Two women are sitting in a boat holding camera posing for the photograph; Vegan Photography Trips in Botswana | Jennifer Hadley and Sharon Doak | Ep 108

Vegan Photography Trips in Botswana | Jennifer Hadley and Sharon Doak | Ep 108

Introducing Jennifer & Sharon

In today’s episode, we speak to Jennifer Hadley and Sharon Doak. Jennifer was our trip photographer on our recent vegan Botswana trip and Sharon was one of our travelers on this trip to Botswana as well. We are (as far as we know) the first 100% vegan and photography tour and we wanted to share a little about what it was actually like if this trip was not actually filled with keen photographers. We were actually able to create a trip where spending time doing photography was completely optional. We really invite you to go to the show notes of this episode so you can see the amazing shots they created.

In this episode we discuss:

  • Sharon and Jennifer’s love of photography
  • What a day in the life on this vegan photography tour was like
  • Sharon and Jennifer’s most amazing animal encounters
  • The shots they are most proud of
  • What surprises they had

Learn more about what we talk about

  • Jennifer’s approach to spending evenings during her trips
  • The amount of time and patience required to capture a single shot
  • The significance of natural light in photography
  • The essential role that guides play during these tours

Other World Vegan Travel content connected with this episode

Connect with Jennifer

Transcript

Brighde: Thank you Sharon and Jennifer for joining me on The World Vegan Travel Podcast today.

Jennifer: Hi, Brighde. Glad to be here. 

Sharon: Hello

Brighde: I am really happy that you’re both here because we are gonna be talking about your experience on an African safari with World Vegan Travel. But before we get into all of that, I would love for you to introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about what you love to do, and your passions. Please, Sharon, go ahead.

Sharon: Hi, I am Sharon from Spokane, Washington, and I am retired for a couple of years, enjoying life in the Pacific Northwest, and amateur photographer. 

Brighde: Fantastic, Jennifer.

Jennifer: Hi, I’m Jennifer Hadley and I live in Raleigh, North Carolina. I left the corporate world. I was a treasurer for many years. I left about a year and a half ago, and now I do wildlife photography full-time. I travel all over the world, photographing all sorts of wildlife, and I love sharing these animals and these places with people. I love teaching people photography.

Brighde: So I originally met you, Jennifer, during our 2019 trip to Rwanda when you were a traveler then, and I will say that you did warn us that you were a photographer before the trip came, but I don’t think I was quite prepared for just how passionate you are about photography. I realized that when I saw the quality of the shots that you created on that trip, and also the incredible gear that you had. That was an amazingly fun trip, wasn’t it?

Jennifer: It was an incredible life-changing for sure.

Brighde: After Seb and I traveled with you and we realized just how amazing you were on a personal level and also with your photography. We really wanted to invite you to lead a photography component to one of our recent Cape Town Botswana trips. It happened, and we think it was a brilliant success. So why don’t you describe what it was, what your role was, and what you were offering to travelers who came on this particular trip?

Jennifer: Well first, this was my first trip with you guys and I think it went exceptionally well. I really enjoyed myself and I hope all the participants did as well. But basically, this was not a photography trip, so people came with iPhones, people came with point-and-shoot cameras. They came with in Sharon’s case, a D S L R. So there were all sorts of people that had different equipment and different experience levels. So my role was just to lead a car on each drive that was photography focused. And so we would go out a little bit earlier than everybody else.

 We would maybe stay out a little bit more and not necessarily go to sundown or if there was something going on and we would stay potentially with animals a little bit longer if we thought maybe some action was going to take place. We had some exceptional guides with us who are going to be on the second trip as well. They were amateur photographers on their own. So they really knew how to position the car and what light I’d be looking for. So it was actually really fabulous because then I could focus on talking to the participants in the vehicle about, okay, here’s what I think’s gonna happen. Here’s what you should be looking for. Here are the settings you might wanna consider using right now. So that was my role in that. So really helped to have guides that knew where to position the vehicle, so that I could focus on the participants. On every drive, that’s what I did.

