Kenya: Big Cats, Elephants & Hides Photo Workshop

This workshop brings together some of the best wildlife photography experiences Kenya has to offer. We begin in the Masai Mara, where we spend multiple days focused on big cats, working from dedicated photography vehicles that give us the time and positioning to stay with behavior as it unfolds. This is a photography-first experience built around patience, awareness, and the moments worth waiting for.

From there, we charter to Amboseli, where elephants move through dust and light beneath the wide skies that make this part of Kenya so special. For photographers, it offers the chance to create images with atmosphere, scale, and a real sense of place.

We finish at Shompole, where the photo hides offer a quieter and more intimate way to photograph wildlife. The pace slows down, the distractions disappear, and the best moments often arrive without warning.

This itinerary reflects years of experience leading safaris and understanding what photographers need in the field. It is built around small groups, careful pacing, strong local partners, and enough time in the right places to create meaningful images.

• Three iconic regions in one trip – Masai Mara big cats, Amboseli elephants, and Shompole’s night-hide drama—three completely different Kenya stories.

• Serious photography vehicles – Purpose-built setups so you’re not fighting your fellow attendees. A row to yourself, and low-level views. We will have three vehicles at some locations.

• Big-cat time that actually matters – Multiple days in the Mara gives us the luxury of staying with behavior long enough to capture sequences, not just “proof of life” shots.

• Amboseli: elephants + atmosphere – Dust, backlight, wide-open space, and the chance for those classic elephant portraits that feel like Africa in one frame.

• Day and night hides at Shompole – These hides offer some of the best ground-level wildlife photography in Africa. Designed for photographers by a renowned photographer friend of ours, these hides provide up-close, water-level access, with custom lighting and no glass between you and the animals.

• Charter flights throughout the safari – Charter flights give us better control over our schedule and more flexibility when our photography schedule demands it.

• How to anticipate wildlife behavior instead of reacting too late – We will teach you how to read body language, movement, and tension so you can be ready before the action happens. This is especially important with big cats in the Mara, where strong images often come from timing, not luck.
• How to create stronger elephant images with light, space, and atmosphere – In Amboseli, we will work on using dust, backlight, open skies, and clean horizons to create elephant photographs that feel powerful, layered, and distinctly African rather than repetitive safari snapshots.
• How to shoot from photo hides during both day and night sessions – At Shompole, we will teach you how to handle changing light, reflections, low angles, custom lighting setups, and fast decisions when wildlife appears without warning. You will learn how to stay ready, compose cleanly, and make the most of ground-level opportunities.
• How to build more complete wildlife photographs, not just animal portraits – We will help you move beyond simple record shots by teaching you to pay attention to background, subject placement, storytelling, behavior, and moment selection so your images feel more dramatic and intentional.
• How to improve your images in post-processing with purpose – During image reviews and evening teaching sessions, we will help you process your files in a way that strengthens mood, detail, and impact while staying true to the scene. The goal is to help you return home with a more polished and more varied portfolio from Kenya.