010 – Recommended Equipment

There are a number of different photographic accessories that are invaluable when photographing wildlife. Hand-holding a large lens can be quite difficult and tiring, especially for long periods of time. If your subject is stationed in one spot (the subject could be preening, displaying, bathing, feeding etc), then using a tripod with some type of gimbal, such as a Wimberley, is highly recommended. A gimbal lets you move the camera and lens in all directions quite easily, without getting sore arms and shoulders. If your plan is to walk a reasonable distance with your camera and heavy lens, searching for wildlife, then a carbon fiber monopod with a dedicated monopod head is the way to go. Much lighter than a tripod and allows you the freedom to move around. Another important piece of equipment to own is a photographer’s beanbag, used to stabilise heavy lenses. Beanbags can be filled with rice, birdseed or beans and can be placed on car bonnets or half-opened car windows, rocks or fence posts. You’ll be amazed at how much beanbags help minimise movement of your camera and lens, allowing for shots to be taken at quite low shutter speeds. I recommend using some sort of neoprene covering for your lenses and tripods, to protect them from scratches and bumps, dust, rain as well as minimising reflections caused from the sun bouncing off the metal. The most well-known and popular brand used by wildlife photographers around the world is called ‘Lenscoat’. I also suggest some type of rain cover for your camera and lens, especially if you are a wildlife/nature/outdoor photographer.

011 Shoot Closer, Shoot Further

For many photographers, it seems the most important aspect of wildlife photography is purchasing, and using, a lens with the longest focal length. As much as it is beneficial to own a lens with a longer focal length, especially when trying to photograph smaller birds/wildlife, many a great shot can also be taken of the animal as part of a larger landscape. You might be in a place like Antarctica, photographing a stunning, icy vista, with a penguin just visible in the foreground. The viewer’s eyes naturally go for towards the penguin, then at the rest of the scene.   Rather than a close up-image of an animal, photographed with a long lens and wide aperture (which creates a smooth, blurred out background), an image of an animal, taken with a wide-angled lens also gives you a sense of space. It clearly shows the environment the animal lives in and gives the image a sense of scale.

012 It’s All About Light

One aspect of wildlife photography that I have always deemed very important, is photographing, where possible, in decent light. Rarely do I head out in the middle of a sunny day to photograph birds, as it’s the post-dawn and pre-dusk light that is the most subtle and evocative. No harsh shadows and over-blown highlights, just even, diffused light on your subject.   It may not always be possible to photograph pre- dawn or pre-dusk. You may happen to be in an environment, with lots of wildlife around to photograph, and it’s the middle of a bright, sunny day. In these instances, I suggest you photograph with the sun behind you (or to the side), if at all possible, rather than directly in front of you. In these circumstances, I like to move around and take my wildlife shots at various angles to the sun, eventually settling on a position that works best.  

013 Think Outside The Box

One of the joys of photography is that there are so many different ways to take images. You can try different types of composition or experiment with lighting, but there are also many ways to take the same subject, simply by using different lenses. Sure, most photographers think of telephoto or zoom lenses with wider focal lengths as the way to go when photographing wildlife, but why not try a wide-angled lens really close? If your subject is really tame and used to people, such as an individual in a zoo or wildlife park, then try getting down to eye level, very close and getting a totally different perspective. It’s a lot of a fun and you may well be surprised at the results!     I hope the photographic tips and techniques mentioned in this article, as well as the pitfalls to avoid, will help you take your wildlife photography to another level.

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

Birds are found in every imaginable shape, size and colour, all over the world. Photographing them is a delight but capturing pin-sharp images of moving birds such as flying, diving into water or displaying, can be a challenge. Below are some tips and techniques that I have been teaching my photography workshop participants for the past 20 years.

1. Fast Shutter Speed

One of the most important things when trying to capture bird behavior is to make sure your camera’s shutter speed is high enough to capture the movement. For SLR or Mirrorless camera users, when shooting at a focal length of around 400mm, I generally suggest a minimum of 1/1500th or 1/2000th of second, so as to capture the movement without blur. For fast-flying bird, even higher speeds are recommended.

2. Back-button Focus

Back-button Focus is a feature on many various camera models that works really well when taking action shots. With back-button focus, you use your thumb to focus and your index finger to press the shutter button. Once focus is locked on a moving subject, when used in conjunction with continuous focus, it won’t leave the subject and try and focus on the background, especially if the subject has moved faster than you can track it. Many pro photographers use back-button focus to great effect and I have been encouraging my photography workshop participants to use this method for many years now.

