What is covered on this tour?

As well as enjoying the stunning landscapes and wildlife of Namibia, you will learn a massive amount about photography and many of the techniques used by a professional travel photographer.

Our tours generally cover a wide range of technical and practical techniques for improving your travel photography. This is done with a combination of practical group and individual demonstrations, illustrated talks on aspects of travel photography and group reviews and discussions.

We have recently completely revitalised our teaching schedules on our trips: we will be setting a lot more projects for people to work towards, and also holding more image reviews.

We tailor the subjects covered on the tours depending on the level of knowledge of people on the tour, individual requirements and the nature of the itinerary. Always very approachable, we are always willing to give individual help, look at pictures or enter into a spirited discussion about just about everything.

Although these tours will be led by two different photographers, we will ensure that broadly the same subjects and topics are covered on each trip.

We will also give a short daily briefing as to the sort of things that you might expect to see each day, and the sort of equipment and techniques that you might need the following day.

There are a number of specific skills that we will be covering on this trip, including:

• We will show you simple ways to improve the focus and sharpness of your pictures.

• We will teach a number of techniques to achieve great portraits of the people we meet on our travels

• We will show you how to see pictures and prepare your camera ready to take them

• We will help you to learn to see pictures

• We will show you a number of ways to improve your exposures!

• We will show you how to use composition to tell a story in your pictures.

• We will show you how to use a polarising filter to get more vibrant shots.

• We will teach you some techniques for better wildlife photography

• We will explain the importance of understanding ISO, shutter speed and depth of field.

• We will show you how to shoot stunning star trails photographs

• We will show you how to use panning for exiting action shots

• We will show you how to shoot and process panoramic pictures

• We will teach you the rules of composition (and when to break them)

• We will teach you some simple post-production techniques to give your pictures more punch and impact.

• We will teach you how to back up pictures and clean your camera.

Our schedule is flexible, and will be responsive to the needs and interests of the group. If there is anything else that you would like covered on the trip, then please ask at any time. We are always happy to include anything in the trip tuition.

better travel photography• COM

Start: 09 Sep. 2022
End: 23 Sep. 2022
Code: NA22

Variable price structure. Prices from:

8 pax £ 4195 pp
9 pax £ 4095 pp
10 pax £ 3995 pp
11 pax £ 3895 pp
12 pax £ 3795 pp

excl. flights, based on roomshare

Info about variable pricing

Min 8, max 12 people
Places left: 0
Trip to be confirmed

________

Optional single supplement: £450

Estimated international
flight cost £750

Please note: an approved Covid vaccine is mandatory for all our trips unless you have a certified medical exemption. You can see more on this policy here.

impressions of namibia

photo tours with steve davey

Land arrangements are sub-contracted to Intrepid Travel, who have many years experience in running small group adventures.

Bookings are made through the Intrepid Tailor Made Dept. in London not the Intrepid website or Stores. Contact Steve Davey for information

unforgetPlaces4PC This tour is led by Steve Davey - a professional photographer, whose work appears in publications all over the world. He is the author of the bestselling Unforgettable Places To See Before You Die (BBC Books). Steve recently published Footprint Travel Photography (Footprint Books), which covers everything that you would ever want to know about travelling with a camera. Click for more.

Join us for this unique travel photography tour to Namibia, with land arrangements and ATOL bonding by Intrepid Travel, and led by professional photographer, Steve Davey.

Our return to the breathtaking country of Namibia manages to fit all of the highlights of this most photogenic of countries into an action packed, and adventurous fifteen days. Adventure doesn't mean that we will roughing it though: we will be travelling in a large overland truck, giving us plenty of space for camera bags and a window each. We will also be staying at some amazing properties, not just for the luxury, but because they will give us special photographic access. Sossus Dune Lodge inside the park at Sossusvlei gives us special access to the park before anyone else, which means that you can get to the hauntingly beautiful dry pan of Dead Vlei in order to witness the sunset. Staying at Okakuejo, in Etosha National Park, means that you can spend the night at their floodlit waterhole: in my opinion the best in Africa, and your best chance of seeing the critically endangered Black Rhino anywhere on the continent.

