Wildlife As I See It
Wildlife photography has never been overly prominent in my work. I tend to find excitement in framing immovable and dramatic landscapes where I have the time to compose and find the right light. Having said that, I will admit to chasing the odd bird or bee with limited success. Below are a few words to follow on my thoughts and advice if this is your thing!
Nikon D60, 200-400mm f4G
The myth that you need a very long fast lens with lightning quick autofocus and a camera that could shoot a movie with its frame rate is not quite true. All you really need is patience and a bit of luck. Yes a long lens makes it easy but the images aren’t as real. Realistically a mid range telephoto is fine and the ability to use a fast shutter speed (either a large aperture and/or high ISO) is technically all you need. Autofocus makes life very simple but it’s not entirely essential. Patience is the big thing and inherently where the reward comes from.
Nikon F4, 200mm f4 AI-S, Kodak E100VS
What an animal does is up to them and very hard for one to control. Your very presence (unless they are tame) will often be a threat. So to compose and capture a great shot can present some difficulty. Consider your back drop and lighting, these you can control. Look at how the colour of your subject reacts with the rest of the frame and where the sun is in relation to you. Move around if you have to. Master this and half the shot is done. Then, it’s the waiting game. Unfortunately there’s no limit to this.
All in all capturing animals in the wild can be frustrating, time consuming but none the less rewarding.