Wild life photography.

Wild life photography is something unique in photography. It is caught directly from the Nature itself wthout wasting time.The word ‘nature’ refers to the earth’s natural environment that includes natural elements (as opposed to man-made) like seas, rivers, streams, mountains, forests, the atmosphere and the like. Wildlife is also ‘nature’ and as such wildlife photography is a part and parcel of nature photography. This article purports to the techniques of photographing wildlife.

Most photographers are nature lovers. I suppose it is an inborn affinity to nature that turns us into photographers. After all, we want to record the beauty and splendor of our natural environment, which includes photographing animals (birds are also animals!). But do taking pictures of pets qualify as wildlife? Even though a pet can turn ‘wild’, that segment of photographing animals is classified as pet photography. When we talk of wildlife photography, we are referring to photographing animals that cannot be tamed. Also note that photographing wild animals in captivity is not considered as wildlife photography. The animals you photograph necessarily have to be wild, free-living, and in their natural habitat.

Photographing animals require different techniques or strategies. After all, you cannot tell wild animals to “line up there; the tall guys at the back and the shorties in the front”! Wild animals, by their very nature, suspect human beings as ‘trouble makers’, and that’s why, as soon as you try to approach them, may flee, or worst still, may attack you. This is what makes photographing them so difficult. Here are some guidelines you should try to adhere to:

a. Don’t make sudden moves. Think that slow and stedy win the race. Any sudden move will startle the animal and it will cause it to flee.

b. Don’t approach the animal in a straight line. As soon the animal sees you, it considers you as danger. Hence the best solution here is to make the animal feel that you are not a danger to it. Walk away from the animal, and let the animal see you walking away. Let the animal feel that you are not interested in it. So, in short, zic-zac your path. Whenever it notices you, walk away so it can see you moving away, and when you and the animal are not in each others line of sight, move towards the animal as silently as you can.

c. Camouflage. It helps to wear clothes that blend into the surroundings. Imagine wearin

g a bright yellow shirt in the wilderness!

d. Maintain silence. Scilence is golden in wild life photography. . Animals have a superior sense of hearing, and will become alert at the slightest sound of you talking with your friends.

e. Try to approach an animal against the wind. Most animals have a keen sense of smell and if the wind blows from your direction to the animal, it will immediately smell you and know your presence. Hence try to approach it in such a way that the wind blows from the animal towards you.

f. Use a hide if possible. If you have planned in advance, consi

der shooting from a well-camouflaged hide. See that your hide is reasonably large enough to let you sit comfortably using a foldaway stool, and there is space to place and use a tripod. Ensure that you have drinking water. Remember that you may have to spend a lot of time in your hide, and hence these basic necessities must be considered.

g. Points to consider when setting up your hide. Animals (remember, this includes birds!) are vary of strange items. If they suddenly see a hide where none existed earlier, they will grow suspicious. Hence you need have a strategy. Don’t immediately place the hide at its final destination; instead, place it further away and let the animal get accustomed to it for a couple of days. After a couple of days, move it closer, but still not where you intend having it finally. Again let the animal get used to that new position. When you feel satisfied that the animal/bird is no longer afraid of the hide, move it closer. This way you will be able to approach the animal without causing it discomfort.

h. Subject welfare. Remember, the welfare of the subject is your responsibility. For example, if the birds you intend to photograph have chicks, and you scare away the parent

birds (because you placed the hide too close to their nest), you are harming nature! Please be responsible in your acts. For the same reason, avoid disturbing the foliage that could be protecting the birds from raptors. Many photo competition organizers do not accept pictures of young birds at the nests for this very reason.

And now for some tips on equipment for nature/wildlife photography.

1. D-SLRs are the preferred cameras for wild life photography. Though it is possible to do nature/wildlife photography using Bridge cameras (Prosumers), for serious photography of this genre, D-SLRs are the better option. Interchangeable lenses give us the advantage in image quality as well as lens speed, when compared to the long focal ranges available in some Prosumer models. D-SLRs use much larger image sensors, and this further adds to the overall image quality.

