Walter Günzel Photography
Who am I ?
My name is Walter Günzel (born 1966 in Tsumeb, Namibia) and ever since my school holidays on my grandparents' farm located in the savannah area southeast of Grootfontein, I have developed a close connection to the African bush and nature.
After finishing school, I completed an apprenticeship as an electrician and worked in this profession for several years.
With the founding of the travel company Safari24 in 2000, I turned my hobby into a profession. In 2006, I also completed a tour guide training in Botswana to be able to offer additional trips in this landlocked African country. After qualifying as a professional safari guide, I led many safari trips in southern Africa. I guided private clients and small groups through Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe - always accompanied by my camera.
On these safari trips, photographers and film teams from all over the world were also my guests, who awakened my passion for professional wildlife and landscape photography. Since then, I have been sharing my photography experience and knowledge with my guests. I led my first photo safari through Namibia and Botswana in 2016. In the meantime, now my photo safaris also take me to the Brazilian Pantanal, Costa Rica, and Ecuador.
Who are my photo tours intended for?
For everyone who wants to experience nature in detail, with or without a camera, you can photograph, discover and experience the smallest details. Everyone will have fun because we travel with like-minded individuals that share the same interests. We keep the number of participants on these photo safaris low and take you to the desired locations on time so you can capture them in ideal lighting conditions. We are happy to take your own ideas and special requests into account. You will be accompanied by a qualified, experienced tour guide with comprehensive knowledge of flora and fauna. My photo trips are all about the detail, experiencing and learning about the little things in nature; - in contrast to typical tours where there is often not enough time for this because the interests of all travelers must be considered.
What do we offer on our photo safari?
Have you ever seen a photo and dreamed of being able to take a shot like that? Join me, and I will take you to the right place at the right time! You will receive advice and instructions from me on how to capture the perfect image. Have you ever dreamed of improving your photos with image editing software? Here, too, we can help.We welcome not only beginners, but also experienced photographers. Our photo safaris are also very suitable for prospective students to prepare their portfolio.
When people talk about photo safaris, they might spontaneously think that they are too technical and complicated, or that the equipment they have is not suitable for it, and that they might make a fool of themselves in front of other participants. However, this is not the case on our photo safaris: everyone is welcome, with or without a camera, with expensive or affordable equipment; there is room for anyone who wants to experience nature in every detail.
For a photo safari we recommend the following equipment:
- A single-lens reflex camera or at least a good compact camera
- For the SLR camera, a wide-angle, standard lens, and a telephoto lens
- Filters for the lenses, especially UV or skylight filters to protect them from scratches and dust
- To avoid reflections of the strong African light, a polarizing filter is recommended
- For digital cameras, sufficient storage capacity should be available (SD-cards)
- A good camera bag to protect the camera from dust and damage
- Spare batteries and charger
- Tripod
- A bean bag is recommended as a support on the car roof or lowered car windows (can be filled on site)
- A small backup camera is advantageous
- For cleaning the optics a brush with air blower and microfiber cloths are recommended