In July of 2004, I went to Kenya to witness the spectacular wildebeest migration that takes place when millions of these creatures leave drier parts of the land in search for greener pastures. But I found almost every aspect of the safari experience, from birds to buffalo, to be an incredible and exciting experience. This was also my first safari with a (d)SLR camera (my previous being on a self-drive safari in Namibia in 1999 with a Pentax point-&-shoot).

What I learnt about wildlife photography was that it was a very different discipline. And if we were to even hope to achieve the kinds of quality we often see in magazines or books, we would require high-end equipment, skill, patience, time, great lighting, and intimate knowledge about the animals we were shooting - all of which are nearly impossible to acquire for the regular photographer in a van full of tourists on a strict itinerary. I took home a lot of of disappointing images that were blur, poorly exposed and worse, tonnes that didn't capture the spirit or essence of the wildlife we saw - images that my friend Phil Douglis calls, boring "catalogue shots" . I only had an instinct of what I needed to do to make effective wildlife images when I was on safari, but it has since become clearer to me while editing this gallery, what is essential in photographing expressive animal pictures.

For me, good wildlife photos should convey an aspect of the animal's behaviour - its mannerisms, how they interact with each other, other species and their environment; or an asset of the animal that is linked to its survival in the wild; or images that evoke our imagination and emotions for these creatures. These are the conclusions that I have made thus far, but I am still learning and searching for ways to make even better wildlife images in the future. I welcome your feedback on this gallery and hope to learn more this way. I also have some galleries on the tribes we visited in Kenya and these can be found here : http://www.pbase.com/cecilialim/kenya

I don't know if anyone bothers to read these intros, but thanks for reading this far and for visiting my page on Kenya's wildlife. I am not a biologist and do not claim that all information provided here on animal life will be accurate. I am only a photographic enthusiast and my main concern is my photographic expression based on my impressions of these animals. For this gallery, I have selected my images based on the criteria I mentioned above to express my experience of the safari. And this is my story...