Hello to you all!

It has been a while, but I have been finally working through a large backlog of raw files and getting them out to agents and clients. I have been super busy with various professional and personal projects so it is good to get back to what I do best!

As a result, some of my Lion cub images have been doing the rounds today in the papers and other media, I have already had a fantastic response to them and thank you all so much for your emails; they are very much appreciated.

Click here to see the first article on the sun online

If you would like to come and see these amazing cats for yourself out in the wild, all whilst improving your own photography please check out the Big Cat Safaris I have planned for 2013. These are great for both animal lovers and photographers. You will join me and get the benefit of my experience out in the Mara to come back with memories of some unforgeable encounters! Click here for more details or get in touch here if you have any questions!

Below is a small slideshow of some of my Lion images. Please use the image library search facility (above right) to see more! iPhone users click here for a mobile compatible slideshow!

As always, thanks for stopping by! please sign up to the newsletter and check me out on Facebook and Twitter for the latest pictures and news!

Richard.

Places Available

DATES

Depart 7th Sept 2013

Return 13th Sept 2013

(1 night in Nairobi and 5 nights in camp)

Our Migration photo safaris are hot off the press and Richard will be hosting this amazing experience out in Africa’s famous Masai Mara. The Great Migration is an annual wildlife spectacular not to be missed! Each year 1.5 million Wildebeest and 300,000 Zebra alongside a supporting cast of Antelope make their long trek from Tanzania’s Serengeti Plains north to Kenya’s famous Masai Mara National Reserve in the constant cycle following rains and food!

This trip will be focusing on this spectacular event which has to be seen (heard and smelt!) to believe. Richard, alongside the guides are well experienced in working in and amongst this fantastic spectacle and work very hard (and smart!) to ensure prime viewing and photographic opportunities for the Mara section of the migration. The highlight of course is the unbelievable river crossings taking place on the Mara river. Experience and determination are two very important factors that mean we get results at the crossings; putting in the extra time and effort needed to get some stunning shots rather than simply getting snaps from far away. Of course this is all done to Richard and the guide’s strict ethical codes which always put the wildlife first at all times.

Whilst the migration will be our main focus, of course it is a prime opportunity for Africa’s predators to indulge themselves and come out in force. Lion, Leopard, Cheetah and Crocodile will also be on our list and we will most certainly not be overlooking their contribution to the proceedings. The sheer numbers of prey bring out every kind of behavior in the cats and often some spectacular action is seen. You will be ready to make the most of any of these encounters, with Richard guiding you and your cameras as well as instructing the guides and vehicles to get the most out of any situation they and their amazing tracking skills find.

Many photographers run tours to the Mara but Richard’s images speak for themselves as to his experience and skill working in Africa alongside the award standard guides who were initially hand picked years ago and as much a part of the trip as the wildlife.

Always putting his hard earned photographic and animal experience to work for you, alongside the amazing tracking skill of the guides, you will be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of all the encounters. Richard will be on hand to improve your technical and field craft skills whilst out in the plains, taking your photography to the next level all whilst having a blast. Whether you are a well seasoned snapper or total beginner you will be able to learn and grow, returning with images to be proud of as well as skills that you will carry with you on your next photographic endeavors.

His realistic, no nonsense approach to teaching  and photography means anyone with any level of gear will enjoy this trip, spending thousands of pounds on gear a photographer does not make (although if you have it, bring it along!!). Field-craft, patience and technique are what you will learn putting what you do have to best use.

Richard will be using his experience, directing the vehicles exactly as he does when working alone, the same way that has enabled him to take the images he does the world over. Once back in camp, informal sessions on digital workflow, raw processing and anything else will be made; preferably with a cold drink in hand! We run focused trips, working hard to get the shots but all the while, never loosing the important sense of fun; that’s why Richard does what he does, a love of animals and enjoyment. The trips are limited to 8 people with a maximum of 4 guests per vehicle (vehicle’s normally carry 6 or more guests, so you all have room for your gear!!). This is hugely important and often glossed over on some other tours. You really do need room to move around in the vehicles to make the most of the opportunities that we work hard to get to and these vehicles really do allow for this when not full to capacity.

This tour is heading out in early September, an ideal and most likely time to see the Migration in full swing. This is of course nature at work and you need to be aware the migration varies slightly from year to year. However the Mara never fails to deliver and no one works harder to ensure you come back with great images and fantastic memories.

