"That's it, that's it," she purrs, "cool beans."

It takes 10 minutes in the company of Zimbabwean Francey, on board a Pangolin photo safari on the Chobe river, to capture my first half-way decent image.

Every feather in the bird's beige-brown plumage is sunlit and in focus, its neck is arched and ready to strike and its left eye, fiery and orange, looks full of fish-catching intent.

Arriving at the Pangolin boat, moored at a riverside hotel, I feel pathetically under endowed. My high-end "enthusiasts" Canon camera body, 70-200mm telephoto lens and, please don't laugh, iPad, had done the job for the past six days in Botswana's wildlife-packed Okavango Delta. But that was largely thanks to &Beyond's skilled safari vehicle drivers getting me close enough to privileged sightings like a post-prandial leopard up a tree, that I couldn't miss.

Stepping aboard the photo safari boat I can see that size and quality do matter.

Ranged across the middle of the boat in front of me are eight swivel seats, able to rotate 360 degrees, and a battery of Nikon D7000 cameras sporting powerful 500mm telephoto lenses. The cameras are sitting on mountings – ultra flexible tripods – modelled on those used by the South African army to accommodate machine guns.

Going through camera settings with Francey, my sense of lazy ineptitude as a photographer that rarely strays from automatic mode, increases.

"We set the aperture at five to keep the depth of field small, the shutter speed high to let in more light," she explains, "and the ISO, our measure of the image sensor's sensitivity, low, to prevent graininess."

"Here on the river," she adds, "we also slightly underexpose to cut down on reflection and to compensate for the intense African light."

By now, thanks to Francey's encouraging tutoring and that first cormorant photograph, my self-doubt is diminishing and I can concentrate on the captivating Chobe River and its wildlife.

On a felled tree trunk straddling the riverbank, our boat driver, Shandwela, spots movement, and carefully manoeuvers us into position beside it. There, basking in the sun, are two baby Nile crocodiles, their mother watching them protectively from the water below.

Shadows preclude the perfect shot but soon a hungry-looking Nile Monitor lizard struts along the bank toward them.

I hold my breath, anticipating a cruel moment in nature, and debating whether to shoot the unfolding drama. Then, having seen the vigilant mother, the lizard veers away. As it retreats, I rattle off close-ups of its head, its black and cream scales arrayed tightly around its eye like corn kernels on a cob.

"As you do more," whispers Francey, "you learn to anticipate movements, in birds particularly, so that you can shoot them with wings spreading or taking off to fly."

Over the next two hours I take 696 photographs, mostly herds of bathing elephants, cavorting in the river, their sense of fun conspicuous. Probably five images are "keepers" – including one that captures every wrinkly detail of an elephant's head and its lush eyelashes and another of a baby with droplets of water spilling from its lofted trunk.

There are portraits too of a handsome water buck posing on a grassy verge, of Lozi fishermen from the Namibian side of the Chobe river poling their "mokoro" boats along the northern bank and of a portly hippo, taken, lying down, from water level, and resting my telephoto on the boat's purpose-designed padded gunwale.

I'm just congratulating myself on my newfound talent when a thunderous tor of black cloud begins sweeping across the southern African plains, throwing down skewers of lightning and turning the Chobe river into a raging sea. In waves more tumultuous than Francey has seen in years, we just make it back to the wharf, scurrying through the pelting rain clutching bin liners full of expensive camera gear. Back at my base at Chobe under Canvas, a luxurious &Beyond camp located right inside the National Park and moved, in its entirety between different sites every week, I reflect on a memorable tour in front of what Robson, the genial manager, jokingly calls the "bush television" – a roaring wood fire.

From now on, I decide, I'll follow Lyn Francey's expert guidance and avoid my camera's automatic mode altogether.

The following dawn, on my first post-tour game drive, I wield my camera at everything from baboons to a pride of nine lions with a newfound swagger, experimenting with all my settings. Producing, I later discover, 408 photographs that are too dark, badly out of focus or full of white noise, and two gems.

