Wildlife Photography techniques...

norvic-boy

norvic-boy

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Toby
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Hello,

For some research, I am wondering what techniques people use for wildlife photography. Shutter speeds, apertures, ISO, time of day, research before photographing specific wildlife etc.

I would really appreciate some feedback.

Thanks.


(As I have done wildlife photography before, I already have techniques of my own, however this is for my AS exam, as I need some evidence of research into techniques to photograph wildlife. This will be - when the thread goes 'dead' - printed and used as evidence. I've posted this on talkphotography as I know there are some awesome wildlife photographers, and it would be intriguing to see how they go about there stuff. Thanks again. :) )
 
I'm not a big wildlife photographer but heres what I tend to try.

ISO - depends on the shot, mostly high enough to get 1/500th to 1/800th of a second. I think it's important not to be scared of high ISO. ISO 800 is often very useful early morning/late afternoon. In my opinon, a sharp slightly noisy shot is preferable to a clean blurry shot. However if I'm panning or want to show movement I might use ISO50 and if the subject is pretty still then I'll stick to the 1/focal length rule. If I can choose I'll always aim for the lowest 'true' ISO available.

Aperture - Often, wide-open to get the most shallow DOF attainable. Might occasionally stop down to f/4 or f/5.6 if DOF is a concern or perhaps f/8 or f/11 if I want the most crisp shot I can possibly achieve and the background isn't an issue.

Shutter speeds - as mentioned in ISO. As high as possible, unless a specific requirement.

Time of day - I find early morning and late-evening is the most pleasing, so if I have a choice thats what I do - of course often thats not the case!!

Research- Depends on the animal in question- Most of the time I don't make a real effort, often just scan a factsheet on wikipedia. If I do make the effort I try to find a bit out about their habbitat, what the do during the day, just general background stuff.

Hope that helps,
Josh
 
I don`t profess to be the best wildlife photographer on here, but I do work a lot with wildlife and the land it lives on.

The best advice I can give is to study the habitat,the subject and the habits of the subject.Most are creatures of habit,suss that out and your halfway there.
 
A lot of my wildlife stuff is insect macros so 100 macro, f/16 or narrower, ISO 200, 1/125 and a ring flash. Handheld and approaching them requires gentle movements.
 
I'm not exactly known for wildlife photography (or any other photography for that matter!) but I would say the technical aspects are the same as any other genre i.e. you need to know your way around the camera to get the best out of it in different conditions and depending what kit you have.

Specific to wildlife photography I'd say it is all about knowing your subject. You may not need to do an awful lot of research if you a aiming to shoot garden wildlife but if you are on a mission to find a rare or very shy animal you are obviously going to have to work harder at it.

Time of day? Well that is going to depend what wildlife you are shooting and what behaviours you are hoping to see - coupled with trying to find the best conditions to shoot in i.e. light.

Basically, I don't think there are any easy answers. I could tell you what settings I use for macro bug shots with my amateur kit but that isn't going to do you much good on safari.
 
The most important thing is the light, and your position relative to the light and the subject. You need to be in a position with the light behind you, ideally coming over your shoulder.

I am always shooting with a tripod, but still aim for a shutter speed of 1/500 sec, this is to freeze any subject movement, for in flight shots I would go for 1/1000 sec minimum.

Aperture anything from f7.1 down to f4, I prefer f7.1 as this gives me more depth of focus on the 500mm and helps get more of the subject in focus, useful for in flight shots as it gives the AF a bit of tolerance.

ISO, I use auto with a maximum of 3200, if I need to reign it in I have the option of opening up the aperture, or dropping the shutter speed.

The other thing you need is patience ... lots of it :thumbs:
 
The most important thing is knowing your subject, a lot of pro photographers will tell you this.
 
get close
keep quiet
no flash
high speed
large aperture

and dont use food to entice...unless its from a genuine kill
 
Depends on what you're shooting.
Ducks in flight are best just before sunset as they come in to roost.
Garden or woodland birds feed mostly before noon so that's the time to get the most shots. Winter is better than summer because tree cover will be less. I see nothing wrong in using feeders to attract them, but put the feeder near a tree or other perch and shoot them on the perch before they fly to the feeder.
Insects such as butterflies need sunlight, but when warm they are very skittish. Catch them in the morning as they're warming up.
Use wide apertures for birds and larger wildlife, small apertures for invertebrates.
A monopod is a good idea if you don't want to cart a heavy tripod around.
 
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