CAMP

Kicheche Bush Camp

Our camp for this  trip is Kicheche Bush camp. An amazing tented camp located right in a private reserve. Very comfortable with amazing staff, food and all the comforts you need, it is perfectly safe and a real African experience. The tents are of the fully sealed, semi-permanent variety with toilets and hot showers available in there after each afternoon drive as well as large comfortable beds. Evening meals around the campfire are great and can all be washed down with cold beer, wine or juice. It is perfectly situated just outside of the main Mara park to allow us an easy path to the crossing points as well as the plains the bulk of the migration take part in. The private reserve is fantastic for the cats, especially Lion and most of Richard’s big cat photography is within private reserves such as these, where he prefers to work.

COST

£3385.00 per person* (including flights). Unlike a lot of other tours, as we include international flights (from the UK) into our trips we end up with a great rate. Please get in touch for alternate costing/options for travelers coming from outside the UK.

A single supplement of £470.00 for those not wishing to share. Note for those sharing, we pair males with males and females with females, each person having their own bed and the tents have a private bathroom section. Traveling couples are of course kept together.

* Airline prices are  fluctuate daily so this cost is based on the current rate. If you are interested in joining us it is likely to be cheaper to let us know earlier rather than later!

INCLUDED

• Return British Airways flights (economy)
• All ground and air transfers in Kenya
• 1 Night’s stay at the Fairview hotel in Nairobi
• Freight seat increasing luggage allowance to 22.5 kg per person
• Full board and local drinks
• All game viewing activities with sole use/control of vehicle (max 4 per vehicle!)
• TWO additional sets of Mara fees allowing for additional river crossing viewings!

All bookings are made through our partnership with the fantastic Safari Consultants. A UK based tour operator offering full ATOL bonding for the trip as well as a wealth of experience and knowledge of African tourism. Richard uses and relies on them for all his African travel and they are great!

We also run dedicated Big Cat Safaris in the Mara, click  here for details

Please get in touch for more details or to book your place

Full PDF brochure available shortly.

Earlier today John Griffiths announced that a vaccination programme is to begin in place of the proposed culling.

“After careful consideration I have decide to pursue a badger vaccination programme…..I have asked my Chief Veterinary Officer to design the project to begin in the Intensive Action Area this summer and continue for five years. I have also asked her to consider other geographical areas where vaccination could also contribute to TB eradication …

This is fantastic news and rather than try to inloquently summarise it all here, I ask you follow these links to the people who really are in the know!

• http://www.pembrokeshireagainstthecull.org.uk/
• http://www.nfbg.org.uk/Content/Home.asp
• http://www.brockvaccination.co.uk/

Well that’s perked my day up!

fyi images.richardcostin.com will be offline for a few hours whilst some under the hood gubbins are updated.

Image clients, please email requests to info “at” richardcostin.com or using the contact page, exisiting requets will be sent out manually to you in the mean time, we have them all logged.

Thanks!

Richard.

I have been using version 4 as the hub of my digital workflow for some time now. A worthy upgrade to users of 3, the updated processing engine is fantastic and can eeek even more quality and detail from my raw files.

I will write up an overview of what’s new later next week, but in the mean time here is a comparison I made on a Cheetah image. Look how much cleaner the shadow recovery is in 4. Fantastic!

Note the lack of edge halos around the ear in version 4 (click for a closer look)

Ping over to adobe and check the trial version out.

Oh, and they lowered the price too, the full version is £103.88 and the upgrade is only £59.09

Check it out, the trial is free!

Rich.

Just a quick update to let you know I have started a new series of articles over on the Nature Photographers Network!

The first has just gone live, head on over and check it out! This months is all about some of my favourite images including Lions and of course, Badgers!

I hope you enjoy! Please let me know if you do and what you would like to read about next!

Rich.

Places Available

DATES

Depart 23rd Feb 2013

Return 2nd March

(1 night in Nairobi and 5 nights in camp)

CAMP

Kicheche Mara Camp

Our Big Cat photo safaris have been hugely successful over the last few years and Richard will again be hosting this amazing experience out in Africa’s Masai Mara.

The Masai Mara really is the place to see the Big Cats in the wild; home to the BBC’s Big Cat Diary series, the opportunities to observe and photograph Lion, Leopard, Cheetah and so much more are amazing; drawing Richard here year after year. Many photographers run tours to the Mara but Richard’s images speak for themselves as to his experience and skill working in Africa with Big Cats, alongside the award standard guides who were initially hand picked years ago and as much a part of the trip as the wildlife.Always putting his hard earned photographic and animal experience to work for you, alongside the amazing tracking skill of the guides, you will be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of all the encounters. Richard will be on hand to improve your technical and field craft skills whilst out in the plains, taking your photography to the next level all whilst having a blast. Whether you are a well seasoned snapper or total beginner you will be able to learn and grow, returning with images to be proud of as well as skills that you will carry with you on your next photographic endeavours.

