Welcome to our Wildlife photography section.

About wildlife photography.

The photographing of animals in the wild is truly an amazing art and one that requires a great deal of time and patience.  Good wildlife photographers should be able to capture the story of an animal or express the behaviour of the animal in its daily routine.

It will take time to learn the art of wildlife photography, but when mastered correctly will be extremely rewarding. Like all types of photography the technical skills of the photographer should be to a high standard, but the wildlife photographer will also need to be creative to bring his images to life.

The following are tips to help you get started.

Wildlife Photography Composition:

Take your images from a low angle position. Pointing your camera towards the ground may give the animal or bird that you are shooting a distorted look. Make sure that the eyes are always sharp.

Also try to fill the frame - for smaller wildlife you will need to get in close, and use a large aperture to blur any unwanted background out of the image.

If you are unsure use the rule of thirds for composition of your images.


Wildlife photography exposure and camera settings:

Set your camera to an ISO of 200. This will make sure that there is no noise in your images and give you greater control of your aperture and shutter. This produces very low-noise images of maximum quality. Most animals will not stay still for too long so your shutter should be set at a minimum of 1/125. Your camera should be set on shutter mode for this; the camera will automatically set the aperture.

If light is too dull and you need to control the shutter and aperture and raise the ISO, you will need be able to use noise reduction software. Photoshop is ideal for this. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the camera’s settings - this will be the best way to learn.

Shoot your wildlife images on an overcast day. This will allow you to minimize harsh shadows. You can always use your flash to add light if needed. 


Photography Filters needed for wildlife photography:

On an overcast day images often appear cold and dull. Try using a warm-up filter. These filters will remove the dull effect that you get if shooting without the sun. There are several warm up filters to choose from. The 81 warm up filter range are perfect for wildlife photography.

A polarizing filter can also be useful to add more contrast to your images. It is best used when light is entering your frame from the side.

What and where to shoot:

Everywhere you go there are plenty of different types of wildlife. If you travel to the same location build a hide so that you do not interfere with the wildlife. You should also consider building a hide in your garden. Most gardens are full of birds that are extremely attractive to photograph. You should plant different trees that will attract more wildlife into the garden.



Photography equipment:

A good digital camera with several different lenses is needed for wildlife photography. Your should have a macro lens for close-up images and a telephoto lens for images of birds that are at a distance. A tripod should also be used to keep your camera steady. Also worth considering are a light meter and a grey card for calculating exposure.


Selling your wildlife Photography:

There are plenty of opportunities open to a good wildlife photographer. If you have a large collection of images submit them to a creditable stock photography agency that handles wildlife images and that has a large amount of publishers on their books.  Your images will need to be at a very high standard to be published.

If you prefer to sell your own images directly you will need to create an online portfolio of your work, and contact publishers and editors yourself. This will be very time consuming and won’t leave you with much time for your wildlife photography.

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