Photographing wild animals in their natural habitat is the essence of wildlife photography. Animals are frequently photographed when they are in action, either eating, fighting, or flying. An alternative to a dynamic portrait, a static portrait can show the animal’s details or environment.
Rather than true wild specimens, captive or controlled animals are sometimes captured on camera, although it is disputed as to whether this constitutes true wildlife photography.
A wildlife photographer may also need skills in field craft as well as photography. In order to predict animal and bird behavior, it helps to be familiar with an animal’s or bird’s behavior. Stalking certain species or using a hide/blind for concealment is sometimes necessary for photographing them.
Equipment
Taking wildlife photographs can be done with basic equipment, but some species of wildlife require specialist equipment, such as wide-angle lenses for birds, macro lenses for insects, and underwater cameras for marine life. In order to take a great wildlife photograph, one needs to understand how animals behave.
Camera
Many types of cameras exist, but only a few are suitable for shooting wildlife outdoors. SLR cameras and mirrorless cameras are the best choices. Mid-level and professional models often have weather-sealed construction, and they can be manually adjusted and accept a variety of lenses.
An ordinary camera that is constantly exposed to harsh elements will not last long, so you need a weather-sealed model. It may cost more because of the extra protection, but knowing it can perform in different conditions makes it worth the investment.
A DSLR or a mirrorless camera allows the user to look directly through the lens at the subject and into a viewfinder. Among their many capabilities is the ability to use a wide variety of lenses, sophisticated autofocus, high-speed shooting, and change settings very quickly and intuitively. This is why 99% of wildlife photographers use digital SLR cameras.
Selecting the right camera type is the easiest part. Choosing a brand and model of the camera can be a bit of a challenge.
Once you’ve chosen a camera brand, you need to choose a model that’s right for you. Most of the time, this decision is influenced by the photographer’s budget. Both Canon and Nikon make cameras with prices that range from about $700 to over $5000. There are a few factors worth considering aside from the price of a camera body before choosing one.
Image quality that’s better than your camera phone – It’s useless to carry around a camera that takes inferior images to your phone or at least doesn’t offer features that your phone does.
Hand-friendly ergonomics – Unless you can hold the camera in your local camera store, you’ll have to rely on reviews to make an educated decision. Ensure the camera is big enough, has a pronounced grip, and the essential buttons look far apart.
Size that fits your lifestyle – You should probably choose a compact and/or light camera if you have a child with you. If you carry a bag around all the time, you could get away with a larger camera. Take into account your travel habits when choosing a camera.
Affordable and future-proof lenses – There’s no need to worry about this if you get a compact camera with a fixed lens. Make sure to check out the other lenses if you’re getting an interchangeable lens camera. You’ll need to find out if the lenses you want are in your price range and are available in the focal lengths you need. You might also want to check out second-hand lenses.
Budget-friendly latest model – The technology of cameras is moving so fast that I always recommend investing in the latest models. In case your budget can’t stretch to the most recent model, you can often find bargains on previous models, but avoid anything older than this. Alternatively, you can buy second-hand… but beware.
Sensor size – In terms of picture quality and exposure flexibility, the largest factor in determining whether an SLR camera is a worthwhile purchase is the size of the sensor and the size of each photosite. Photosites with a larger surface area can capture more light and record more information.
Megapixel resolution – In spite of most advertising material and media hype focusing on the number of megapixels a camera supports, megapixels are relatively unimportant when buying a digital SLR. That is unless you’re planning to order some really large prints.
Lenses
Having selected the body of your camera, you will need to choose a lens or lenses.
Choosing a lens depends largely on your interest in the subject matter. To start out in bird photography, you will need at least a 300mm auto-focusing lens. In order to take landscape photos, nature photographers need a lens wider than 28mm. A dedicated macro lens is essential for those who are interested in photographing insects and frogs.
Flash
The warm tones of direct, low-angle sunlight are generally preferred by nature photographers over artificial light. This is not always possible, however. For these situations, an external flash unit provides the much-needed fill-lighting and creates a catch light.
