By Luke Walker
Being out in nature with wild animals can be an exhilarating sensation, and understanding these handy wildlife photography tips will ensure that you get much more interesting pictures.Twelve useful techniques for capturing a fantastic wildlife shot are here:
1.) You need to put in the effort. You may not get a great shot even on a day when you're lucky enough to see various animals.
2.) Work with a wider angle lens to get a shot of the animal in the natural environment instead of just the head shot. Many people return from a day out and all they have are lots of headshot photos.
3.) It is not recommended to always place your animal in the middle of the shot. Hold your point of focus and put the animal into a point of thirds in your frame so that it is looking into the frame or across the frame. It helps to tell a story to will create more interest to the viewer.
4.) To approach a shoot, have your camera turned on and when you arrive at the scene, turn the engine off to stop your pictures going soft from the vibrations. Sometimes the animal will run off when the engine stops running.
5.) What does the background look like? The background will have a big impact on the overall picture. You need to compose it as well as possible
6.) If you're using a central sensor on the animal, the majority of people focus on the animal's nose, and the depth of field will be so shallow that the animal's eyes won't be in focus. Instead, put your focus point on the eye of the animal, then recompose and position the animal in the frame where you want it to be, then shoot the picture.
7.) Have a look at each corner of your frame to ensure that there is nothing distracting in the photo.
8.) If you're planning to do a close up portrait of the animal, it's best to work with a shallow depth of field and focus right on its eye.
9.) If you're taking photos of an animal in a landscape, use a point of thirds.
10.) Try to get hold of the best lens possible. A good fast lens is of most importance. It is worth getting a better lens before a better camera.
11.) When you're working with a longer lens, support it as much as you can with a tripod. If not, try using a bean bag if you're in a vehicle. You can get fairly small bean bags that are made especially for this purpose that you can find in camera shops and in online stores such as Amazon.
12.) Use something like a Manfrotto 35 clamp because open game drive vehicles are built with bars that you can clamp onto. You could also use a ball head or Gimble head on top of the clamp and this will allow you to support your long lens very effectively on a game drive vehicle. A ball head will enable you to pan from the back or side of a vehicle so if you have animals running or chasing other animals you can pan with them as they run and this allows you to get brilliant photos.
So now that you've been armed with this information, So now that you know all of this stuff, get out there and get some fantastic shots of wildlife!
1.) You need to put in the effort. You may not get a great shot even on a day when you're lucky enough to see various animals.
2.) Work with a wider angle lens to get a shot of the animal in the natural environment instead of just the head shot. Many people return from a day out and all they have are lots of headshot photos.
3.) It is not recommended to always place your animal in the middle of the shot. Hold your point of focus and put the animal into a point of thirds in your frame so that it is looking into the frame or across the frame. It helps to tell a story to will create more interest to the viewer.
4.) To approach a shoot, have your camera turned on and when you arrive at the scene, turn the engine off to stop your pictures going soft from the vibrations. Sometimes the animal will run off when the engine stops running.
5.) What does the background look like? The background will have a big impact on the overall picture. You need to compose it as well as possible
6.) If you're using a central sensor on the animal, the majority of people focus on the animal's nose, and the depth of field will be so shallow that the animal's eyes won't be in focus. Instead, put your focus point on the eye of the animal, then recompose and position the animal in the frame where you want it to be, then shoot the picture.
7.) Have a look at each corner of your frame to ensure that there is nothing distracting in the photo.
8.) If you're planning to do a close up portrait of the animal, it's best to work with a shallow depth of field and focus right on its eye.
9.) If you're taking photos of an animal in a landscape, use a point of thirds.
10.) Try to get hold of the best lens possible. A good fast lens is of most importance. It is worth getting a better lens before a better camera.
11.) When you're working with a longer lens, support it as much as you can with a tripod. If not, try using a bean bag if you're in a vehicle. You can get fairly small bean bags that are made especially for this purpose that you can find in camera shops and in online stores such as Amazon.
12.) Use something like a Manfrotto 35 clamp because open game drive vehicles are built with bars that you can clamp onto. You could also use a ball head or Gimble head on top of the clamp and this will allow you to support your long lens very effectively on a game drive vehicle. A ball head will enable you to pan from the back or side of a vehicle so if you have animals running or chasing other animals you can pan with them as they run and this allows you to get brilliant photos.
So now that you've been armed with this information, So now that you know all of this stuff, get out there and get some fantastic shots of wildlife!
About the Author:
If I had known these wildlife photography tips when I visited South Africa, my photos would have been much better. For many more enjoyable posts that will allow you to improve your photography skills, check them out here on our website.