Oh well, I muse, a leopard doesn't change its spots overnight.

LYN FRANCEY'S 10 TIPS FOR WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

1. Focus on the animal's eye because if the wings or legs are blurred by movement, having the eye clear will still make an excellent shot. Make sure you catch the light in the eye. The official term is catch-light.

2. To avoid a messy background try to position yourself with the animal against a clean, uncluttered backdrop. Set your camera on the widest aperture (lowest number) to ensure a softly blurred backdrop.

3. Constantly check your pictures because you have to like them, check that you are not overexposing your shots and that you have the correct conditions.

4. Try to avoid "burn-out" where the light reflects off a white surface (for instance a bird's neck) as it loses detail and you can never get it back. Use your camera's exposure compensator, keeping your settings slightly under-exposed, usually 1/3 of a stop in bright summer light. Drop it to 2/3 of a stop if you come across a white bird.

5. Try to anticipate your animal behaviour to give yourself time to get the movement of flight or an elephant swishing or splashing water.

6. Imagine your screen is divided in a noughts and crosses board, two lines across and two lines down. Try and place your subject in the bottom third and/or left/right third of the picture looking into the majority of the shot

7. Try not to delete from your card while the card is in the camera; it's like an old record player, it will scratch the record

8. Always use your lens hood, as it stops light hitting the lens from a different source

9. Don't use flash at night. If using a spotlight use it sparingly as it can temporarily blind the animal, not good if they are either predators or prey

10. Ninety per cent of wildlife photographers shoot in aperture mode. When taking groups of animals, up your f-stop so that you deepen your depth of field but also increase your ISO to let more light into your camera

SIX PHOTOGRAPHY TOURS AROUND THE WORLD

AFRICA

Chobe River, Botswana: Pangolin's Chobe River photo safaris run for three hours and cost $US120 ($158). See pangolinphoto.com/safaris/photographic-tour.

The tour is included in the tariff at &Beyond's Chobe Under Canvas camp. andbeyond.com/chobe-under-canvas.

ASIA

World Expeditions have a variety of photographic tours to some of the most scenic parts of Asia. They include a new Silk Road tour, set for September 2017, with multi award-winning photographer Nuran Zorlu, taking in the Chinese section of the historic trade route. It costs $6490 and runs for 15 days, including visits to the Terracotta Warriors, Heaven lake in the Tian Shan mountains and the ancient city of Kashgar. worldexpeditions.com/au/index.php?section=trips&id=4460469.

AUSTRALIA

Queensland based Blue Dog photography offers a variety of workshops and tours including an Outback Desert Odyssey, slated for April 2017. The tour, with photographer Danielle Lancaster, and outback guide Alan Smith, explores the arid landscapes of Channel Country and the Simpson Desert and costs $4530 (twin share). See: blue-dog.com.au.

Acclaimed photographer Ewen Bell also runs extensive outback tours, taking in Coober Pedy, Uluru, Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles) and the Tiwi Islands. See ewenbell.com.

EUROPE

National Geographic Expeditions have photographic tours to destinations around the world, including the Galapagos and Mongolia. In Europe, there is still time to book on their Tuscany photographic adventure with Pullitzer-prize winning phot-journalist Jay Dickman. Running between September 27-October 6 2016, it takes in Siena, San Gimignano and the Cinque Terre. Cost $US6795. In 2017, a new Switzerland photo workshop is available with Italian Gianluca Colla. See nationalgeographicexpeditions.com.

NORTH AMERICA

Polar bears and the Northern Lights. Of all the wildlife sightings on the planet, encountering a giant polar bear is one of the most exciting. Churchill, Manitoba in Arctic Canada offers photographers some of the best opportunities to capture close-up shots of these powerful animals and it is also an excellent base from which to learn how to capture the dancing Northern Lights. Natural Habitat Adventures has both seven-day Classic bear photo tours (cost $US6895) and Northern Lights photographic trips, using heated Aurora pods with glass tops and sides ($6295). See nathab.com.

