“Learning about shutter speed and aperture can be done in the classroom, but when you walk with Dale you’ll learn how to see subjects creatively and capture those images in their native environment in a way that will change how you see photography.
And you’ll learn about shutter speed and aperture, too. When you’re spending days and weeks away from home, Dale is an ace traveling companion, having a sense of humor, humility, and consideration”
For the past twenty years I have annually engaged in at least one photographic seminar or tour. I have never been disappointed in a tour leader. However, I write with all candor that no leader has been more inspiring than Dale Morris.
Dale’s photographic talent is broad and deep and he generously imparts his knowledge to each member of his group. From Dale I learned better ways to do everything from cleaning a lens to metering to composing a shot. As a tour manager he sees to the smooth operation of every detail of the trip.
It’s inevitable that glitches occur when traveling in remote areas of the globe but Dale’s adeptness in the third world keeps the tours on schedule and on track. Dale bursts with enthusiasm and humor and his passion for wildlife and the wilderness is contagious. I look forward to my next tour with Mr. Morris.
Our private trip to Ethiopia was remarkable in so many different ways, an inspiring journey to different landscapes, beautiful people, ancient cultures, incredible food and so much more.
Yet it was Dale that allowed us to relax and enjoy these special moments: it felt like being accompanied by a professional photographer and guide who was also a long lost friend.
Thank you Dale, to the next one…
Dale and I ended up doing a solo trip together (my traveling partner had to turn back unexpectedly due to a family health issue) in Madagascar, which he planned from beginning to end. I asked to see the country, as thoroughly as I could in 10 days, and to further hone my photographic skills.
I can honestly say that it was one of best photographic trips of my life – and I’ve taken quite a few. Dale’s teaching skills, patience, expertise and willingness to go the extra mile to ensure I got great shots was unparalleled. But perhaps more important than any of that is that he was a great travel partner.
I looked almost as forward to our nightly discussions as I did with our daily adventures! If you’re looking to get great shots while having a ton of fun, Dale is your man! I could not recommend him more highly and I look forward to taking many more trips with him and Oryx in the future.
“We arrived home two days ago after a most incredible and wonderful trip. The highlight of our trip was the Kings Camp safari but everything was fabulous!! We really appreciate Dale for so many reasons. He was excellent in teaching us, being personable, sharing his knowledge, expertise and passion for wildlife photography.
We learnt so much. It has been busy trying to catch up after our vacation but this weekend we hope to start applying some of the ‘editing’ that Dale taught us. We would highly recommend this experience and DALE!!
An absolutely wonderful experience!! We really hope that we can do something similar in the future and would definitely be calling ORYX (and Dale).
“Hi Marius
Currently overnighting in Paris on our way home from Madagascar. It was an excellent trip. We are thrilled with the images we are now in the midst of sorting. We got all of our targets and have some wonderful photos. It’s a tough place, but ORYX and especially Dale handled everything with aplomb.”
“I am back home after an inspiring tour with ORYX once again. As before the practical arrangements were flawless, and the guiding superb.
First time I travelled with Dale, but it came as no surprise that he is first class.
Thanks to ORYX and to Dale for a great experience!”
“The trip was one of the best photo trips I have had in recent years. Although the landscape was challenging as well as the ability to get clear shots of the animals in the rainforest, your representatives in the field made the trip.
Do not lose this group. Dale Morris is a real pro. Not only did he organize the photoshoots to optimize our ability to get the right shots, but his expertise in the field as it related to the more technical aspects of photography (flash, exposure comp, lens selection etc.) made the trip. Do not lose him. I would have no trouble recommending your organization to my camera friends in Toronto, and I look forward to dealing with your organization in the future.”
“Without Dale and the Oryx team it would have been impossible to travel in the country. The help was exceptional in dealing with the changes and I never worried we wouldn’t get to where we wanted to go. Dale works very hard to ensure everyone has the best possible angles for shooting and helped me with flash settings and tips at the start. Shooting in Madagascar is different than other destinations I have been to and the assistance in getting started was appreciated. I appreciated the fact that Dale, while taking shots, got us in position first before “firing”. That doesn’t always happen with guides, especially when there is a special moment. Thanks again for an introduction to the wildlife of a very unique and challenging country. I’m sure most first time travelers to Madagascar don’t have such a rewarding photo experience!”