Then during the day when we would come back, I would focus on helping people with whatever they needed, whether it was like, Here’s my brand new camera in the box. Can you help me set it up to, Hey, I took this photo, but what do you think of it in black and white? Or how can I make it better? So I would just work with people one-on-one, basically with whatever they needed help with.

Brighde: You also ran some, I’m calling them Siesta Seminars. That’s not the correct term, but

Jennifer: I think that’s a great term.

Brighde: For those that don’t know, between the morning and afternoon Safari activities, that is usually the time people rest, but Jennifer kindly put on these, what I’m calling Siesta seminars and you put some of those on. What did you talk about during these seminars?

Jennifer: Well, my first one was basically photography 1 0 1, and because this was not a photography trip per se and we had all sorts of participants, it was really focused on the types of skills and the types of Photography theory that could apply to anything that, whether you’re taking a picture with your iPhone or a full-on mirrorless camera or D S L R.

So, it was just really broader, talk about photography in general and kind of tips and tricks of how to get great pictures. So that was the first one. The second one was more fun and I talked about my own travels and the types of wildlife experiences that I’ve had and what was really amazing about the animals in those places.

 Another one that I did was about the different ethical theories in wildlife photography and kind of some of the things that people should be aware of not only when they’re taking pictures or photographing wildlife, but when they’re observing wildlife pictures on social media, for instance. So three talks and yeah, I really enjoyed all of them.

Brighde: They were all really well attended. It was really lovely to see. So, Sharon, you chose to come on this trip, just a few months before I think the departure if I remember. Why did you choose this trip over a regular Safari trip?

Sharon: Well, the reason is my daughter made me make a bucket list of things to do upon retirement. On that bucket list was a mother-daughter vegan tour. Also, I wanted to do a safari and I also wanted to learn about photography. So this trip checked off three things on my bucket list and I was thrilled when I saw this. We actually signed up in September 2021 and then it was delayed a year.

Brighde: Yes, I obviously got that wrong when I said a few months ago, time moved very quickly or slowly with the pandemic, but yes you had your bucket list delayed a little while due to the omicron variant, but we got there in the end. So what was your background in photography before you came on the trip?

Sharon: I’m definitely a beginner, amateur photographer. I took a lot of community classes on the basics of photography and online courses. This was a trip where I knew about ISO and F stops and aperture priority and shutter priority, but this was a trip where I really put it all together and got practice and it was so exciting to me, to actually get some fabulous shots.

So I have a Fuji film X T three, it’s a mirrorless camera, and I have three lenses, but at mostly use a 55 to 200 millimeter and a 100 to 400 millimeter, which I bought just before the Safari. Hadn’t taken it out of the box, hadn’t even practiced with it, and got some really awesome shots because the animals and birds need a big super-telephoto lens.

Brighde: Hmm. And what did you find were the real challenges, Sharon, for shooting in this kind of environment?

Sharon: Wow. It was challenging because animals move and you’re constantly trying to focus and move the focus point and get a clear shot. Make sure they’re separating the animals, and make sure there aren’t a lot of distractions in the photo. Especially I thought birds were super difficult because they don’t stay on the branch very long.

Jennifer: no

Sharon: and you have to get that shot right away. So that was difficult.

Brighde: And they’re relatively small as well. I don’t know much about photography, but even with a good lens, I imagine you still have to keep that lens extremely still to make sure that it’s framed correctly. Is that a fair comment?

Sharon: Yes.

Brighde: All right, so, you were on, I think, nearly all of the photography Jeeps and the photography boats that were on. What was that experience like being in those vehicles compared with being in maybe a regular safari vehicle?

Sharon: I think having Jennifer there really helped me because she’d say, try this F Stop up the shutter speed and the guides were just so good at making the best shot possible. When we did the Malachite King Fisher, he repositioned the boat and I have three really good shots of the Malachite King Fisher. So it just helped to spend more time out there in the field and just concentrating on what you’re trying to do. Jennifer’s hints really helped.

