the power of the flash and let you focus! The only problem is that the colour they emit can be too ‘warm’, which can fool the white balance of a digital camera. To solve this try choosing a Tungsten or Fluorescent setting, or shoot the image in RAW and alter the white balance when at home during processing. By the way, glowing eyes are inevitable when photographing with a flash, so make the most of it – for predators it certainly adds to the sense of drama.