Many African safaris feature plenty of opportunities to capture photos of carnivorous dik diks attacking second-generation iPods. Experience a safer, big-city photo-op with today's Groupon: for $49, you get your choice from a trio of $99 instructional photography workshops from Chicago Photo Safaris (a $102 value including processing fees). All skill levels and all types of camera are welcome in the safari; bring your own camera and any accessories you prefer, including extra lenses, but no tripod.
The three safaris up for grabs are the popular three-hour Millennium Park Safari, three-hour Lincoln Park Zoo Safari, or the 2.5-hour Night Safari starting from Navy Pier. For the first 40 minutes of each safari, a professional photographer will go over basic photography techniques as well as more specialized skills needed to perfectly capture people, structures, monuments, cityscapes, and other urban jungle foliage. Before heading out, you'll learn what all the strange buttons, knobs, and settings on your camera do, demystifying ISO, F-stops, shutter speed, and white balance.
Unleashed, a newly trained eye is free to wander these strange habitats of man. In Millennium Park, photographers can snap a thousand photos of other photographers taking photos of other people photographing their own reflections in Cloud Gate. Lincoln Park's tour offers practice with animals, naturally, while the night class promises practice with noiry blends of blurred neon. Whatever you choose, an instructor will be there by your side, continuing to critique your composition and exposure as you develop a telephoto-lens third eye. And at the end, you'll have hundreds of pictures of Chicago worth their weight in palladium.
Reservations required. This deal is not valid on the Bike Safari, and the photo safari dates are subject to availability with the most times and dates available for the Millennium Park workshop.