Brighde: Mm. Amazing. I’d like our listeners to know what a day in the life of a safari is actually like. Cause I think it’s a little bit confusing for people when they’ve never been on one before. Maybe, Jennifer, you could take us up until like brunch and then Sharon can take us on from there. What are the times for everything?

Jennifer: Well, we would wake up earlier than everybody. We would be out of the camp by 5 30 am, and the rest of the crew would leave at 6 30. I did this on purpose and hopefully, the participants in my vehicles realize that the reason we wanted to leave early was the light, right? You’re always chasing the light, and that light in the morning is like nothing else. It makes a huge difference. A couple of times I actually would say okay, it’s 6 30, and the other vehicles are just leaving. Look at the light and look how much it’s changed, even in that small amount of time, an hour’s worth.

So we got out earlier for that purpose. We would go where the guides think the animals are. They would obviously have some intel from the previous day. Maybe we ended the afternoon with lions being somewhere. So we think, okay, they’re gonna be here. So we might go out and try to find them. Initially, we would stop along the way if we saw other interesting animals. Then, of course, the guys are on the radios and so they talk to each other and they know, where things are. So if another vehicle sees a sighting that is interesting, they will let us know and then we’ll decide whether we wanna go there or not.

So we’re kind of driving around, we’re moving around. Sometimes we’ll stay with animals for a while. It just depends on the day and so we go through the morning and depending on the light too, we’ll head back sometimes a little bit later. For a few days we had really, really nice light, it was with these really nice clouds that kind of filtered the light. So we stayed out a little later that morning. So we would head back, sometimes it was 10 30, sometimes it was 11. I think once it was 1130 maybe when the light was really nice, we’d head back to camp to have some lunch and to rest and work on our photography stuff.

Brighde: Yeah, I should add, people that were not in the photography vehicles, they would get like a wake-up call at 5 30, and then at six o’clock they would head down and have like a light breakfast and then depart at 6 30, an hour later. So yes, you photographers were awesome at making sure that you made the most of everything. Fantastic. So yeah, we would come back from our morning activity around 10 30 or 11, depending on what we were seeing, and we’d have usually this incredible brunch that was put out for our travelers. What would we do after that, Sharon?

Sharon: well, it was siesta time, but I would always take in Jennifer’s photography sessions, look at photos and before I knew it, it was four o’clock and it was ready to get into the truck for the evening game drive, and I thought the light was fabulous in the evening drives because I looked at my photos and there was just this golden light on the lions and it was just perfect. So I really enjoyed the evening game drives the most and after that, we usually skip the sundowner because we wanted to get more shots in and we went back to the lodge, I believe it was 6 30 or seven, and then we had dinner at eight o’clock. So it was a very long, busy day, but it went quickly. I really didn’t notice that. I’d been up since five in the morning and went to bed at 9 30, 10 o’clock.

Brighde: Yeah. If you’re not taking advantage of those siestas, I can imagine that you would get tired quite quickly, but you two had so much stamina for making the most of the experience. For those people that are listening, when it’s dark in Botswana, you actually have to have a member of the staff collect you or take you back to your room at nighttime because we travelers are not very in tune with what’s around us and potentially it could be dangerous. So that’s why I’m guessing that you guys were picked up from your rooms when you were leaving very early in the morning and after dinner taken back to your rooms. Also, you don’t have alarm clocks unless you have a phone. So they actually come and wake you up in the morning just to make sure that you are awake. So it’s long days, but really, really amazing days. Sharon, I’m not sure whether you’ve done much group travel before. What was it like traveling with this group of people?

Sharon: That’s one thing that really surprised me about this trip is how well we got to know each other and Just connect. It was wonderful to connect with fellow vegans. So we felt this community of caring, compassion, and excitement when we saw animals were contagious and so it was just a fun group to be with. I enjoyed that part a lot.

Brighde: Yeah. We’re still chatting on WhatsApp with the participants of that group as well. It’s so much fun. What did you think of the food, Jennifer? I know food is just sustenance for you when you are on a photography trip, that’s not where your mind is at all, but what did you think of the food generally?

