Photographing Rwanda

Rwanda asks two opposite things of a camera. In the Virungas and Nyungwe you are close to your subject in very low light under a canopy. In Akagera you are far from it in hard equatorial sun. Kit that solves one does badly at the other.

Gorillas: fast and wide, not long

This is the mistake almost everyone makes. People bring a 600mm for the gorillas and find themselves eight metres from a silverback, unable to fit its head in the frame, in light three stops darker than they expected.

• A fast standard zoom — 24-70 f/2.8 or equivalent — does most of the work.
• A fast prime around 35mm or 50mm is the other good answer, and lighter to carry up a mountain.
• Expect to shoot at high ISO. Modern sensors handle it; underexposing to protect shutter speed does not.
• Flash is not permitted. Do not bring one for this.
• Gorillas are black, in shade, against green. Meter for the face and let the background go.

One practical note: you have one hour, and you will spend part of it not taking photographs because you forgot to. That is fine, and everyone says so afterwards.

Akagera: reach, and a beanbag

The savannah is the opposite problem. Here a long lens earns its place — 100-400 or 200-600 — and the light is brutal between about ten and four, which is why drives start at dawn.

• Bring a beanbag, not a tripod. You are shooting from a vehicle and a tripod is useless in one.
• Shoot from as low as the vehicle allows. Eye level with the animal transforms an image.
• The boat on Lake Ihema puts you at water level with hippos, which is the best low-angle opportunity in the country.
• Night drives are a genuine low-light challenge under a filtered spotlight. Fast glass or accept grain.

The landscape

Rwanda's terraced hills are the most photographed thing in the country and the hardest to do well, because they flatten out in midday light. Shoot them early or late, and from height — the drive between Musanze and Rubavu, and the road down the lake, are both full of pull-ins worth stopping at.

The wet months give far better skies. A flat blue sky over green hills is a weaker photograph than the same hills under a building storm.

Photographing people

Ask first. Every time, and accept no for an answer. Most people are happy once asked, and a photograph taken with someone's consent is almost always the better photograph anyway.

Do not photograph government buildings, military installations or the airport. Parts of the Kigali Genocide Memorial do not permit photography; follow the posted guidance.

Drones

Assume you cannot fly one. Drone use in Rwanda is restricted and requires authorisation, and it is not permitted in the national parks. Ask us before you pack it.

Practical

• More cards and batteries than you think. Lodge power is not always all night.
• Rain covers for body and lens. You will need them.
• A blower and cloths; savannah dust and forest damp both get in.
• A dry bag for the trek.
• Back up every evening. There is no second chance at the hour with the gorillas.