His realistic, no nonsense approach to teaching  and photography means anyone with any level of gear will enjoy this trip, spending thousands of pounds on gear a photographer does not make (although if you have it, bring it along!!). Field-craft, patience and technique are what you will learn putting what you do have to best use.

Richard will be using his experience, directing the vehicles exactly as he does when working alone, the same way that has enabled him to take the images he does the world over. Once back in camp, informal sessions on digital workflow, raw processing and anything else will be made; preferably with a cold drink in hand! We run focused trips, working hard to get the shots but all the while, never loosing the important sense of fun; that’s why Richard does what he does, a love of animals and enjoyment.

This trip is limited to 8 people with a maximum of 4 guests per vehicle (vehicle’s normally carry 6 or more guests, so you all room for your gear!!). This is hugely important and often glossed over on some other tours. You really do need room to move around in the vehicles to make the most of the opportunities that we work hard to get to and these vehicles really do allow for this when not full to capacity.

This tour is heading out in late February to take advantage of some great Mara light and better rates. The Mara is great for cats all year round with February/March being no exception! Working mostly in a private reserve just out of the Main (busy!) Mara National park we have a much better chance of calmer encounters without masses of vehicles surrounding us. However, if we hear on the bush telegraph that something amazing is happening in the National Park, we can drive on in and check it out (however those staying in the park cannot cross over onto the reserve we will be working on, ace!!).

The camp is Kicheche Mara camp. An amazing tented camp located right in the private reserve. Very comfortable with amazing staff, food and all the comforts you need, it is perfectly safe and a real African experience. The tents are of the fully sealed, semi-permanent variety with toilets and hot showers available in there after each afternoon drive as well as large comfortable beds. Evening meals around the campfire are great and can all be washed down with cold beer, wine or juice.

COST

£2990.00 per person* (including flights). Single supplement options available.

* Airline prices are  fluctuate daily so this cost is based on the current rate which is pretty good at the moment! If you are interested in joining us it is likely to be cheaper to let us know earlier rather than later!

See a quick trip report from last year’s tour HERE

For a broad overview of our Big Cat Safaris, click  here

Please get in touch for more details or to book

Full PDF brochure available shortly.

Thanks for all your comments on my hands on preview of the d4 I posted yesterday, clearly these cameras are causing a lot of interest.

This second post I will be concentrating on the D800. This camera has a broader appeal to most since it comes in at a much cheaper £2399 (the D4 weighs in at £4700) and boasts 36 megapixels.

First impressions: D800

In the hand it feels great. Some forum goats have whined how this camera is not actually aimed at professionals. It is. Very sturdy and substantial in the hand, yet compact enough to not be huge like the D4 (there is no built in portrait grip on the body). All the controls were responsive, yet rigid. Everything clicked and rotated well giving the impression they are easy to change quickly, but hard accidentally knock. Many queues have been taken from the D4 body, the new AF point selection modes are altered via the button and wheel combo as mentioned in the D4 preview and seemed to be a good decision (real field use will tell).

The viewfinder was large and bright, D3 and 700 users will feel at home and the camera molded to my large(ish) hands well.

Image Quality

Now as with the D4, I was unable to take away samples from the camera. These are pre-production models so not finalized yet. We do however have a large high res screen on the back and I was able to study the shots in some detail. I was very, very impressed with what I saw. The limitations of screen viewings means I can’t draw comparisons with the D800, D4 and D3 in a meaningful way, but I am used to judging the quality on the back of the camera from my endless use of the D3 since 2007. Of course at low ISO’s the quality and detail is outstanding. Nikon have put up sample images here and the detail I saw when in at 1:1 reflected this. Anyone who prints big or wants/needs to crop will be very very happy indeed. Per pixel sharpness looked right on the money (the 24-70 was attached at the time). Of course at 36 megapixels everyone is wondering what the iso performance is looking like. I whacked it up to iso 6400 and took some test shots. It was dimly lit in the room so what I saw was representative of a low light scene. There was noise, but not that much of it and most if not all of the detail was still there! Ok, not quite as pin sharp, but sharp none the less and I would see no problems in selling images made at this ISO. Also, let’s not forget that if you were to down-sample at 36 megapixel image to say 16 (matching the D4) you would additional remove unwanted noise.