Jennifer: Well, I thought the food was great. you’re right. My focus most of the time is not food which ranks somewhere quite low just because I am very busy. I’m out a lot of times if I’m on my own with just a guide. On other trips, we’ll skip lunch or we’ll skip breakfast and I could go all day and not eat. But it is very nice to come back to the lodge and have this amazing spread, whether it’s dinner or brunch. So yeah, it was really nice to sit down and eat a really good meal. Every dinner had dessert, which I’m totally fine with while on vacation. There were just some really delicious meals and they did a really good job, there was so much food. I think I gained weight on this trip but it was all good. It was on vacation, so it’s okay.

Brighde: And Sharon, what about you? Were you a foodie or what did you think of the food?

Sharon: Oh, I thought the food was fabulous. I’m definitely a foodie. I have a collection of 45 Vegan cookbooks, so I love to cook and bake. Some of the recipes they made were so wonderful and plentiful. There was so much to eat. I never went hungry and the wine complimented the meals wonderfully. Everything was taken care of. That’s what I loved. Didn’t have to worry about vegan food.

Brighde: They did a really great job, I think generally speaking with the food. What I really loved is how the meals were introduced, especially at dinner time. The day’s menu was always a buffet. It wasn’t written up on a blackboard anywhere. The chefs came out and introduced the food. The sommelier came out and introduced the wines, and the servers came out and introduced themselves. They just did a fantastic job, I think with a mixture of locally available fruits and vegetables and some goodies like the vegan cheeses and the vegan meats that I think were obtained locally but got from South Africa. I think they did a really great job. I’m really happy with the food.

Jennifer: The cheese was delicious. Absolutely delicious. And the deep-fried donuts 
that was my 

Sharon: Oh,

Jennifer: for breakfast. Oh, so good.

Sharon: yes.

Brighde: Lack of food is not something that happens. Basically, you wake up and you have breakfast, then you go out on your game drive, you’ll have like a morning coffee on the game drive, where there’ll be some sort of cookie or snack. You come back and you have brunch then you go and have your siesta and before you go out on the afternoon drive, you have afternoon tea. Then there’s a snack during sundowners then there’s dinner at eight o’clock. So it’s like six meals. It’s kind of ridiculous.

Jennifer: Yeah.

Brighde: So Sharon you mentioned that connecting and bonding with this group of people was a surprise for you. Were there any other surprises?

Sharon: Definitely. I think what surprised me the most is how close the animals were to our vehicles. Like the very first night, the lions were right there, so close and to see a lion with his buffalo kill was amazing. How they just walked by the vehicles like we weren’t even there was so much fun. The other thing that surprised me was I really loved birds. I think I became one of those people a birder. When I got home, I was looking at my photos. I’d like, oh my gosh, I have the lilac-breasted roller and I have a chirping cisticola and it was so much fun to identify the birds and the Malachite kingfisher, the Hornbills.

Some of my photos I was stumped on like, what is this bird? My Brother is a biologist and a professor, and he knew some birding experts. So I sent the photos to him and he goes, oh, that’s an immature lilac-breasted roller. I was like, wow, you’re right. I just could not figure it out. It was fun for me to read about birds, look at photos online and see what I had got in photos. It was just very exciting.

Brighde: I’ve always really liked birds, but I think during that trip, I develop that interest even more. I actually came home and I purchased a bird book of North America, so I’m really determined to just get better, generally at bird watching. This is where my appreciation for the guides’ knowledge just comes into play because they can identify, not only the species but often whether it’s male or female or immature, they can identify the bird based on the call. I’ve even had it where they’ve seen a feather and been able to identify a bird by a feather on the floor. It just is truly remarkable. Also, by the way, they fly as well. It’s just amazing. I aspire to have, even a hundredth of that knowledge. It’s really incredible. What surprised you, Jennifer, you’ve been on a couple of World Vegan Travel trips, but were there any surprises for you?

Jennifer: Well, personally, I kind of surprised myself with how much I enjoyed actually working with everyone, with being able to look at the equipment that I’ve never had any experience on. Just using what I know with the equipment I do know to get through it, set people up on all sorts of different types of equipment that I’ve never seen before. So, that was a little surprising for me personally.