3. Using Continuous Focus

To keep focus on a moving bird, it is imperative that you switch your focus mode to ‘Continuous’, so as to achieve greater focus accurately. Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax etc call their moving subject focus style ‘Continuous’, while Canon call their focus style ‘AI Servo’. It is important to lock focus on the moving bird by half depressing the focus button and keeping it that while following the subject. You can then take the shots whelp not the subject is in the best position. I always recommend using ‘Continuous Focus’ with continuous shutter mode or ‘burst’.

4. Best Focusing Method

If you are new to photographing bird behaviour, especially birds in flight, I suggest using a single focus point in the center of the frame. That way, no matter which direction the bird is flying from, you have a much better chance of capturing the perfect moment. Also, if the sky is blue and there are no distractions in the background, using 3D tracking or similar can be advantageous in helping with the focus locking onto the bird.

5. Preempting Bird Behaviour

One very important aspect of capturing that exact ‘split-second’ bird behaviour moment is to wait patiently until something happens. Recently, while presenting a photo expedition to Antarctica, we had dozens of penguins standing on the rocks near the shoreline. My group waited patiently for that exact moment when they started jumping into the water, then clicked away like crazy!! Carefully observing the penguins and preempting when they were about to jump, helped our photography group in getting great action shots.

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

As far as a recommended camera goes for photographing wildlife behaviour, it is preferable to use an SLR (single lens reflex) camera. One of the reasons is that you are able to capture a certain behaviour the instant the shutter button is pressed and you can also choose the zoom or telephoto lens you wish to use. With a compact digital camera or a ‘point-and-shoot’, it is a bit more difficult to take a photo at the precise moment when a behaviour is happening. Compact cameras have an inbuilt shutter-lag, which basically means there is a delay from the time the shutter is pressed until the photo is taken. Photographers who use compact cameras often tell me they are frustrated by missing that special wildlife ‘moment’, due to the delay in the shutter button on their camera. If your subject is stationary, you first need to compose your photo then press the shutter button partially to pre-focus on it. Wait for the right moment when a behavior is happening and then press the shutter button to take the shot. It takes a bit of practice and there will no doubt be many near-misses, but once you are used to this technique, it becomes much easier.

A photography tip for photographing birds and bats in flight, or mammals running, is to use a fast shutter speed to freeze the ‘action’. In good light, it is quite easy to achieve a high shutter speed but when lighting conditions are poor, I suggest raising the ISO setting on your camera, which will subsequently increase the shutter speed on your camera. The higher the shutter speed, the better chance of capturing a sharp, focused shot, without blur or movement. Be aware that when using a digital camera, depending on the camera’s make and model, you will experience some “noise” or digital grain if the ISO setting is set too high.

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.

One of the most spectacular natural destinations in Australia is, without doubt, Cradle Mountain in Tasmania. For people who haven’t been before, it often takes their breath away and as a wildlife and nature photographer, it’s definitely one of my favourite locations in Australia to take my camera. I have been to Cradle Mountain countless times, either photographing, presenting photo tours or as a holiday destination. The scenery is stunning and quite majestic and there is so much variety in the types of habitats to photograph.

The end of April/early May is a great time to visit Cradle Mountain with your camera, as this is when the incredible autumn colour changes occur. This is known as the ‘The Turning of the Fagus ’ (short for Nothofagus gunnii, the botanical name for this deciduous Beech trees). This annual event lasts only a few weeks each year and being Tasmania’s (and Australia’s) only deciduous tree, makes this event very special. The autumn colour leaves change and make for spectacular scenery that just has to be photographed! Apart from the ‘Turning of the Fagus’, there are also lush, green forests filled with King Billy and Pencil Pines, which are also very photogenic. Mosses, lichens and liverworts are everywhere and it’s also one of the best locations to photograph a wide variety of beautiful fungi, found in every conceivable shape, size and colour.

For the first time ever, I am presenting a five day photography workshop at Cradle Mountain, in Tasmania, based around the time of the autumn colour changes. My first ‘Cradle Mountain Autum Colour Changes ‘photography workshop booked out in 5 days, with a second one straight after now only having four places left!  If you would like to join me on the 5 day photography workshop of Cradle Mountain, or find out more about this exciting photography workshop, please click HERE for full details.

If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.