Longleat Safari

[markyboy.1967]

Im off to Longleat next week. Im taking with me a Nikon 300 f4 and a Nikon 80-200 f2.8. Will these be enough to capture most of the parks residents? Will i need to take along a wide lens for other aspects of the park? Never been before and just dont know what to expect when i get there.

 

[Graham_P_Clarke]

Something shorter my be nice, but you will use the longer ones most of the time.

Have fun

 

[justinframe]

something shorter and dont use your own car if you go into the monkeys

 

[Graham_P_Clarke]

Just miss the monkeys if you want a car when you come out

 

[Nicola.P]

In most of the safari bit you have to have the windows up so I would ensure these are nice, clean and blemish free so that you are able to try and take some shots through the glass.

Also park up and go see the wallabies in wallaby wood BEFORE going into the safari, once you go in the safari you cannot come back to them, I and lots of other people thought you could come back after but you can't and we missed it.
Also i went in the monkey bit thinking 'they can't be as bad as on Tv maybe they are exaggerated' regarding the destroying of cars....they aren;t they pull of anything, i saw one rip out the plastic edging with one finger! and lots of people were patching up their cars at the end, you can skip that bit if you want though.

In the pets corner the animals are pretty close so you may want something shorter too.

 

[Notts_Dave]

Definately miss out the monkey bit but.... wait if you can near the exit to the enclosure. We went a couple of weeks ago and there is some great potetial for funny shots of the creatures waving car parts about.

We blasted of loads in the lion enclosure and got some crackers. See my holiday thread:
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=77653

 

[mattyh]

something shorter and dont use your own car if you go into the monkeys

Just miss the monkeys if you want a car when you come out

Definately miss out the monkey bit but.... wait if you can near the exit to the enclosure. We went a couple of weeks ago and there is some great potetial for funny shots of the creatures waving car parts about.

We blasted of loads in the lion enclosure and got some crackers. See my holiday thread:
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=77653

Why miss the monkeys out? If they do any damage it's only likely to be a wiper or bit of trim. Easily repaired, and you're quite likely to get some decent shots. I went in with my open backed truck and carried a couple of monkeys right round the enclosure, they didn't do any damage at all. I would say the odds of getting any damage (minor) are pretty low to be honest. Obviously it's up to you, but I'd go in tbh.

 

[kfridge]

Why miss the monkeys out? If they do any damage it's only likely to be a wiper or bit of trim. Easily repaired, and you're quite likely to get some decent shots. I went in with my open backed truck and carried a couple of monkeys right round the enclosure, they didn't do any damage at all. I would say the odds of getting any damage (minor) are pretty low to be honest. Obviously it's up to you, but I'd go in tbh.

I went in there and probably spent the most time in there with monkeys jumping all over the car, sitting on the wing mirrors eating bananas and licking the rain of my bonnet! No damage done - I guess it really is just the luck of the draw though, I think that they are drawn to things hanging off the cars already though rather than trying intentionally to damage cars!

 

[BellyBoy]

Why miss the monkeys out? If they do any damage it's only likely to be a wiper or bit of trim. Easily repaired, and you're quite likely to get some decent shots. I went in with my open backed truck and carried a couple of monkeys right round the enclosure, they didn't do any damage at all. I would say the odds of getting any damage (minor) are pretty low to be honest. Obviously it's up to you, but I'd go in tbh.

I agree, you should go in the monkey's section, it's great fun and some good shots can be had.

Tip: Polish your car before you go to longleat, that's what we did and the little beggars jumped on and fell off

 

[Nixtoo]

I read somewhere that a rubberhood was a good idea to eliminate reflection from the glass when shooting through the car window. It worked really well and only cost me £5 from jessops. So would definalty recommend!