Thank you for posting this link!

I make photo books for myself at least 3 or 4 times a year of my travels for about the past ten years. I have used different companies to print the books. The photo books are big projects, going through literally thousands of photos, picking the best, weaning them down, photoshopping each one and making a book. Making the books take longer than the two or three-week vacation did. It is a very nice idea but you probably have a very big project ahead for yourself. It probably will be a lot more work than you thought. I wouldn't do it myself. Posting them all on a website and letting the participants download the photos they want sounds like a much better idea to me. Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

I really enjoyed your photos! Thanks for sharing.

I have been on three safaris. Sometimes the animals are close and sometimes they are far. Use two camera bodies and put two zooms (one on each) that go from short to at least 400, or longer if you can. Bring several batteries, battery chargers, bags to protect your cameras when not shooting and lots of memory cards. Do not change the lens in the field as it can be very dusty. You might want a small tripod and remote trigger to take photos at sunrise, sunset and at night with a small, fast prime lens. Africa sunsets are amazing! I usually back up my photos at night to either my iPhone or Ipad just for a backup with an adapter that Apple sells. And put down your camera and enjoy the experience! There is nothing that compares to seeing the animals in the wild and Africa keeps calling me back.

No, the lithium batteries go in your carryon in the cabin, not in the checked bag.

I just returned from a trip in Southeast Asia two days ago after about three months of not traveling. In Hong Kong, there was a whole extra security check at the gate of everyone on our flight to the US. I had checked my regular bag and my carry on and carried on my smallish camera backpack with one mirrorless camera and lens, one backup P&S, my meds, my Ipod, my Mini-Ipad, Iphone, Kindle, and one cloth bag with mainly food in it. I answered the questions the security agent asked and asked the security agent if he needed me to empty the bags and put everything on the table. He said no, but started looking through the bags. I asked him very politely to please be very careful with my cameras and lens. He was very polite and obliged to my request. It really didn't take nearly as long as I had expected and I did feel more secure afterwards that no one was going to get the bad things through. I think being polite and reasonable helps a lot.

I live where it was a 99.47% partial eclipse so I sat on my patio and filmed it. My DH was my camera assistant and kept moving the camera mounted in the tripod for me while I clicked with my new remote and enjoyed the show. I made a collage I learned about from videos by Matt Koslowsky (spelling?) and Terry White. My collage came out very nice so I had it enlarged and am having it matted and framed to hang in my home. I wish I had been at totality but with all the hoopla in this area about it, I decided to stay at home and film it here. It was interesting. It did get darker (but not as dark as I thought it would) and the temps cooled down several degrees. The birds, nearby chickens and roosters got very noisy, then very quiet and then "woke up" and got noisy again. Our dog went inside when it got darker and came back outside when it got lighter again.

That is a beautiful photograph!

I have been to Africa several times. Africa keeps drawing me back. I take 2 camera bodies (in the same "family" so I can interchange lens if needed), a 50MM prime lens (just in case), and 2 zooms that cover a wide range from about 18mm to at least 400mm, if possible. If you have a longer lens, so much the better (or a teleconvertor) or rent one. Last time I went, I wished I had longer than a 400mm lens because many animals were very far away but sometimes they are quite close. I put the shorter zoom on one camera body and the longer zoom on the other camera body (in my room or some place that is not dusty) and leave the lens on the camera bodies while outside. Do not change your lens in the field because it can be very, very dusty. I can not overemphasize the dusty conditions. Cover your cameras (or put them in large plastic bags, backpacks, etc) when you are not actively shooting and when you are moving. Quite a few in our small group did not and had camera problems, cameras stopped working, probably due to the dust (another reason you need two camera bodies). If one of your camera bodies fails, use the other one with your most-used lens on it (maybe I should bring a pillow case in the backpack in case I absolutely have to change lenses in the field). Take several batteries, more memory cards than you think you will need, chargers and a way to back up your photos every evening. Recharge your batteries every day or evening. An African Safari is a truly amazing experience. Seing animals in the wild is life-changing. Have a wonderful time! I can't wait to return to Africa next year!

Thank you for the information and the photos. Sounds like a great idea.

I have been lucky enough to go to Africa three times. When I plan to go again, I will go with a tour operation specializing in Photographic Safaris, not just a regular tour operator. It does make a big difference.

It is $85.00 for five years.

[quote=carlsbadmike]I'd like to start having photo books made but I'm not quite sure where to begin. There are so many companies, apps & websites out there to choose from. Basically, I'm just looking to create high quality books of my favorite images, typically outdoor, urban, abstract and so on. (Not wedding, vacation, family memory stuff, etc.). I'd like something where the logo of the company making them is not plastered all over the place. Quality of book, paper, binding, etc. is most important to me. Any and all advice would be very welcome and useful.

I have made many photo books over the last seven or eight years. I was happiest with mypublisher.com but they went out of business a couple of months ago. Recently I did an experiment having a new 22 page book printed by Shutterfly, Mixbook and AdoramaPix who all have the lay-flat option which is very important to me. The one I liked best was AdoramaPix mainly due to the quality of the paper, the choice of glossy paper (I love glossy), and the photos look better on their pages. I will probably stick with AdoramaPix for a while even though the size is only 8by10 instead of the little larger 8.5by11 that I would prefer. Blurb does not offer lay-flat books and I really don't like Blurb's papers. Good luck!

I used MyPublisher for making my photo books too. I recently made a photo book and as an experiment had Shutterfly, MixPic and AdoramaPix each print the same book, layflat and glossy (when available). They were all pretty close in price. I much preferred AdoramaPix's book and will probably start having them print my photo books, unless MyPublisher comes back. I like their photo paper much more than the others and the whole look of it.

I have the same issues with arthritis in my hands and back problems. so I can't carry heavy weight anymore. I switched to M4/3 several years ago. I switched to Panasonic and have the GX7, GX8 and the GX85 with several lens. I am very happy with them and the photos I take with them. I find the menu system for Panasonic cameras very intuitive and they perform well in low light for me. Good luck with your quest.