“Thanks, the trip was excellent. Got some great photos, and also learned a lot from Dale on techniques very useful in Madagascar, macro and night photography. Discussing with other guests, I think we all expected to be put in good photography locations to see what we could do, but the effort Dale put in teaching us all new techniques was beyond expectations.”
“Hi all,
This trip completely exceeded my expectations and was exactly what I was looking for (wildlife all day every day). You were all extremely responsive, professional, and courteous.
Accommodations were all nice and the food was always good. Internal flight delays were handled so smoothly that they didn’t have an impact on the trip overall.
Dale was definitely the best photographer-guide I’ve ever travelled with. His photos were gorgeous and he was incredibly generous, patient, and enthusiastic about sharing his knowledge. He kept us entertained all day with new photographic opportunities, and involved us in experiments with new techniques, usually with amazing results. As a guide he had excellent natural leadership ability, and as a person he was warm, friendly, interesting, genuinely nice, and fun to be with.
Everything we did was so much fun, and I will always have wonderful memories of this trip. Would definitely travel with you again.
Thanks so much!!”
“We had a GREAT time with Dale. Everything was as expected as we have learned to expect the unexpected. We would go with Dale and your company without any hesitation. We have NOTHING to complain about. Olive learned a lot of things from Dale. How not when you get such a crazy guide.”
“We are writing to provide some feedback on our short trip to India with Oryx, to visit several game parks with Tiger spotting a priority. We had a small group of 4, ably led by Dale Morris, a genuinely friendly and helpful leader. Dale is a skilled and award winning photographer whose enthusiasm for photography was infectious. Dale was a delight to travel with and ensured that everything worked as planned. We managed to see quite a few tigers and also enjoyed the classic sights of the Taj Mahal.”
“Andries and I would like to thank the ORYX team, especially Dale, for a memorable India tour. The tour was exceptionally well planned. The only hassle we as guests were left with was to try and get the best photo of a Tiger:- And we did, thanks to Dale’s input and expertise. We can only but highly recommend ORYX and will not think twice about using their services again in future.”
“Dale Morris was an excellent tour leader. Apart from being a very pleasant person, he also went out of his way to share his wealth of knowledge on photography with us. We started the tour with our photos looking like normal holiday snap shots, and ended up taking some pretty professional images. Thank you Dale for your patience and willingness to help us.”
“I second all of what Shobha has said. We had such an amazing time. Dale was fabulous, as were all the rest of the team. We always felt well taken care of, and safe.
Dale was not only generous with his knowledge but also his lenses. He truly has a wealth of information and we really learnt so much from him. His wicked sense of humour was also much appreciated 🙂
We are sure to be doing more photo tours with ORYX in the not too distant future!”
“I thought I should write to you of the amazing trip we had to the Omo Valley with Dale. The trip was well organized and we were well taken care of.
Dale was a wonderful leader. He was generous with his knowledge and we learnt a lot from him. He was kind, considerate and a lot of fun!
You can be sure we will be recommending ORYX to our friends!”
“We want to thank you and the entire ORYX team for providing an absolutely fabulous photo vacation. We would particularly credit Dale for his care and attention in making this such a memorable holiday. We are especially pleased that he managed to convince the jaguars to show up for us on six of the nine outings on the river portion of the trip. You can rest assured that we will be recommending the ORYX team to all of our travel and nature photography friends.”
The Brazil trip was excellent. The wildlife sightings every day were amazing, beyond my expectations. Dale was great as the photo tour leader, he made sure everyone knew how to use their equipment for every situation, and made sure we were in the right place for best photo opportunities.
Dale Morris is the consummate professional, and during our Borneo trip, was always there for us when we needed advice and assistance to properly frame a photo, whether it be a telephoto, wide angle or macro shot, taking into account such factors as subject positioning, lighting and background. He made sure we were in the ideal position to get a photo, meaning that he himself, unselfishly, was often outside of that sweet spot until he made sure we had gotten our memorable shot.
His patience was appreciated as I sometimes fumbled getting all my settings correct during the multitude of photographic conditions we encountered, from the intense daylight of the midday sun, to the deep shadows under the forest canopy. Never overbearing, truly unflappable, always helpful and just plain fun to be around. Dale is an unpretentious and likeable guy.
Dale was an excellent guide. His enthusiasm is infectious and knowledge of the wildlife and environment is outstanding. He was a pleasure to be with and we all gained from his photographic expertise. All four of us would travel with Dale on another ORYX trip without hesitation.
