Photo Upload Tips

The short version

• Two lens cloths, always, and never change a lens on the rainforest walk.
• Mornings for the curtain, late afternoons for the gorge and the river.
• Put a person in the frame so the falls look as big as they are.
• Tag the spot and add a hashtag so your photos get found.
• Back your photos up the same evening, before the cards leave your bag.

• Early morning is the photographer's window: soft light, fewer people and rainbows hanging in the spray.
• Late afternoon to sunset is the best light for the gorge, the bridge and the river below the falls.
• Middle of the day bleaches the white water and flattens everything. If that is your only time, look for shade, reflections and detail instead of the wide view.
• From the Zimbabwe side the curtain faces roughly east, so mornings light the water and the far cliff wall.
• Around full moon in the high-water months the spray throws a lunar rainbow; bring a tripod and shoot long.

• Carry two microfibre cloths: one for the lens, one for your hands, because a wet hand only smears the glass.
• Use a rain cover or dry bag for the camera and a waterproof pouch for your phone, and keep the lens hood on.
• Never change a lens out on the walk. Dust and droplets win that argument every time.
• Wipe gently once, wait a second for the droplets to settle, then wipe again rather than scrubbing a wet lens.
• A simple plastic bag over the camera body is one of the best rain covers you will ever own.

• Put something in the frame for scale: a person at the barrier, a boat below, a tree in the foreground.
• The full front-on view needs a wide lens, a helicopter or a microlight. From the ground, a longer lens on the details often reads stronger than a half-caught wide shot.
• The bridge gives you the classic arch over the gorge, and the view from below is only available on a licensed gorge or rafting trip.
• A polarising filter cuts glare in the mist and deepens the green of the rainforest.
• On a phone: tap to focus on the water, drag the exposure down until the whites stop clipping, and hold still for a beat.

• Wildlife rewards patience: stay in the vehicle on game drives, keep your distance and never feed or crowd an animal for a picture.
• Ask before photographing people, especially in villages and at markets, and show them the photo afterwards.
• Craft markets, a meal, a canoe paddle, dust on the road: these tell a traveller what to expect far better than another curtain shot.
• Sunrise and sunset light on the river is a story in itself, and it is the easiest time to shoot with a phone.
• Look for details: wet stone, spray on leaves, footprints, a guide's hands tying a life jacket.

• Batteries drain faster in heat, so carry a spare and keep it out of the sun rather than in a hot car or bag.
• Clean sand out of the bag at the end of each day; it finds its way into every dial and thread.
• Back your photos up to your phone or the cloud each evening, before memory cards travel any further.
• Keep a small zip bag for cards and cables so nothing gets wet or lost in transit.