I was super pleased with what I saw and made me instantly consider this camera very strongly. In fact the only thing holding me putting my NPS priority order in is that Rob at Nikon mentioned I may be able to have a sample camera or two thrown my way for testing when the production one’s come in. When and if I get them I will be doing a very thorough review and comparison to the D3.

So, fact time again! I have bullet pointed some information below for you that was stated directly from Nikon…

• The d800 performs as well at video as the D4, perhaps slightly less in super high ISO, but “not an issue for most shooting conditions” (I agree btw).
• One caveat is that you do not have the 1:1 pixel mapping to HD video mode from the sensor on the D800, as the area would be very small (as a fraction of the 36 megapixels).
• 76.5 megabyte uncompressed raw files, you still can choose lossless or lossy raw compressed (no file sizes for these though).
• Yes you may need a faster machine or more cards, but if you want the quality what do you expect? Nikon make no excuses here and I agree, you can’t have your cake and eat it.
• 12 or 14 bit raw still available.
• No buffering figures were available.
• The grip is actually priced the same as the D700′s was at release time, they full expect the price to creep down as it did before after a few months
• Official battery quote for the D800 (non grip) is 900 shots, however Rob (from Nikon) shot a timelapse with it totaling 1200 shots and the battery indicator still showed two thirds full (it was noted outside in the cold too). Rob estimates (himself) that the standard D800 battery should give you 2000 shots if you don’t chimp, 5000 if you have the D4 battery in the optional grip.
• Medium format competitors may want the E version. The main example seemed to show crisper edge definition. (I personally am not interested in the E version as the improvements seem minimal but I will investigate properly when I can -Rich)
• 22nd March availability estimate for the regular version and 12th April for the E version. The grip will be available on the 22nd March as well.
• The D800 does not replace the D700, it is a different beast
• The D700 is not discontinued.

We were then showed several of the sample videos on the large screen and they looked great. I saw no artifacts, and it all looked professionally useable in the extreme.

This camera really got me excited when I saw the higher iso test (on the LCD remember though) and I am very keen to try it out as it will offer unparallelled detail for my in the field shooting as well as significant cropping options and the same auto-focus that can handle teleconvertors very well. Stay tuned for more info and my full review when I get my greasy paws on them for a week or two!

Thanks to Nikon and to you for stopping by!

Rich.

I was privileged to be invited to Nikon to see the new D4 and D800 for myself. I posted over on my Facebook Page and on dpreview if any of you had questions (and a lot of you did, thank you!) for me to put to Nikon.

I am pleased to say I was genuinely impressed with the cameras and almost all the questions I and others had were answered favorably by Rob and Mark of Nikon.

First impressions: D4

Ok, I will first talk about the D4. I will cover the D800 in a post tomorrow…

In the hand. A very familiar feel compared to my D3. The body is rated lighter but felt very much the same, however the new control layout all seemed to make sense (thankfully). I won’t post spec comparison after spec comparison as those are covered very well in the usual haunts. Remember these are all simply my initial impressions…

The new AF selection joysticks felt solid and well placed, a special improvement over the D3′s portrait positioning which was a tad far away, even with my long thumbs. Adjusting the focusing selection mode, previously on the rear of the camera as a switch is now a combination of a small button by the AF-M switch (near the base of the lens) and the thumb-wheels. This seems to make sense (it seemed counter intuitive simply due to my muscle memory on the D3), I think it is a good move but the usefulness of this will only come to light after actual use. It does let you keep your eye to the viewfinder, you have an in-finder representation of the mode you are selecting. They have also redesigned the AF-M switch itself to be less susceptible to accidental knocking. A good thing!

Other subtle changes to the body, such as an alteration of the shutter release angle as well as many other lumps and bumps all felt right and I must say it did feel better in the hand.

Focusing. This has been touted as an upgrade to the existing 3500FX system, rated in much lower light than before, “moonlight” as Nikon’s Rob put it. Again, this is only based on initial quick impressions but the lock on in low light (I tested the system during one of the talks when the lights were off and the room illuminated only by the screen) was confident and sturdy. Better than the D3? I am very experienced with the D3′s AF system and the D4 did feel to be more confident in low light, perhaps even significantly so. Either way focusing was great.