2. Fast lenses. Try and obtain fast lenses though they cost much more. Let’s consider an example of a 300mm f/2.8 lens. The basic exposure for wildlife photography in good sunlight at ISO 100 (with an average-tone subject) is 1/1000sec at f/5.6. This combination ensures sharp images (due to the higher shutter speed) and a non-disturbing background (due to the reasonably wide aperture). The subject now moves into shade, and to compensate, you need to ‘open up’ one f-stop (bringing your exposure to 1/1000sec at f/4). Let’s say that the light fades, requiring you to open up another f-stop. So now you need to shoot at 1/1000sec at f/2.8. What would you do if your lens was 300mm f/5.6? Let’s see. Basic exposure: 1/1000 sec at f/5.6. Shade exposure: 1/500 sec at f/5.6 (since you cannot open the aperture any more). Faded light exposure: 1/250 sec at f/5.6. See the problem? At 1/250 sec you are very likely to have fuzzy pictures when using a 300mm lens! You could of course resort to a higher ISO sensitivity, but that could compromise on image quality (unless you are using a high-end camera that can provide noise-free images at higher ISOs)..
3 Tripods/Bean Bags.

When using long focal length lenses (e.g. 400mm, 500mm, 600mm etc), it is very essential to use a solid support if crisp images are to result. When buying tripods, don’t skimp on the stability and performance. Cheap (comparatively speaking) tripods with cheap heads will guarantee fuzzy images. There are occasions when using a tripod is not possible; at such times consider the humble bean bag! Some people fill a bean bag with Thermocole pellets (to keep the bag lightweight); I suggest you refrain from doing this. I have tried this out and can tell you that this doesn’t work well. Instead, fill the bean bag with uncooked rice (or sand). In my experience, filling the bean bag with rice is the best option. Don’t fill the bag too tightly; leave some space for the lens to ‘shape down’ on the bean bag.

4. What about zoom lenses?

A zoom lens, by its very design, allows us to vary our composition. This can be very useful, especially if the animal approaches us. I have had occasions when I have cut off part of the animal because it was too close; a zoom lens would probably have saved the day by allowing me to zoom out to a wider focal length. Does this mean that a zoom lens is preferable to a prime? By and large, prime lenses are sharper than zooms, though there are zooms that are as sharp (or even sharper) than some primes. Also remember that zoom lenses are ‘slower’ than primes and because they have many elements as compared to primes, are prone to flare.

5. So, is wildlife photography only for the well-heeled? Certainly not! If you have pots of money, ‘fast’ primes may be your cup of tea, but for those with smaller pockets, there are quite a few (slow) zoom lenses available. Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina make telephoto zooms that won’t put a hole through your bank balance. They may not be as sharp as the primes, but they are certainly not bad. I have seen some excellent wildlife images captured with such lenses.

General Tips
Remember well, if your shooting technique is not up to the mark, your most expensive camera and lens will not provide you the image quality that you are after.
1. Use the best lens you can afford.
2. Combine it with a good camera body (not necessarily the most expensive)
3. Use a good tripod/head.
4. Focus accurately (don’t always rely on AF).
5. Use Mirror Lock-up if your camera has that feature.
6. Use a cable release to fire the shutter.
7. Use the lowest ISO possible under the given lighting condition.
8. Meter accurately. Learn the art of using the spot meter.
9. Frame your subject in such a way that you don’t have to crop later on. Cropping an image means losing out on pixels. And losing out on pixels means losing out on image quality.
10. Use the fastest shutter speed possible to ensure sharp images. Using faster shutter speeds also means using wider apertures, which in turn diffuses the background, which in turn makes your images appear sharper than they are.

So, what else is required of a wildlife photographer? Besides what is noted above, a wildlife photographer must know his equipment like the back of his hand (isn’t that true of every other genre of photography?). He must understand animal behavior. He/she should know how the animal will react when scared or provoked. The photographer must be able to read the danger signs and body language of the animal he is trying to photograph. He must have infinite patience. And he must know when to take a risk, how much of a risk to take, and when to call it a day!

Enjoy your photography.