South Africa

Shoulder bags for photographers tend to be aimed at either photojournalists or hip street shooters. They come in a number of really attractive designs, including two of my favorites, the Think Tank Retrospective Leather and the Think Tank Retrospective 7. However, they’re not designed for extended outdoor use in rough conditions. In contrast, many of the great bags and backpacks for wildlife and sports photographers are anything but stylish, and are often not that practical in confined urban settings. So I was very excited when Think Tank introduced the new MindShift Exposure 13 and MindShift Exposure 15. The Exposure series offers serious weatherproofing (even without using the rain cover), room for a good amount of gear and a laptop, and is stylish enough that they’re at home just about anywhere you’d take your camera. I took an Exposure 15 along on our recent photo safari to Africa, where it did double duty as my computer bag around the camps, and as my all purpose shooting bag when we were touring in Johannesburg and Cape Town…

We’re just back from a very productive photo safari to Botswana and South Africa. We had a great group of participants, and had day after day of amazing wildlife experiences at two really excellent camps. Our personalized tour through the sights and sounds of Soweto was also a unique experience. While I brought and mostly shot with my traditional Nikon D850 and Nikon D7500 DSLRs, I also brought along two flagship smartphones and put them to the test. You can read about what I found they were great for, what they couldn’t do, and get some tips on how to use one on your next safari in this article I’ve written for Extremetech. Quick note: We’re starting to organize another high-end photo safari to Botswana and South Africa, possibly invitation only and probably Spring, 2020. If you’d like to be kept in the loop email us at safaris@cardinalphoto.com.