Wildlife Photography Tips

These wildlife photography tips are just what you need if you're planning to take pictures of animals out in the wild. You don't have to be heading off for a safari to use these tips. There's plenty of wildlife in your own backyard just waiting to be photographed.

Equipment

Camera

First, you'll need a good camera. You may be able to get away with using a compact point and shoot camera for some things, but really a high quality DSLR is the best for this job. If you're using a point and shoot your zoom capabilities will be limited. Having a camera that allows you to override auto functions and use manual settings is quite useful.

Lenses

When you're shooting wildlife photography you'll need a variety of lenses. Macro lenses can be used to take photos of insect life. You'll need a good zoom lens to take close up pictures of animals that are usually skittish or even dangerous when approached by people. Good zoom lens choices are a 75-300 or a 100-300mm. If you feel like that still doesn't get you close enough to the action you can try something with a bit more zoom. You can get 100-400mm or even a 50-500mm. There are so many lens on the market.

When choosing a lens make sure you get one that is good quality. You can take great pictures, but if your lens is no good your great pictures won't look so great.

Tripod

You're going to need a good sturdy tripod to hold you camera steady with that huge lens attached to it. I think the Benbo Trekker Mk 2 is a great choice. It takes some getting used to though and most people either love it or hate it. If you can rent one from someplace to try it out before buying it that would be useful. They are quite expensive.

Some people prefer using a monopod from wildlife photography. I've never much cared for them, but you might want to give one a try. They are supposed to be quite good for holding your camera steady with a zoom lens.

Photography Tips and Tricks

Now that you have the equipment you need, you're ready for more practical wildlife photography tips. Let's look at a few.

Find Your Subject

Unless you're taking pictures of birds in your backyard you'll probably have to go somewhere to find your subject. You don't have to go to an exotic location to get good nature photos. Try going to your local nature reserve. Near my home there is a little park that is full of animals to photograph.

Patience

One of the most important wildlife photography tips is to have patience. I guess you've already figured out that when you're photographing animals you have no control over what they're going to do. They're not going to sit still and smile. You'll need to wait for the shot. Often times you have to wait for the subject to even show up.

You may know a spot your subject frequents. In this case, you may want to go to the spot, hide out, and wait for your subject to show up. You can try hiding behind bushes. Some people hide out in their cars, but if you do that take some test shots first to make sure you can get good photographs through you windshield. If you have your car window open make sure you can get your camera out at the right angle.

Shoot A Lot and Shoot Fast

Once your subject shows up or you find it take lots of pictures. Use continuous shooting or burst mode to catch as many frames as possible. You don't know when the good picture will happen so you have to be ready.

Setting your camera to be as fast as possible will help you get great action shots. Freezing a bird in flight or a cheetah mid-sprint makes for great pictures, but if your shutter is open too long those imagines will just be blurs. Play around with your ISO settings. Set it for as fast as you need it to get a good shot. Remember that the higher it is the more noise occurs in the picture.

Opening your aperture wide will also speed up your camera. Remember it also decreases the depth of field.

Be Quiet

If your camera has a silent mode use it. Cameras can make a lot of noise. All that noise will scare away your subjects.

Do No Harm

This is one of the most important wildlife photography tips. Do no harm to your subject or the surrounding area. We need to preserve nature so it will be there for us to photograph in the future. Try to disturb your the surroundings as little as possible while you're taking pictures.

If you liked these wildlife photography tips, you should check out some of my other digital photography tutorials.