Image quality. Unfortunately I was unable to take any images back with me as these are pre-production cameras, all reviewing was on the rear LCD. Noise was very well handled indeed! I won’t comment on how it compares to the D3 as I am not in a position to do so reliably. However, I took some shots in ISO 8000 and the resulting images were very smooth. Yes a touch of noise of course, but I would see no problem in selling these images and that is without any post processing clean up. They were pin sharp and the colours vivid and accurate with no smearing. Low light shooters will love this camera. I also have high hopes for the dynamic range and highlight/shadow recovery potential of the files.

Rob made a very in depth presentation on the two cameras and took many questions from other professionals invited to the event. I will bullet point some key facts I learned below. I will try and restrict it to information that you may not know from the common sources on the camera. Everything below was said explicitly by Nikon and I am simply relaying what I heard…

• The uncompressed video out via the HDMI is 10 bit, not 8 bit as has been suggested (I specifically confirmed the answer to this question and the answer was “yes, 10 bit”)
• If the card slots are empty and you are recording via the HDMI, the recording time is not limited to the 29:59 of card recording. The sensor may shut the camera down if it gets too hot, but they had shot for over an hour without this happening.
• 10 mins of video is equal to about 1 gigabyte on the memory card.
• The battery is of less capacity than the D3′s, but you should get at least as many shots out of a charge as you do on the D3 thanks to power optimizations.
• The focus point spread is the same as on the D3.
• The metering sensor that is now used (by user preference) to focus and expose for faces will expose for a face anywhere in the frame, but can only focus on the face if it resides under a focus point.
• The selected focus point will automatically mirror it’s position between portrait and landscape shooting. For example if you have the top centre point selected as you hold the camera in landscape mode, when you rotate the camera to portrait mode, it will automatically change the point to what is the matching point (in this instance the top centre) for that orientation. Very cool! This is a preference the user can disable if they wish.
• Using the new GP module you can sync camera time-clocks to sub second accuracy.
• You can use all the focus points with an f2.8 lens and the TC20III convertor and 11 of them, with one cross-heir on an f4+TC20III. Good for Telecovertor users!
• Buffer is big; RAW is approximately 98 images and large fine jpeg was tested by Rob to 220 images at full speed.
• XQD speed was for the 98 above, compact flash was 78 buffered raw files before lockout. This is huge and great! Note that if the card slots are set to mirror storage mode, you are limited to the speed of the slowest (i.e. the CF) card.
• Nikon mentioned the two card types were to keep photographers happy (i.e. let them use their existing cards), but I and most others agreed two XQD slots would have been better.

These are my first thoughts on what I learned. It is time for some dinner now (always thinking with my stomach!) I will be adding more to this post and answering some specific questions you had more directly tomorrow after I go through my notes from the day. Also stay tuned for what I thought of the D800!

Thank you all as always,

Richard.

We are now fully booked for 2012 but are once again running our African tours in 2013!

BOOKING NOW OPEN FOR OUR BIG CAT SAFARI 2013, CLICK HERE

BOOKING FOR MIGRATION TOURS OPEN SOON!

• DATES: TBC, likely February for the Cats and August/September for the Migration
• CAMP: Kicheche Mara and Bush Camps, fantastic true African camps, hand picked by Richard.
• Small groups Focused, yet fun learning! See Lion, Leopard, Cheetah and the Migration!
• Cost: TBC

This time we are offering two different flavors for you! Our Big Cat safari and a new special Migration focused tour!

We are still nailing down the specifics of these trips, we really do put a lot of effort, research and experience into putting these trips together so it takes a little while, we think they are worth the wait!

The Big Cat Workshop will focus on the feline stars of the Mara, Cheetah, Lion and Leopard. We estimate heading out in February as this is a fantastic time to see the catsas well as competitive prices. The light is magical at this time of the year and combined with Richard’s experience alongside two hand picked guides (they are fantastic!) you will come away with memories that will last a lifetime and pictures to be proud of.

See a quick trip report from last year’s tour HERE

Our all new Migration Safari will focus on the spectacular annual Wildebeest Migration. We will again be using the same guides Richard always works with in the Mara to be best placed to ethically photograph not only the famous river crossings but the spectacular herds as they make their way along the migration routes. This of course concentrates the predators of the Mara so also expect to see Lions, Leopard and Cheetah and of course crocodile along the way!

Full details and brochures of these trips will be up shortly. To keep these trips enjoyable and worthwhile we only run them in small groups, with places booking up quickly. To pre-register your interest (at no obligation) use the contact section or the form below for priority allocation should you decide to join us.