This is the first post in a series of articles dedicated for wildlife photographers. I’ll address the most frequently asked questions I’ve received from wildlife photographers, both online as well as in my classes. I’ll give you truthful answers regarding equipment setting, planning as well as the process of taking wildlife photos out in the field.
What is the ideal time to capture wildlife?
There are two aspects of this query: the times of day and the season.
The timing of the day is straightforward. Diverse species are active during the morning, during daytime as well as at sunset and evening. There’s almost every day some thing to photograph, but. You can select a date of the day that is based on the species you’re looking for (make sure you know its behavior patterns) or in relation to finding excellent lighting conditions. You could also decide to use your calendar as a guide. There’s no wrong way to go about it.
In terms of the season one of the great things about photography of wildlife is that it can be done almost all year long. But that does not mean you are able to photograph any moment of the day. The distance between you and the equator grows and the temperature changes, so too do the variations between seasons. This leads to changes in the pattern of animal behavior and consequently, various subject matter to photograph.
The first step is to find out all possible about the animal you’re photographing and prepare your photo shoots accordingly. For instance in the zone that is temperate the early winter months are the ideal time to capture birds in the vicinity of feeders. Spring is a great time to photograph migrants, as well as for animal activity generally. Autumn is best for the flurry of bright trees, while summer is a great time to do macro photography, particularly during foggy days when dew is forming over the grass at dawn.
In the tropical region, seasonality isn’t quite as prominent like it would be in temperate zones. I would say that you can visit the equatorial countries at every moment and get something worth photographing. But, I’d suggest visiting these areas prior to or right in the middle of the dry season, not enough to be trapped in your home, but enough that you can enjoy a little sprinkle of rain and an atmospheric conditions during certain days. Additionally, the activity of birds is higher during this time of the year.
I’m a very busy person and don’t have much spare time. However, I enjoy photography of wildlife and would like to dedicate myself to this kind of photography. Can you help me?
There’s a way to solve this problem and, in a way, it will yield greater results than if spent lots of time. It is best to practice much more of the photography you do on own area.
This may seem disappointing when as compared to travelling to exotic locations However, I can assure you that the majority of your most memorable wildlife pictures can be taken close to your home. The issue is that when you’re at an exotic locale it is likely that you will be shifting around and changing places each day at maximum. In most cases, the result is photographs that only show the surface and don’t show much of the animal’s behaviour.
In the meantime, if you shoot close to home, your work is likely to require you to take pictures in the early morning or in the late afternoon. This is when light is the best and animals are at their most active. Furthermore, you will have the chance to revisit the same spot for a prolonged period of time to really begin to comprehend the subject. This also lets you experiment with less conventional methods like wide-angle close-ups, external flash photography, and so on.
Are you in a place in which this isn’t possible? But don’t worry! There is surely at the very least one park, the river, or a botanical garden within your vicinity. I love botanical gardens in general. The benefit of living in an urban setting can be seen in the fact that animals who live in it have mostly lost their shyness. If they were not, their interaction with humans wouldn’t be feasible. In addition, the lack of hospitality in the concrete jungle surrounding them causes animals to gather in large numbers within this green island.
I’m on a budget, and I cannot afford cameras like that of Nikon Z9, Sony A1 or Canon R5. And that’s not even including high-speed lens for telephoto. Do you have any recommendations for equipment I could utilize to capture wildlife?
Don’t give into the marketing hype that you can’t take a top photograph unless you’ve got the top equipment available. Even with a used camera costing only a few hundred dollars you can create pictures that will be admired or be displayed on gallery walls, take home contests or whatever your aim might be. The very cameras that cost just a couple hundred dollars in the market for used cameras present were at the forefront of technology only several years ago.
