Photographing Wildlife

PREPARATION:

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Almost everyone with a camera would like to be a wildlife photographer. Let’s face it, it’s cool! It sounds really exciting; but it can often be demanding, expensive and sometimes frustrating. However, the process of becoming an amateur wildlife photographer can and will still be enjoyable, with some preparation!

David Osborn, Magellanic Penguin Courtship.

Let’s begin with the equipment you’ll need to get started. The majority of wildlife actively avoids human contact, so a long telephoto lens is essential and you will need one with a minimum focal length of 200mm. Most wildlife photographers use an SLR camera for the highest quality images, but some smaller and lighter cameras can also produce great results.

For the most part you need to handhold your camera. You will need to track your subject as it moves, so a tripod will not help, and you may capture your best shot of the animal whilst it’s on the move. Your subjects will always be challenging. They are often difficult to locate, and likely to disappear the moment you bring out your camera.

Len Deeley, Three Clownfishes with Closed Sea Anemone, Dumaguete, Philippines.

It is, perhaps, a wise move to automate some of your camera settings beforehand to save time later. If you use autofocus, auto ISO and continuous shooting mode, you can track your subject if it moves. Matrix or evaluative metering mode will usually produce decent results.

Your choice of aperture will affect your composition. A narrower aperture such as f8 will capture the detail of the surrounding area, as in a group of deer amongst trees. A wide aperture, e.g. f4 will help you to get sharper shots in fading light and the narrow depth of field will make your subject stand out from the background. The rabbit in this image stands out. The surroundings are less important.

Robin Lowry, Tranquility, Bedfordshire.

Typically, crisp, clear images are very important. Your choice of shutter speed needs to reflect and compensate for the movement of the subject, but a minimum of 1/250 sec will be necessary. You can also pan your camera to increase subject sharpness, this will blur the background and convey a sense of speed.

There are two shooting modes worth considering. Shutter priority mode, or time value mode is useful when motion is the key issue. You can use it to prevent camera shake, and to capture a sharp image of a moving subject. For stationary or slow moving subjects try using aperture priority or aperture value mode to control the depth of field. Both of these modes will ensure you get a balanced exposure (neither to bright nor too dark).

Every photographer has gone out, only to find there is no charge left in the camera’s battery and the memory card is full, so check them before you go and carry spares if possible. It’s a good idea to have a standard checklist that you use when you are preparing for your day. You can select your camera’s settings before you leave home, in preparation for your shoot.

David Southern, Newly Emerged Dragonfly, Godalming, England.

And there’s the choice of image formats. Many photographers prefer to take Jpegs. The file sizes are smaller than with RAW images, but that means some of the data of your image has been discarded. If you are planning on editing your images afterwards then you might prefer to take your shots in raw format. If you don’t plan to edit your images afterwards then shooting Jpegs is a good choice.

Your camera may also give you the choice of selecting between large, medium and small images. Wildlife photographers usually opt for the largest image so that they can crop out the less interesting parts of the photograph without introducing noise, or distortion.

Do keep in mind that a conscientious photographer works hard not to disturb wildlife. This is particularly important with protected species such as kingfishers, where you must have a licence to be within the vicinity of the nest.