It was he trip of a lifetime (mine anyhow :D). Andy and Marc did a fantastic job of putting it togther and James Robertson and Ker and Downey handled all the details perfectly. I can't think how it could have been done better.

So Excellent:clap:clap

Great photos and narrative, Harry! Loved them all.

What really made the trip special for me was our chance to meet and get a glimpse at the look of the Maasai. The maasai have resisted pressures to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle and continue to live as they did centuries ago.

In all my travels I have not meet a group of people who have so favorably impressed me. My favorite quote from the trip came when one of the Maasai was asked if he was worried to walk in the countryside with all the lions that were about. He shook his head and said: "no, the Lions are afraid of the Maasai".

We visited a small village. The huts are surrounded by a wall made from the thorned acacia trees. Their livestock are kept inside the wall at night to keep them safe from predators.

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...rry-233-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S4332-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...S4319bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S4293-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D6984bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S4348-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D7068bw-XL.jpg
they enjoy having their picture taken and then reviewing the result
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S4345-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S4322-XL.jpg

They livestock is their wealth
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3D7050-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3D7003-XL.jpg

They were expecting our visit and the women came in and set of a shopping mall under a tree with crafts to sell.
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3D6996-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3D7009-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3D7065-XL.jpg

after a visit to the village we paid a visit to the school

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...rry-044-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D7083bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3D7087-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D7092bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3D7107-XL.jpg

Andy brought some balloons along
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S4376-XL.jpg

they had recess
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D7138bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...rry-054-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D7127bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...y-060bw-XL.jpg

Love these beyond words :lust:bow

Thanks much Glenn. Hw are y'all doing. Give my best to Mrs. Raptorcaptor.

In shot 3 looks like the kids had lunch with Andy :scratch Harry did you wear out your shutter on this trip :D You did have a good time :thumb

:lol3

harry may've worn out that shutter, we'll see!

I had a great time Jeff and my shutter did get a workout on the trip. Marc did a video where he claims that the only sound that can be heard is the clicking of my shutter in the back ground.

Taking a break from the Maasai for a bit. On our safari we had 11 avid photographers toting a very impressive array of cameras and glass. My kit contained over $30k worth of equipment. Our 12th participant was an avid non-photographer, my wife, Linda.

When we were in B&H in June I suggested that she get herself a camera for the impending Africa safari and she opted for the Panasonic DMC-ZS8. She liked its size (tiny). Its a 14mp small sensor digicam with a 16x lens (24-384mm). You can buy one at Amazon for less than $200.

After buying the camera Linda put it aside. On our last day in London I took her out for a bit so she could finally use the camera and get to know how to use it before we landed in Kenya.

So do you need the best and most expensive gear to get good captures on an African safari or can you get by with the less expensive options? Here are some of Linda's captures.

http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...da-2058-XL.jpg

http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...da-5074-XL.jpg

http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...da-5336-XL.jpg

http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...nda2088-XL.jpg

http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...nda-323-XL.jpg

http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...nda-286-XL.jpg
This was the most dangerous part of our trip. Andy driving Marc, Linda and myself. Our guide took the shot with Linda's camera.
http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...nda-049-XL.jpg

Andy asked Linda to get food shots during the trip. Linda took her assignment very seriously.
http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...nda-402-XL.jpg

http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...da-5282-XL.jpg

http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...da-5357-XL.jpg

http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...da-5361-XL.jpg

http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...da-5485-XL.jpg

Linda in action
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S4046-XL.jpg

LOVE LOVE LOVE the shots Linda took - thank so much for posting!

:huh re "most dangerous part" :lol3 good thing I only had to drive that vehicle about 300 meters

Linda did just fine, Harry, I think you need to give your fancy camera gear to me, and get a camera like Linda's.






:hide

I have to admit that I was surprised by the results she got from that digicam.

It was very fortunate that the drive was short. I'm old and my heart couldn't handle all that stress for an extended period. .

Came in near the end, went back to the beginning and looking forward to reading it all! :clap Thank you! :clap :clap

Gretchen

Not a bad idea PF but I'm kind if used to my current kit. Linda's camera looks a tad too complcated to me. She has all these scene modes to choose from. I would just get confused.

After our visit to the Maasai village and the school we returned to our camp. In the afternoon the local Maasai paid us a visit and put on the Maasai Olympics for us.

Some walked for miles to participate.

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...S4430bw-XL.jpg

before the festivities the Maasai painted their faces
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...DSC8903-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...C8910bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...S5524bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S5527-XL.jpg
the warriors hung out together and tried to see who could jump higherhttp://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...C8980bw-XL.jpg

The first event was spear throwing. I handled one of their spears before the contest and those suckers are rather heavy.

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...S4554bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S5310-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S5371-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...S4768bw-XL.jpg

after the spears had been thrown they would race to reclaim them for their next go at it.