Brighde: Oh, you just did an amazing job. You were so available for our travelers to answer questions no matter when, it really was incredible to me that even after the busyness of being out all morning on a photography shoot and helping people, and that way that you were offering to answer questions and help during siesta time as well.

Sharon, how did you grow as a photographer over the trip?

Sharon: Well, I think I had really improved my skills. I didn’t think I could get clear, sharp shots of animals. I was amazed at what I did get. I took over 2000, but when you narrow it down and edit, there are 50, 60 maybe really good shots. I’ve just learned that I need to practice more, become more comfortable with my camera, and, try doing full manual, which is kind of intimidating still to me but just playing with the different settings and becoming better at what makes a really good shot and composing your shot. 

Brighde: Yeah. From what I know, photography is just this skill that you just have to invest thousands and thousands of hours into and you have to be really passionate to do that, but it sounds like you’re well on your way.

Sharon: Mm-hmm.

Brighde: Amazing. Jennifer, are there any shots that you took on the shoot that you are particularly happy with and why is it that you are happy with them?

Jennifer: Yeah, there’s a few and I’m pretty particular. I take a lot of shots but I’m very particular about what I’m taking. I do go on a number of safaris every year. So I’m really looking for very particular things and I have them in my head. In fact, I talked to all the participants beforehand and I said, think about what you wanna get envision the shot you’re really after, because when you can envision it in your head first. Then when you are in a position to see that animal, you’ve already kind of thought through what you wanna see and what you wanna get.

 I think that’s really important. So I come away with very few photos. But I’m narrowing it down a lot more as well. When we were in Okavango, I was really happy with some of my bird shots, the kingfishers, because that really stands out. In the past, like the kingfishers, they’re so tiny, they’re so fast, they’re always in some sort of mucky background, right? It’s always, sticks and leaves and all this stuff, something’s cut off. Something’s always wrong with those pictures. So I’ve never had these really amazing, clear shots of King Fishers that stayed put for a little while, first.

Then like a really nice background, and this is where our guides came in so handy because they knew where to position us, not having all the junky background. So I came away with some pictures that I really, really like. I’m not a birder, I’m a mammal person. To get some really nice shots of these beautiful birds that I was really happy with. I got a couple of elephant shots that I’m really happy with. One was with a one-week-old baby and his mom. So I was really happy with those cause I haven’t seen a baby quite this little. So I was very excited about those shots.

Brighde: Awesome. Sharon, what was the most amazing thing that you saw on Safari? Maybe you got a picture of it, maybe you weren’t able to catch it. But I guess the question I’m asking is what was the most memorable animal encounter?

Sharon: That would have to be the mother mongoose with her baby in her mouth, which Jennifer got a fabulous shot of. I got a couple of shots and saw that rare sighting. The guide said he hadn’t seen a baby mongoose with the mom in years. So it was just so cool to actually see that the mom had taken the baby from the burrow and was moving.

It was one of the bright spots. I think the other thing was seeing a Sitatunga, which is that elusive antelope in the Okavango. The guide we had was so good at finding it, spotting it in the first place, and then the Sitatunga moved so we could get a better shot. There were a lot of reads, but still, I was very happy with one shot of that antelope, which not many people see on a safari.

Jennifer: Add to that, the great thing, you were asking earlier about the differences with the photography vehicles. We stayed with that animal for quite a while. Some of the other boat kind of came by and they might have seen a teeny bit and they took their picture and they went on, we stayed. There were two of them and they actually came out much more in the open and much closer. And so we were able to get some shots, but that was because we stayed and we put that time in. So that was a really great part of being in a photography-focused boat was that, we did get to spend the time and we did get to wait.

Brighde: Mm. Sometimes it means fewer quantity of animals, but for higher quality viewings of those animals because you are sitting around and waiting around for them to come out. Jennifer, were there any other amazing animal encounters that you’d like to share?

