Hey guys, it’s me again, Tamara.
Today I went for a little walk. I felt like taking pictures of animals and telling you a couple of tips and tricks on how you can take great wildlife photos by using simple methods. Unfortunately, I only came across some chickens on my little tour. Apparently the horses, sheep, cats and dogs were hiding from me and my camera.
But that doesn’t matter, I’d only like to show you some general “basic guidelines” anyway.
What I consider very important for this kind of photography is facing the animals at eye level. A good shot is worth lying down on a meadow or kneeling in the mudd to see the smaller creatures from the right perspective. A simple snapshot from above or from behind looks unprofessional and simply doesn’t appear to be very interesting for the observer.
Another question concerning wildlife photography certainly is the optimal picture detail. Of course this strongly depends on technical factors. However, if you’ve got the choice getting very close to the animals and shooting close-ups often pays off.
A great advantage in for animal photography is selecting a high shutter speed. A lot of animals move very fast and with the high shutter speed you’ll still manage to get sharp images. I also always choose a small aperture as this makes the background blurred and emphasizes the animal in the foreground.
Now the next question concerns the best lighting conditions. As for instance in portrait photography, you can get the best light in the morning or in the evening. When the sun is very low and casts a soft light. You should avoid the harsh midday sun. In overcast conditions you actually can’t do many things wrong. To me the photos of animals in their natural surroundings are themost beautiful ones!
What else do you need? Actually just a lot of patience and perseverance, then nothing should stop you from taking great wildlife pictures. 😉
Have a lot of fun trying things out!
Hi Tamara,
I have been following this blog for some time now and I have enjoyed some correspondence with Lars. I love your pictures and agree 100% with your tips. High shutter speed, low to the ground, good lighting and of course lots of patience…that is exactly what I found to be effective as well when photographing our own chickens here in GA, USA. I need to get my own WordPress blog back on the web, but for now you can see some photos here employing those techniques: http://danm.myportfolio.com/hot-chicks
Dear Dan, thanks so much for your words! Me and Beatrice are really trying our best to keep this blog at the level Lars put it on! 🙂 I love your portfolio, can’t wait to read your blog once you got it back online! 🙂