Go on a local safari

Rather than spending thousands on an expedition to Africa, Wendy Evans went hunting tigers at Longleat Safari Park

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Photographing lions, tigers, and other exotic animals is surely on the bucket list for every photographer, but taking a trip to Africa or the Far East is expensive and time-consuming. So why not satiate your big cat cravings with a tour of a safari park at home? These give you the chance to drive through enclosures and see the animals in wide open spaces.

Sometimes, the big cats will be close to the road, so a 200mm lens will get you the shot, but most of the time they will be lurking about at the back of the enclosure, planning to escape with the zebras, giraffes and hippos. For these shots, you'll need a much longer lens, something around 600-1,000mm.

However, if you invest in a VIP tour, you get to go off-road and your guide will get you much closer to all the animals, to the extent that you should get some decent shots with the reach of a 300-400mm lens. For this feature, I took along my Nikkor Z 180-600mm lens, which proved flexible enough for almost every shot required.