Dale was tour leader on our recent ORYX trip to the Pantanal of Brazil. His love of nature and passion for photography were obvious and the knowledge and experience he shared with us were a huge part of making this an outstanding and unforgettable trip. His photography lessons and advice nudged us into new ways of taking and composing photos and led to the best collection of photographs we have ever taken on any trip. He was a real asset to this trip and his lessons will be remembered and applied. And he also tells great stories.”
“We had a wonderful time with Dale who is flexible, thoughtful, and understood all our interests and needs. The Pantanal and Dale exceeded our expectations. Dale was tremendously helpful and so enthusiastic. He is also just a terrifically interesting person with a wide variety of life experiences for one so young. He is a pleasure to be with. We found him to be a very good teacher, seeming to know what level of information each participant might need. I think he found the right balance of teaching and just being there and soaking it all in. He helped me be much less intimidated by my camera. The whole experience was first rate, thank you very much!”
“Dale is an excellent travelling companion and teacher, and we had a lot of fun”
This was one of the greatest trips we have taken. The wild life was spectacular and I got better pictures than I ever have before, due to Dale’s teaching. I admit to being lazy and intimidated in the past and though I have excellent equipment, I never went beyond the programmed and automatic functions. Dale convinced me to start using other functions and to consider the subject from other angles and completely changed the way I will do things in the future. I learned a lot. Everything was well done and the house boat was especially wonderful; it was a 5-star experience with friendly people, wonderful food and skilled boat drivers. We will certainly recommend ORYX to all our friends.”
“I want to reiterate Sue’s comments about the extraordinary quality of our Pantanal experience. Having Dale and as our mentor on this trip made it just outstanding. Accommodations were also excellent, especially the houseboat. Just to reemphasize: Dale’s photographic expertise and teaching skills were outstanding, matched with naturalist’s skills and a great rapport with all of the personnel and staff we encountered at the various venues. Our friends and co-tourists on the trip were equally impressed, and we are still drinking caiparinhas and savoring wonderful memories.”
The trip was amazing.
Everything was well planned and organized, the lodges were very pleasant, and the local guides were excellent. We saw every animal on the list and got great photos. I hope you know how lucky you are to have Dale, because he’s a star among photographer tour leads.
He’s not only an extremely talented photographer for wildlife, macro, landscapes, and people, he’s a fountain of interesting knowledge about flora and fauna, and he has an innate ability with animals that’s a big advantage when photographing them. Even if we don’t see what we’re looking for while searching for wildlife, he can always find something cool and unusual to photograph in an interesting way, so it’s fun all day long and never boring. When it comes to non-photography guide-related tasks, he takes charge and is competent in every way.
Thanks again for everything and I look forward to traveling with Oryx again in the future.
Nancy and I had an absolutely fabulous time travelling and photographing with Dale in Borneo. We came home with some spectacular images of primates, and with so many of them it’s going to take us weeks to get through them all and process all the ones we want to. We were very impressed with all of the arrangements ORYX and Dale made to assure that this was a very high quality trip.
Absolutely first class.
Thanks again for such a superb trip. We look forward to traveling with ORYX again soon
Graham and I learnt so much from Dale, not only about cameras, but also about new and varied angles for photographing wildlife! This was also our first photographic tour and we look forward to many more. My husband’s passion for birdwatching and photography was more than fulfilled– he has so many amazing shots and our bird count tally was increased by 50 new species!
It is difficult to relate to others what you experience in Antarctica – the stillness, purity, abundance of wildlife, pristineness, the ocean in every shade of blue, the privilege of being there…
I will recommend our overall experience with you (Oryx and Dale) all in a heartbeat!
Thank you again for helping us to achieve this bucket list item in such a memorable way.
I recently got back from Antarctica and it was absolutely spectacular. Out of about 10 photographer-guides I’ve traveled with in the past, Dale is the best overall. He’s a wonderful teacher, has almost no ego, and is always concerned about his clients getting great shots. I never fail to be impressed by his talent in photographing animals and landscapes, his technical ability, attention to detail, and aesthetic sensibility. He’s highly attuned to the animals and their behavior, which is one reason why his photos are so successful. My photos are much better when I travel with him.
There were other options for Antarctica, but I’m so glad I chose this one and it’s a memory of a lifetime!
I only have positive things to say about the trip, Antarctica was a fantastic experience, Dale was perfect (as always) and the rest of group very easy to get along with.
There is no doubt that I will join another ORYX expedition, I don’t know when, but soon I hope (and with Dale again for sure).
