Wildlife Photography

[troyer]

I like them too and if you like them that's special.

 

[mdees88]

Beautiful. I'm surprised the eagle didn't catch a coot. Maybe it really had a hankering for fish!

It wasn't for a lack of trying... I couldn't believe he did not catch one.

 

[mdees88]

I haven’t posted on here in a while… here’s some of my recent bird pictures. They’re really nothing special but I like them just the same View attachment 2977433
View attachment 2977436View attachment 2977439View attachment 2977447
I have more pictures I’d like to share, but I have to download them off of my computer so I’ll post them later.

Please share them. We like seeing wildlife pics....

Those bird pics are very nice, you should like them. The hawk and the bird facing left are my favorite. Would you care if I offer a simple piece of advice that would make these good pics look even better?

 

[Dr Evy]

Please share them. We like seeing wildlife pics....

Those bird pics are very nice, you should like them. The hawk and the bird facing left are my favorite. Would you care if I offer a simple piece of advice that would make these good pics look even better?

Sure, any advice is appreciated.

 

[mdees88]

Sure, any advice is appreciated.

Please don't think I'm knocking your pictures in any way. They just look so good to me and have so much potential that this one tiny tip will put them over the top.

When I started out in photography I always center composed my shots. Most everyone does because that's where your cameras focus point is, in the middle of the screen. You end up with a picture with the subject right in the middle of it.

(If you check out post #82 on page 9 I talk about composition and using the rule of thirds. It's all laid out there with picture examples)

You did the hard work and got very good pics of your subjects in focus and with nice backgrounds. All that's left is cropping in a little and putting the subjects on one of the intersecting lines, so that's what I did.

Very nice pics, good job....

 

[NorseDad]

I am sub amateur but I like taking macro pictures of my tarantulas and wild insects here in Florida. Here are two examples:

A wild giant leopard moth I found on my door.

And a macro shot of my spiderling A. geniculata (Brazillian Giant White Knee):

 

[cherrynberry]

@mdees88 Do you have any tips on how to transition to shooting in Manual? I have little experience in playing with white balance and stuff like that. Thanks in advance!!

 

[azurbanclucker]

@mdees88 Do you have any tips on how to transition to shooting in Manual? I have little experience in playing with white balance and stuff like that. Thanks in advance!!

Start by looking at what your camera is telling you about it's settings in auto. Your viewfinder should give you shutter speed and f-stop settings that the camera is choosing for that scene. Flip it to manual and use the same settings. Leave it on autofocus while you figure out your other manual settings and get a good feel for the aperture and shutter speeds. It'll take time and practice, but eventually you'll be able to just judge it yourself. Honestly just leave WB on auto unless you're doing really specialist shooting in odd locations. Worst case you can correct it in post.

An external light meter is also a good thing to keep in your bag, but it's NOT critical.

For things like wildlife photography with long lenses (zooms), try to keep your shutter speed above the max zoom on your lens so you don't end up with blurring. For example, if you have a 200mm zoom, shutter speed should be over 200. 300mm zoom, over 300, etc. Use of a monopod or tripod can help here too.

 

[mdees88]

Great advice above. I shoot in shutter priority 95% of the time and use exposure compensation to fine tune the brightness of the image. I rarely shoot in Manual.

That said I do think it is important to understand the relationship between shutter speed, iso, and aperture (f-stop) and how they work together to expose the image.

If you want to use a faster shutter speed (to help eliminate motion blur on a fast moving subject), this will let in less light which means a darker image. So to compensate you either have to increase the ISO (the sensors sensitivity to light) or open up the aperure (lower the f-stop).

If you want a shallow depth of field and a blurry background you need to open up the aperture (lower the f-stop). But this will let in more light resulting in a brighter image so you would compensate by using a faster shutter speed (to let in less light) and/or lower the ISO.

It may seem a little confusing at first (especially f-stop numbers...smaller # = larger opening) but I would recommend watching some YouTube videos and familiarizing yourself with how these 3 components work together to expose the image.....

This chart helps you visualize how changing each component affects the image. Slower shutter speed = more motion blur. Higher ISO = more noise (grainy pic). Larger aperture (lower f-stop) = shallower depth of field (blurier backgrounds). It's pretty neat.....

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Great advice above. I shoot in shutter priority 95% and use exposure compensation to fine tune the brightness of the image. I rarely shoot in Manual.

That said I do think it is important to understand the relationship between shutter speed, iso, and aperture (f-stop) and how they work together to expose the image.

If you want to use a faster shutter speed (to help eliminate motion blur on a fast moving subject), this will let IN less light which means a darker image. So to compensate you either have to increase the ISO (the sensors sensitivity to light) or open up the aperure (lower the f-stop).

If you want a shallow depth of field and a blurry background you need to open up the aperture (lower the f-stop). But this will let in more light resulting in a brighter image so you would compensate by using a faster shutter speed (to let in less light) and/or lower the ISO.

It may seem a little confusing at first (especially f-stop numbers...smaller # = larger opening) but I would recommend watching some YouTube videos and familiarizing yourself with how these 3 components work together to expose the image.....

Wow, thanks! I love this thread!