I recently visited one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls. This trip was slightly different to my usual trips to Africa as it was a social visit and not for "work". As i was attending the wedding of some very dear friends and new there would be no time for game viewing, i decided not to pack all my DSLR equipment. Instead, i took my iPhone X and nothing more. In part this was to save lugging all my cameras and lens' all the way to Zimbabwe, but i also wanted to see what could be done with my iPhone and to see if you could potentially, use it as your main camera on safari.
Victoria Falls or Mosi-Oa-Tunya (The Smoke That Thunders) as it is know locally, was discovered by Dr. David Livingstone on the 16th November 1855. The falls are formed by the full force of the mighty Zambezi River crashed over a fracture zone in the plateau. The Falls are measured at 1,708 meters across and 108 meters tall at its highest point. It is not the widest or the tallest water fall in the world, but is considered the largest due to its combination of width and hight, making it the single largest sheet of falling water in the world. The Zambezi River forms the boarder between Zambia and Zimbabwe and the Falls act as a boarder post between the two countries. It was from the Zimbabwean side of the Falls, in the town of Victoria Falls where i was staying and it was from the Zimbabwean side that i viewed the Falls on this occasion. If you have the time, i would reccoment viewing the Falls from the Zambian side as well as it does offer different views and perspectives on the Falls themselves.
The Falls themselves are located in the Victoria Falls National Park. It costs $30 to get in and is paid upon arrival. Well worth it in my opinion. I would recommend you take a good hour or two to walk around the park. It is very easy to get around, the paths are well kept and the route is very well sign posted and plenty of information boards along the way to guide you through. There are a number of look out points that offer unqiue views of the falls and give you plenty of oportunities to take some pohotographs. As well as the falls themselves, there is also plenty of game to see, small mammals such as Warthog, Vervet Monkeys and Baboons frequent the national park and always make for entertaining viewing.
With the iPhone, there are plenty of opportunities to get creative with the in camera functions. From Long exposures to Slow motion videos. Now, for all of this to work effectively, you have to make sure that Live mode is turned on.
Once this is on, it opens up all the creative features that come with it. Before i get into these, there are a few simple tips that can help create solid images with you camera phone. When taking even the most standard of images, you can choose the focal point very simply, but tapping the area of the image that you want to be in focus.
Once you have done this, the camera will automatically adjust the image to give you the best possible exposure. However, should you wish to adjust it manually, can also do that.
Once you have adjusted the camera and taken the image, you can then go to town with all the creative in camera features.
As you can see, there is plenty of fun and creative things you can do with the iPhone. But would i use it as my primary camera on a safari? Personally, i would not. But only because photography is a very important part of my safari experience and i get great enjoyment out of creating images. However, if you just want to capture some memories from your safari then yes, i would strongly suggest using your iPhone. The quality of the images and videos are good enough if just capturing a few memories of your trip is your photographic goal. It would save a lot of money and effort in buying a new camera and dragging it around with.
If there is anything you would like me to go into more detail on, then please drop me a message at matt@armstrongsafaris.com
Cheers for now.