Jennifer: I think, Sharon took one of mine, since we only get one anyway, I would have to say the wild dogs or the painted wolves. We saw two of them in the brush, very heavy brush. And they were moving away from us, so it was just their behinds. They were gone in two seconds. So we saw them and I said, whoa gosh, it’s so great that we actually even saw them at all. We drove around for probably a good 40 minutes looking for them. We were on the radio with the other vehicles, and then they were spotted. We raced over. That was exciting in itself cause we all hung on really tight because we were going fast. Then just to have these animals next to the vehicle and for a prolonged amount of time. I know all my participants in the vehicle just wanted me to shut up probably. But I was like, you guys, this is amazing.

There are so few of these animals, they are so critically endangered. I’ve been on a lot of safaris, but the last time I saw Wild Dogs was in 2016. So that’s how long it has been. For most everyone, this was their first Safari and they got painted dogs. I just can’t even describe how exciting that is and I was so excited for them that they got to see these amazing animals in the wild and really in a great environment for a good amount of time. So that was just really exciting for me personally, but really exciting for me as the photography lead and having everyone just be able to see these amazing animals.

Sharon: And I might add, I was in the vehicle with KT and he was a guide for 20 years or more. He was just driving along and I looked up and there were all these painted wild dogs right near the vehicle. I couldn’t believe it and then they walked right in front and he radioed the photography vehicle, which Jennifer was in. KT knew the path where they were gonna walk next. He repositioned the Land Rover. He did that two times and sure enough, here came the painted dogs so we could get some better shots. That was really amazing that those guides just knew where they were gonna go.

Brighde: Yeah they have such an incredible understanding of the environment and animal behavior. They’re like unsung heroes, I think, in many ways because just of the vast knowledge that they have. Yeah, for sure. I think I might know the answer to this question, but are there any shots that you are particularly happy with, Sharon?

Sharon: I would have to say the hippo yawning. I got two shots of the hippo yawning. One from a side angle and one head-on. Just amazing how wide their jaw can go and their teeth. I learned from reading afterward that is not because they’re tired, it’s because they are territorial and very dangerous animals. They’re showing us and other hippos that this is their territory and it’s a warning signal.

Brighde: Jennifer, what was your favorite shot that you took?

Jennifer: Oh gosh. Do I only get one?

Brighde: Oh, you can have two. You can have two.

Jennifer: I was really happy with a couple of my jackal shots. There was one that was kind of interesting. I love behavioral shots and I have one of a jackal, that I’ve actually posted on Instagram, but he is doing his business on top of a big pile of elephant poo. That may sound gross, but he’s looking right at us, so kind of eye to eye, which is really nice. But it’s a behavior shot, right? It’s a shot that shows what they do and why. That was really interesting. I like that one a lot. King Fisher shot really, really like just because of how hard they are to get in a nice environment. I think those two, and maybe a couple of others. 

Sharon: Another shot that I got was a giraffe. Before the safari even started, I remember Seb asking, what shot do you really want to get? Another person in our group said, A giraffe. And I said, A giraffe drinking from a water hole. I was so excited when I saw that a couple of times, and I got one shot of a giraffe with some Impala in the background. He was going down to drink water with his front legs spread very far, and so that was so exciting to actually get a shot that I wanted.

Brighde: Hmm. Amazing. Sharon, what would you say to somebody who is on the fence about doing a trip like this, a trip with Jennifer, a trip to Botswana, or on a safari, a World Vegan Travel trip like this? What would you say to someone who’s on the fence about that?

Sharon: Oh, I am so glad I chose this trip because of the vegan food and sharing it with my daughter, but learning about photography with Jennifer just helped me so much. So, if you’re an amateur photographer and you wanna improve, you wanna get some great shots of animals, I would highly recommend doing a trip like this.

Brighde: Hmm. Great. So, Sharon, you’ve been back home for about three, or four weeks now. Where’s your next vacation? And will you be practicing photography?

Sharon: Well, I love landscape photography, so I hope to get a landscape lens and do trips in Washington State. I love to hike, especially mountains. So we mountaineer, Olympia National Park. Just do some landscape shots, but I would like to do another safari. My husband would like to join me. So who knows? Probably do another safari in Botswana. 

