Zebras at Kalahari Crossing, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana, in 2009. (Zack Seckler)

Photographer Zack Seckler flew 500 feet above ground – and even hung by his seatbelt out an open plane door – to provide a unique perspective on the wildlife of the Makgadikgadi Pan and the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

The daredevil photo shoot wasn’t planned, however. After the New York-based photographer finished a commissioned photo shoot in Botswana, he didn’t know what to do with the rest of his time in the Southern Africa country.

“I was sitting in my hotel room – basically in the middle of nowhere – with nothing to do. I thought to myself, ‘Hey! I’m in Africa…I need to be shooting,” he told weather.com.

It was then that the photo series was born. He went out on a flight with a local bush pilot in an Ultralight aircraft “to see the landscape form a new angle.”

(MORE: Exploring the Okavango by Boat: A Kayak Adventure (PHOTOS))

“The plane we were using, an Ultralight, is extremely maneuverable. It allowed for us to takeoff or touch down on any flat strip of land, with only 100 feet of clearance,“ he explained. “The plane was my best tool for managing the environment.”

Seckler soared over Magadigadi pans, a salt pan in the middle of the savanna in northeastern Botswana, and Okavango Delta, an inland delta that does not flow into any sea or ocean.

In order to best capture the savanna, Seckler only flew on clear days and took off at dawn to shoot the locations as the sun rose.

“For aerial photography, shooting during dusk or dawn with full sunshine or light haze is ideal,” he said. “Those lighting situations really sculpt the landscape in an appealing way.”

While most of the shots for this project were taken from an Ultralight aircraft, Seckler said for one flight they used a Cessna, which was a frightening experience.

“The only way for me to get clear shots was to remove the entire door of the Cessna. And of course I was sitting right next to that open door. It seemed like a fine idea on the ground but once we got up in the air it became, well, terrifying.”

But, once Seckler got over his fears it was an “exhilarating experience.”

To see more of Seckler’s work visit his website or Facebook page. Also, visit the Robin Rice Gallery site for more information about Seckler’s photo series.