There are two models of external flash available from Canon and Nikon. With the higher-cost units, you can also connect additional “slave” flash units to a wireless transmitter that’s built into the unit.
Note: It is strongly recommended that you use a flash bracket if you are taking bird photos.
Tripod & Head
Following the purchase of telephoto prime lenses, nature photographers should immediately begin using a sturdy tripod. Spending thousands of dollars on a lens is not worth it if you can’t achieve razor-sharp images because you don’t have a tripod.
In the beginning, most nature photographers are hesitant to use tripods because they seem heavy and cumbersome. After you commit to using a tripod, however, the difference in image quality is well worth it.
Regardless of the tripod you choose, be sure that it can hold your longest lens, teleconverter, flash, and your camera body. If you anticipate upgrading your lens in the future, you should consider this when making your purchase.
Additionally, you should check that the tripod will extend to your eye height without an extension post.
There are two popular tripod heads available to nature photographers – the ball head and the gimbal head. When using a lens up to a 300mm f/2.8 lens, you will most likely choose a ball head. For lenses that are 500mm, 600mm, or 800mm, it is almost certainly a good idea to purchase a tripod head with a gimbal.
Equipment Storage
In order to carry all this heavy and expensive gear, a backpack will definitely be necessary. It’s unlikely that there is one perfect case for every situation. If you are flying, you can select a rolling bag, while if you are on location, you can select a backpack. Be sure that whatever bag you buy will hold your largest lens and everything else you’ll need on location.
Accessories
In addition to the basic photographic equipment, many nature photographers also carry several useful accessories.
Photo Editing Monitor
It is essential for a photographer to have a high-quality monitor. It’s ideal to have a color space that uses at least 90% of the RGB range (not just the sRGB range). The monitor is pretty amazing, and it is a pleasure to edit images on it. The colors are accurate as well.
Monitor Calibration
A monitor calibration device is essential. I use this Datacolor SpyderX Elite to calibrate my monitor.
Camouflage cover
LensCoatCamouflage Camera Lens Tripod Cover Blind photography blinds are designed to cover you and your gear, whether you’re using a telephoto lens mounted to a tripod or handholding a flight lens. You can either observe wildlife without disrupting them through a mesh camouflage window or unzip across the top for a totally obstructed view. All adjustments are hidden from your subjects under the blind, and the left and right slots in the blind can be opened for easy access outside the blind. An external flash unit can be used through a slot on top of the blind.
Photography Gloves
The tropics aren’t the only place for photo shoots. You can also wear these gloves for everyday shooting in cold and mild temperatures. In all but the most extreme temperatures, these are my go-to photography gloves.
Photographers who like to shoot outside in cold weather will appreciate these gloves. The product was designed in Norway by photographers who love cold weather.
LensCoat Lens Cover
LensCoat telephoto lens covers offer your valuable equipment some protection from scrapes and bumps, preserving its resale value. They also help break up the shape of your lens, making it less noticeable to wildlife.
Covers are available for most lenses in a variety of patterns.
LensCoat Hoodie
With LensCoat Hoodie, the front element of your lens is protected from dirt, dust, moisture, and impacts. Neoprene Hoodies fit comfortably around your lens hood or shade, either in the shooting position or reversed.
In addition, the Hoodie has a removable plastic and foam disc that provides further protection against damage to the glass. This is especially useful when traveling and storing lenses.
Image Editing
Topaz Labs Photo Editing
Truth be told, I’ve never been a huge fan of aftermarket plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop. Such software has never been necessary to me or is not worth the cost. However, Topaz Labs has convinced me otherwise. The AI programs they have are simply amazing. Their noise reduction software is especially impressive. Take the free trial to find out for yourself.
DXO Image Editing
The world of AI-enhanced software is now upon us. The denoise and sharpen AI programs from Topaz Labs were the first to make me aware of this potential. To replace Adobe’s ineffective handling of RAW files from Canon R5, I chose DXO’s PureRAW software. The program will handle all the work after you drop in your RAW files. The DNG file that is produced can be processed as usual using Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw, then Photoshop. You must see it to believe it.
Other members of DXO’s family of photo editing software are PhotoLab and ViewPoint.
