Here’s your chance to fulfill your wildest African dreams! Every photographer must go to Africa, with good reason. The abundance of wildlife and numbers of species are found nowhere else in the world.
This trip will be co-lead by myself and Sue Cedarholm. This will be Sue’s fourteenth year planning and guiding this trip, and my fifth year.
We will be offering instruction all day, every day. I’ll be in the field with you on game drives, rotating through the vehicles spending time with everyone, providing instruction on anything you need. We’ll talk about fundamentals, exposure, sharpness, gear selection, anticipation of moments, light, background, advanced techniques, and anything else that you want help with. Basically, I’ll be there to help you get better each day, and to make sure we all come home with some spectacular images. Oh, and we are going to work hard to make sure that everyone has an absolute blast, this is going to be fun!
Sue and I work daily with the guides to make sure we are in the best places for photographic opportunities. We will be working closely with all of our guests to assist them with composition and other photography skills and are always available to help with editing your images.
Why come with us?
Maximum Time in the field each day
Private safari guides that stay with us throughout the trip
Small group size - only three people per safari vehicle so you have room for your gear and can shoot from either side
Private charter flights - no worries about the weight of your gear
Luxury Accommodations - Beautiful locations, incredible food, exceptional comfort and service
“24,000+ images could be enough said about our trip of a lifetime. However, Africa ‘23 with Sue and Steve was so much more. Accommodations were top shelf, pastry chefs at each lodge! Professional photography input whenever needed. Animals plentiful! Seamlessly organized. Three photographers per vehicle—unique versus jammed tour groups. My non-photographer wife loved it!”
Kenya Safari
Jan 27 - Feb 9, 2025 $15699
13 nights
Kenya Safari - Detailed Trip Itinerary
January 27 - arrival day in nairobi
Most flights arrive late in the day. We will have people at the NBO airport to pick you up and take you to our hotel in Nairobi
Lodging: Emara Ole Sereni
JANUARY 28 - Nairobi National Park
We will unpack our photography gear and visit Nairobi National Park in the morning. Then we will have the afternoon to relax, recover from jet lag, etc. Group dinner at Carnivore.
Lodging: Emara Ole Sereni
January 29, 30, 31, FEB 1 - AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK
Jan. 29 – Morning drive to Amboseli, afternoon game drive
Jan. 30 – Morning and afternoon game drives
Jan. 31 – Morning and afternoon game drives
Feb. 1 – Morning and afternoon game drives
Lodging: Ol Tukai Lodge
FEbruary 2-8 - MASAI MARA
Feb. 2 – Morning charter flight to Masai Mara, afternoon game drive
Feb. 3 – Morning and afternoon game drives
Feb. 4 – Morning and afternoon game drives
Lodging: Kichwa Tembo Camp
Feb. 5 - Morning drive to new camp, afternoon game drive
Feb. 6 - Morning and afternoon game drives
Feb. 7 - Morning and afternoon game drives
Feb. 8 - Morning and afternoon game drives
Lodging: Mara Intrepids Camp
February 9 - Departure day
Feb. 9 - Morning charter flight back to Nairobi, Day room in Nairobi before flights depart NBO (typically around midnight)
Day Room: Emara Ole Sereni
We will maximize our time with the wildlife and landscapes. Rising early to catch the sunrise and ending our day with the sunset. We will get you in the right place at the right time with our professional driver / guides. During the heat of the day we will usually spend time back at our lodge, a perfect time to download your images or rest.
On this safari we will have just 3 people per vehicle. Therefore, you will have plenty of room for your camera gear. With access to both sides of the vehicle and a pop-up top you will never miss a shot.
Click below to join the safari and send your deposit
AREAS OF EXPLORATION
Nairobi National Park, Kenya
Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
WHAT’S INCLUDED
All lodges, full board
Daily breakfast, lunch, dinner
Airport transfers
Transport with Land Cruisers - not more than three people on board
All park entry fees
Driver/guides
Charter Flights between locations
Tips and gratuities for drivers/guides
**Pricing is for double occupancy. If you are traveling solo, you will be paired up with another participant as a roommate. If we are unable to pair you up with another participant, you will be responsible to pay the single supplement fee.