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S4879-XL.jpg

after a number of tries one of the warriors hit the target (a water bottle).
The winner
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S5376-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S5392-XL.jpg

The next event was the races
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S5420-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...S5508bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...S5586bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...S5588bw-XL.jpg

They ran three heats. The first one was pre-arranged with a cash prize to the winners. For the next two heats Andy had to raise the prize money. Linda was able to grab a quick snap of me getting mugged by Andy
http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...da-5670-XL.jpg

:lol3 Love it!

Jawdropingly awesome series Harry!

Bravo! Incredible!

OK its time to wrap this puppy up. After the Maasai Olympics we all headed up this hill at sunset.
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...C9002bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...C9007bw-XL.jpg

Then the Maasai took the higher ground for us to get some captures
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S5652-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S5683-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S5709-XL.jpg

Then they marched back down and gave us a demo of their dances
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...C9063bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...C9193bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...C9329bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...C9466bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...C9613bw-XL.jpg

Now while all of this was going on there was a spectacular sunset going on. Marc said that it was one of the best sunsets he had ever seen. I was tempted to try a few captures but every time I tried Andy came running up and said "you have sunsets back home, but you can't shoot Maasai dancing back home". :bash

I managed to sneak in a few anyhow.


http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...S5632bw-XL.jpg

http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...D3S5640-XL.jpg

all too soon the sun set, the moon came up and it was time for our last dinner in the field.
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...DSC9616-XL.jpg

spirits were high
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...rry-073-XL.jpg

they baked us a cake and despite my explicit instructions gave Andy a sharp knife
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...rry-076-XL.jpg

then there was some more dancing
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...rry-083-XL.jpg

then again against my instructions they gave Andy access to booze.
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...rry-089-XL.jpg

Andy promptly poured the champaign over James Robertson of Ker & Downey and one other person.
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Amb...rry-091-XL.jpg

here's Linda's pic of Andy and me. Notice the champaign all over my shirt.
http://lbehret.smugmug.com/Other/Afr...da-5767-XL.jpg

This was the best trip of my life. Bravo to Andy, Marc, James Robertson, and our Maasai drivers, guides, spotters, and staff. After I completed the processing of the captures from the trip I fell into a mild depression because that was the end of this adventure for me. However I found the cure. I'm signed up for two more African workshops :barb

If you have the inclination maybe I'll see you at those workshops.

the end
http://behret.smugmug.com/Travel/Afr...D3S6420-XL.jpg

Bravo, Harry, awesome photos, great thread, narrative, and fun!

:agree

Who knew that Andy posed a greater threat to your well being than the predatory animals that you were within feet of? :dunno

Very nice Harry, I had to call the wife over to take a look too. I wish I could go on a trip such as this, maybe someday when my kids are grown and gone. Again.....very nice. :thumb

And yet, he's going with me on two more trips... :yikes

Andy was manageable but they should have listened to me about keeping him away from sharp objects and booze.

This is so exciting! I'm (hopefully) headed to Tanzania for a few weeks this summer and now I'm even more anxious to go than before :)

Have a great trip and be sure to share your photos.

Wonderful series, Harry, both the photography and the narrative. I couldn't leave my chair until I finished it.

Has this been posted yet?

Not yet and I'm waiting on that one too. :lurk

Great thread and AWESOME photos!

Wow. Just went through all 6 pages. The pile of lions shot hands down was my favorite. As a lover of Africa, hands down my favorite place to visit on the planet, I'm definitely jealous of your trip!!!

Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed the thread.

me loving

Wonderful shots Harry...one of those made me feel like I was there presentations. I hated to see the thread end. Mind sharing some of your post processing tricks?

Wow! Thanks for taking us along on this wonderful trip. Great photos.

Thanks Ed, glad you enjoyed the thread, we had a ball getting those captures.

As for the processing not much was required as the inital captures came out so well. Just the usual minor WB adjustment, setting the black point, minor exposures adjustment in ACR. In PS I applied some light sharpenig with Nik's Sharperner Pro. I used Nik's Color Efex Detail Extractor filter on many of the images and I used the Tonal Contrast Filter lightly on a few images also. All filters were applied to the subject only and not applied globally. On a few images I used NIK's Vivenza. For the BW conversions I used Nik's Silver Exef. You can surmise that I'm a big fan of the plug-ins from Nik. :D

Thanks Harry...again, really, really nice images...

Thanks Harry. Superb images, and a great story. Thanks for adding yet another must see place to the list. If you could kindly furnish me with some winning lottery numbers it would be much appreciated.

Damn, Harry. I'm virtually speechless. That's some of the best photography I've seen anywhere, any time, from any shooter. As a body of work, the presentation of the Maasai people was simply astounding.

Tom

Thank you so much for this presentation, Harry. Really. really good stuff. Had to share it on Google+.