The trip will include extensive photography tuition from professional travel photographer, Steve Davey, countless photo opportunities and the company of fellow photography enthusiasts.

We start our adventure in the capital of Windhoek, before driving south to the Quiver Tree Forest, where we hope to photograph star trails over these strangely shaped endemic trees. Moving further South, we come to the little known Fish River Canyon. Although reached by few tourists, this is te second largest canyon in the world, after the Grand Canyon. Staying ina comfortable lodge, we can photograph at sunrise and sunset.

Driving to the coast we stay at the pretty town of Luderitz, before visiting the ghost town of Kolmanskop - which was constructed in the German style at the height of a diamond boom, before being deserted and reclaimed by the shifting desert sands.

The highlight of any trip to Namibia are the dunes of the eponymous Namib Desert, most specifically at Sossusvlei. This is our next location, and we stay inside the park to give is special access, allowing us to be at the haunting dry pan of Dead Vlei in time for the sunrise.

Mid way through our trip, we send a couple of nights exploring the vibrant town of Swakopmund on the coast. We have time to explore the touwn and the surrounding area, including the flamingoes at nearby Walvis Bay, before heading north to Damaraland, stopping en route to see the thousands of Fur Seals at the Cape Cross Seal Sanctuary, and the ancient rock art at Twyfelfontein.

Damaraland is home to the colourful Himba people, and also a chance to look out for a rare sub-species of Desert Elephant. The wildlife theme continues with two nights at Okakuejo Camp in the Etosha National park - famous for the floodlit waterhole, which is the best place in Africa to see Black Rhino.

Our final journey is a drive back to Windhoek, for our final night in Namibia and a chance to review our best shots from the trip.

Covid19 will of course change the way that we travel and has changed the way that we organise our trips. One of the main things is that on all of my trips Covid Vaccinations are now compulsory. This is to protect the other people on the trip, as well as the people that we encounter on our travels. Quite simply, I do not want to be responsible for future infections in the region. Obviously, if you have a medically certified exemption, then this policy won't apply to you - although it remains to be seen whether local restrictions might still apply. You can see more about this Covid19 policy here.

Covid has also prompted our variable price policy, as it allows us to still run our trips without making a crushing loss - even if a number of people pull out at the last minute. This variable prices are shown in the trip information box and the implications of the policy can be seen here .

We, and Intrepid Travel, are in the process of working out revised booking conditions for future private trips. These will have different cancellation and confirmation terms to past trips and also to the scheduled trips offered by Intrepid Travel. Any bookings will be pending until the new booking conditions are established and will be subject to these conditions. A summary of what will be covered in these conditions can be seen on the booking conditions link on the booking page .

Highlights of this trip

• Dead Vlei sunrise

• Kolmanskop ghost town

• Cape Cross Seal colony

• Relaxed Swakopmund

• Etosha National Park

• Extensive photographic tuition

tour summary

tour itinerary

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book my place on this tour

responsible travel policy

press coverage

testimonials for these tours

footprint travel photography

Website, Images and text © Steve Davey/stevedavey.com 1990 - 2022

impressions of ladakh

impressions of namibia

impressions of rajasthan

impressions of uzbekistan

bespoke tours

Land arrangements for this tour

The land arrangements for this tour are sub-contracted to Intrepid Travel who will use their extensive knowledge from over twenty years in the travel industry to make sure that you have the best travel experience, and to work in a way which will be the most beneficial for the countries we travel in.

Our arrangements are now handled by the Intrepid Travel UK Private Groups office, which opens up a range of payment options and also means that your trip can now be protected by the UK travel industry protection. It also means that we can draw on the experience and contacts of other companies in the Intrepid Group. Intrepid in the UK can accept payments by bank transfer, cheque, debit card as well as Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Intrepid are also able to book flights for you, which will mean that your entire trip can be covered by their full ATOL protection (for any flight/trip combination that starts and finishes in the UK). The flight price that they quote you will include their booking fee. More details on their industry protection by clicking here and scrolling to clause 27. As you are booking with the UK office, your booking will be covered by the UK booking conditions.

Intrepid Travel were formed over twenty years ago in Australia, and have been running excellent small group adventures ever since.

