Bad Habits

I was amused by the name of the Tobacconist shop that I captured at Yamba, New South Wales. It was called Bad Habits.

We probably all have some sort of bad habits, I know I do. Some times when I capture an image I do not spend enough time thinking  about some of the following things:

• Recently I was capturing a seascape image and after taking a couple of shots I noticed that there was a brightly coloured Coke can in the foreground which was spoiling the image.
• Spend some time getting the composition right by framing the image carefully to your liking.
• Make sure all your camera settings are right, exposure, shutter speed to freeze any motion, aperture to get the best depth of field.
• Check the colour balance, it was a little off in the above image, due to the mixed lighting however I was able to correct it in post processing.
• Ensure that the ISO is suitable for the lighting illuminating the subject.
• Keep all your gear clean particularly the lens elements and the camera sensor. I generally use a large blower the blow any particles away every now and then.

After all it is not really the CPU in the camera that takes the image it is the CPU behind the viewfinder that has full control.

Emu, Coffin Bay National Park

When photographing wildlife, there are several main criteria that you should aim for with your equipment and we will summarise some of those in this article. The above image of the emu has been captured with a Nikon 300mm f/4 lens, on a Nikon D700 camera.

Cameras

There are a few important specifications to look for when attempting to photograph wildlife. We have more information on camera specifications for your perusal in our camera review section.

Shutter Speed

With wildlife photography, high shutter speeds are required, as the subject in many cases may be moving. Also long lenses are generally used and this will require high shutter speeds.

ISO

Cameras with the capability for high ISO are very good for wildlife as a higher ISO will give more capability for higher shutter speeds to be used.

FX Versus DX Cameras

The use of a DX camera compared to an FX camera can be a big advantage when using long lenses. The DX camera effectively gives you a multiplication factor of 1.5 times to your lenses and this will give a big advantage when using long lenses for wildlife.

Lenses

There are several characteristics of lenses which will enable you to get improved wildlife images and some of these are summarised as follows.

Long Lenses

When photographing wildlife such as animals and birds etc., extremely long lenses are required, especially with birds, when photographing birds, lenses never appear to be long enough. For wild life I would generally use a lens of 300mm or longer.

Low Aperture Lenses

Low aperture lenses such as apertures of f/2 to f/4  will assist greatly by allowing you to use your telephoto lenses at much higher shutter speeds.

VR Technology

Vibration Reduction (VR) technology can be an excellent addition to your long lenses, particularly when you are using lenses hand held. With VR functionality it is possible to use lenses with shutter speeds 3 to 4 stops slower than you would normally be able to do.

Accessories

Tripods

Tripods can be very useful to stabilise your camera equipment particularly when long lenses are used. The best types of tripod are the carbon fibre construction type and it is best to spend as much as you can afford. One of the better brands is Gitzo.

Monopods

If a tripod is inconvenient to use, then an excellent  fall back option is a good monopod. It is amazing how steady a monopod will enable you to keep your camera when you are using long lenses.

Cable Releases and Remote Camera Control

Sometime when wildlife frequent the same spot regularly remote camera releases can be used to capture the image. This can be done with nesting birds for instance if due care is taken to protect the subject.

Using a Hide or Blind

The use of a hide or blind can be very useful to help you get closer to your wildlife subject.

Butcher Bird 2

One of the most difficult things to learn with the super telephoto lenses are the techniques to help get high image quality. By referring to super telephoto lenses I am talking about lenses of 300mm or longer particularly the longer range of lenses.

Bear in mind that if you are using expensive super telephoto lenses you need high quality support systems.

There are several options when using these long lenses which are summarised as follows:

Hand Held

Hand holding a very long lens is not always the best way to capture sharp images, although with some of the latest lenses which incorporate Vibration Reduction, hand holding can provide a good option.

I find that one of the best ways to hand hold a long lens is as follows. Place your left hand on your right shoulder, hold the camera with your right hand and balance the camera on your left arm which is supported by your shoulder.

Another good hand holding method is to hold the camera with your right hand and place the lens on the palm of your left hand with your elbow rested and supported by your body.

Monopods

Monopods are very convenient as they can generally be used in crowded spaces without hampering others near you in a crowded area.

When using a monopod think of it as a tripod, with two of the legs being your own legs and the monopod itself being the third leg of the tripod.

An excellent compact monopod for very large lenses is the Gitzo GM5561T Traveler 6x Carbon Fiber Monopod.

Monopod Heads

When using a monopod, a monopod head is very useful to attach the camera or lens and to make it easier to use.

One of the excellent heads is the Kirk MPA-1 Swivel Tilt Monopod Head. If you are using a head such as this you will need to get an Arca Swiss compatible plate for your lens.

Tripods

The tripod is our three legged friend. A good tripod system will improve your images to the best quality possible.

One of the best available tripods is the Gitzo GT5531S Systematic 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod Legs, this tripod will enable you to support lenses up to 600 to 800mm.

Tripod Ball Heads

An important part of the tripod is the tripod head, a ball head is very useful for general tripod usage however the best solution for long lenses si the gimbal head. An excellent tripod head is the Arca-Swiss Monoball Z1 sp (Single Pan) Ballhead with Quick Release. With this ball head you will also require specific plates for you lens or camera.

Tripod Gimbal Heads

Gimbal heads are excellent to facilitate the easy handling of your long lens, the theory of gimbal heads is such that the lens appears weightless when handling the lens but also gives exceptional stability.

There are essentially two types of gimbal heads, the side mounting type the Wimberley Sidekick Gimbal Head Adapter for Arca-Swiss Style Quick Release Clamps or the full gimbal Wimberley WH-200 Tripod Head II with Quick Release Base.

Camera Settings

Yes camera settings can have an impact when using long lenses as these lenses are far more subject to camera movement.

• Use fast shutter speeds.
• If you are using slow shutter speeds set the vibration reduction switch to on.
• Use mirror lock up if possible.

Airplane Looping

Telephoto lenses are used when you wish to get closer to the subject to get the subject larger in the frame. The image above was taken at an air show and a 300mm telephoto lens was used to help fill the frame with the subject and the smoke trails.

Teleconverters are also very usefull to increase the focal length of the lens, they effectively multiply the focal length of the lens in use. Teleconverters are generally available with multiplication factors of x1.4, x1.7 or x 2.0, however they do have some disadvantages in that they reduce the f stop of the lens and they can also cause some degradation in the final image.

Telephoto lenses can be very usefull in some of the following applications:

• Airshows
• Bird photography
• Animal photography
• Close up portraits
• Insects
• Motor cycle or car racing
• Athletics and other sporting events

Generally any lens longer than 50mm is considered as a telephoto lens. Typically a lens of 85-135mm would be suitable for portraits. Lenses of 200-300mm are suitable for animals and lenses over 300mm are usefull mainly for photography of wild birds.

Coolangatta

Wide angle lenses are very usefull in landscape photography where you may wish to capture a very wide expansive landscape. The image above of Coolangatta was taken with a 14mm wide angle lens on a Nikon DX camera. A 14 mm lens on a DX type camera may not seem all that wide, on this type of camera due to the crop factor lenses of up to 10mm may be found to be very usefull. On a full frame 24x36mm type camera a 14mm lens is considered to be very wide.

When using wide angle and ultra wide angle lenses it is good to include some object close in to the foreground, like in the above image to give a feeling of depth in the image.