Who better learn wildlife photography tips from than one of the world’s best wildlife photographers? A nature photographer tours the world photographing wildlife in their natural habitat. One photographer has given ten tips for taking the most stunning nature pictures in difficult conditions!
10 Ways to Take Wildlife Photographs
1. Protect your gear
Lenses and cameras are sacred to photographers. Protecting your equipment is therefore very important! If you don’t have lenses or cameras that can withstand a humid environment, bring something to protect them from water like L lenses because they are waterproof. The extra batteries for the camera are best kept in an inner bag, because they are closer to your body and are therefore easier to keep warm.
2. Use stabilization technology
use lenses with Image Stabilizer technology, which is especially useful in the air or on a boat. This is especially useful with long telephoto lenses or photographing with a strong zoom: it makes the photos sharper.
3. Take lenses with a fixed focal length and shallow depth of field with you
Lenses with a fixed focal length and with a large aperture that provide a shallow depth of field should definitely be taken with you when photographing wildlife. In extreme and very cold conditions such as a snowstorm, zoom lenses are more versatile.
4. Get up in time for warm light and action
If you want to take the most beautiful pictures of wild animals, you will have to get up early. In the morning you take the most beautiful action photos of the animals with the most beautiful light. Nature is simply much more active in the early morning.
5. Also enjoy bad weather
Heavy rain and snow storms can be almost as stunning as a blue sky or the sun for pictures! It creates stunning pictures, often with a lot of suspense. So, even though the weather isn’t cooperating, get out there and continue to enjoy it!
6. Keep moving yourself
When you stand still, you miss other – possibly more interesting – angles. When possible, try to work with a wide angle lens. A beautiful wild animal in action against a bad background can still turn into a bad photo.
7. Pay attention to the position of the sun
Don’t just shoot with the sun in your back. Often a photo with backlighting has a lot more impact, so use your flash to light your subject if you don’t want everything to be too dark.
8. Be careful
Of course, wild animals are unpredictable, and you are seen as an attacker. Please be mindful of the surroundings and aim to disrupt the creatures as least as possible, such as by approaching ‘wildlife removal’ for assistance.
9. Wind direction is essential
Always pay attention to the wind direction, especially if you have the option of choosing another spot. When photographing birds, always try to work with tailwind. A wolf or deer can hear and scent you from a long distance if the wind is coming from behind you. To photograph a bird from the front, you need to have a tailwind; when you work with large mammals.
10. Photographing wild animals is not a competition!
Wildlife photography is great fun, but you shouldn’t see it as a competition. You are a visitor in another world and the photos you take are to pass that world on to others.
Wildlife photography behind the scenes