Brighde: Amazing and Jennifer, I know you are always on the go. Where are you heading next?

Jennifer: Well, the big trip will be to South Africa and Botswana with you guys. I’m scoping out some stuff in South Africa on my own, prior to joining you guys for maybe a small photography-type workshop. I finished my trip with you guys in January, also in South Africa, in the Timbavati Clarsiri region. I’m working with my guide there to potentially put together a very small group workshop. That’s where I’ll be headed. So I’m super excited to be joining you guys again in Cape Town and in Botswana. I’ve actually got some smaller type things planned for here in North Carolina because I can announce them publicly now.

But my friends and I filmed the Red Wolves and made a couple of short films we are partnering with Wildlands Network and the big highway infrastructure bill that was approved by the Biden administration recently, which gave North Carolina a lot of money to build wildlife corridors, wildlife passages, things like that. So scientists have identified the top 20 areas where these are really needed out of, I think a list of 200. So my colleagues and I are going to be at each of these locations and filming them, with drones, hopefully with animals crossing those areas.

And putting together 30 second little films to be used as part of the competitive bid process. So all of these counties have to submit bids to get this money to start building these wildlife passages, wildlife quarters, et cetera. And so we wanna help them by having a visual story as part of their bid. That’s who we’re partnering with to do this. So we’re very excited about that. It’s all over North Carolina. Two of the places are actually right where the Red Wolf territory is. So I’m, very excited to hopefully get some stuff going there. So yeah, I’ll be traveling all over the state for the next few months to film these locations, as part of this project.

Brighde: Yeah, Jennifer’s relentless. She does what needs to be done to get the footage and images that she wants. It’s amazing and it was just so lovely, Sharon having you on the trip as well and just being so enthusiastic about photography and everything. I’m not a photographer, but seeing how joyful you were about the experience was so good.

So, Jennifer, you, and I are in talks at the moment about putting together some trips in 2024. So if anyone is listening to this and is interested, they can head on over to worldvegantravel.com and if the trip isn’t officially on there yet, then you can show your interest in the trip by filling in the form under the Botswana or South Africa page, as well. We’re also thinking about doing some Tanzania, and Kilimanjaro, trips well, so you can sign up for that as well. But, I really invite listeners to go and check that out if they’re interested in traveling with Jennifer in 2024.

Also, they can go to your website, Jennifer, and they can see all of the opportunities they can have to travel with you with World Vegan Travel and with other companies as well. So I really invite people to go and check that out. Thank you both so much for taking the time. Before we go, can you tell our listeners, how they can connect with you? See your photography, see your work? Sharon, do you have a public Instagram account?

Sharon: I do have Instagram, but I’m not very active on it, no photos there yet. Most of my photos are on Facebook.

Brighde: Okay. Is that a public Facebook page by chance, or just your own personal Facebook?

Sharon: It is not public, but I could make it public.

Brighde: If you wanted to, but I think you’re going to send a couple of your images to me and I’ll put them on the show notes so people can go and check out some of Sharon’s pictures that she took. And Jennifer, how can people connect with you?

Jennifer: Sure. I have a website. It’s jenniferhadleyphotography.com. I have an Instagram account, where I post all my new material and that’s @jenhadleyphotos. Then I have a Facebook page as well, which is just @jenniferhadleyphotography.

Brighde: Amazing. Thank you both so much for taking the time to talk with me today.

Jennifer: Thank you, Brighde. Thank you, Sharon.

Sharon: Thank you both.

Hurry! 1 room left!
Joyful DORDOGNE book now - PARIS TO LOIRE & DORDOGNE VALLEYS: Castles, Caves, and Countryside with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Paris to Dordogne Valley: Castles, Caves, and Countryside with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

From$6,995

5-12 June, 2025
8 Days, 7 Nights
Group size: 15-26
stay in a private southern France villa
Tons of castles and quaint villages
17,000 year-old prehistoric cave art

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