Sunday, May 5, 2013

Wildlife Photography Tips I Wish I Had Known When I Visited South Africa

By Luke Walker


Being out in nature with wild animals can be an exhilarating sensation, and knowing these simple wildlife photography tips will make sure that you get much better results.Twelve essential tips for getting a breathtaking wildlife photograph are here:

1.) You have to put in the effort. There's a possibility that you won't be able to get a good shot even if it's a day when you're fortunate enough to see various animals.

2.) Work with a wider angle lens to get a shot of the animal in the natural environment instead of just the head shot. Many people return from a day out and all they have are lots of headshot photos.

3.) It isn't the best idea to always place your animal in the centre of the picture. Hold your point of focus and place the animal into a point of thirds in your frame facing into the frame or across the frame. It helps to tell a story to add more interest to people who see the final shot.

4.) To approach a shoot, get your camera and when you arrive, stop the engine to stop the pictures becoming soft from the vibrations. Occasionally the animal will run off when you stop the engine.

5.) What's in the background? The background will determine how well the photo turns out. You need to compose it as well as possible

6.) If you're using a central sensor on the animal, the majority of people focus on the animal's nose, and the depth of field will be so shallow that the animal's eyes won't be in focus. Instead, put your focus point on the eye of the animal, then recompose and position the animal in the frame where you want it to be, then shoot the picture.

7.) Have a look at each corner of your frame to ensure that there is nothing distracting in the photo.

8.) If you're planning to take a close up picture of the animal, it's best to use a shallow depth of field and focus tightly on its eye.

9.) If you're taking photos of an animal in a landscape, use a point of thirds.

10.) Try to get hold of the best lens possible. A good fast lens is of most importance. It is worth getting a better lens before a better camera.

11.) When you're working with a longer lens, support it as much as you can with a tripod. If not, try using a bean bag if you're in a vehicle. You can get fairly small bean bags that are made especially for this purpose that you can find in camera shops and in online stores such as Amazon.

12.) Try working with something like a Manfrotto 35 clamp because open game drive vehicles all have bars that you can attach it onto. You can use a ball head or Gimble head on top of the clamp and this will enable you to support your long lens very effectively on a game drive vehicle. By using a ball head you will be able to pan from the back or side of a vehicle so if there are animals running or chasing other animals you can pan with them as they run and this enables you to get brilliant photos.

So now that you've been armed with this information, So now that you know all of this stuff, get out among nature and start capturing some fantastic shots of wildlife!




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