Wildlife Photography Tips

[jay37]

hello everybody,im jay and im new to computers and wildlife photography this is my first post ever so please be gentle with me.could anyone shed some light on how where and when to find and get close enough to photograph some of the amazing birds and animals i have seen on this site.my efforts have in the most part been rubbish ,although ive had some results which i have put into the image archive.any help or advice would be fantastic.thank you

[ron1863]

Hi Jay37 and a warm welcome to WAB.

A lot depends on the equipment you have, some of the members have decent DSLRs and telephoto lenses, a lot of which are expensive but make wildlife photography a little easier, especially for wildlife shots.
One of the easiest ways of getting decent bird shots is to hang feeders in your garden and another is to visit local parks, where the birds, squirrels etc. are all used to humans and are not to easily scared off.

[Kayleigh]

Hi jay37, a big welcome to WAB...

Ron's advice is spot on..
I find birds are really difficult as you need to get close to them..
A lot of our members have hides in the garden.

[jay37]

thank you both for the welcome

i have a dslr and a 300mm lens soon to be up dated to a 500
ithink that a hide could be an answer is there any secrets in positoning it
ive spent hours camped in my van,camera ready its like the birds know your waiting

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by jay37

thank you both for the welcome

i have a dslr and a 300mm lens soon to be up dated to a 500
ithink that a hide could be an answer is there any secrets in positoning it
ive spent hours camped in my van,camera ready its like the birds know your waiting

There are a few threads on hides you will have to do a search.
Sorry no time to help..

[deer boy]

Hi jay welcome to WAB

As Ron said putting up feeders is a good way to attract birds, if u then set yourself up close enough to get good shots but not right out in the open,the birds will get use to a hide.

I'm sure they'll be more knowledgeable people on later to help

[nightshade]

Relax, go to a Wildlife Trust,or Wetlands Trust area where the birds are more used to people and practice.
You know the other stuff, muted colours, cover highlights like hands and face
just sit still and watch what is going on in your chosen area and where the light is make notes

[jay37]

thankyou for the advice,little bits are great just like jigsaw pieces.i also searched on the forum and came away with some useful hints ,i will take my new knowledge into the field this weekend maybe with my new lens

[BruceP]

As people have already advised, find the local places where birds are used to being fed and therefore come a lot closer. Try and find a branch that they often sit on before dropping onto the feeders so that the shots look natural, and practice practice practice!

You probably won't notice the little improvements in your shots, but in six months time when you compare your new images with your old ones, you'll certainally notice the improvements.

I always find getting the first shots of a species is the hardest, and I tend to keep some pretty rubbish shots, but very quickly they get deleted as better shots come along, probably because I'm learning their habits as i'm watching them. The best shots are often unplanned. earlier this week I was trying to photograph badgers and I got my best shots of Jays as they came to steal the food we had put out for the badgers and I was only using a 70-200mm lens. As for the badgers, we watched six of them for a while but being in forestry in the rain meant the light was awful and my pictures were pretty rubbish! But now I've got an excuse to keep going back to try again.

[pressld2]

A warm welcome to WAB from me too Jay.

There's already been some excellent advice posted and I wouldn't disagree with a word of it.

To start with I would stick with reserves that have wood or brick built hides already in place. The wildlife will already be used to them and also used to people going in and out of them. Most of my best shots so far were taken from such hides as I don't have the time or the privacy (living in the crowded south-east) to introduce temporary hides in the way that it should be done.

Dave P.