Africa photo safaris - any company you can recommend?

So. Just got back from my week in the Maasai Mara with Natures Images and David Lloyd. I ended up going with them mostly because the dates fit perfectly for what I need.

Anyway, enjoyed every second of it. So if anyone is looking to go with them, you will certainly not regret it. The only regret I have is not staying on for 2 weeks really. Everything was sorted for us and as painless as possible and the photography opportunities and help we got from both Mark and David was exceptional. The group was also made up of people looking solely to photography animals (some of which were very experienced) so everyone seemed to be on pretty much the same wavelength which made things even better as far as I'm concerned.

I've already booked another South Africa trip with them next year, which has been on my bucket list for a long time. But this time I'll probably try to join it with another trip and extend my stay to 2 weeks (it's very tiring to travel for just 1 week when you live on a tiny island with not so good flight connections )

So, while I'll be keeping an eye on what was recommended in this thread, if anyone has further recommendations please let us know. I'm sure it can help others looking at doing the same thing.

It's always good to hear a recommendation hasn't gone horribly wrong! I look forward to some images.

I didnt take a photography specific tour, but we booked with Mara Bushtops in Masai Mara. Our game drive was my wife and I and only one other person that was also a photographer, so nothing blocking our view. They custom tailored the drives each day to whatever we wanted to do, sitting down with us the night before to plan out times we wanted and discuss the animals we wanted photos of; the guides were fantastic and helped get us into great position for photos. The food and camp were incredible and luxurious too!

My wife & I did a trip to Kruger NP in July this year. Again with African Big5 Safaris. This trip was TOTALLY different to Kenya. From a photographic POV Kenya is much more open & easier to get a clean shot of the animals. But in Kruger you can go real "Off Road" & the drivers are able to start early & finish late. so you get the really good "Golden Hour" shots.

pics here if anyone is interested:- https://www.flickr.com​/photos/90912743@N04/s​ets

I'm glad we went to Kenya first, I think I would have been less enthusiastic had I gone to Kruger first.

High light for me was seeing a leopard with a gazelle up in a tree.

Off to Chobe in January, again with African Big5.
http://www.africanbig5​safaris.com.au/?page_i​d=1886

I'm just back a month now from Chobe. I took 6 from my area for a week in Chobe plus a week in Cape Town. Second trip this year to Chobe. On the first trip, it was Chobe for 6 days and Timbavati (part of greater Kruger) for 5 days. I'm including a link to my some of my images from the trips in the link. The first images are the lowveld region (Timbavati) and the second half are Chobe. I think you will learn a little by looking at the change in landscape.

For both Chobe trips, I worked with Pangolin Photo Safaris. In addition to land vehicles, they have two photo boats that really make the photo experience great. I highly recommend them. In Timbavati, I stayed at Simbavati River Lodge and found their guides top notch also.

https://www.flickr.com …r/sets/72157645​141370761/

buddy4344 wrote in post #17164810
I'm just back a month now from Chobe. The first images are the lowveld region (Timbavati) and the second half are Chobe. I think you will learn a little by looking at the change in landscape.

Thanks for leaving the link. As you say very different landscapes, the Cape Town shots look very much like South Australia (The Barossa Valley).

As I said, my love is the big cats, you have some great shots there. Elephants are a close second, so I am looking forwards to Chobe for some Elephants in the river shots. You have some excellent bird shots the colours in the Kingfishers are amazing.

Thanks again for the link.