Wildlife photography

[FTJoe]

Firstly, I am aware that this is pistonheads and so most would rather 'hoon' around in their cars and destroy the planet then sit quietly in the middle of a field on the off-chance any sort of wild creature wanders close enough to get a recognisable picture of but are there any amateur (or pro) wildelife photographers on the board who'd care to share some tips and pictures?

I've currently got a 400D, a Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS and a tripod. Are there any other useful bits of kit I ought to have? Any general tips on how/where to get interesting photos?

Also, say i wanted to photograph deer during the day but in shaded woodland, whilst they're moving/running and on near enough full zoom what kind of settings should I be using to get a picture where you can actually see the animals?

Please share some pics if you have any, there's a lot of talent on here but I've not seen much in the way of nature photography.


Ps. Only joking about the planet destroying malarky

[JustinP1]

I am a rank amateur but bought a 400D for exactly what you want to do.

I inherited some Canon lenses from my dear old Dad last year and been having some great fun.

I have the 75-300mm Canon lens and it is not bad, hugely better than my hybrid camera I had recently.

These are the issues I have found so far:

Shutter speed. The smaller the wildlife, the faster they move. For birds, I need 1/100 bare minimum for a non-blurred shot. To get that you need good light. This is where the pro lenses wipe the floor with the cheaper ones.

Reach - I am taking pictures of small birds mainly and to get them to be the right size without cropping with a 300mm lens I am setting up about 8-10 feet away for them.

To cut a long story short, this is one of the times where the pro standard 'L' lenses come into play. Have a grand spare?

Been in awe of this guy's shots: http://www.lincsbirder.co.uk/

He has been using a standard 400d for 90% of his shots, and goes to the trouble of stating exactly what lens was used for each shot.

[Tycho]

Justin is right, you need a fast lens which is expensive. I also found that it is a lot easier if the animals are in cages



http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob_hughes/3444746324...

[toasty]

Richmond Park is good is you're south of London.

Plenty of deer to get up close to but a nightmare to get a single one (hence the chopped off legs)

[_dobbo_]

You can get right up close and personal if you go to the right place!



In the wild, you need two things, reach and speed. If you don't have fast lenses in lower light conditions you have to crank the ISO up to compensate for the required fast shutter speed.

I reckon the Canon 100-400 is the right balance between cost, performance and reach if you are a Canon bod.

[Dogsey]

_dobbo_ said:

You can get right up close and personal if you go to the right place!

Longleat?

[_dobbo_]

Yup! It's quite good if the weather is nice, but I found I couldn't focus through the heated front screen on my car!

[Snapper7]

Firstly wild deer will bolt as soon as they know you are anywhere near. As a pro Press photographer, I once spent a week with a forest ranger and never got close enought to get a usable picture of a wild dear. Even with a 500mm f4 lens and 1.4 converter.

So I really would suggest going somewhere where they a used to humans being around and they are penned into a large area. (Small areas will show the fences.

The longer the lens the better, 500mm minimum, 600mm or 800mm. I would also take a 1.4 converter

[FTJoe]

Snapper7 said:

Firstly wild deer will bolt as soon as they know you are anywhere near. As a pro Press photographer, I once spent a week with a forest ranger and never got close enought to get a usable picture of a wild dear. Even with a 500mm f4 lens and 1.4 converter.

I have to say at this point that although I'm terrible at photography I'm very good at deer stalking. I'll put a couple of pics up once I've gone and had my dinner (on a different pc) but I can usually get reasonably close without too much trouble.

Anyone near Bristol wants to know where to find roe deer I can tell you

Birds I realise I'm going to seriously struggle with using a 250mm lense. I think i'll be sticking to garden/Slimbridge shots for that kind 0f thing.

Sadly the ES-F 55-250 lense is new and there's no chance I'll be able to buy a more expensive telephoto for a good year or so.

Ta for the thoughts, might try taking a few more pics (only had the lense a few days) and then posting them here ready to get them critiqued (torn to shreds)

[Simon K]

My option might not give the satisfaction of waiting for hours in a field and then getting a cracking picture (or not) that you had seconds to compose. However it will give you the chance to practise and in the case of the courses as much or as little guidance as you need/ want.

The Wolf pictures were taken on a Wild Arena day. They do many different days with all different animals including far flung trips. On the day I had it varied from people with point and shoots through to lots of £££'s worth of equipment but everyone was treated the same.

I have always loved Wolves and the day both photographically and getting to be so close to Wolves, including stroking one, will live with me for a long time.










I also enjoy Birds of Prey and the daily displays at a local centre are excellent for pictures of a variety of birds.








They even have a Cheetah!





Anyway sorry for the long post, got carried away as wildlife photography is an area I'd love to spend more time on.

Simon

[CVP]

Simon K said:

.

Wild Arena day. They do many different days with all different animals including far flung trips. On the day I had it varied from people with point and shoots through to lots of £££'s worth of equipment but everyone was treated the same.

Another vote for Wild Arena, Mrs CVP and I went on their Birds of the World day a couple of years ago. Very well organised and thoroughly nice chaps too. I am very tempted to book on their Kenya / Tanzania tour with Peter.

Chris

[FTJoe]

Nice pics Siomon, will make my following pics look very amateur but I'm only going to use them to illustrate a point. I'd love to spend time with wolves and intend on a visit to Yellowstone to have a bash at tracking them when I get the time/money.

Anyway first two taken with a bog-standard 55mm lense last year:




Bit blurred (it was getting dark) but I was very close, and very patient to get so close.

Then got the 250mm last Fri:

Plenty of deer but a bit too far away, then a big (really bloody scary) dog came and they fooked off:



Getting a tad closer but again low light and a lack of skill leaves me with average pics:




And finally this chap was a bit curious so they got a bit better:





Images all scaled down a lot to avoid massive loading times. Anyway, I know where to see deer (and believe me these deer are pretty timid and will ps off very fast if they get spooked), but I have a long way to go on technique

Edited by FTJoe on Wednesday 15th April 20:00

Edited by FTJoe on Wednesday 15th April 20:01

Edited by FTJoe on Wednesday 15th April 20:06

[beano500]

Only 105mm (on a DX sensor) - the New Forest another good place for deer et cetera....

[paul911]

Simon K said:

Fantastic pics Simon, love this one ^.

One of mine of a nesting Little Egret. Not in the wild though, although it does look like it.

[Tycho]

Simon, where were the birds of prey and the Cheetah? I love Cheetah and have been walking with them in Botswana.

[Simon K]

Tycho, the birds of prey and cheetah are at Eagle Heights in Eynsford Kent.

[Tycho]

Simon K said:

Tycho, the birds of prey and cheetah are at Eagle Heights in Eynsford Kent.

Cheers, will take a look later as I love Cheetah.

[Snapper7]

Some very nice pictures