Intrepid's Core Purpose - Intrepid's core purpose is to enrich peoples lives by creating unique, interactive travel experiences. They provide fun, affordable and sustainable travel adventures that are beneficial to local communities.

Home From Home - Where you stay is all part of your Intrepid experience. Whether it's a centrally-located city hotel, or a homestay in a tribal village, staying close to a region's people and culture is the guiding principle. Our choices are based on friendliness as well as facilities, character as much as convenience.

Small Groups - Travelling in a small group makes it more like travelling with friends than on an organised tour. It means you get to experience more of the local culture, and we don't dominate; we can actually get to know people and do the things they do.

Experienced leaders - Intrepid have some of the best leaders in the business: well trained locals who act as ambassadors between you and the place you are travelling in. This means that you can get the most from the country and the people you meet.

Please remember though, these tours are based on an Intrepid trip, but are a completely separate product. They don't appear on the Intrepid website, and you should address any questions through Steve on this link and bookings here.

intrepid's responsible travel policy

Intrepid Travel has a comprehensive and well developed Responsible Travel policy, which is one of the main reasons that they were selected to provide the land arrangements for this trip. This doesn't just benefit the locals in the countries they travel to: by sourcing local guides and staying in locally owned properties, our tours manage to get closer to our destination, which helps to give you a more connected and empathetic experience on your holiday.

With the Better Travel Photography tours we wholeheartedly support all of the Intrepid Travel initiatives towards responsible travel. The main features of this policy are as follows:

• We favour grass roots travel using local public transport where possible – which minimises demand for special tourist vehicles and fuel. If we do need to use private transport we ensure that we use local operators and drivers giving employment to locals.

• We choose small-scale locally owned accommodation and homestays where available and local restaurants and markets for dining, retaining revenue in local communities.

• Our group leaders facilitate communication of our values to travellers and local communities, educating them in sustainable tourism practices.

• We employ local guides to aid travellers' understanding of local culture and etiquette.

• Our small groups allow travellers to experience cultures first hand, offering greater opportunity for cross- cultural understanding.

• We are committed to putting back into the communities and regions we visit by supporting development and conservation projects in these areas. We achieve this through supporting The Intrepid Foundation and our travellers are invited to contribute. We also visit a local community project on our trip and encourage our travellers to support local business when buying souvenirs and other items.

At the welcome group meeting, our passengers receive the standard Intrepid Travel introduction, which includes all aspects of the Intrepid Travel Responsible Travel policy. This includes initiatives for minimising the environmental and cultural effect of their trip. These policies are also incorporated into our trip notes, and guests are expected to conform to them when they are travelling.

In addition to conforming to, and endorsing the Intrepid Travel policies, we have our own initiatives, primarily concerning the impact of travel photography and also concerning the environmental impact of our business.

the intrepid foundation

The Intrepid Foundation is a not-for-profit fund that has distributed over AU$3 million to more than 70 non-government organisations since 2002, contributing to health care, education, human rights, child welfare, sustainable development and environmental and wildlife protection.

Contributing to one of the many projects supported by The Intrepid Foundation is your chance to give back to the places you've travelled to and help improve lives around the world. There are two ways you can help:

The Intrepid Community Project Fund supports around 40 grassroots non-government organisations doing great work in Intrepid Travel's operating destinations. Many of these organisations and their projects can be visited during your Intrepid trip.

The Intrepid Perpetual Fund supports a range of Intrepid's 'partner' non-government organisations, such as Amnesty International, Medicins Sans Frontieres and the World Society for the Protection of Animals. All donations made to this fund are equally divided each year, with half retained to conserve and grow capital for funding projects into the future and half distributed to our current partner non-government organisations.

And the best bit? Intrepid Travel matches all donations to the foundation dollar for dollar - up to AU$5,000 per donor and a total of AU$400,000 for all donors in each financial year. We also guarantee that 100% of your donation will reach your nominated project, because Intrepid Travel covers all administration costs.

See more about the Intrepid Foundation on this link .

Who is this tour suited to?

