As a photography enthousiast, going on an African trip with the family is always a compromise. However, if you are well prepared it will be a win/win. You may perhaps not get all the great shots you would get if you were to go by yourself or join a professional photo safari. However, if you have limited free time and you want to spend your time off with the family you need to take a different approach.
Here are some tips.
1. Each child should have his/her own digital camera. A 4 year old can already take pictures and kids are not so good in sharing so if you want to avoid arguments, provide them with a separate camera. Buy a point and shoot camera and not one of these toy camera’s. Protect the camera against falling or other accidents or buy a camera that is resistant against rough treatment. My youngest child has the best camera , a Pentax Optio (waterproof, shock resistant) and bought specifically for this reason and it works very well. No broken camera’s and it is great fun in a swimming pool.
2. Bring a spare battery for each camera. Buy camera’s with a rechargeable battery. They may be slightly more expensive but otherwise you end up spending a fortune in one way batteries that quickly erase any savings you thought you made when buying the camera.
3. Take sufficient memory cards (they need more than you do). For every picture you take, they may be taking ten and their memory cards fill up very rapidly.
4. Beware of the “delete all” button. Clearly explain to the kids how they can delete a single photo and protect the photo’s they absolutely want to keep from deletion. If not sure, do it for them.
5. Their photo’s are as important as yours. If they have a problem and something is not working properly stay calm and help them out even if it means that you are missing a great shot. They are too!
6. Check out the number of charging sockets in your hotels and bring sufficient adapters.
7. Print out some of their pictures or include them into your photo books. Some may be better than yours or bring a different perspective to the scene. If you have the time, help them to make their own small album.
8. They decide which photo’s they want to delete. Do not do it without their involvement. Their views on what is a good shot may not match yours and you could end up deleting their favorite picture of the trip.
9. There are always sufficient moments when you can take photo’s on your own. You can get up before sunrise or stay out after sunset or when they are doing different things.
10. Do not stress. You are on vacation!!!!