Steve Mattheis
Steve Mattheis is a professional nature photographer based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Being born and raised in such a magical place, Steve has always appreciated and enjoyed spending time exploring and recreating in nature. After successful previous careers as both a mechanical engineer and a restauranteur, Steve is now living passionately as a nature photographer and educator. He leads private photography workshops in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks where he spends quality one-on-one time with clients. He is a skilled instructor in all aspects of digital nature photography including equipment setup, artistic considerations and creativity, image editing, fieldcraft, and videography.
Photographs taken by Steve have been displayed in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History as part of the Nature’s Best Photography exhibition, an honor he is particularly proud of. Steve won the Grand Prize in the Audubon Photography Awards in 2018 and won the Professional Division in 2017. He recently announced the release of his first book, culminating over five years of field work and image-making. Phantom of the North is a photobook featuring the enigmatic Great Gray Owl (Steve’s favorite photo subject).
Steve excels at his craft and is eager to teach other passionate photographers using a practical, laid-back style that simplifies complicated subjects.
Sue Cedarholm
A native of the Rocky Mountain West, Sue Ewald Cedarholm grew up with the vaulting summits of Colorado’s 14ers filling her imagination and the lure of mountain wilderness lying beneath them serving as a constant well-spring, firing her life-long pursuit of adventure and personal exploration.
Trained as a visual artist, Cedarholm has lived in Jackson Hole for over a quarter century and gained recognition as a nature photographer, painter and designer of wearable, nature-related art attire. She has used the Tetons as her basecamp for travel to far-flung corners of the globe. For over 17 years Cedarholm has been field assistant with her mentor, Thomas D. Mangelsen, and co-leader and organizer of numerous photographic expeditions. Cedarholm has guided clients on trips to the Arctic and coastal Alaska in search of caribou and grizzly bears. She has spied penguin and elephant seal colonies in the South Atlantic Ocean on South Georgia Island and Antarctica. And she has greeted many sunrises at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as in the Serengeti, witnessing migrations of elephant, Cape Buffalo, wildebeest and the parade of iconic African predators trailing them, including lion and leopard. Hiking through the wilds of the Torres del Paine in search of puma and floating the Cuiaba River in the Pantanal for the elusive jaguar are also on the list of exotic locales where Cedarholm has shared her love of wilderness with others.
Notes and Details
DEPOSIT
$3000.00
Deposit is non-refundable. Please purchase travel insurance which will cover the cost of cancellations.
Balance of payment will be due by 9/30/24.
NOT INCLUDED
Visa fees: $50 Kenya
Personal expenses
Soft and Alcoholic drinks
International Flight
Single supplement is $2400
Participants should be physically and mentally fit for an international adventure. While we won’t be doing any hiking, you will be climbing in and out of safari vehicles, carrying photography gear, walking to guest rooms, and enjoying long days in the field, etc.
We reserve the right to cancel the trip due to inadequate registration or unforeseen circumstances. If that is the case all deposits and payments will be refunded in full, less the 3% credit cards fees.
Travel insurance is highly recommended. We are not responsible for any delays and/or changes in the itinerary due to circumstances beyond our control.
“My expectations for a photographic safari in Kenya were extremely high but tempered with the knowledge that what I might see or experience would be down to a combination of careful planning as well as luck. I could have not been more impressed by the itinerary, the variety of locations, the transport between sites, the excellent accommodations and food, as well as the friendly and knowledgeable drivers who were able to locate a tremendous range of wildlife. Steve and Sue were always willing to share their wealth of photographic knowledge and their enthusiasm was infectious. I wouldn’t hesitate to repeat this trip which was indeed the trip of life time. I came away with so many good memories and sightings, thousands of photographs, new friendships and I learned a great deal. I cannot recommend it enough.”