AFRICA, DESIGNED AROUND YOU
Private photo safaris
No two photographers experience Africa in quite the same way. A private photo safari gives us the freedom to create a journey around the wildlife you want to photograph, the places you want to explore and the way you prefer to travel.
Whether your priority is big cats, primates, elephants, the Great Migration or simply more time to work creatively in the field, every journey begins with you and is designed from the ground up around your photographic ambitions.
THE FREEDOM TO TRAVEL DIFFERENTLY
A Safari Built Around You
A private photo safari gives us the freedom to shape the experience entirely around you. There is no group schedule to follow and no need to compromise on the wildlife, destinations or photographic opportunities that matter most to you.
Perhaps you want to spend longer with big cats, dedicate several days to elephants, combine wildlife with primates, or simply travel at a slower pace with more time to photograph. Your experience level, interests and creative ambitions all help determine how the journey takes shape.
The result is not simply a private version of one of my group departures. It is a photographic safari designed specifically for you.
Your Wildlife
Focus on what inspires you.
Build the journey around the species, behaviours and photographic opportunities you most want to experience.
Your Pace
Give each moment the time it deserves.
Spend longer where it matters, slow things down when the photography is good and shape each day around your priorities.
Your Journey
Go where your photography takes you.
Combine destinations and experiences in a way that makes sense for your interests rather than following a predetermined itinerary.
Your Photography
Support designed around you.
From technical guidance to creative development, photographic support can be tailored to your experience, equipment and ambitions.
FROM IDEA TO AFRICA
Designing Your Private Photo Safari
Every private journey begins with a conversation. I want to understand what you hope to photograph, where you have travelled before, how you like to work in the field and what you want this particular safari to give you.
From there, I begin building your journey, drawing on the network of trusted local guides, lodge partners and teams across Africa that we have developed through Untamed Photo Safaris. Destinations, season, accommodation, time in each location and the overall pace of the safari are considered as part of one complete photographic experience.
You do not need to arrive with an itinerary already planned. Some photographers know exactly what they want; others simply know they want to photograph Africa. Either is a perfectly good place to begin.
1.
Tell Me What Inspires You
It starts with your ideas.
Wildlife, destinations, photographic ambitions, travel style and the experiences that matter most to you.
2.
I Design the Journey
Turning those ideas into an itinerary.
I bring everything together with seasonality, local knowledge, logistics and the strongest photographic opportunities.
3.
Refine the Details
Creating WHAT feels right for you.
We work through the itinerary together, making adjustments to the pace, locations and experience until everything comes together.
4.
Photograph Africa
Everything else is taken care of.
Arrive knowing the journey has been carefully planned, leaving us to concentrate on the experience, the wildlife and the photography in the field.
A PLACE TO BEGIN
Sample Private Photo Safaris
Every private safari is different, but sometimes it helps to have somewhere to begin. The journeys below are examples of what we can create, built around some of Africa’s most rewarding wildlife destinations and photographic experiences.
Each itinerary is simply a starting point. Destinations, duration, accommodation, pace and photographic focus can all be adapted around you, while seasonal wildlife movements and local conditions help determine the best time to travel.
TANZANIA
Serengeti: Big Cats & Great Migration
Eastern/Central Serengeti • Northern SerengetiI
A privately designed journey through two very different parts of the Serengeti. Begin in the quieter eastern plains, where resident lion, cheetah and leopard offer exceptional opportunities for big cat photography, before travelling north to follow the Great Migration and the possibility of dramatic Mara River crossings.
With the freedom of a private safari, we can spend longer with individual sightings, adapt each day around wildlife activity and light, and shape the journey around the photographic opportunities that matter most to you.
SUGGESTED DURATION:
8 - 10 Days
PHOTOGRAPHIC FOCUS:
Big Cats • Great Migration • River Crossings
BEST TIME TO TRAVEL:
July – October
KENYA
Amboseli & Masai Mara: Giants & Predators
Amboseli National Park • Masai Mara
A classic private Kenya photo safari combining two of the country’s most rewarding wildlife areas. In Amboseli, vast open landscapes and some of Africa’s most impressive elephants create extraordinary photographic opportunities, often beneath the distant presence of Mount Kilimanjaro. From there, continue to the Maasai Mara, where big cats and an incredible diversity of wildlife take centre stage.
