Over a million wildebeest, zebra and antelope migrate around the Serengeti and Masai Mara ecosystem around the same time every year.

Calving season, courting and mating occur along the way. The movements of the herds are tracked throughout the year and some months will provide visitors with a lot more drama and thrills as opposed to other months.

There is an abundance of wildlife to focus your eyes and your camera on, great photos are about more than just getting a lot of shots and picking the best ones.

The right season and destination – Some people are happy with anytime of the year when it comes to game viewing.

If you’re a serious photographer, you may want to consider the time of the year, so you can see and shoot the best encounters.

Wildlife viewing in Serengeti National Park on your Tanzania safari is good throughout the year, but certain areas are better at specific times.

The Dry season (from late June to October) offers the best wildlife viewing in general – with the wildebeest migration as its absolute highlight.

The timing of the migration varies every year (the best chance of seeing it is during June and July) while the wildebeest calving is from late January to February.

The right equipment – If you are considering getting more serious when it comes to your photography, you may want to level up from your smart phone into something more suited for getting great shots.

Communicate with your guide – Let your guide know what animals you are looking for and ask him or her questions on animal movements (a good guide has honed his or her skills when it comes to anticipating animal behavior).

Know your camera and be ready to shoot – Timing can be the difference between an okay shot and the one that got away. Get your settings right and anticipate the shot.

You’ll likely have pretty great light the entire time.  The sky is big and the sun is shining.  Although you’ll usually be setting out early in the morning, and also be enjoying many evening wildlife drives, there will be plenty of time in between with great light.

This means that you can photograph at a wide depth of field without concern for slow shutter speeds.

Lighting – Different times of the day will yield different results. Apart from early morning or late afternoon, the sun can be harsh and can cast many shadows.

When the light gets low, you really can’t afford to shoot with a wide depth of field any longer.  You must shoot at low aperture numbers to give your camera as much light as possible.

Don’t run out of memory – You’re laughing at how silly this seems now, but you won’t be laughing when you run out of memory.

Always have a backup memory card to avoid this blunder. Taking more photos should, in general, increase your chances of coming home with some really good ones.

If you don’t want to buy a bunch of memory cards, delete your most obviously subpar photos as you go to free up space.

Or, better yet, bring along a device that you can use to back up your memory cards such as a laptop or portable hard drive.