Kenya Tribes and Wildlife Photo Workshop

This is a Kenya photography workshop for photographers who want to come home with more than another collection of wildlife photographs.

We spend meaningful time with the Samburu, Rendille and Maasai, working through trusted local relationships that allow us to slow down, get to know the people we are photographing and create portraits and documentary images with more depth. These are not quick village stops squeezed between game drives. Cultural photography is one of the reasons we designed this workshop.

But this is still Kenya, and the wildlife is a major part of the experience.

At Solio, we concentrate on photographing black and white rhinos. In Samburu, we turn our attention to wildlife found in Kenya’s northern landscapes. Then we finish in Amboseli, photographing elephants, wildlife and the expansive landscapes beneath Mount Kilimanjaro.

With only seven photographers and two private safari vehicles, there is room to work when the light and wildlife come together.

Throughout the workshop, Kevin Pepper will be beside you helping with composition, camera settings, portrait photography, wildlife technique, storytelling and post-processing. After 14 years and more than 125 photography workshops around the world, his philosophy remains simple: he is there to help you make your photographs, not his.

The result is a very different Kenya workshop—and a portfolio that can include wildlife, environmental portraits, culture, landscapes and photographs that tell a much fuller story of the country.

• Three Distinct Cultural Experiences
  Spend meaningful photography time with the Samburu, Rendille and Maasai. Our local relationships allow us to spend more time within these communities and create photographs that go well beyond a typical tourist village visit.
• Seven Photographers. Two Private Safari Vehicles.
  We intentionally keep the group small and divide just seven photographers between two vehicles, giving you more room for camera gear, better shooting positions and more access to your photography instructor.
• Rhino Photography at Solio
  Photograph both black and white rhinos in one of Kenya’s most important rhino conservation areas, with opportunities to create portraits as well as wider environmental wildlife images.
• Elephants Beneath Kilimanjaro
  Finish the workshop in Amboseli, where large elephant herds, open plains, dust, dramatic skies and views toward Mount Kilimanjaro create some of Africa’s classic wildlife photography opportunities.
• Photography Built Around Time and Light
  We aren’t trying to check locations off a list. When we have a productive situation, we give photographers time to work it. Cultural sessions and wildlife drives are planned around the photographs we have come to Kenya to create.
• A Workshop, Not Just a Photo Tour
  Expect hands-on help throughout the trip with wildlife photography, environmental portraiture, composition, camera settings, working with natural light and post-processing.
• A Much Broader Kenya Portfolio
  Come home with wildlife, portraits, culture, landscapes and documentary images from very different parts of Kenya rather than hundreds of variations of the same safari photograph.

• Become More Comfortable Photographing People
  For many wildlife photographers, photographing people can feel unfamiliar. We will help you understand how to approach cultural photography respectfully, communicate with the people you are photographing and become more confident working one-on-one with a subject.
• Create Stronger Environmental Portraits
  Learn how to use backgrounds, natural light, lens choice and composition to make portraits that show not only the person, but also something about where and how they live.
• Direct Without Making a Photograph Feel Directed
  During our guided portrait sessions, we’ll show you how small changes in position, light, expression and body language can dramatically improve a portrait without making it look staged.
• Recognize Documentary Moments
  Some of the strongest photographs happen between the portraits. We’ll help you anticipate gesture, interaction and moments from daily life so you can create photographs that feel natural rather than forced.
• Improve Your Wildlife Photography
  In Solio, Samburu and Amboseli we’ll work on subject placement, backgrounds, light, animal behaviour, camera settings and deciding when to photograph tight and when the surrounding landscape should become part of the image.
• Tell a Bigger Story
  We’ll encourage you to think beyond individual photographs and create a body of work that combines portraits, wildlife, details, landscapes and moments that collectively tell the story of your time in Kenya.
• Develop Your Images After the Camera
  When time allows, we’ll review images together and work through selection and post-processing techniques that can help you get more from the photographs you created in the field.