Travelling privately gives us the freedom to spend longer with individual subjects, respond to changing light and wildlife behaviour, and adjust the balance between Amboseli and the Maasai Mara around your own photographic priorities.
SUGGESTED DURATION:
8 - 9 Days
PHOTOGRAPHIC FOCUS:
Elephants • Big Cats • General African Wildlife
BEST TIME TO TRAVEL:
January - February, June - October
UGANDA
Primates of Uganda: Chimps & Gorillas
Kibale Forest • Bwindi Impenetrable Forest • Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
A private journey into Uganda’s forests, created for photographers wanting to spend meaningful time with two of Africa’s great apes. Track chimpanzees beneath the canopy of Kibale before continuing south for mountain gorilla encounters in both Bwindi and Mgahinga, offering different forest environments and photographic experiences.
With multiple primate encounters built into the journey, there is more opportunity to experience different behaviours, conditions and compositions rather than relying on a single trek. The itinerary can be shaped around your pace, photographic priorities and the amount of time you want to spend in Uganda’s forests.
SUGGESTED DURATION:
6 - 8 Days
PHOTOGRAPHIC FOCUS:
Mountain Gorillas • Chimpanzees • Rainforest
BEST TIME TO TRAVEL:
January - February, June - September
TANZANIA
Calving Season & Predators
Ndutu • Ngorongoro Crater • Eastern Serengeti
A private photographic journey through northern Tanzania during one of the most dramatic periods of the wildlife calendar. Begin around Ngorongoro, where the crater offers dense concentrations of wildlife and the possibility of photographing everything from lions and elephants to rhinos, before moving into Ndutu for the wildebeest calving season and the intense predator activity that surrounds it.
Continue into the eastern Serengeti for more time with resident big cats and quieter plains, creating a journey that combines new life, predator behaviour and some of Tanzania’s most rewarding wildlife photography.
SUGGESTED DURATION:
11 - 13 Days
PHOTOGRAPHIC FOCUS:
Calving Season • Predators • Ngorongoro Wildlife
BEST TIME TO TRAVEL:
January – March
KENYA
Kenya’s Wild North & Classic Plains
Amboseli National Park • Samburu National Reserve • Masai Mara
A private photographic journey combining three of Kenya’s most distinctive wildlife regions. Amboseli offers vast elephant herds and open landscapes beneath Mount Kilimanjaro, while Samburu brings a drier, more rugged environment with species and scenery found nowhere else on the itinerary. Finish in the Maasai Mara, where big cats and the rich wildlife of the open plains provide a dramatic final chapter.
The route can be adjusted around your interests, giving more time to elephants, northern species, predators or landscape photography depending on what you most want from the journey.
SUGGESTED DURATION:
11 - 13 Days
PHOTOGRAPHIC FOCUS:
Elephants • Northern Species • Big Cats • Landscapes
BEST TIME TO TRAVEL:
June – October
TRAVEL ON YOUR TERMS
Who Are Private Photo Safaris For?
Every private safari is different, but sometimes it helps to have somewhere to begin. The journeys below are examples of what we can create, built around some of Africa’s most rewarding wildlife destinations and photographic experiences.
Each itinerary is simply a starting point. Destinations, duration, accommodation, pace and photographic focus can all be adapted around you, while seasonal wildlife movements and local conditions help determine the best time to travel.
Solo Photographers
Your photography, entirely at your pace.
A private journey gives solo photographers complete freedom to focus on their own subjects, creative goals and preferred way of working in the field.
Couples
Share the journey, without joining a group.
Perfect for couples who want to photograph Africa together while enjoying the privacy, flexibility and personal nature of a journey designed entirely around them.
Friends & Small Groups
Bring your own group to Africa.
Travel with friends, photography partners or a small group of photographers and create a safari around the wildlife and experiences you all want to photograph.