Field Notes
First-hand observations from the African field.
Notes written close to where they happened — what we watched, what we learned, and what the field refused to make simple.
Field Note
Everyone Wants the Back Row. I Take the Front Seat.
Most photographers head straight for the row behind the driver. Nature explains why the front passenger seat produces a different photograph — and the full setup behind every vehicle in a Nature in Wild photography journey.
East Africa
Field Note
Want to Photograph a Cheetah Hunt in Africa? Stay Five Days.
After 16 years photographing cheetahs in East Africa, Nature Zi shares the one counterintuitive principle behind every hunt he has photographed: stop moving between locations. Stay longer in one place.
Greater Mara ecosystem · Maasai Mara, Kenya
Field Note
July to September for the Wildebeest Crossing — But Only Half Right
Everyone says July to September for the wildebeest crossing. That's right, but incomplete. After 16 years of crossing data, Nature Zi explains why September in Kenya alone is a gamble — and what the two-country approach changes.
Greater Mara ecosystem · Kenya and Tanzania
Field Note
She Walked to Within Two Meters. The Long Lens Was Useless.
Most people arrive with their longest lens to photograph Africa's black leopard. When Giza walked to within two meters of the vehicle, it was impossible to use. After one night with her in Laikipia, Nature explains where she lives, how long to stay, and what to bring instead.
Laikipia · Kenya
Field Note
What Focal Length Do You Actually Need for an African Safari?
Nature Zi's field answer to the focal length question every safari photographer asks. The right focal length depends entirely on the photograph you are trying to make — and that decision happens before you pick up the camera.
Amboseli and Naboisho, East Africa
Field Note
How I Know a Cheetah May Be About to Hunt
After years photographing cheetahs in East Africa, Nature Zi explains the field clues he watches before a hunt begins — body condition, high ground, prey, terrain, stalking and the moment everything changes.
Greater Mara ecosystem · East Africa
Field Note
When Two Lion Cubs Ran Too Far
Nature Zi recalls the morning two young lion cubs wandered roughly 500 metres from their mother in Naboisho. Only one returned — a field note about risk, observation and what photographs mean after a wild life is gone.
Naboisho, Kenya
Field Note
Can You Predict a Wildebeest River Crossing?
A wildebeest river crossing on the Mara River can be predicted to a degree, but never guaranteed. What four days at the river taught me about reading the herd, waiting, and photographing the Great Migration.
Northern Serengeti · Mara River ecosystem, East Africa