Our photo tours cater for a wide spectrum of people at a range of different levels. Steve's skill in explaining things, patience and tireless energy mean that he is able to pitch talks and individual tuition so that they are relevant for a range of different abilities.

These tours are primarily aimed at people who have at least a basic knowledge of their cameras and are keen to develop their skills further.

The people who get the most from a trip like this are those who are aware of the areas that they want to develop. It might sound obvious, but if you know your own shortcomings then you are better able to tackle them!

If you have a greater knowledge, then we will be able to fill in a lot of the theories behind things that you might have already thought that you knew, which will help make decisions more instinctive and more confident. He will also be able to help you to take your photography forward to the next stage and can teach you a number of advanced techniques and theories.

If you are an absolute beginner, then these tours will still teach you a vast amount about photography. A large part of photography is artistic and not technical. Selecting viewpoints and angles, composition and especially approaching people to take their picture are as vital as apertures and shutter speeds. Allied to this we will explain all of the technical aspects that you need to know as they relate to you and your camera.

You will get more out of these tours if you have a basic familiarity with your camera. If it is new, and out of the box then you might spend a great deal of time thumbing through the manual, and not learning about photography. I should also point out that whilst I has a lot of experience with different cameras, he doesn't know everything about all of them! If you are not familiar with your camera, then you should definitely bring the manual with you! Between us, we should then be able to sort out most things!

Finally, it is important to remember that whilst photography does need patience and sometimes you need to wait for a picture; this is a group tour. There will be a lot of time for you to go off on your own, but there will also be times where we have to meet at a certain time, or during a journey need to maintain our pace. If the group dynamic is not really for you and you have the opinion that everyone else can just wait for you if you are taking a picture, wandering off or shopping then these (or any group tours) probably aren't for you!

Similarly, if you are the sort of person who gets offended or irritated by other people easily, and just "have to speak your mind" about it, then maybe any group trip is not for you. These trips work better if everyone is prepared to work together as a team, and help each other. We will all have a better time, and come away with better pictures and better memories.

We use private transport as much as possible. This gives us more opportunities to stop for photographs, and will also make the travelling easier. We will be covering quite a bit of ground though, and there will be quite a lot of walking in various places, so a good level of mobility will be required. Even though we are going to be travelling at one of the cooler times to visit the country, we will also enjoy hot temperatures at times. Please do speak to Steve if you have any more specific questions about your ability to enjoy this trip!

Travel in Namibia
This trip will require a good level of fitness. We have included a number of walks to help us explore the country. You won't need to be a massively fit, but you will get a lot more out of this trip if you are able to walk a good distance.

There are a number of long drives, but we will have a 24 seat overland truck, so there will be plenty of space. Many of the journeys pass through stunning scenery, and so the journeys themselves are a part of the Namibian experience.

For more information, please contact us and we will help you to assess if this adventurous trip is for you.

Tipping
On these trips I believe in trying to get to places in the best possible light, and seeing as much as possible. This can often mean early starts and long days for the drivers and local leaders who are with us. I expect a lot from them; but I also think that tipping them generously for their efforts is the right thing to do.

We intend to run a tipping kitty for any locals who help us, such as hotel porters who carry bags to rooms. A tipping kitty means that you won't have to worry about this every time you check into a hotel, saving a lot of hassle.

Although officially tipping is optional, if you are the sort of person who doesn't believe in tipping on principle, or if you think that tipping as little as possible, then please do not book on this trip: it makes us all look bad!

Non-photographing partners
Steve is often asked about non-photographing partners coming on our trips, and he always say that they are more than welcome - as long as they are not photographer-phobic! Steve believes that travel photography is a great way to engage with a place and the people who live there. Because we are photographers we will see more sunrises, talk to more locals, try more foods and visit more markets than ordinary trips. This means that non-photographers can engage with us - and some even go away with a new interest in photography. We are also about having a good time too - Steve is mindful that this is a holiday as well as a photography tour - so we aim to have lively meals, a lot of laughs and the odd drink or two. As someone recently stated abut our tours:

"Your love of photography and travel is infectious and I can honestly say I have never laughed or learnt so much on a holiday before!"

If Steve had to have a mission statement for these tours, then this is it!