ANTARCTICA

Oryx photography tours have Antarctica expeditions scheduled for late December 2016 and for November 2017. This year's departure also visits the Falklands and the mass penguin colonies of South Georgia, priced from $US16,395. See oryxphotography.com/photo-tours/destinations/Antarctica.

THE ART OF UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY

Taking good underwater photographs is famously difficult, with common problems being camera shake, poor lighting, and taking endless tail shots as sharks/fish glide by.

Brazilian born, San Francisco-based underwater photographer, Adriana Basques (see adrianabasques.com) has these tips for capturing still and moving images of compelling quality and clarity.

1. Be a great diver or snorkeller. A person must have total control over his/her buoyancy. Dive or snorkel with confidence knowing what you are doing, so you can focus on photography and videography.

2. Learn to understand the behaviour of the subject. This is what will give you the opportunity to approach without placing the animal(s) and environment in danger.

3. Be patient! Sometimes I spend the whole day in the ocean, sometimes weeks, looking for a specific animal.

4. Know your equipment. It does not matter how sophisticated or simple. Know the functions and how to use all the features.

5. Be creative. Try to find your style, something that will make your work stand out in the crowd.

6. Shooting underwater is very different and more demanding than any other type of photography. The light behaves in a very unusual way. The phenomenon called refraction makes colours disappear as the diver/photographer goes deeper. Knowing how to take advantage of the natural light combined with artificial light from strobes, is a key element toward building an image that appears natural to the viewer.

7. I typically shoot with four light sources, combined with special CM dome diffusers to enhance my lighting techniques. I also mount a GoPro camera to the housing as an alternative video option.

8. The best camera is the one you know how to use. There are so many good options on the market. I've been seeing excellent results with the newer compact cameras. Of course, to become serious about underwater photography, and to have greater control artistically as a professional, there is no substitute for a DSLR camera. Combined with the underwater housing, ports, strobes, and arms you are travelling underwater with a portable studio. Currently, I am shooting with a Canon 5D mark III in an Aquatica housing (see aquatica.ca) in conjunction with a nine-inch mega dome glass port for wide angle. This system allows me complete versatility from wide angle to split image photography

9. The best destinations for underwater photography depend on what you want to capture; whales, reefs, sharks, etc. However there are some places that I hold close to my heart. One is Raja Ampat in Indonesia. Another is Fiji, mostly for coral reef. I love to shoot coral reefs primarily because in 20 years they may no longer exist.

10. Learn the rules, and then go break them.

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION

botswanatourism.co.bw.

GETTING THERE

Qantas flies six times a week from Sydney to Johannesburg,. See qantas.com.au. From Johannesburg Air Link has flights to Kasane, the nearest airport to Chobe National Park, flight time 1hr 45min. See flyairlink.com. Airport transfers to and from Chobe-under-Canvas are included in the &Beyond tariff.

STAYING THERE

&Beyond Chobe-Under-Canvas has movable tented accommodation, including en suite bathrooms (WC and hot bucket shower) in secluded locations around Chobe National Park. Rates from $US560 ($742) per person per night, accommodation, food, tours (including the photographic tour with Pangolin) and transfers included, international airfares extra. See andbeyond.com/chobe-under-canvas.

PHOTOGRAPHING THERE

Pangolin's Chobe River photo safaris run for three hours and cost $US120 ($158). See: pangolinphoto.com/safaris/photographic-tour.

An array of underwater photography adventures are available with Gregory Sweeney Photo tours. They include Mexico's Sailfish and sardine run in February 2017 and a liveaboard trip diving with tiger and giant hammerhead sharks, off the Bahamas, in March 2017 with guidance from the multi award-winning photographer. See gregorysweeney.com

The writer was a guest of &Beyond.