Tip of the Week: Three Critical Wildlife Photography Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
- Avoid tiny animal blobs! Use a 200mm lens (or longer) to capture images of animals that fill the frame.
- Practice anticipating animal behavior. Use your dog or cat, for example, to practice taking images right before a behavior occurs. This will ensure you don’t miss the best shot.
- Set your camera to continuous shooting mode. Firing off rapid bursts of images will increase your chances of getting at least one that best captures the scene.
- Find a good location (like a feeding or watering area) to photograph animals. Be prepared to wait awhile!
Wildlife photography can be a tricky proposition because the subject matter is very seldom cooperative. You might spend hours in one location waiting to get a shot of an animal, only to find that the animal is a tiny blob in the frame. Other times you will have a gorgeous wildlife scene unfolding before you to miss the action by a fraction of a second. Still other times you might spend all day looking for an animal to photograph and come up empty handed.
These are all common problems that wildlife photographers must deal with. In this week’s Tip of the Week, we explore easy solutions that will help you minimize the negative aspects of wildlife photography and maximize your ability to get an excellent wildlife photograph.
The Subject Gets Lost
Nothing makes a wildlife image look amateurish like a photo that shows more wilderness than anything. A tiny speck of an animal in a vast vista doesn’t really accomplish the purpose of wildlife photography.
Avoid this situation by investing in a large telephoto lens. You don’t even have to purchase one – there are many local and online retailers that rent equipment for a reasonable price. The point is that with a lens that’s at least 200mm or longer, you can keep a safe distance from wildlife without scaring them off while having the focal length to fill the frame with the animal you’re photographing. You will get a better shot, and the image will be much more natural because you won’t be so close to the animal that it gets spooked.
Missing the Action
Wildlife photography is probably 25 percent shooting photos and 75 percent waiting patiently for the best shot. But the problem, of course, is when the moment arrives, you frame the shot, and press the shutter button, only to realize that the camera took too long to focus and get the exposure right. The result is usually an image taken the second or two after the perfect moment you’ve been waiting patiently to capture.
There are two easy ways to avoid this situation. First, learn to anticipate an animal’s movements and behavior. This will take a good deal of practice and observation of wildlife, but in time, you will be able to tell when something photo worthy is about to happen and click the shutter as it is happening, rather than pressing the shutter at that moment and missing out on the shot of a lifetime.
The second way to work around missing the action is to work in continuous shooting mode. This allows you to fire off several shots in rapid succession, which increases your chances of getting at least one decent shot in the bunch. High-end DSLRs have excellent continuous shooting speeds, but even entry-level and mid-range DSLRs have decent speed as well. Remember too that the speed of your memory card and the charge level of your camera battery will influence shooting speed, so be sure to get a fast card and fully-charged batteries before you head out.
Missing the Animals
There is little as frustrating as setting aside time to photograph wildlife, only to not see any wildlife to photograph. It’s a common mistake made by all kinds of photographers, but especially beginners – thinking that venturing into the forest will automatically ensure that there will be abundant wildlife to photograph.
Instead, you’ll need a strong measure of patience and be willing to work to find the animals you want to photograph. One of the best methods you can employ is to find a water source or food source and spend several hours there waiting for wildlife to come to you. Of course, this means you’ll need to do some research and learn more about the animal you want to photograph, including what they eat, what time of day they are most active, and things of that nature. Armed with that information, you will be able to select an area in which the animal is likely to appear and get a much better photo in the process.
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Conclusion
Wildlife photography is much more than pulling the car over and taking photos of animals from the comfort of your vehicle. To improve your chances of getting a great wildlife image, you will need to investigate the animals you want to photograph and find habitats they are likely to frequent. Be prepared to do some walking or hiking, and definitely be ready to wait awhile. Once your desired animal shows up, remember to shoot in continuous mode to ensure you get at least one good image. And definitely utilize a long telephoto lens so you can hang back at a safe distance and fill your frame with the animal interacting with the environment in a natural way.