If you’re a nature lover who loves to wander around the world, chances are you might also be into wildlife photography! And if you are just starting out in the field of wildlife photography, here are a few tips that will help you level up your game.
Study Your Subject
The key to getting fantastic shots of wildlife is to research your subject. You must know about your subject, or you won’t be able to predict their behavior. If you’re sure about the animal you’re going to capture, learn more about their behavioral activities, which include their trigger points and what keeps them calm.
When you’re in the field, closely observe as each animal or group of animals java their own idiosyncrasies. While some beautiful shots are due to luck, most award-winning photographs are the result of the knowledge of the person behind the lens.
Know the ‘Wildlife Photography’ Rules
Before you hop onto the field and take shots, you must know the basic rules of wildlife photography. Basics include the use of the histogram, proper exposure, and compositional guidelines like the rule of thirds.
Firstly, to record short-lived and transient moments, you must be clear about exposure and composition. Secondly, making eye contact with your subject is essential to giving life to the image.
Choose the Right Gear
The type of lens you choose may depend on your goals for different shots. Generally, most photographers choose a lens with a longer focal length, like a zoom lens, with a wide aperture.
This is because capturing some animals will require you to shoot from a distance. It will help you patiently observe the subject and take shots without disturbing them. Besides, understand the concept of foreground and background distances to take sharp images with blurred backdrops. It is advised to use a lens with a wide aperture ( like f/1.4, f/1.8, or f/2.8).
Make Sure to Preserve Your Shots
Most photographers carry their laptop or MacBook and external drives to save their entire photography collection. And that’s the most important. After all, you don’t want to lose precious shots just because you forgot to save them or due to a technical error.
Always have a USB device or any other hard drive where you constantly save all your data. This also includes erasing all the unwanted files from your drive to ensure that you don’t lose any important data. For this, you should know the mac formatting usb concept if you use a mac to preserve your files.
Patience Is the Key
Wildlife photography can be pretty unpredictable at times. Anything can happen at any given point in time, while most things happen rarely. Hence, it is vital that you keep your patience with you at all times.
Most of the time, you may have to return to the same spot for days just to get that one perfect shot. Instead of getting demotivated, a true nature lover should have the patience to try again and again.
Wrapping Up
Nothing could be more satisfying for nature lovers than to capture the natural elements. So, if you’re also a nature enthusiast who’s just started their journey in wildlife photography, these tips will surely help you!
